Category Archives: History

Hatchery dedicated in April 1948, and plaque honoring hatchery advocate George Aitken unveiled

Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery is four miles north of Camp Sherman along the Metolius River. The falls on Fairy Creek that is tributary to the Metolius River was at one time known as Fairy Falls. The creek was only about 500 feet in length. Nearby springs were the source of the small creek. The falls existed before the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery was built just north of the falls site.

When the hatchery was built, water was diverted from Fairy Creek that supplied water to the falls and thus the falls no longer exists. In October 1935, government plans were made for a trout fish hatchery to be built at Wizard Falls. George Aitken, of Sisters, was a strong advocate for a fish hatchery to be built. He and his wife, Grace, suggested the Wizard Falls site for a potential hatchery.

In 1944, the Oregon Game Commission applied to the Forest Service for a site to build a hatchery. The cold water temperature at the site was determined to be ideal for growing fish. A special permit was issued by the Forest Service on March 5, 1947. The hatchery was constructed and began operations in June of 1948. The hatchery was dedicated on April 24, 1948, and a plaque honoring George Aitken was unveiled at the main hatchery building.

K.E. Morton was appointed to manage the hatchery. He managed the hatchery until his retirement in 1971 and made several improvements in production and operations. Fish raised at the site include Rainbow trout, German brown trout, Eastern brook trout, Kokanee, and Atlantic salmon. The annual production of the hatchery is approximately 3.5 million fish. The fish are raised at the hatchery until they are large enough to be released, then they are placed in large tanker trucks and transferred and planted in lakes and streams in Central Oregon. A campground was built near the site of the falls and is known as Wizard Falls Campground.

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CENTRAL OREGON HISTORY: Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery site ideal for growing fish - Portland Tribune

UPDATE: Rich Strike won Saturdays Kentucky Derby as an 80-1 longshot. This is the second biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history.

With 20 mounts now allowed in the field annually, its rarely a total surprise to a see an unexpected horse break through to win in the Kentucky Derby. The nature of the sport and the chaos of the mass start allows for certain jockeys and horses to often break through for whatever reason.

But when it comes to the betting money being wrong, one Derby winner stands above the rest. And the biggest upset in the history of the Kentucky Derby was in just an eight-horse field.

In 1913 Donerail started on the rail, as the No. 1 horse closed as a 91/1 shot at the window. The favorite was Ten Point in the No. 2 position, who closed at 11/5 and ended up paying only 3.50 to place despite leading at the final turn. The Thomas P. Hayes-owned Donerail won by a half-length, and etched his name in history.

In 62 career starts, Donerail won 10 ten times, placed 11, and showed 10 more. He finished with lifetime earnings of $15,156, including $5,475 paid on May 10th, 1913 at Churchill Downs.

The second biggest upset by the numbers? It was just three years ago when Country Home took home the trophy at a whopping 65-1 price in 2019. It took the disqualification of the favorite in Maximum Security, but those with tickets for Country Home certainly werent complaining.

Read more:

Kentucky Derby odds history: Which horse was the biggest underdog to win the Run for the Roses - DraftKings Nation

Joel Embiid, LeBron James and the best masks in NBA history originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

Its the return of the mask.

Joel Embiid missed the first two games of the Sixers second-round series against the Heat after suffering a concussion and right orbital fracture in a closeout win over the Raptors. With the series moving to Philadelphia and the Sixers facing a 2-0 series deficit, the MVP finalist is back on the floor sporting some familiar facewear:

The NBAs history of players taking the court with masks dates back to the 1950s. Compared to what Embiid is wearing, its been quite the evolution.

Heres a trip back down memory lane with 10 of the most famous masked men in basketball:

Chamberlain was one of the earliest stars to resort to a mask. The legendary center needed the headwear which doesnt look terrible, all things considered after enduring a broken nose and some lost teeth.

Perry is the entry from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre era of NBA masks. Following a facial fracture, the Suns big man took the floor with a mask that would have made more sense for an NHL goalie.

