Those dome lights
Dear Jack: I am glad you wrote about Anthony Anthos ("Uncovered bridge," Metro Times, March 7), who I met once at a Lansing City Council meeting. He had red, white and blue baubles on his hat, if I recall, and addressed the council on his favorite subject: lighting the Capitol Dome with red, white and blue lights.
He was a very impassioned man, and I respected his ardor. He seemed like he had had a rough life and seemed very damaged, but I supported his idea when I first heard it because, having lived in Lansing for more than three years while attending Cooley Law School, I know that Lansing is pretty boring at night. If you are lucky you might see a fish swimming through the labyrinth they call the Fish Ladder, or you might see one of the many bats or cockroaches that adorn downtown Lansing.
But if Jack Lessenberry has his way, one thing you will not see is the dome shining in our national colors, though it would be a beautiful way to honor a man who was murdered for his sexual orientation. (Instead, they painted over the dome, going from a white to a dull gray that is atrocious. You used to be able to see the dome from East Lansing, now can't see it as clearly, at least the last time I was up there.) A well-lit dome could boost the number of people who go to Lansing — if you are so darned worried about the state economy.
Metro Times, as an "alternative" paper should not be in the business of shooting down the ideas of common people. Instead, although I am not sure you have a positive bone in your body, Jack, you and your employer could try to help raise the $150,000 you say is needed to implement Mr. Anthos' idea. Let's do this and honor a man who was probably more intense than you and I put together. —Mike Wrathell, Sterling Heights
A giant sucking sound
Re: Jack Lessenberry's recent column on the environmental health of the Great Lakes ("Destroying the Great Lakes," Metro Times, March 14), a lead-in to another article could be: "How would you like it if one day you woke up to a multinational corporation taking the water away from right under your countryside home, and the governor calls this a 'consumptive use' and not a 'diversion' of Great Lakes water?" Last year Nestle-Ice Mountain removed 220 million gallons of water from Michigan, which is more than what the Nova Group in Canada wanted to ship (158 million gallons) to Asia in 1999. There goes Michigan water — one plastic bottle at a time! —Donald Roy, Big Rapids
Dead end
Re: Your recent News Hits item about the coverage of the Tara Lynn Grant murder ("Murder binge," Metro Times, March 7): I agree. I can't leave the daily papers on the table at home anymore, now that my kids can read. There is too much murder, mayhem and bad news above the fold. For several years now, we won't turn on the local evening TV news when children are around for the same reasons.
I've tried to limit my Detroit News subscription to a day or two on the weekend, but they keep sending me extra days at no additional charge, in must be a lame attempt to inflate circulation. It ends up just filling the recycling bin, mostly unread. —David W. Fleig, Detroit
Erratum: Last week's cover story, "Let the sunshine in" (Metro Times, March 14), should have listed the names of the Wayne State University students who participated in the study. Their names are: Deleano Acevedo, Tamara Azrak, KaKela Baker, Nicholas Bashour, 'Yala Beard, Christopher Bodley, Dena Brodman, Jeffrey Buck, Kevin Bunch, Elaine Burnett, Ceasar Butler, Matthew Cammarata, Malikha Ceasar, Carolyn Chin, Katherine Cockrell, Jessica Cohen, Aliyah Collins, Joseph Dicostanza, Jonathan Eppley, Yvette Ford, Julianne Franzen, Rebecca Gade, John Garcia, Vanessa Hajjar, Stephen Hart, Dan Heraty, Christy Hinton, Bianca Jacobs, Kristine Julian, Patrick Kenny, Tamara Kincaid, Andrew Kowalkowski, Jeff Laubernds, Catherine Leverett, Michael Lundy, Marlon Mason, Jade Mathis, Amanda Mika, Rebecca Miller, Anthony Minne, Kerrie Mitchell, Finessa Motta, Caitlin Muciek, Erica Murphy, Sean Murphy, Russ Palmitier, J. Patrick Pepper, Capri Ramsey, Nicole Roland, Jason Rzucidlo, Amarinder Singh, Kasey Trombley, Bowdeya Tweh and Stacey Wilson.
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