Letters to the editor |

Ronna McDaniel and her hire at NBC News: Letters

Re “NBC News cuts ties with Ronna McDaniel after network firestorm” (March 27):

Whew! That was a close call. Whatever possessed the NBC news executives to think their left-leaning “fans” and “leading stars” would be open-minded enough to actually want “to hear a perspective from conservatives.” Why would a network which employs a liberal biased flamethrower (ex-Biden press secretary Jen Psaki) or allows on-air personalities like Rachel Maddow dictate whether or not they will allow presidential candidate Donald Trump’s speeches to be carried (she won’t) even think exposing viewers to anything other than progressive viewpoints ever work?

To add insult to injury, the spineless chair of NBC’s News Group, Cesar Conde, shamelessly groveled to his “team members,” issuing an apology for them feeling “we let them down.” Conservative commentators need not apply. At least NBC proved what has been common knowledge for some time now — that they gave up being a legitimate and respected source for news long, long ago.

— Jim Ellis, Coto de Caza

Women’s sports

Often short shrift is paid to women’s sports stories, when here we are more than 50 years past the groundbreaking Title IX legislation. But it’s been a thrill to see women’s basketball stories splashed all over the sports pages, including (gasp!) on the front page (March 24). Even my local sports bar is playing the women’s highlights along with the men’s. It helps to see phenoms like Caitlin Clark, Juju Watkins and Kiki Rice absolutely tearing it up on the court. Kudos to the newspaper’s sports editors for giving these stories the oxygen they have always deserved, and showcasing such amazing talents.

— Lara Duke, Redondo Beach

Long Beach youth adult shelter and interim housing for homeless

Your Jan. 31 article reported that Long Beach is spending $4.1 million to provide 12 youth shelter beds, in a barracks-style arrangement, along with a voluntary storage area for possessions of the unhoused. That’s $341,667 per barracks bed.  Today, (March 28) we learned that Long Beach is spending about $20 million to purchase and renovate a 78-room motel for “interim housing.” That’s $256,000 per motel room.

Ongoing operating costs, such as three meals a day at the motel, will be additional. Does not the investigative reporter’s eyebrows rise when considering the cost-benefit relationship?

— Steve Baker, Long Beach

California nursing programs at colleges

Re “Use community colleges for BSN degrees” (March 22):

Yes! Finally something that makes sense and is desperately needed comes out of Sacramento. Along with this, they need to fund more openings in all of the state schools to get more students into the nursing programs. This too is controlled by the unions so the market doesn’t get “flooded.” But we need a bit of a flood to catch up and keep ahead of the losses to other states and retirement. And yes, fixing the cost of housing, among other things, would be a good way to keep them from leaving this state too. Won’t hold my breath on that though.

— Carol Enriquez, Rancho Cucamonga

Terrorist attack on the Moscow concert hall

The headline in the story about Putin claiming that Ukraine had a connection to the terrorist attack on the Moscow opera audience was misleading. In saying “Putin ties Ukraine to attack on venue” (March 24) the inference is likely to be that there actually is a connection which he discovered.

The story goes to clarify that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility, and that Russia had been warned by U.S. intelligence of such a possible attack, a warning which Putin rejected as an attempt to intimidate civilians.

However, the headline itself could have said “claims an Ukraine tie.” or any other number of wordings that would still fit the space, without implying (intentionally or otherwise) that there was actually a tie.

— Elise Power, Garden Grove