One of the leagues most notorious villains sported a mask in 1990. Laimbeer was the first player to use a clear face mask in NBA history.

The early stages of the clear mask still needed some remodeling. The NBAs Iron Man had good reason for wearing the haunting mask, though he lost two teeth after taking an elbow from J.R. Reid in 1996.

No basketball player is more synonymous with a mask than Rip Hamilton. The former Piston wore a mask for the final 10 seasons of his NBA career after breaking his nose during the 2003-04 season.

T-Mac became T-Mask after taking an elbow to the nose while with the Rockets in 2006. While McGrady didnt need the mask for long, it remains one of the claims to fame for Jake Voskuhl, whose elbow caused McGrady to wear a mask in the first place.

Speaking of nicknames, the Masked Mamba debuted in 2012 after Dwyane Wade gave Bryant a nasal fracture during that years All-Star Game. Bryant averaged 31.1 points across an 11-game stretch while wearing clear and black masks.

Irving scored a career-high 41 points while sporting a black mask against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 15, 2012. He also wore one in 2017 with the Celtics, though he clearly was not as fond of the clear version.

James had to wear a mask during his second NBA season with the Cavs and brought out a black one with the Heat in 2014 after breaking his nose. He had a clear mask on for a game against the Bobcats and proceeded to put up a career-high 61 points.

Westbrook needed a mask after fracturing a cheek bone during the 2014-15 season. The injury came from Thunder teammate Andre Robersons knee. Like James and Irving, Westbrook also posted a career-high scoring total in a mask, dropping 49 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in his first game back from the injury against the Sixers.

Embiid has a history of wearing masks against the Heat in the postseason. He made his playoff debut in 2018 while wearing a black mask in South Beach and brought it back out for Game 3 in the 2022 second round.

Read the rest here:

Joel Embiid, LeBron James and the Best Masks in NBA History - NBC Chicago

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At the highest level of boxing, a star-studded match can make someone a very, very wealthy person.

Or, in Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s case, several fights created a billionaire.

For anyone who has followed the sport in the last two decades, it's no surprise that the largest payouts in history have all included Mayweather. Granted, he initially ceded the spotlight in a 2007 boutbefore taking down Oscar De La Hoya anyway.

Overall, the six biggest paychecksthat can be reasonably confirmedto an individual boxer are the product of four fights.

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Floyd Mayweather also cashed a sizable check, but the featured boxer in the moment was Oscar De La Hoya.

According to Forbes, De La Hoya earned a then-record $52 million for the match at the MGM Grand Arena. Unfortunately for the Golden Boy, though, his challenger won a split decision in 12 rounds.

The super welterweight title fight totaled more than $130 million of revenue thanks to 2.5 million pay-per-view buys.

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Six years later, Mayweather broke De La Hoya's record.

Leonard Ellerbe, the head of Mayweather's promotion company, said the fighter had a $41.5 million guarantee for this showdown with Canelo Alvarez. Forbes reported Mayweather would earn $80-plus million after accounting for pay-per-view sales.

Mayweather won a majority decision, which was only controversial for the result not being unanimous.

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"The Money Fight" was the only proper billing for the 2017 match between Mayweather and Conor McGregor.

Although it didn't break the pay-per-view buy recordmore on that shortlythis fight generated 4.3 million domestic PPV buys and surpassed $600 million in revenue, per ESPN.

McGregor, who rose to prominence as a UFC fighter, fared better than expected. He lasted 10 rounds until referee Robert Byrd stepped in and called a TKO in favor of Mayweather.

Roughly two months later, McGregor confirmed that his take was "around" $100 million, per Forbes.

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As everyone expected, "The Fight of the Century" with Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao broke all sorts of records.

Though the fight itself is remembered for its disappointing lack of action, both fighters pulled in nine-figure paydays. Pacquiao received a 40 percent split of the revenue, per ESPN, meaning he could've earned upward of $150 million for the night.

