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Pasco Letters to the Editor

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

March Against Cancer

May and Mother's Day have come and gone. The candy has been eaten, flowers have wilted and jewelry put away. However, there is still time to give your mother another gift - a gift of a lifetime.

Encourage her to get a mammogram.

For me, "M" is synonymous with three things: May, Mother's Day and mammograms. Each May I make my appointment for my mammogram. This only makes sense since this year in Florida, breast cancer will strike over 13,100 women, and more than 2,400 will die.

The following statistics should make everyone take notice: "Every three hours, one woman in Florida dies from breast cancer and almost one million women over 40 have never had a mammogram."

Early detection and treatment are the keys to extending the number of survivors and also the length of survival. The American Cancer Society is dedicated to preventing cancer, saving lives and diminishing suffering through research, education, advocacy, services and early detection. This all takes money.

One way the ACS raises funds is through its annual 5K walk, "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer." Money from this helps fund services in your community.

An article in the May 14 issue of USA Today indicates the ACS does a great job in this area: For every dollar earned, 89 cents goes for research and patient services.

This year, the sixth annual walk for Pasco and Hernando counties will be held Oct. 25 at Little Everglades Steeplechase in Dade City. Registration begins at 8 a.m.

By joining others in this worthwhile cause, you too can do your part to help stamp out this dreaded disease. We owe it to our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and ourselves to get involved.

Just think; the life you save may be your own. And while we are thinking about this, let's remember that men also are vulnerable to breast cancer.

Get involved. Organize a team. Sponsor a walker. Volunteer for the event. Learn how to protect yourself. Get a mammogram. If you do not have insurance, there are still ways to get a mammogram. Call the ACS for information.

Individuals, businesses and organizations can learn more about setting up a team, volunteering for this event or providing a sponsorship by calling Cindy at 1-800-940-1969, ext. 106, or contact me at commpat@aol.com.

We also honor survivors at the walk. If you are a survivor, we want to know. You can register at www .cancer.org/stridesonline.

See you in Dade City.

PAT MULIERI

Spring Hill

'Patently False Assumption'

Regarding "Public Deserves Explanation After Arrest," Tom Jackson, Sunday:

I have to take exception with Jackson's column about the DUI arrest of Port Richey Councilman Steve O'Neill.

To criticize O'Neill's fellow council members for failing to take him to task during last Tuesday's meeting is simply irresponsible. In fact, I became aware of this situation while scanning the Web version of The St. Petersburg Times on the Wednesday evening following the council meeting.

I am certain that this information had also been withheld from at least some of my other fellow council members. I still have yet to receive any notification from any source other than reading the paper and watching the news on TV.

Once you get past the patently false assumption that I purposefully declined to address this issue in some misguided attempt to protect the councilman's reputation, the question remains as to whether or not the topic is appropriate in the context of a council meeting.

Certainly, each council member is free to expound upon practically any subject they feel is relevant. However, in light of the fact that the council is powerless to act in any meaningful way to address a misdemeanor violation by a council member, to what end is this subject broached?

There is nothing to be gained for the citizens of Port Richey by bringing this issue forth in council chambers. It will not result in lower taxes, more reasonable insurance rates or improved services.

It will not help us overcome the budget shortfalls resulting from Amendment 1 or bring us any closer to dredging our polluted canals.

It will not bring us even one inch closer to repairing the rift between highly polarized political factions within the city or addressing the messy municipal codes that continue to pit neighbor against neighbor and citizen against public servant.

Mr. Jackson, you are free to make any assumption you wish. As a journalist, it is to your advantage to check the facts in advance of publishing your work but evidently not a firm requirement. You may continue to maintain your indignation with the knowledge that at least this particular council member would have acted no differently.

PERRY BEAN

Port Richey

'Never-Ending' Agenda

Regarding "10 Years Later," May 26:

The basic premise of Arthur Hayhoe's letter, that a simple background check at a gun show would have prevented the murderous rampage of Hank Earl Carr, is absurd.

Two of the victims of this crazed killer were Tampa police detectives. Carr murdered them after he opened his handcuffs with a hidden handcuff key, physically attacked the officers in their vehicle and used their pistols to kill them. At that time the rifle in question had been locked in the police car's trunk.

No one knows how Carr acquired the SKS rifle, which caused the death of a young boy and which Carr later used to murder a Florida Highway Patrol trooper in Wesley Chapel.

Carr, a wanted career criminal, used at least three aliases. He surely was aware of the black market in firearms and likely took advantage of it. He cared less that Florida and federal law prohibited him from possessing or buying any firearm. Criminals don't obey the law. Only law-abiding citizens do.

Firearm sales at gun shows are subject to the same state and federal laws as any other firearm sales within Florida. There are no exceptions for gun shows. State firearm laws are purposely uniform, and there is no reason to create special rules for gun shows. All changes in firearm law are the business of the state, not the counties.

Hayhoe's latest attack on gun shows again presents distorted facts and false conclusions. It's another example of his advocation of a never-ending gun control agenda, one that defies reality and, in this case, manipulates tragedy.

LEE HANSON

Bayonet Point

The writer is a Pasco County commissioner. The writer is a Port Richey city councilman.

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