Readers Write: Release of minks in Stearns County, Mayo Clinic and Albert Lea, vices like menthol cigarettes and drinking, journalism hall of shame

Thirty-eight thousand live animals (minks) recently were released by "burglars" from a central Minnesota farm (Minnesota section, July 18). Stearns County Sheriff Don Gudmundson said, "These nitwits think they are doing something good." He continued, "The mink don't know where to go. They've never been out of their cages." Why do you think these animals were released? Is it humane to cage a live being for its entire life simply to create fancy coats? Some people believe that we should not abuse animals for our pleasure. I applaud them for their strong message. Will we ever listen?

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Those idiots who released all those minks in Stearns County have no idea whatsoever as to what they've done. They have caused more pain and agony to those minks than the animals ever would have received in their pens. I'm very sure they were being well-fed and taken care of by the operators; it was their livelihood. Now the minks will starve, get killed by dogs, get run over, possibly kill family pets and possibly attack children. They have caused huge problems for the area around that farm! Very ignorant.

In reference to "Ill will over hospital changes" (July 18), we believe pertinent information was left unstated. For more than 150 years, Mayo Clinic's primary value has been "the needs of the patient come first." However, the consequences to residents in the Freeborn County area seem life-threatening on many levels. Mayo has admitted to a lack of communication, and our area citizens, their patients, have unanswered questions about continued care and the impact of Mayo's decision to transfer our rural community hospital to another community. Representatives from Mayo confirmed they had not completed a community-impact study (regarding social and economic repercussions) before making this community-critical decision; they have also confirmed that they are unwilling to postpone their plan until such a study is completed. We are committed to keeping a full-service acute care hospital in Albert Lea, Minn.; consequently, we are calling on support from U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, Gov. Mark Dayton, and U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken.

The writer is co-chair of Save Our Hospital.

As a former Minneapolis City Council member and as someone who has a long history of advocating for public health, I am pleased to see the council taking an important step to protect the next generation from the harms of tobacco, which is the No. 1 preventable cause of death in Minnesota ("To stop teen smokers, Mpls. aims to restrict menthol sales," July 6).

Tobacco use and menthol in particular play a big role in health disparities in our city. Cigarettes are not food. They are not medicine. They are as addictive as heroin. They are highly engineered drug-delivery devices that when used as directed cause harm and possibly death. The African-­American community is disproportionately affected by health problems from tobacco use. This didn't happen by accident. The tobacco industry has a very long history of targeting our communities. They spend millions of dollars each year in Minnesota to recruit new smokers. I think it is time for us to put a stop to this by protecting our young people.

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St. Louis Park has joined Edina in raising the tobacco sales age to be 21 (Star Tribune, July 19). Why isn't the state doing anything in regard to the liquor law? A lot more damage is done with drinking than cigarettes. College kids are freezing to death or falling in rivers because they are so drunk. People are driving while drunk and killing innocent people. People destroy their health and rack up thousands of dollars because of their drinking. Let's not forget the violent drinkers who go home and beat the crap out of family members. If you smoke, you pay more for insurance, but if you drink, no problem. You can vote at 18 and serve your country, but you can't smoke. Maybe we should up the legal drinking age to 25 and not allow any liquor commercials on TV.

Two of my friends were describing the inspiring events, speakers and discussions at the Women of the ELCA gathering last weekend. When I read the story in the Star Tribune ("Gathering of Lutheran women highlights growing global role," July 15), I applauded the reporting of the positive, world-changing work of these women. Then I read the zinger about "sensible shoes and pedal-pusher pants." I couldn't decide if this was ageist or sexist or simply a snarky put-down in the guise of cute and colorful reporting. I am 66, and the last time I recall wearing pedal pushers was when I was 10 or 12 years old. If you look it up on Wikipedia, pedal pushers were fashionable in the 1950s and '60s; none of my friends of any age wears pedal pushers today.

But the bigger question is: Why mention this at all? It may not be a huge issue compared with health care, education, sex-trafficking, the environment and election-meddling, but it surely matters to women and girls everywhere who would prefer to be acknowledged for their ideas, skills and actions than for what they are wearing or how they look.

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Oh, please. "Think clowns are scary? Wait until you meet the guests at St. Paul's Puppetry Festival" (Artcertera blog, StarTribune.com, July 18). The performance of "Ashes" by Plexus Polaire, part of the Puppeteers of America National Puppetry Festival at the Pearson Theatre at Concordia University, was a superb telling of psychological forces within the human psyche, masterfully executed by internationally known puppeteers. It is the epitome of ignorance to reduce this production to the level of scary clowns or creepy ventriloquist characters. What an embarrassment. I was in the audience that night and can tell you that the reviewer was so off-base in his assessment of the production that I'm actually writing a letter to the editor, which I never do! Please, in the future, if the Star Tribune is going to review such productions, send someone out who has knowledge of the craft.

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It was totally wrong for the Star Tribune to write an article that tends to promote obesity ("Ditching the diet," July 20). With all the health problems related to being overweight, the newspaper should be writing articles that promote healthy living. But instead, the article makes it sound like it is all right to give up dieting and exercising. You should be ashamed.