Granted, ESPN noted that Pacquiao's share would be "significantly reduced" after paying his promoter. Still, it was an incredibly lucrative night for Pacquiao despite the loss to Mayweather.

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On the opposite side of the 60-40 split, Mayweather took home a victory and a quarter-billion payday.

ESPN reported that he collected "roughly $250 million" of the $600 million-plus in total revenue. The fight also produced a record 4.6 million domestic pay-per-view sales. Both of those figures, as of this writing, remain the largest in boxing history.

Mayweather won by unanimous decision, connecting on 34 percent of his punches to Pacquiao's 19 percent.

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His nickname is Money Mayweather for good reason.

After knocking out McGregor in their 2017 showcase, Mayweather improved his career record to a perfect 50-0. Oh, and he banked $275 million for the night, according to Forbes.

The fight also vaulted Mayweather past $1 billion in total earnings. He joined a small list of athletesled by Michael Jordan and Tiger Woodsto hit 10 digits of winnings as pros, riding into his third and presumably final retirement as a career billionaire.

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The 6 Biggest Boxing Paychecks in History - Bleacher Report

Always outspoken, always entertaining, Willy T Ribbs has never pulled punches. On the eve of the Miami Grand Prix the groundbreaking, black American driver is typically effusive in his admiration for Lewis Hamilton, who he believes has fundamentally changed Formula One. I knew before I met him he was the second coming, he says. You wont see another driver who will achieve as much as Lewis Hamilton in 200 years.

Ribbs is bold and confident, the 67-year-old speaking with authority and wit, a smile never far from his lips having earned his place in racings history the hard way. Ribbs was the first black driver to test an F1 car, doing so for Bernie Ecclestones Brabham team in 1986 at Estoril and the first African-American to qualify and then race at the Indy 500 in 1991.

Over a long career he overcame racism that ran the gamut from what he describes as opposition, barriers and denial based on one thing: the colour of my skin right up to death threats, but faced it down with a fearless swagger. It could demoralise a lot of people, I wasnt that way, he says. I love fighting. It builds character and I was going to fight until I couldnt breathe any more.

This weekend in Miami, F1 is celebrating its new-found success in the US. There are two races in the country this year for the first time since 1984, next year with Las Vegas added to Miami and Texas there will be three. Ribbs is pleased that the sport he has loved since he was in diapers is once more on the up in the USA but maintains that Hamiltons integral part in that should be recognised.

When I used to talk with Muhammad Ali, he said to me that all people congregate to champions no matter what colour you are and Lewis is in that Muhammad Ali league, he says. He is now on that level as far as interest from all people, especially people of colour who have never had that before, who have never had a representative that looked like them.

Now Lewis Hamilton in this country is a huge name with African-Americans and people of colour. He is worldwide but in this country he is mega. The sport has got him now, he has opened it up and brought attention to millions and millions of people of colour all over the world. That is the greatest thing for Formula One, right now it is a crossover sport, with crossover appeal.

The T stands for Theodore but is always truncated. When his name is mentioned to former world champion Mario Andretti, the great man immediately says: Ah, Willy T, with fondness. Ribbs is now a diversity and inclusion representative for F1, an initiative that was effectively kickstarted when Hamilton insisted F1 needed to address these issues while he was championing the Black Lives Matter movement. Ribbs was enthusiastic to get involved, recognising how much work there was to be done.

He had raced from when he came to Europe to pursue his dream in 1975 until 2001 across a wide range of disciplines including IndyCar, Champ Car, Trans-Am, Nascar and Imsa. He took 17 victories in the Trans-Am series but had grown up loving F1, amid family dinner table conversations in California about Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark and Stirling Moss.

Learning his craft in the UK, Ribbs bashed wheels with Nigel Mansell in Formula Ford at Brands Hatch, with both drivers finishing on the podium, an experience he remembers with a broad grin. We banged it up during the race, it was absolutely ruthless and fun but clean, he says. After the race we went around the track on the back of that truck with our laurel wreaths on, we shook hands and Nigel and I are still buddies today, I love him to death.

