Full Disclosure: Enjoyed It, Appreciated It, and So Did the ’Hood

I just finished reading the Alberto Ibargüen cover story by John Dorschner (“Idea Man,” January 2019). I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the read. In fact, I needed to be doing something else, but I was so intrigued by the article that I put it off for a bit.

Anyway, it was a great read. I appreciated John’s disclosure [about working under Ibargüen at the Herald and once for the Knight Foundation] early on in the piece, which simply helps to reiterate that I trust the news I read in your paper.

All my neighbors read Biscayne Times cover to cover every month, and it’s the basis of many discussions over long walks around the ’hood.

Lisa Mozloom
Miami

Wonderful, Even If It Was Ginormous

Thank you for John Dorschner’s wonderful and timely piece, his “Idea Man” interview with Alberto Ibargüen. I read every word, despite its “ginormous” length.

Alberto was a visionary when he was publisher of the Miami Herald, and he continues to shine light today.

Roman Lyskowski
Coral Gables

Journalism? No, Thanks... Celebrities, Gore, Comics? Yes!

That was a great, highly informative interview with Alberto Ibargüen and his view on the perilous state of the free press and First Amendment in the country these days.

I suspect Mr. Ibargüen is worth every penny and then some of that handsome salary he draws, but the work of the Knight Foundation is priceless beyond measure. Journalism is a cornerstone of a free state, and the lifeblood an informed electorate. It is disheartening to have witnessed so many newspaper and website closures. But as Mr. Ibargüen said, if people aren’t buying, you can’t make them.

So what do we pay attention to? Celebrity gossip, horror and gore, the lives of the über rich, and Marvel comics. Lord help us.

Antonia Morris
Miami

Proud of Her Son, the Mensch

I enjoyed Jenni Person’s article “Mama’s Mensch” (January 2019), and I think it’s admirable for her son to have chosen something as worthy as gun control for his mitzvah project.

Being Christian and having lived most of my life in Manhattan, I was familiar with words like “mitzvah” and “mensch,” but I hope others will understand how important this milestone is in her son’s life. A mitzvah is more than a favor; it’s a deed that makes the world a better place. And a mensch isn’t just another word for “man” but carries the implication of being that rare someone with a deep desire to do good.

I am thankful for the contribution this young man is making, not only now for his Bar Mitzvah, but that I suspect he will continue to make in many ways as his life unfolds. And that will make the world a better place for all of us.

Howard Stowe
Miami Shores

Put an End to Green Think

Regarding the “Neighborhood Correspondent” column by John Ise, “Your Green Lawn Is Dead” (January 2019), here’s hoping that “green lawn think” is dead soon along the Miami Shores Village stretch of Biscayne Boulevard. That would mean the city has ripped out the high-maintenance plants that require shutting down a lane of traffic in both directions during rush hour, and replaced them with indigenous plants that can get by without constant watering and leaf holding.

I would love to see scrub palmetto and other xeriscape plants growing in those landscape islands -- and never again a landscape maintenance crew.

DC Copeland
Miami Shores

Mr. Sanchez, Meet Mr. Cruz?

In his letter “Annoyed with Activists,” running in the January BT, Jorge Sanchez of Palm Grove wrote that “another ‘activist’ (Elvis Cruz) decided to sue the city, on the grounds that Miami should plant palm trees to please the tourists; and that, according to him, palm trees also provide shade.”

I have no idea why Mr. Sanchez would write that, as no such lawsuit ever happened. I have never sued the City of Miami regarding trees.

Nor do I recall ever having met or having conversed with Mr. Sanchez.

Strange.

Elvis Cruz
Morningside

Nice Sell on Reporting

Mark Sell is excellent at keeping us informed on local governance and municipal department matters in North Miami and North Miami Beach. His January column, “Power Grab Fail,” on the North Miami Beach tenuous hold on chaos, is no exception, barely beating out his story about the North Miami delegation and it’s “Passage to India” (December 2018) for absurdity.

Keep up the good work. It’s refreshing to read political stories that stay true to the facts, fill them out with context, and add a dose of wry humor.

Nancy Swopes
Keystone Point

Chomping No More

Our terrier is just seven and recently had half his teeth pulled due to gum disease like that described in Janet Goodman’s recent “Pet Talk” column (“The Choppers Challenge,” January 2019). We are heartbroken because we knew about brushing all along, but we kept saying he was too wriggly and hard to handle when it came time to sit down and do the brushing.

We paid a hefty financial price, and he’s now on a diet of soft, canned food, which may make his remaining teeth more prone to decay down the road. So word to the wise: Pets gets periodontal disease!

Chris Fernandez
Miami

He Is the King

Jack King tells it like he thinks it, no holds barred, and “Dumpster” be damned (“The Dumpster and the Wall,” January 2019). There are lots of journalists, economists, scientists, professors, lawyers, and federal employees who can point out Trump’s verifiable lies, nepotism, cronyism, collusion, the indictments and sentences -- but there’s no one like our Miami king of the heap.

Please keep it up, if for no better reason than to rile the Fan Base.

Toni Browne
Brickell

A Trump Fan Responds

Jack King, dude, you are so wrong writing that Trump is the worst “elected” president ever (“The Dumpster and the Wall”). Trump is one of the best, most effective presidents ever.

If you can get past your case of TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] and look factually, instead of emotionally, at what he has accomplished, you would see that your position is ignorant and arrogant.

Dude, get over it, and get a life!

Tony Shalom
Miami Beach

An Ode to Toaster Oven Complexity

Jack King wrote some op-ed or whatever you would call this article, where he somehow proves his point that Trump is the worst president ever, although then he claims second worst to Andrew Johnson. It is all so very confusing, but in King’s mind, I am sure it is not confusing at all.

King, after all, is a noted expert at presidential rankings, as he has a patent-protected system that clearly proves that every Democrat who has ever been in office is better than every Republican to ever hold office. I had to deduce this from his logic pattern, where at the end of the op-ed, the proof is that Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis are also the worst people to ever win elections in the State of Florida.

In King’s simplistic world, all will be right in two years, when the next election comes around, because his belief is Trump will be banished to his Isle of Elba (Manhattan) and a great Democrat in the mold of Barack Obama will be elected and will tell the “right kind” of lies that King will lap up out of his bowl of water like the obedient puppy dog logic he employs.

I have to hand it to you, Mr. King, I never get tired of watching either side of the political spectrum announce to the world their own lack of understanding of anything more complex than a toaster oven, and to have it published to boot -- you are a champion in your field of expertise.

Peter Wolfe
North Miami