'Deflategate' commentary, GMO issues: Objections

Letters to the editor:

News vs. commentary

Come on! You are more professional than this. I don't buy your newspaper to read editorial content on the front page of the News section.

Thursday's front-page story "NFL must suspend Patriots QB Brady" was nothing more than an editorial, hardly deserving a front-page spot in Paste BN. Let's get back to reporting the news — not columnist Jarrett Bell's opinion on football.

David Winter; Massillon, Ohio

GMO problems

A Paste BN reader commented that "thanks to GMOs, farmers have reduced pesticide spraying." Sorry, but that's misleading. Although some research shows use of genetically modified crops has cut pesticide use, GMO crops are designed to withstand heavy applications of herbicides, such as Monsanto's Roundup ("Cheers for Chipotle's non-GMO ingredients," Your Say, Tuesday).

The reader also writes, "The environmental benefits of GMOs are ignored." No, they are not. Massive amounts of chemicals are being used each year worldwide with serious environmental consequences. Soil and water, fish, reptiles, birds, insects and other wildlife are negatively impacted.

Ardelle Bellman; Las Vegas

Money misdirected

DeWayne Wickham thinks that Maryland state Sen. Catherine Pugh's idea to "fix" Sandtown-Winchester problems is a good idea ("Don't lose focus on Freddie Gray's streets," Opinion, Tuesday).

It appears to be a plan to build sports stadiums and high-rent housing. It would be much better to spend money on fixing the schools and helping parents. Upgrading buildings does nothing to fix the education process. Those new buildings only will make it too costly for some to stay in the community.

Dan Rhoads; Flowery Branch, Ga.