He recalls how he was welcomed to the UK with open arms by Stirling Moss and John Surtees, how they only saw a quick driver and that he did not want his race to define him. I thought of myself as a race driver not as a driver of any particular colour. I didnt consider Jim Clark or Graham Hill or Jochen Rindt or any of those guys anything other than race drivers. I didnt see them as white race drivers, I looked at them as great race drivers.

In 1986 the test did not turn into a drive with Brabham but Ribbs was pleased to have a shot. At Indianapolis in 1991 he was roundly cheered as he dragged his underperforming car through qualifying to make the race, his elation clear as he rolled through the pitlane, arms aloft. However on a weekend where the car chewed through six engine changes, the race was a disappointment with the sixth giving out on lap five. Undeterred he returned to the Brickyard in 1993 and this time made the flag in 21st place.

He was not considering the impacts his achievements would have at the time, viewing them only as part of his ambition to be the best driver he could. Yet his legacy as the first black driver to make these steps was vital as he now acknowledges, not least by Hamilton who has invited him as a guest to races. In 2012 at the US GP I talked to his father Anthony and he said: I followed you and you were one of the reasons I wanted Lewis to be an F1 driver, he says.

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Ribbs believes Hamilton is doing similarly inspiring work in ensuring F1 has an audience for the future in the US but of course has a singularly Willy T take on it.

I see Lewis as the best ambassador for diversity and inclusion and I see Willy T Ribbs as the second-best ambassador. We got the front row, he says with an expansive laugh. To have Lewis and Willy T to be the chassis with F1 as the engine, it is the greatest thing for the sport you are going to see right now in America, F1 has never been bigger.

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Hamilton, hope and making history: Willy T Ribbs pioneering F1 path - The Guardian

Originally published May 3, 2022

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (WCCO) When the Fastest Two Minutes in Sports storms out the gate this weekend, just know Minnesota has a horse in that race. Two of them to be precise, and one is the favorite.

So what is Minnesotas history with the Kentucky Derby?

In every horse race theres the favorite to win, then the long shot.

But one thing thats more improbable than the potential outcome of this years Kentucky Derby is a certain pair of thoroughbreds running in it.

To have two in one year with Minnesota connections, thats a million to one, said Paul Allen, race track announcer at Canterbury Park who is now in his 28th year. Minnesota, by tradition, is a provincial state. So, therefore, having a couple Minnesota connections to pole four in the biggest race in the world, we think thats pretty cool.

Zandon is owned by Jeff Drown of Clearwater and is the favorite to win at 3-1 odds. Zozos is owned by Barry and Joni Butzow of Eden Prairie and currently sitting at 20-1.

While their owners might call Minnesota home, horses that race in the Kentucky Derby almost never make that claim.

Like so many other horses in the derby, Zandon and Zozos were born in Kentucky. They also were likely trained to race in warmer climates like Florida and Texas.

Allen said horses born and bred in Minnesota typically race in their home state.

(credit: CBS)

When theyre bred (in Minnesota) and when they race at Canterbury Park, the purses for Minnesota breds are so good that I dont know if owners breed horses in Minnesota even with the Kentucky Derby in mind, he said. Its not like a Minnesota bred with the right connections, the right father and right mother, couldnt contest for the Kentucky Derby. But I think when people breed Minnesotans, they do it to run at Canterbury Park and to get as much money as they can here.

Minnesota horses also take advantage of the frigid winters by getting an off-season. Allen said theyll spend time on a farm simply being a horse before ramping up their training in the spring before Canterburys season starts in mid-May.

It isnt necessarily the most profitable approach to take with a horse, but think its the best approach for the horse in thats its not a bump and grind every single month, he said.

What is the pinnacle moment for a Minnesotan-owned horse in the Kentucky Derby?

Unbridled, Francis Genter, Carl Nafzger, not even close, Allen quickly said.

