I rarely, if ever, listen to KRBE. For that matter, I rarely listen to any station for more than a few moments before fruitlessly searching for something interesting. That is, unless I'm in Seattle and can listen to the "Aire." Houston radio stations should take a "hit" of them and blow it our way. I've heard music on that station that I've never had the good fortune to hear on the Houston scene, and that's a shame.
Sabrina C. Newlin
Houston
A Duddlesten Defender
We read your Wayne Duddlesten piece ["Hotel Whitewash," by Tim Fleck, April 23]. Wayne offered to accept minority investors. That meant he would take their money, not give them something for free. You suggested that the price was unreasonable. It didn't seem to be unreasonable for Crescent [Real Estate Equities of Fort Worth]. There is also the possibility that Wayne was taken in by the FBI when he suggested that he had investors lined up. What would you have had him do, under the circumstances? A good case can be made that Wayne acted in good faith --that he worked hard to obtain minority investors and was unsuccessful. At the very least, there is sufficient evidence that he acted honorably to give one pause before trashing him.
Alan Rudy
via Internet
Bird Fan
I was stunned when I read Margaret Downing's "Poop Happens" article [April 16]. Linda Harris needs to be persuaded to take down that barbaric bird trap. If she wants to enjoy the luxury of trees in the courtyard, she has to accept a few things: tree maintenance, falling leaves and bird shit.
The tenants who "awaken in the morning to the sound of birds" fail to get any sympathy from me. Would they prefer to awaken to gunfire or perhaps the desperate screeches of a bird trapped in Harris's homemade bird guillotine? The issue is tolerance, and humans just aren't good at it. Rather than figure out a way to live with the birds, Harris took it upon herself to just get rid of them completely.
In 30 years, one of every five species will be extinct, so to label "good" and "bad" birds and to say it's okay if you kill the "bad" ones is a practice that is going to come back and bite us all in the ass eventually. Frankly, I'd like my grandchildren to be able to see sparrows, good or bad, someday.
Some people believe that sparrows are responsible for guiding souls in and out of heaven (when a person dies or a baby is born). When that time comes, I would not want to be the person known for trapping and killing sparrows. I mean, come on, Linda Harris, don't you want to know you'll be escorted out properly instead of being forced to roam this bird-shit-covered planet, frantically searching for a way out -- a hole in the net?
Vanessa Brett Jones
Sugar Land
Please Waddle Out to Sugar Land and Stafford
I have spent the last few hundred Thursdays using your Dining Guide as the research tool in my lifelong March to Flabbiness. I lived in West Houston, and most of your reviewed eateries were just a short waddle away.
Now, I have moved to the Sugar Land/ Stafford area, and am at a loss. Although there is a large contingency of heavy eaters out here, as well as a brand-new vista of vomitoria, I have lost my longtime pre-weekend crutch. When do you start reviewing restaurants way-out west?
Scott Mears
via Internet
A Master of Fine Prose
Ever since Eric Lawlor became your restaurant critic, I have read his reviews with the greatest delight. Not that I eat out often or have an interest in gourmet dining. As a professional writer, however, I do appreciate fine prose, of which Lawlor is clearly a master. Each of his reviews is a carefully crafted, well-rounded essay that sparkles with wit and humor. Having also read his equally admirable travel books, I continue to be astonished at his breadth of knowledge. His reviews lend the Press a lot of class.
Virginia Fairchild
Houston
Correction
An April 23 article about after-school programs for middle schoolers should have said that the River Oaks Elementary after-school program will probably show a profit of more than $50,000 for the school year, with extra money going to computers and sending teachers to conferences. The person making that comment was Linda Conklin, a parent who has helped with the River Oaks program.
