I used to think the Portland Tribune was a family newspaper, but after seeing Friday's banner headline, 'O-Damn!' (Sept. 14), I guess you've decided to follow in the footsteps of Willamette Week.

You know, in spite of all the reporting about Portland schools, there are tens of thousands of children who actually can read! And quite a few of your newspaper boxes are near schools, libraries, parks, shops and other places where children hang out.

Didn't one person over there express concern about printing a gigantic swear word? Shame on you, Tribune!

Mary Kusaka

Northeast Portland

Many questions loom over land use issue

Public discussion about Oregon's land use system vis-à-vis private property rights is in everyone's interest, both private property rights advocates and land use planning advocates. It's not an either-or. How unfortunate, then, that funding for the Big Look Task Force was suspended.

We need to protect the investment of individual landowners and protect priceless farm- and forestland against exploitation by out-of-state developers. Voters need facts before the Nov. 6 election.

Will the Portland Tribune become the forum for a balanced discussion, not a forum for advocates and opponents of Measure 49? What has been accomplished in the 34 years since Senate Bill 100 was enacted? What will happen if Measure 49 passes? What will happen if it fails?

Jeanne Staehli

Southeast Portland

City can do better than Sam Adams

Please, Portland, elect someone else (Who's in the running?, Sept. 14)! Bring in new blood, a fresh perspective. Someone not so enamored of pork-barrel projects. Someone who wants to do what's best for Portland, instead of what's best for Sam and his pals.

Bonnie Hadley

Washington County

Via Web

He could stand, if not walk, on water

My two young sons and I rode our bikes down to the waterfront to view Portlandia on her barge in the Willamette River when she arrived in 1985. She was bright and beautiful.

But soon after, my boys spotted a man standing up, poling a canoe down the river. He was wearing lederhosen. My sons said, 'Dad, haven't you always told us not to stand up in the canoe?!'

I responded, 'Well, that's Portland's mayor, Bud Clark (Still mayor to many, Aug. 21), and I guess his honor can do whatever he wants!'

Markus Worrell

Southeast Portland

Pornography got a bum rap in story

The Sept. 14 article 'Models find trap in 'easy' cash' claims that 'Emily Egan's death exposes the lurid world of online pornography business,' while the article itself makes it plain that her death had little to do with online pornography. The alleged suspect was her boyfriend, not some random pornographer found on a Craigslist ad.

What if the boyfriend had been a cabbie or a lawyer? Would the title then claim it's dangerous to date men in those professions? Where is the tie-in? What links this man's profession to killing more than any other profession? The article is presumptuous.

Cliff Wells

Southeast Portland

Via Web