Letters: Fashion police would have large beat to patrol

The slippery slope of sagging pants New Port Richey Mayor Rob Marlowe thinks he is on the right track in his attempt to stop people who, in his words "look like hell." However, Mr. Mayor, sagging pants should be only the beginning of a crusade you claim was begun by one irate resident.How many times have you been out dining when you look to the man sitting next to you wearing flip flops filled with two dirty feet and toe nails long enough to shear sheep? Surely this man falls into the category "looks like hell?" He must be stopped.Or, Mayor Marlowe, how about what you see walking into a store where you find the aisle blocked by a woman whose girth rivals that of a baby elephant. She is attempting to hide her pulchritude in pants that, when she walks, give the appearance of seven kittens fighting like mad to find their way to the light of day. Does this not deserve 60 days in jail and a $500 fine if you're doing the same for young men wearing baggy pants?This is a slippery slope to nowhere. Surely, the city has more pressing issues to resolve. Martin L. Daugherty , St. Petersburg Protected turtle finds a new home Our house is near a fairly large retention pond that is usually dry, only rarely receiving a significant amount of runoff water. In recent times it has become the home of a number of gopher tortoise burrows relocated there due to nearby construction projects. This tortoise requires just such an environment for its survival.The retention pond appears to be too small for the increasing tortoise population. One tortoise evidently has looked for a more secure site. New burrows have been dug in neighbors yards; these were filled in without harming the tortoise but it necessitated a search for better digs.Florida houses rest directly on concrete slabs pored over the sandy soil. Our enterprising tortoise decided that the driest place for its new home was beneath one of these houses; it chose our house and with very little effort had a new home. We have a quiet, undemanding, albeit a free-loading tenant.The burrow of the gopher tortoise, the state tortoise of Florida, provides protection for 360 other animal species but it is threatened by predation and habitat destruction. It was not enough that a mature gopher tortoise chose our house as its abode but I later found a baby tortoise a foot away from the burrow; it was visible only when I cleared away surrounding leaves and grass. I picked up the baby and it fit in just one hand.Since July 7, 1987, the tortoise has been on the threatened list by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in areas of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In Florida its status is considered "vulnerable." I called the Pasco County authorities for remediation but was referred to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service. In response to my query, the official there said emphatically, "You cannot disturb or remove the tortoise from the premises, they are protected under Florida law!"Some consider the tortoise to be a symbol of good luck so we are consoled. Charles Huhtanen, Port Richey

Letters: Fashion police would have large beat to patrol

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