Straight mom thankful for gay-marriage feature on historic Supreme Court ruling
Dear Editor,
I wanted to thank Morgan Hill Times reporter Marilyn Dubil and the Morgan Hill Times for featuring a lovely and fitting tribute to the long overdue Supreme Court ruling overturning the ban on gay marriage in our state.
I am the straight mom and step-mom of three teenage children and my husband and I have worked very hard to raise our children in an atmosphere of full acceptance and inclusion of themselves and their friends. I am overjoyed that my children will become marriage eligible in a state that recognizes the civil rights of all families.
We look forward to the federal recognition of these rights and feel proud of California's significant contribution toward this effort. I'm equally if not more proud to live in a town where we proudly recognize this accomplishment on our paper's front page.
Celia Feret, Morgan Hill
A healthy feral cat population is a good thing because cats kill the rats
Dear Editor,
While I agree with columnist Lisa Pampuch that our local governments and humanitarian organizations make it very difficult to do the right thing, being a student of history, I have to wonder if a healthy feral cat population isn't a good thing.
Let us remember the Black Death, the Great Plague, or whatever you want to call it that swept through Europe about the same time that people got it into their heads that cats, feral or otherwise, were the servants of witches which must be destroyed.
The mass extermination of cats lead to an increased population of rats, plague-carrying rats.
The whole reason behind our communities' lack of cat registration and roaming laws is that cats kill rats that carry plague and birds that carry avian flu. Feral cats serve a purpose in our community, and while their lives are hard and sometimes short, without them we could be in a heap of hurt. So, yes, trap and sterilize the ones that you can. But let Mother Nature take care of the rest. Cats are not dumb animals, if there is no food, they will move on.
Nick Stefanisko, Gilroy
Latest food scare - who knows? But the farmer takes it on the chin
Dear Editor,
The Food and Drug Administration says Salmonella outbreak is not caused by tomatoes. They think it may be from jalape'o peppers. They aren't sure about that either.
Meanwhile, tomato farmers have lost hundreds of millions of dollars. There probably not as many jalape'o pepper farmers as tomato farmers. What if it turns out to be onions, or a host of other sources? Bureaucrats at the FDA can put tomato farmers, pepper farmers and onion farmers out of business and still be wrong. Meanwhile, the cause of the Salmonella outbreak remains a mystery.
Does anyone remember the 1989 Alar apple scare? Meryl Streep testified before congress about the dangers of Alar. Apple farmers lost millions of dollars on that fiasco. No one was held accountable for that disaster either.It is time to look at how we assign these disease causes.
Keith C. De Filippis, San Jose
Plenty of San Martinians oppose incorporation for financial reasons
Dear Editor,
Please don't imply that the population of San Martin supports incorporation. I've lived here 30 years and know a lot of people in this area. Most of those I know are opposed to incorporation, principally because we don't see where funds will come from to support another layer of government, at least not without new fees/taxes.
Times are hard economically and no one wants to pay more.
Jan Webb, San Martin
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Local police compete in sharpshooting, obstacle competition
