Readers Write: (Nov. 2): Corporate sponsorship, care of the disabled, residential parking, voter awareness, good news, bad news

When the Minnesota Vikings at first announced earlier this season that Adrian Peterson would play in their next game, they did so in front of a background fabric that mingled their own logo with Radisson's. Sponsors did not appreciate the association, and it is widely believed that financial pressure led the team to reverse its decision about Peterson playing before his court resolution.

So how does TCF feel about its logo sharing the day with the racist image provided by the Washington football team?

A warning to local corporations considering paying for naming rights: Consider what will be associated with your name, and whether you might be subject to bad publicity, or even someday a call for a boycott.

There is no excuse for people to be treated worse than animals and put in restraints and seclusion when they are having a mental-health crisis ("Harsh practices plague homes for the disabled," Oct. 26).

I applaud the steps taken to prevent crisis throughout the state, but that will not totally eliminate crises from occurring, no more than lowering cholesterol can absolutely prevent a heart attack. There will be times that people with disabilities will not be able to control the symptoms of their disorders and will be in crisis.

State-licensed programs must be trained in verbal and nonverbal de-escalation skills and techniques to eliminate this reprehensible treatment. We are not in the Middle Ages anymore. We have best practices to handle crisis situations. It is time for the state Department of Human Services to adopt and implement these best practices for crisis intervention. Why is Minnesota stalling?

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It would have been more informative to report if the investigated practices are concentrated among a certain segment of group homes.

Regarding the Oct. 26 letter stating that residential permit parking on public streets is a violation of public access to public property, I would like to give an opinion from the residents' point of view.

In my neighborhood of Minneapolis, we have paid by having assessments added to our property tax bills for the resurfacing and replacement of our streets, for the new streetlights (which replaced all the streetlights we had before), and just last year for the replacement of sidewalks throughout the entire neighborhood as deemed necessary by the city. We have paid for total neighborhood replacement of the curbs and gutters. We are expected to maintain our own boulevards. We must keep our sidewalks cleared of snow and ice.

I believe these responsibilities and assessments entitle us to be able to park in front of our residences.

I agree with D.J. Tice that there is a potential negative aspect to getting a high turnout of low-information voters ("Which risk is worse: Low turnout or high tune-out?" Oct. 26), but I'd like to disagree with one paragraph in his commentary. He says: "Of course, people can know where their interests lie without knowing much about the news. And, of course, they have every right to vote those interests; they should face no unnecessary obstacles."

The Oct. 26 paper was filled with inspiring stories. As I sat with coffee looking out at beautiful fall trees, I was delighted to read of retirees enjoying migrant work; the success of Schuler Shoes (my favorite); the return of the bison to the prairie; Greg Lemond's well-deserved return to the limelight; the grandma-run support group, and the inspiring Nuns in the Hood. I came within inches of signing up for classes at Rassoul Dastmozd's St. Paul College, even if I am long retired.

After weeks of negative political ads and mudslinging, after nonstop Ebola and ISIL and climate change and another high school shooting, suddenly, on this quiet late fall Sunday, the Star Tribune gave me a paper with good news in every section.

Perhaps this has happened before and I was too busy or too harried to notice. I noticed this time, and I want to send a very heartfelt "thank you."

The Oct. 25 issue of the Star Tribune did a wonderful (albeit unintentional) job of distilling the virulent absurdity inflicted upon our everyday lives by the forces of modern consumerism.

On the front page, the top headline profiled a series of interactive smartphone apps using a sort of digital Orwellian hypnotism designed to promote an "urge to splurge" among shoppers. How convenient. The next headline informed us that a chef's wages can hardly put food on the table anymore, which apparently is nothing to worry about, because upon turning to the Business section, we learn that cooking skills will be altogether unnecessary this "holiday" season, because the Almighty Market hath decreed the quaint historical sabbath of "Thanksgiving dinner" obsolete, due to the fact that major retailers can no longer afford to keep their doors barred until Black Friday chimes at midnight, because it is (allegedly) very important for Macy's to make a little more money the day before the day it has "traditionally" made the most money in our fervent rush to profane yet another "holy day," this one commemorating the birth of a revolutionary, anti-capitalist medicine man with a penchant for helping the poor. Does any of this make any sense? I surely hope it does not.