Letters

Badge Company
Regarding Patricia Calhoun's June 19 column, "Putting the Boulder Police on Report":

Westword's persistence on the Ramseys and Boulder was a good thing in the beginning. But now, go after the parents or Boulder government and please, let this little child rest in peace. JonBenet Ramsey did nothing to deserve to be murdered or to be personally violated again by Westword or Peter Boyles just for the sake of a newspaper or a talk show!

Michelle Bon
via the Internet

The press, and in particular the alternative press, has an obligation to be open-minded. "Putting the Boulder Police on Report" violated this principle by waging criticism for the sake of criticism.

The Boulder Police Master Plan is a comprehensive and progressive outline of Boulder's police services and community needs. The master plan provides a blueprint to guide Boulder beyond immediate crises and incidents into a more hopeful future. The master planning process provides a model to involve community members in solving community problems, a brilliant extension of local participatory democracy. As a member of the Public Safety Task Force, I am surprised that Patricia Calhoun did not mention the Boulder Police Department's commitment to shifting the emphasis of policing from mere law enforcement to crime prevention. Furthermore, it seems contrary to the goals of Westword to criticize a department open to change.

Kevin King
Boulder

Normally I'm not one to run to the defense of pretentious Boulder, but in this case I will. You see, I was a friend of Lorraine Lawrence, one of the few people she knew and trusted. Unfortunately, Lorraine was an epileptic and did die of exposure. There was no conspiracy here, asshole.Grant D. Cyrus

Boulder
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Good going, Calhoun: The fact that Boulder recognized problems in its police department before JonBenet's murder makes it even harder to see how they could blow the investigation.

Jack Werner
Denver

Letty Alone
Regarding Steve Jackson's "To Grandmother's House We Go," in the June 12 issue, and "Mommy Dearest," in the May 22 issue:

I found the Letty issue very disturbing. What has this woman done to deserve this treatment? I'm sure she has worked hard all of her life caring for her home, husband and children, and to be repaid in this manner is an insult. Why can't people just leave Letty alone?

From what information I have read, Letty is the only one who has any sense in the whole matter. She admits she needs some help, and she doesn't seem negative to the idea of part-time home health care; maybe in the future she'll need more.

I would also like to know who died and made the judge in this case counsel, fact witness, expert witness, fact-finder and God over this defenseless little old lady. Letty's life--or what is left of it--is all turned around and upside down (I would be confused myself) because of a daughter who should be happy that she still has a mother and should be happy to pay for any extra care her mother needs. After all, she is the one who married the millionaire. Leave Letty alone!

Smokie Shonk
Denver

Editor's note: On behalf of Letty Milstein, lawyers Cris Campbell and Drew Petrie filed a petition with the Colorado Supreme Court to have Judge Jean Stewart's ruling set aside and the judge herself removed from the case. But the two justices considering that request split, so last week the petition was denied. The attorneys now are considering taking Letty's case to the Colorado Court of Appeals.

A Day at the Racists
Let's axe a simple question regarding the letters commenting on the Manual High School seniors' edition of their newspaper (Karen Bowers's "What's Black and White and Rude All Over?," June 12): "Do it be fair to urge employers to avoid all those graduating seniors on grounds of illiteracy and gleeful obscenity and misogyny?"

Yes, it do. The newspaper has the tacit approval of all Manual students and the backing of its silly editor, the journalism advisor and the principal. The latter three and the offenders can draw the wagons in a circle and sniff that all us white racist types don't unnerstan' black folks and young kids havin' fun. You right. We don't and don' wanna.

Pat Bourgeron
Denver

Brush With Greatness
Michael Paglia's June 19 column, "Six for Eight," was superb. Paglia is Denver's best art critic and one of Colorado's finest art historians. This latest piece for Westword has to be on the Ten Best of Paglia list. Only Paglia can verbally outduel Paglia. His rapier wit combined with a brilliant sense of good art make him a rare and very important asset to the Denver art scene.

Thomas Turnquist
Lakewood

Bat-Ugly
I agree with Peter Rainer in regard to "Batman Loses One," his June 19 review of Batman and Robin. I mean, the action scenes and special effects were great, but it's the excess of plot and length, along with the characters' repetitiveness and cheesy one-liners, that hurt this movie.

Take the three heroes, for example: You've got Batman and Robin, who fight with each other as much as they fight crime. While wishing Batgirl will get a custom-made clear-colored suit from her Uncle Alfred, we see nothing more than a padded bat-bra. Then there are the bad guys. Uma Thurman looks hot but overdoes it as she blows pink dust at everybody and their mothers. As Mr. Freeze uses nearly every one-liner in the book and Robin brings back the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' "Cowabunga!" line, I felt like I should've just stayed home and watched The Crush again. Too bad I didn't read your review sooner--I would have saved eight bucks.