Readers Write (April 28): Fairview Hospital, Trayvon Martin, runaway dad, pollution, North Dakota, Vikings, marriage amendment

I was appalled to learn about Fairview hospital's tactics to collect money upfront from patients ("Fairview puts squeeze on patients," April 25).

I became pregnant while living and working in Texas and went through a similar situation there. Despite repeated explanations that I had resigned my position and would be moving back to Minnesota to deliver my baby, I was required to pay "my share" of labor and delivery charges before I could receive prenatal care.

It took months and much wrangling to receive a refund. Kudos to Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson for looking into this.

SHANNON LOEHRKE, Mounds View

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Why shouldn't the hospital bully its patients for money upfront as part of the collections strategy designed by the hospital's consulting firm, Accretive Health?

In contrast, last fall I went to the emergency room of a London hospital, where I was asked for nothing up front and nothing after, and the care was expert. That's socialized medicine for you. Gee, who would want that kind of care in the United States?

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Michael Smerconish is right about Florida's "stand your ground" law as it pertains to the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin ("Charge first and find evidence later?" April 25). I agree that the law is applicable in this case, but not in the way that many claim.

Many people put great stock in the assertion by the shooter, George Zimmerman, that the unarmed youth attacked him. That detail doesn't matter. According to the Florida statute, Martin would have been within his rights to use force against his pursuer, a larger man who had relentlessly tracked him by car and on foot despite his efforts to get away.

In fact, the law would have permitted him to apply deadly force if he felt himself to be in danger. It doesn't require a hyperactive imagination for the young man to feel threatened by the armed zealot following him.

The wording of the "stand your ground" law, misguided though it may be, works in Martin's favor. It certainly doesn't authorize an individual to pursue and harass an innocent passerby, then kill him when he gets upset.

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My heart cries for Sebastian Cross, the 11-year-old Lakeville boy who was abandoned his father, who was later convicted of gross-misdemeanor child neglect. Where in our courts is the wisdom of Solomon these days ("Runaway dad, reluctant son to be reunited," April 26)?

Sebastian has a home now with a great-aunt and is getting to know half-brothers and uncles. Such an extended family will be important to him for his whole life. However, we know the duplicity he lived with under with his father, who even had wrongly told the boy that his mother was dead.

The parents have now agreed to share custody of the child. May there be compassion in our laws so that Sebastian doesn't have another major disruption in his life. Return Sebastian to the new home he now has with his great-aunt. Do not cut this child in two.

SUSAN DOWNING, ST. PAUL

After the Twin Cities regulated the large smokestack industries, our air quality initially improved. But officials have neglected the smaller fires ("More pollution clogs metro," April 25).

As back-yard recreational fires and wood-grill restaurants become increasingly popular, they add heavily to the burden of particulate matter that clogs the air in the Twin Cities. It would be far easier and less costly to eliminate this unnecessary wood smoke than to remove old cars from the road.

SUE ROMAIN, MINNEAPOLIS

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So the great politicians of Minnesota just cannot help themselves with comments on the great state of North Dakota ("No shiny dome, OK. But NoDak has oil," April 22). Jealousy is such an ugly emotion. Where would we start? North Dakota not only has no debt, but a healthy surplus of funds.

Oh, and there's much more. I'm not sure why "successful" Minnesota politicians seem bent on making fun of North Dakota rather than solving their own state issues, of which there are plenty. So keep mocking the state west of you. I wonder what color the Vikings will wear when they relocate?

STEVE WYATT, FARGO, N.D.

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I'm horrified that a Vikings stadium deal is even being considered. It is not the function of the government to give money to billionaires to build playgrounds for millionaires in what is already a highly profitable industry.

One of the government's functions is to deal with infrastructure and transportation. Take the hundreds of millions of dollars that are being considered for the Wilf family and use them, instead, for mass transit. I implore legislators not to waste our money on this foolish endeavor.

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I've never been as embarrassed as I was the moment it was determined that the marriage amendment would be placed on the fall ballot. The thought of codifying unhappiness for a group of people who have done no wrong in our state Constitution is too absurd to imagine. Yet it may happen in just a few months.