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July 22, 2005Letters to the EditorAt Issue: Traverse City Film FestivalWhat's to be afraid of?To all the dwindling number of "Dubya" supporters, why are y'all so afraid of Michael Moore if you claim he is all so wrong? Ken Petersen Traverse City Positive people needed I am happy to see that two thirds of the people responding to the (Record-Eagle on-line) poll question regarding the Michael Moore film festival will not attend. I will boycott anything he is involved in. We need more "positive" people to bring wholesome entertainment to our area, not a person who is constantly running this country and our president down. I am ashamed to know that he owns property on Torch Lake; it makes me want to sell my frontage there. I think he's bringing this "festival" to this area to try to persuade more of the locals to go his way. I hope people will see it for what it is. Kathy Laubach Central Lake The wrong person Regarding the Traverse City Film Festival, we feel that Michael Moore is not the right person to represent our community. His views of our country, its corporate members, political leaders and policies do not reflect the opinions of many of us living in the area. The concept of a film festival is great but not if represented by the likes of Michael Moore. Robert and Suzanne Hoffman Suttons Bay Film Festival about art Having a relative, a partner, and best friend who tend to be "red," I, tending to be "blue" (though hopefully none of us is deaf to strengths/weaknesses of individual people/ideas), have listened very critically to Michael Moore when he speaks about the Traverse City Film Festival. Recently, he spoke to the many volunteers who will be ushering, selling popcorn, and taking tickets about films that will be shown here in Traverse City before being released nationwide, films with internationally acclaimed directors, films that have won prestigious awards, films that are already sold out. He gave profuse thanks to volunteers who are working long hours to ready the sites and logistics. He talked about the quality of sound systems being installed at each venue and the general lack of quality of many Hollywood films. He thanked local financial donors. Not once in 30 to 45 minutes did I hear him take a political jab at anyone. You may or may not like his documentaries (I haven't seen them, so can't comment), but pulling this together is a wonderful gift to the community. The Traverse City Film Festival is about art. What an opportunity for all of us, red, blue (or purple?) Bonnie Willings Traverse City More letters on the Traverse City Film Festival were published on July 17. Click here to view. Your viewsRules are for everyoneI agree, cyclists have rights, but while driving in the city I've seen cyclists disobey the street signs - especially stop signs. These cyclists have not been children but adults who then turn around and smile like they've really accomplished something. I almost hit two of them. If I hadn't been driving slow and come to a complete stop, believe me, they wouldn't have been smiling. I've yet to see a cyclist obey a street sign. Growing up in Traverse we used to license our bicycles, so it's not a new idea. Doris M. Cook Traverse City Kudos are deserved Many kudos to Mr. Butch Broad of Elmer's Crane and Dozer Inc. for covering the cost of replacing defective bulletproof vests for the officers of the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office and the Traverse City Police. Most importantly it could save an officer's life and keep a family together. Secondary to that, it saved the taxpayers of these communities a ton of money. My appreciation to Mr. Broad. Ken Willis Mentor, Ohio The writer has relatives in Leelanau County and is a frequent visitor. It 'used to be' beautiful I recommend you take pictures (digital and mental) of the beautiful ride from Traverse City to Petoskey on Route 31 so you can show and tell your children and grandchildren how beautiful it was before being fully visually polluted with commercial billboards. The visual abuse already has begun and it seems no one can stop it. We'll have to show and tell our offspring how beautiful "it used to be" Up North. John Chuchman Central Lake Unmitigated gall Your front-page report on Second Chance must have been a misprint! I'm sure it should have read that the 100 workers who followed orders and produced the vests, defective as they were, were suing to get a total of $100,000 and that the six managers who were responsible for the production of bulletproof vests that weren't bulletproof were each getting a prison sentence. Talk about the unmitigated gall! Frank Kullman Williamsburg
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