Put the Pink Poodle story to bed

I'm amazed at how much effort and print has gone into the investigation of the supposed Pink Poodle incident regarding the San Jose Fire Department.

I understand that those in certain sectors of our public safety should always maintain a quality standard. In this case, no one was assaulted, nobody's house burned down, there were no egregious text messages, just a bikini-clad woman stepping off a firetruck.

Meanwhile, there are unsolved freeway shootings and homicides, carjackings and sideshows happening all over the Bay Area. If an emergency came up during their “joy ride” of 20 minutes, I seriously doubt that would decrease their response time.

Let's focus on the real problems and put the Pink Poodle to bed.

— Kevin Moore, Livermore

Don't give Trump free advertising

It's happening again. Donald Trump makes headlines in our newspapers and other media on a regular basis. This gives him free advertising not available to many who do not support him.

Free advertising won him the election in 2016. What a disaster for American democracy. Did he Make America Great Again? He doesn't read, he cannot spell, he does not pay his bills with his own money. He often chooses to ignore his own lawyers. His ego is his entire life's focus. I believe strongly that we cannot afford to provide him with a position of power.

I appreciate the responsibility of the media to report the news objectively to the American people. I would suggest, in fairness to others, that news pertaining to Trump be allocated to inside pages of the newspaper and that it be presented without pictures. I strongly disapprove of the free publicity available to this man.

— Judy Malinowski, Livermore