Maybe it was the sound scolding Rant Control administered last week—or, more likely, the spate of unseasonably glorious weather we had around Groundhog Day—but recently, the comments on CityWeekly.net have been more constructive and less rude than usual.
Katharine Biele’s cover story about the impact of a planned Rocky Mountain Power substation on a University neighborhood (“Fight the Power,” Jan. 29) elicited a whole slew of comments from people who, for once, didn’t take City Weekly as the party responsible for making their lives miserable. “Sarah Brenna” intelligently urged readers to familiarize themselves with the way utility companies operate. “Bob” even delved into rate comparisons between Salt Lake City and Anaheim, Calif. Maybe all it takes to bring people together in peace and harmony is a shared threat of high-millirad radiation exposure.
Of course, not all was sunshine and lollipops. John Saltas’ column about tobacco tax policy (“Nicotine Fit,” Private Eye, Jan. 29) got folks foaming at the mouth as only sin-tax issues can. (Normally, Rant Control leaves Saltas’ column alone—he’s better at dealing with cranky commenters than I am—but, when all else fails, Private Eye always provides a motherlode of disgruntled responses.)
“Kurt” said, “Quitting smoking benefits non-smokers too. I worked in a casino in Reno for 10 years. An equal amount of smokers and non-smokers developed lung cancer and other diseases.” Now, if your chances of getting lung cancer are the same whether you smoke or not, I say light ’em up!
Katharine Biele’s cover story about the impact of a planned Rocky Mountain Power substation on a University neighborhood (“Fight the Power,” Jan. 29) elicited a whole slew of comments from people who, for once, didn’t take City Weekly as the party responsible for making their lives miserable. “Sarah Brenna” intelligently urged readers to familiarize themselves with the way utility companies operate. “Bob” even delved into rate comparisons between Salt Lake City and Anaheim, Calif. Maybe all it takes to bring people together in peace and harmony is a shared threat of high-millirad radiation exposure.
Of course, not all was sunshine and lollipops. John Saltas’ column about tobacco tax policy (“Nicotine Fit,” Private Eye, Jan. 29) got folks foaming at the mouth as only sin-tax issues can. (Normally, Rant Control leaves Saltas’ column alone—he’s better at dealing with cranky commenters than I am—but, when all else fails, Private Eye always provides a motherlode of disgruntled responses.)
“Kurt” said, “Quitting smoking benefits non-smokers too. I worked in a casino in Reno for 10 years. An equal amount of smokers and non-smokers developed lung cancer and other diseases.” Now, if your chances of getting lung cancer are the same whether you smoke or not, I say light ’em up!
BRANDON BURT bburt@cityweekly.net