In 1990, Unbridled got the victory. He was owned by Frances Genter of Minnesota and trained by Carl Nafzger. The horse helped the Bold North put its lone stamp on the derbys storied history. The win also came with an emotional moment as a camera crew captured how Nafzger excitedly gave Genter a play-by-play of Unbridled racing to the lead due to her poor vision.

It was just so warm and so beautiful, Allen said. Its a signature moment, not only in the history of horse racing but certainly in the history of Minnesota racing.

Another Minnesota owned horse ran in the derby 20 years ago. Itsallinthechase finished 16th out of 18 in 2002.

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What Is Minnesotas History With The Kentucky Derby? - CBS Minnesota

Rick, Marty and the Oak Island team are back for the biggest season yet bringing with them more determination, resources and technology than ever in their quest to solve the 224-year old treasure mystery. After seismic testing conducted at the end of last season revealed a possible sunken ship buried in the triangle-shaped swamp, the team will use sonic core drilling, strategic dives and finally a historic big dig to find out what could be buried below. Now fully partnered with fellow land owner, Tom Nolan, the son of the late, Fred Nolan, Rick, Marty and Craig Tester will have unprecedented access to areas of the island that they hope will yield answers and treasure.

Even more extensive metal detecting will be used to search on the surface of the island while exhaustive archaeological digs will be conducted near the historic homestead foundations of Daniel McGinnis and Samuel Ball.

The cofferdam at Smiths Cove will be expanded to allow the team to conduct an even more extensive investigation than last year, which uncovered numerous manmade structures dating more than two decades prior to the discovery of the Money Pit in 1795. The Oak Island team will not only find more of the ancient slipway, but be searching for the box drains and artifacts like the 14th century lead cross found two years ago. They will also be drilling and digging above the beach in search of the so-called convergence point where the box drains are believed to merge into a single flood tunnel leading back to the original Money Pit.

In the Money Pit area, itself, they will conduct deep ground penetrating radar to look for the flood tunnel and using cutting edge survey tech and heavy digging machines, they will excavate early 19th century searcher shafts to help triangulate their way back to the location of the original Money Pit. This will lead to the biggest and most extensive digs that Rick, Marty, Craig Tester and the team have ever conducted in an effort to once and for all locate the fabled Chappell Vault.

After 224 years, the Oak Island mystery, now has the greatest chance ever to finally being solved.

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Watch The Curse of Oak Island Full Episodes ... - HISTORY

NEW YORK -- Katie Taylor showed up to the weigh-in Friday afternoon and it was then -- more than 24 hours before she'd be in the boxing ring at Madison Square Garden against Amanda Serrano -- that the gravity of everything they'd been trying to pull off hit her.

She has seen big weigh-ins before. But inside the Hulu Theater it was like, are you kidding me? The crowd was intense. Loud. Massive, especially for a weigh-in. Puerto Rican fans and Irish fans waving their flags, chanting and turning a mundane part of a boxing week into its own sideshow.

For months, they'd billed Taylor-Serrano as the biggest fight in women's boxing history. Now they would have to deliver.

"It was something like an Anthony Joshua weigh-in or a Canelo [Alvarez] weigh-in," Taylor said. "I never experienced anything like that throughout my professional career, and just selling out Madison Square Garden here tonight, the atmosphere was amazing.

"Tonight was just very, very, very special, and I don't know what else to say."

By the time a still bloody Taylor sat at a dais -- flanked by her promoter, Eddie Hearn, and her trainer, Ross Enamait, after defending her undisputed lightweight title in a split decision win over Amanda Serrano -- she had her answer.

Taylor-Serrano had done more than produce a memorable fight on a night when women's boxing received a rare spotlight. It had created boxing excellence, and it showed the possibility of a sport both growing in potential stars and needing a moment to latch to.

If things had gone well, it would have attracted attention. If it had gone perfectly -- and Saturday night was close -- it could transform and elevate the entirety of the sport.

"Madison Square Garden, you think of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier," Taylor said. "People will absolutely be talking about myself and Amanda Serrano for years and years to come.

