The Miami Herald's May 3 story MiMo still in search of stature was perfect, telling the full story of the Cinco de MiMo Festival and the historic Biscayne Boulevard district. The May 4 story Festival puts MiMo on the map reflected what went on but alludes to ''light foot traffic'' early on in the event. This minimizes the amazing scene.
Biscayne Boulevard was packed, safe and colorful. The festival was a success. Of the hundreds of folks who attended, local residents, business people and tourists agreed that they were awed to see so many people enjoying the boulevard. One property owner said that the festival was the first time she had strolled the boulevard and that she had renewed hope for her future there.
The festival was sponsored by the MiMo Biscayne Association to celebrate the boulevard's history and show off the new restaurants and shops and the spirit of the Miami Modern architecture that sprouted during the 1950s.
NANCY LIEBMAN, chair, Cinco de MiMo Festival, Miami Beach
Legislative folly
I continue to subscribe to The Miami Herald mainly for its intelligent, eloquent, courageous homegrown columnists: Leonard Pitts Jr., Ana Menendez, Carl Hiaasen and Fred Grimm.
Grimm's May 4 column, Tougher marijuana laws are bad economics, focuses on the huge resources used to bust marijuana houses, transparently coordinated with the Draconian 15-year prison sentences approved unanimously by the Florida Legislature. This will only add to the 20 percent of those in prison for nonviolent offenses and drain money from public schools and medical services.
This will cause more suffering and death than will the most potent marijuana. It is one more example of the lack of courage and judgment exhibited by our legislators. We Floridians will have to pay the toll. We have become a national joke -- one that is not funny.
JOSEPH STEINMETZ, Plantation
It was repulsive to read the final budget plan that lawmakers passed. It's sad that our government would rather build more prisons and hire almost 1,000 additional prison guards as opposed to building schools and hiring more teachers.
Has anyone really noticed how much these prison guards make a year and how much it costs to run these prisons? Who will pay for all this? Our children -- they will be graduating from prison GED programs.
FRANKVIC FIGUEROA, Miami
Come here legally
Re the May 2 story Thousands rally in May Day effort for immigration reform: I'm not against immigration, only illegal immigration. People say that this country was built on the backs of immigrants. That's true, but legal immigrants.
I came to the United States, legally, 16 years ago. It took me three years to become a citizen. It never entered my head to sue the government because it took so long. After all, I was asking to be allowed to live here permanently. The word ''undocumented'' is offensive, the word is ''illegal.'' They broke the law of the land.
JOHN TOVEY, Pompano Beach
Felons recruited
Re the April 22 story More felons getting into military: For as long as I can remember, our armed forces have been filled with the cream of our youth. With or without wars, ours were the intelligent armed forces.
But now they are recruiting all kinds of felons just to fill the ranks in the military. Soon we will have an Army of killers, thieves and sex deviates.
How low can we go?
DAVID SALVER, Miramar
Clinton's tactics
So Hillary Clinton wants us to vote for her, partly because she supports a gas-tax holiday this summer to be paid for by the oil companies. The oil companies are publicly owned and that pension funds and mutual funds are the primary owners. How does electing her give her the power to change the calendar?
The election is not until November. How exactly does a primary victory give us any hope for relief this summer?
DAVID CARLSON, Miami Beach
Endorsements from Richard Scaife, statements about obliterating Iran, demanding from Congress members whether they're ''with us or against us'' -- which primary is Hillary Clinton running in again?
LINDA VILLA, Pembroke Pines
Fouling the waters
When I was a Boy Scout many years ago, I learned to leave my campsite in better condition than it was when I found it. That was my responsibility as a citizen. How is it that cleaning up our sewage becomes an expense that should be paid for by the rest of the state? Do we ask them to pay for our toilet paper? We don't have any right to impose the pollution from our living in South Florida on waters that belong to the whole state.
It is past time for the southeast counties to clean up their act and stop throwing away billions of gallons of fresh water. Every community in the state should be reusing wastewater, not pumping it down deep wells from which it will eventually find its way either into coastal waters or back up into our drinking water.
MICHAEL F. CHENOWETH, president, Florida Keys Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, Key Largo
