Even though everyone is out attending faroff college graduations or visiting out of state campuses there were enough people in town to keep things interesting and the comment streams flowing this week.
What did you want to talk about? Most everything that went up on Patch this week drew fire or flattery, and it was nice to know you were still out there listening and reading.
A letter from a Lafayette resident concerned by camping out on local corners sparked questions and pique from readers:
"The man I spoke with said he was from Michoacán and although he didn't admit it I gathered that he had neglected to secure the proper immigration papers when he arrived in California. I can only assume that Californians tend to turn a blind eye to people entering their state illegally as long as they are willing to do low cost yard work or sell them cheap produce." -- Sue Haas
"Yes! Let's crack down on them and while we're at it, the kids' lemonade stands and their parents who condone this kind of behavior. Then let's round up those kids who keep peddling their lawn mowing and window washing services. When they're all caught, we'll go after the kids who have a flourishing babysitting service -- no one's paying taxes on those wages! Thanks for reminding me of this travesty.
My guess is that if they were able to open a store of their own and sell produce, they would do so. Perhaps our local governments make it too hard for hard working people to do so?" -- Theresa
Are Letters to the Editor read around here? They sure are. So are short stories we post from time to time we hope will educate people on how to use the and keep the commenting playing field level for everyone.
"Your title was misleading, J.D., suggesting that just because someone doesn't like my comment, that's reason enough to flag it, so I'm glad to see the "fat" on your "skinny" made it all clear!
As for me, I'd just as soon see everyone's comments -- ugly or not. It gives me a sense of who that person is." -- Theresa
"I'm still more apt to believe that it's either a case of people trying to out-do each other, which would suggest many comments are worthless since they don't represent true thoughts, or people in this area are simply a few peas short of a casserole." -- David Holden (post slightly abridged to keep on topic)
"Having been born and raised in Orinda and lived in Lafayette for the past 15 years, I learned a long time ago that education, intelligence and/or wealth do not always mean common sense . . . or even ANY sense! The comments section has time and again borne that view out..." -- Gavilan
Ouch. Moving right along, let's move along to a brief we did on the upcoming ban on :
"What a joke.
Geese aren't people. Livestock are not pets. Harvesting animal protein is always inhumane at some level which is, in part, why we don't do it to humans.
If you don't like the end product, don't buy it. If you like the end product, but not the method of production, don't buy it.
If you like freedom, please don't ban popular things that you don't like." -- Chris Nicholson
"I have to agree with Chris. Personally, I do not like the idea of foie gras, so I don't eat it or buy it. But it's not really my business to police other people regarding foie gras or other meat products. Do I discourage my husband from eating it? No. Can we as human survive without it? Absolutely." -- Amanda
"Can someone answer me this? If "foie gras" is to be banned, will "terrine of foie gras" suffer the same fate? I'm afraid it will, but am hoping I'm wrong. (And I'll find out in the first weeks of July, anyway.) My body can't handle pure foie gras anymore, but I love a good terrine on a warm toast point..." Eileen McPeake
After asking Patchers to we asked -- and to comment on its flaws and successes:
"We love Lafeyette, the people, small town feel with a thriving downtown, excellent schools, beautiful hillsides and collaborative leadership." -- Karen Maggio
"I wish the City Council would STAND UP to One Bay Area Plan.
People need to WAKE UP - there is a fascist take over of Lafayette (and the USA)
Democracy is being phased out. VERY sad and VERY calculated." -- KFrances
And with breaking news a big part of what we cover around here we were gratified to receive a letter from a resident who appeared to appreciate our coverage of a :
"Thank you Patch; I just came on-line to check if you had any news on this...there are numerous sirens and a helicopter hovering in our neighborhood, and I am concerned about what might be going on. This certainly puts the relatively minor inconvenience of having mailboxes up and down the street smashed into pieces last night into perspective." -- Claire (our new best friend).
In the "pushing everybody's buttons" category we offered what we thought were a couple of straightforward and methods for investigating those allegations. In the process, apparently, we managed to get everyone in town commenting and pretty dang angry:
"Thanks Sean for getting the story directly from the source. The erratic speculation from patch commenters regarding the who, what, when and where of these teachers and thier "suport" of Correa had completely spiraled out of control." -- Mike D.
"I find it hard to believe the information contained in the above video. Since the bail hearing that was attended was very late into the investigation, just weeks before the trial , much information had been released to the public. It would be like supporting Sandusky at a hearing that was set weeks before the trial date. And while the three current teachers in question did not attend any other court sessions others administrators and teachers from JM did. I do believe that Correa had many victims including all JM teachers and administrators, her family, past students, and especially Kristen and her familly. May we all heal from this nightmare." -- Myrna Iarsen
"Finally, the smoking gun:
"Our information was limited to Julie's statement that she had been falsely accused by Kristen".
There. By showing up, THEY BELIEVED THAT CORREA HAD BEEN "FALSELY ACCUSED". That means they explicitly disbelieved and disregarded the claims of their former student, Cunnane, claims that were serious enough and sufficiently based in fact that Correa was arrested and 23 criminal charges brought. Case closed." -- Andrew L.
"Andrew, your logic is flawed, in my opinion. If she chose to do so our friend Deborah could probably point out the symptoms: use of all caps, assuming those who disagree with you are "friends of the teachers in question" or supporters of pedophilia, associating yourself with Ms. Cunane's mother in some way... Your strongest foundation at this point is not objectivity, its the benefit of hindsight and a simplistic view of the world.
Case closed... ?" -- Ed
After fielding comments from folks interested in new pictures of a wide ranging -- or perhaps just likes to wear his "lucky" bank robbing togs, the really big law enforcement topic of the week came with our story on a police investigation and arrests at two downtown :
"What a waste of police resources...." -- Charlie Parker
"The LPD's action resulted in the end of afternoon delight for some "clients" -- yesterday and in the futre. Good work -- by the police, that is." -- Mark Roberts
"Legalize it. Regulate it. Make it as safe as possible. Not the nicest way to make a living but some people choose this career path." -- Margaret Faller
And we'll give Margaret the last word this week as we move along, in search of more stories and someone to handle moderation of our comment stream full time in the weeks to come.
Keep the comments coming, folks, we're listening.