"This is a history-making fight, and it definitely lived up to that expectation."

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The entire promotion -- on posters, as part of the title card and even as the hashtag they tried to push the past few weeks -- had all been focused on one thing: history. The first women to ever headline The Garden's big room. Taylor and Serrano were asked to do next to impossible Saturday night.

They were asked to live up to the outsize reality that is promoting any sport, but especially boxing. This could have easily been a letdown. These events can get swallowed by the gravity of the promotion and the intensity of the moment.

Taylor-Serrano exceeded what people might have expected, what the promoters had billed. As Taylor and Serrano stood in the middle of the ring in the final minute, decibels from the crowd rising with each punch thrown, everything they hoped for was reality.

Serrano had a bruised face; Taylor a bloodied nose and a cut over her right eye. The crowd provided an intense atmosphere. All of the necessary ingredients were in place to create a big moment in The Garden.

If you wanted a scrap, Taylor and Serrano delivered. If you wanted a technical fight between two different styles of fighters trying to game-plan how to attack one another? You got that too.

The only thing that didn't happen was a knockdown or a knockout, but some of the best fights don't end like that. Why? Because the fight was even. Two fighters of equal stature, making life difficult for the other one.

"Tonight is the moment where we stop talking about women's and men's boxing," Hearn said. "Just boxing. Because that was one of the best fights I've ever witnessed live."

The energy was obvious from the beginning. A full two hours before Taylor and Serrano left their dressing rooms, cheers erupted whenever Taylor's or Serrano's name was mentioned. At 8:20 p.m., when video was shown of each fighter walking into The Garden, it was like they were heading into the arena bowl.

As the moment came closer, the crowd grew more frenzied; "Ole, Ole, Ole" constantly chanted throughout the Liam Smith-Jessie Vargas undercard in front of an area where nearly every seat was filled.

During the ring walks, both fighters seemed to pick up the gravity of the moment, to appreciate what they were going through just a bit more.

Taylor appeared to pause at the top of the ring before walking into it, briefly looking like a small smile had creased her serious fight-night demeanor. Later, she said this evening eclipsed the night she won the Olympic gold medal in 2012 in London.

Serrano smashed her gloves together when introduced, this after raising her fist to the crowd in acknowledgment before entering the ring.

"It was just a crazy feeling," Serrano said. "You had two women, main-eventing a sold-out MSG, who would have thought that? You had two great champions going out there, giving it their all, and the crowd was truly amazing.

"My last two events, I was the co-main event with Jake Paul, and I was able to experience that. But this time, it was me, and I was told to enjoy every minute of it, and that's what I did. I just took it all in."

When the fight started, Serrano couldn't hear anything specific. The noise was so loud -- and so close to being constant -- that she couldn't hear from her corner, trainer Jordan Maldonado and her sister, former professional boxer Cindy Serrano.

That is what they wanted. An environment like this. A night like this. A chance to tangibly grow the sport they've cared so much about. That was the lofty goal going in beyond the practicalities of winning and losing, of legacies and what Taylor called "career-defining moments." It's risky to manifest that. So much could go wrong. But Taylor and Serrano did the remarkable.

They put women's boxing on the top of the marquee with their fists. They pulled it off.

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Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano made boxing history by perfectly living up to the hype - ESPN

Saturday night in Colorado's Coors Field, the Reds lost, 4-3. Given that the Rockies are generally very tough at home and it was a one-run game, normally this wouldn't be the type of result that would garner a team some dubious coverage. This was the last day of April, however, and the endpoints of each month are a natural time to do some glancing around the league.

As we glance, we see the Reds at 3-18, the worst record in baseball. It's not even really close, as everyone else has at least six wins.

No, we need to look outside 2022 to find teams that were as bad in April as these Reds and that list isn't very long, either.

