Wallingford Mosque

I thought the page one Sunday story on a proposal to build a mosque off Route 68 in Wallingford did a nice job of explaining the issues involved. One important part of the story is traffic concerns. Over the past decade, Route 68 has become one of the most dangerous arteries in town. I live on the opposite end of Wallingford, but drive Route 68 a couple of times a week and am increasingly worried about safety. I also don’t think the newspaper can ignore some people’s uneasiness over the Muslim faith. Most of the comments I’ve heard from people who have followed the story in the newspaper center on traffic and concerns that if this was a Catholic or Protestant Church, the opposition would not be as strong. It is not the newsroom’s role to take sides, merely present all the issues and arguments. I’d be interested in hearing from readers about how the story is being handled and whether there are other issues we need to pursue.

Howard Stern photo/Voting in online poll

I wanted to mention two issues that have come up over the past couple of days.

First, Friday's front page photo of the Southington teacher who resigned after an appearance on the Howard Stern show. If you have seen the photo on the internet, you know that we decided to crop it just below her navel because her bikini bottoms she was wearing were a little skimpier than any we have shown on the news pages of the Record-Journal. One could make an argument that what she was wearing on the show was relevant to whether she should continue teaching second grade and we should have showed the entire photo. On the other hand, we are putting out a family newspaper and don't want to push the boundaries of good taste. Let me know if you think we made the right decision.

Also, a woman phoned me earlier this week about an online poll that we ran on whether the Meriden mayor should veto the budget. The poll results, which ran on page one, were heavily in favor of a veto and adding money to the school board budget. Her point was that many seniors felt differently but can't vote in the poll because they lack access or don't know how to us a computer. I'm not sure that is the case. What do you think about the fairness of this poll and others the R-J has run?

Blue Trails Range

We are continuing to follow the story of Wallingford's Blue Trail Range and nearby homeowners who say stray bullets from the shooting range are striking their homes and landing in their yards. The story pits a longtime business and landowner against homeowners. The rights of gun owners is also a factor in the story. If you have any first hand accounts of what is going in the area of the range and the homes or any feedback on our coverage, please let me know.