Mailbag: Change may be too much for Montrose

Recent headlines present a thought-provoking juxtaposition: “Changes sown at the Harvest Market” and “Lights, camera, money” on Feb. 3.

Change is coming to Montrose, beyond the proposals for the Harvest Market, and here’s what I wonder.

If Montrose starts to look like Any Other Town, U.S.A., with a Starbucks on every corner, while losing a bit of our frisson due to a ban on politics at our farmer’s market (can that even be legal?), will TV and movie production companies continue to be interested in filming here?

Roberta Medford

Montrose

City shouldn’t bother with bicycle lanes

I agree with William Brown’s letter on Feb. 10 titled “‘Road diet’ plan a recipe for disaster,” about this misguided plan to reduce a portion of Honolulu Avenue to one lane.

I remind the City Council that the hopeless hope of getting folks out of their cars is just that, hopeless.

The overwhelming majority of cyclists are sporting riders that ignore traffic laws, run red lights, stop signs and run pedestrians off the sidewalk.

Cycling may appear to be a utopian solution to a nonexistent problem.

As soon as the newborn cyclist encounters the slightest incline in the road he discovers that it is work — undesirable work. He gets home fast and goes back to workout-free transportation.

Let’s not waste resources redrawing traffic lanes that create more problems. Perhaps the resources could be better spent keeping water rates down!

Richard Bartlett

Glendale

Nonprofits will gain from more coverage

I was pleased to read about the plan by Editor Dan Evans to increase the coverage of service clubs and other organizations (“Community Involvement, version 2.0,” Feb. 5).

As a member of one of Glendale’s volunteer organizations, I believe he is correct in pointing out that given the state of the economy, the role that our local service organizations and nonprofits play is more important than ever.

I would recommend that the News-Press accomplish this goal with two strategies, which can be done both in print and online.

All volunteer organizations and nonprofits rely on fundraising to have the means to accomplish our goals, and most of us have at least one fundraising event a year. By helping us announce our events before they happen, you will have more of an impact than you may realize. That coverage will cause more people to learn about and therefore attend our events, which will increase the funds we raise.

Second, by covering the good work that we do with those funds, you help educate the public about the positive impact we have on real members of our community.

On behalf of our organization, Soroptimist International of Glendale, I thank the News-Press for covering our events, such as our annual Bras for a Cause fundraiser, and for reporting what we do with the money we raise, such as profiling our annual Women’s Opportunity Awardee.

Lisa McMurray

Pasadena

Editor’s note: McMurray is President-Elect of the Soroptimist International of Glendale.