Grab It Like You Want It

Re "Chain Letters" (Cover Story, Jan. 16): Thank you for your excellent coverage of juvenile justice and lack thereof in Santa Clara County. Your coverage of this and other overlooked issues, such as toxics in Silicon Valley and in EPA, is well-researched, readable and even has good visuals to boot. Sure makes me grab Metro when I see it.

P.S. I wish you would take on the issue of the proposed stadium in Santa Clara. Talk about a ripoff!

Gail Sredanovic

Menlo Park

Thanks, Gail! Check online for our past coverage of the twists and turns in Santa Clara's stadium drama.

—Editor

A Different Tune

Re "I Sing of Ron Paul," (MetroNews, Jan. 9): Maybe he should write a song about the Ron Paul newsletters. How Martin Luther King was a sexual predator, and how the Watts riots subsided so that Blacks could collect welfare checks? Ron Paul can go to hell.

Yancey Jasper

Columbus, Ohio

Oscar Party Off

It is with great regret that due to the writers strike and the uncertainty of the Live Oscar broadcast on Feb, 24, 2008, the San Jose Pride Board of Directors has decided to cancel our annual Oscar Party in a bid to minimize any financial loss we may incur should the broadcast not proceed.

As you may already know, the Golden Globes was canceled two weeks prior to airing; unfortunately we cannot afford the financial outlay required to host our fabulous evening at the Hotel Valencia to have it canceled on us days prior to the event. The Hotel Valencia is a great supporter of this event and they are working closely with us to minimize our current financial obligations per our contract. As part of this we intend to host an alternative fundraising event sometime in the spring at the same exclusive venue.

We would like to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and hope that you understand the reasons for making this difficult decision. As a nonprofit organization it is important that we do the right thing for the community to ensure Festival funds are spent wisely and appropriately.

Steven Cochrane

San Jose Pride

The Problem Is With VTA

Re "Prius, Schmius" (Cover Story, Dec. 12): When are you going to do a front-page article on the unconcerned VTA. Here is just one experience, and there is a VTA Riders Union as well with even more stories regarding VTA. When it concerns the people of Santa Clara County and what they have to deal with, VTA is one of the most unconcerned. We who take public transportation in Santa Clara County want to be heard.

Nov. 13: The 101 Express bus was leaving three minutes early (8:20 am) from Camden and 85. I was on the 65 waiting to be left at the next stop at 85 and Camden so I could transfer on to the 101 Express bus as I did every morning. The 101 was leaving and at the lights under the bridge going towards Palo Alto by 8:21 am. This was the second time in one week that I endured this situation. The exact same situation happened on Nov. 7, where the bus driver did not wait to leave at 8:23am, as scheduled. On that day it took me 2 1/2 hours to get to work. The first time I called on Nov. 7, a supervisor was supposed to call me and they never did. I am very disappointed with VTA, I lost 2 1/2 hours of pay from my work in one week. Not to mention that I might lose my job as well for being late twice within the week.

I have always believed that VTA is a good source of travel, especially for the fact that it helps the ecology by keeping less cars off the road. I do not believe this anymore and when people ask me I will tell them about my experience with the buses and customer service with VTA. I believe that there are big communication problems and mechanical problems with the buses. Thank you very much for stressing me and the other people who have missed their bus because of the different drivers who don't have a clue about the people who ride every work day and depend on VTA. I am sure and I know this happens frequently. You wonder why people do not trust the bus; well, this is one of the reasons. I was left there at the bus stop. Customer service said, "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry" does not get me to work. I don't believe for one minute that they were sorry.

Then there are the issues of having to use the 522 or 22 bus to get to work in Palo Alto, homeless people sleeping on the bus snoring, the smell of urine, wet floors and dirty windows. Wow, what a treat. Who can argue with VTA that they care.

Rose Montes

Campbell

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