In an April calendar that is at least 2/3 full of games, the worst team is an easy and obvious one. Remember that Sports Illustrated cover from 1988 with Billy Ripken holding a bat against his forehead in the dugout? It said, simply, "0-18." That 1988 Orioles team would actually start 0-21 before finally winning a game and finished April at a horrifying 1-22.

The 2003 Tigers were the worst team since the 1962 expansion Mets went 40-120. That Tigers team was 43-119 when the season mercifully ended for them. They went 3-21 in April.

By record alone, those are the only two teams in April baseball history we can say were definitely worse than the 2022 Reds. Here are some numbers from historically-bad April teams (March is looped in when the season started that month). Via Stathead search:

So, again, with a sample of at least three weeks of baseball before we got to May, we can nail down two teams that had a worse introductory month to a season than than the 2022 Cincinnati Reds. That's it.

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The Reds just completed one of the worst Aprils in MLB history - CBS Sports

History, good and bad

A red wave is coming | Letter, April 24

The #MeToo, Black Lives Matter and woke movements are uncomfortable for many white persons. So is the concept of sexual orientation and gender identity as both a continuum and a fact of birth. They are angry that advocates and the media keep talking about them. They want to believe that Native American genocide, cruel slavery and abusive treatment of women as well as laws, procedures and customs that unfairly affect minorities (institutional racism) never happened other than as exceptions by a few bad actors.

The U.S. Constitution enshrines wonderful principles, but we have not always lived up to them. Our factual history is a mix of great, good, not so good and tragic. But sweeping the latter under the rug will not make our country a better place for all our citizens. Todays white persons (me included) are not responsible for the decisions and actions of our ancestors. But we are responsible to learn about the objective reality of our society and history, and do what we can to make America a better place for everyone today and tomorrow.

Robert More, Riverview

A red wave is coming | Letter, April 24

Thank you for publishing this letter. Perfectly stated, the writers letter is spot on with how most of us are thinking, the silent majority that will not be silent much longer. As the writer says, there are millions of us out here. Basically, we are fed up.

Carol Maples, Seminole

A red wave is coming | Letter, April 24

It must be nice to be a white guy who has never had to worry that America could be a hostile place for people not like you. It must be nice to never have to worry that your vote could be suppressed, or that you could be killed in a police encounter or that you could be fired for your differences from a job that puts food on your table and keeps a roof over your head. It must be nice to never been brutalized for wanting to attend a public school or demonstrating for safe neighborhoods or the very right to exist. What kind of people would keep other Americans from having access to the American dream? There is enough to go around for everyone.

Karen Hodgen, St. Petersburg

Cross Gov. DeSantis and youll pay a price | Perspective, April 24

Columnist Anthony Man said exactly what Ive been trying to put into words for weeks. Who is this chief executive who is bullying the Legislature to pass unnecessary legislation? Rather than stand and fight for whats right for the citizenry of Florida, the Legislature just bends to the governors wants, wishes and needs. That is not what a democratic republic is about. Its representation elected by the people, for the people. Rattling chains and causing havoc is a way to get noticed so hopefully voters are noticing what is not right about one branch that runs roughshod over another branch of government.

Carol Hess, Hudson

Florida adds 20,860 COVID cases in past week as infections climb | April 23

Now that individuals in Florida have the freedom to protect themselves from the spread of COVID, it would be helpful if the state would start publishing daily COVID data and trends again, so we have information on the concentration of infections in our county and state. Unfortunately, the governor is too busy fighting culture wars, preventing election fraud that doesnt exist (but not candidate fraud, which does exist) and preempting local governments from serving their citizens.

Georgia Earp, St. Petersburg

Disney bout ignites donors | April 27

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In the long run it doesnt matter how many out-of-state hedge fund billionaires contribute to the DeSantis campaign. Its the voters who will make the final decision. My concern: If Gov Ron DeSantis were to lose, would he accept that result or would his newly formed election fraud division cry foul and claim the election was stolen?

Susan Bullard, Gulfport

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Learn from our history the heroic and the uncomfortable | Letters - Tampa Bay Times