225BatonRouge.com

FROM THE WEB

Thank you for this paragraph (“Past the pain,” February): “When many Baton Rougeans hear the name Valley Park, they think only of gangs and drugs. But the truth is that among the school’s 240 kids there are a lot of A-students, too. In December Valley Park was the only school in the South to send two students to the Iowa Caucuses, where they got an inside look at the campaign process and some face-time with the candidates.”

You have no idea (or perhaps you do) how important it is that we start telling the truth about the kids in our public schools. There are a lot of amazing kids doing amazing things that the average Baton Rougean has heard nothing about.

Posted on 225batonrouge.com by Lajones

Get the facts straight about Obama

Dear Editor,

I commend you on mentioning Livingston Parish as the only major area where Barack Obama didn’t win the democratic primary (“What’s Hot, What’s Not,” March). We have people in our state who don’t want to vote for Obama simply because he is black, or that they believe he is a Muslim.

With the election just around the corner, misinformed Americans have been spreading false rumors almost as effectively as spreading genital herpes. At this point, I’m not sure which is worse.

Why educate yourself on the election by visiting candidates’ Web sites or watching broadcasted debates when you can simply read the latest bulletin your buddy posted on MySpace instead? Sen. Obama must be evil if your e-mail inbox says so.

You don’t have to vote for the guy, but at least get the facts straight. Educate yourself before clicking that forward button. Educate yourself before voting for our next president.

Chelsea Brown, B.R. recycling spokesperson

In defense of GFL

Dear Editor,

Regarding the dis to GFL Fest in the March issue of your magazine, it felt very unnecessary and counter-productive for this town. The Gas Food Lodging Festival is a very grassroots, positive thing for the city. Unlike South By Southwest, GFL is not a corporate-sponsored, industry-controlled event where bands make little money and industry people are favored over the general public. It’s quite puzzling that your magazine chose to talk trash about this event simply because it failed to draw as many top-tier independent bands this year as it may have done in the past. The fact is, there were still several impressive acts this year, and several people worked really hard to bring them to the people of Baton Rouge.

Randy Faucheux, Music director, KLSU 91.1 FM

Fired up by Fuego omission

Dear Editor,

I enjoyed your February “Latin Rouge” issue, especially as one of your featured stories involved Jaime Pineda, the well-known and respected owner of La Tiendita and Los Gallos Mexican Grill.

However, I was extremely disappointed that you left out two milestones in this city’s cultural reflection of its Latino influx. Fuego is the city’s first and only Spanish music radio program, now approaching its third year on the air. 225 Tropical is the city’s first and only Latino-owned nightclub, successfully run by Baton Rouge’s best-known Latin DJ. It disappoints me that 225’s Latino publisher has been aware of both the show and club since their inception, yet they were glaringly absent from the issue.

Dante, Host of Fuego on WEMX 94.1 FM