The Inside Scoop On Dogs In City Parks | Letters To The Editor

After reading the Sun Sentinel news article regarding dogs in Fort Lauderdale city parks, contrary to what is permitted, I want to address a major issue I have with people who bring non-service pets to parks.

I run four times a week in Bayview Park at 4401 Bayview Dr., and I often see people there with dogs that are not service animals. Signs advise people that this is not allowed. I don’t mind these animals. What bothers me is, I frequently encounter dog waste on the path around the park or in the grass.

This is unacceptable.

Owners who refuse to pick up after their pets cause people such as myself to be inconvenienced — to say the least. If you want the law changed so that you can legally bring your dogs to the park, at least have the respect and decency to pick up after your animals. Scoop the Poop!

Sandy Epstein, Fort Lauderdale

Far beyond ‘conservative’

Enough with these “conservative” labels, such as the “very conservative” Supreme Court or “conservative” Sen. Rick Scott.

Nonsense. These are radical right-wing reactionaries. They’re in a corrupt, coordinated cabal.

True conservatives literally conserve policies in place for many years. These posers smashed 50 years of women’s privacy rights, demolished separation of church and state, are dismantling public education, crushed precedents in Florida for access to government records, freedom of businesses to operate without prudish busybody interference, and eliminated the independence of appointments of Florida judges.

They have imposed censorship in schools. From top to bottom, they are remaking the United States into a fake-Christian, Taliban nation. Let’s never call them conservatives. They’re anything but.

James Carbone, Fort Lauderdale

In response to the League

The League of Women Voters’ views as expressed in a 2023 Sun Sentinel essay (“Florida’s deliberate assault on public education and minorities”) are ripe with innuendo.

The League’s essay refers to the “deliberate and systemic efforts to undermine marginalized populations.” The League hints that Americans are leaving public schools because of this alleged assault, but it provides no causal nexus.

Maybe it’s because student performance is, at best, average on a worldwide comparison. The League needs to wake up and focus on merit if this country is to survive in the modern, hyper-competitive world. In so doing, the League will do much more to realize its goal of defending democracy than caterwauling about historic injustices.

Jeffery D. Halsey, Sebring

Don’t hurt online retailers

My online business has had enormous success thanks to the access that online marketplaces bring.

The world is at my fingertips, not only in terms of customers, but also where I can source products. Now, Congress is considering the Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) Online Act, and I worry that it could seriously work to the detriment of thousands of businesses, including mine.

The COOL Online Act requires online retailers to list the country of origin from which they source their products, despite the fact that I already do that on packages as required by federal law. Aside from the extra red tape for business owners, this requirement is a logistical nightmare.

Sellers like me source our items from multiple suppliers around the world that can differ from day to day. Keeping track of this would be too much for someone running a small business. Managing those logistics would absolutely require more money and staff by the seller. Those who are unable to afford the additional overhead costs will be out of luck.

American businesses have enjoyed huge gains thanks to online marketplaces, and we need policies that will help support them. U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez of Miami should support policies that help sellers like me succeed and forget about bills like the COOL Online Act.

Paola Varela, Doral