Hearing voices

This week, we ran a story about a Denver resident at the Aspen airport who was startled to hear John McCain’s voice over the airport’s intercom — and complained that it indicated that the airport was indirectly supporting McCain’s candidacy. Pitkin County community relations officer Pat Bingham said McCain’s voice is one of a list of voices meant to lighten up routine airport announcements, including locals such as Mayor Mick Ireland, actress Jill St. John and musician Bobby Mason. Bingham pledged to cut McCain’s voice from the roster, and the story (or rather, the traveler who complained) received a number of peeved comments from online readers of The Aspen Times. Especially from McCain supporters.

Said one:

<i>Hans,
You are a weenie. We need less whiners in Pitkin Co. not more. Please stay in Denver.</i>

And then this:

<i>HOW ANTI-REPUBLICAN CAN YOU GET?</i>

Chimed in one reader:

<i>I bet if it was Obama's voice there would be no complaints. Get a grip, the man is a citizen of the U.S. and paid a dear price serving his country. </i>

And then one person said this:

<i>I guess no good deed goes unpunished. I like the variety of announcements at our airport- they're a lot more entertaining than the boring crap you hear at most airports. How does a PA announcement (by anyone) telling you that certain things can't be taken into security amount to a political statement?

What a pathetic and petty complaint...I say put the announcement back on!</i>

<b>One way, wrong way?</b>
Online readers also took issue when we reported this week that the City Council will try making a three-block area of downtown Aspen (specifically, portions of Galena Street and Cooper Avenue) one-way thoroughfares this summer, as a method of adding 20 parking spaces to the commercial core. It’s just not feasible, said this reader:

<i>The increased traffic on Hopkins and Durant will be a nightmare! Whatever happened to making the core more pedestrian-oriented with wider sidewalks and less cars?

What a pain! added another reader.</i>

And more parking isn’t necessarily a good thing, this reader said:

<i>The Times should post ALL the comments to this debacle! What a crock of you-know-what!...MORE parking...MORE confusion...NOT THE DIRECTION WE SHOULD BE HEADED.

And since when is more parking an advantage? What, more $$ for Aspen? Like Aspen needs more $$...we already have too much, which is obvious due to these idiotic 'studies'.</i>

<b>How safe was that trip to Mexico?</b>
Readers responded in droves to an article (and then letters to the editor) about whether taking Aspen students to Mexico for community service projects is safe.

Said one reader:

<i>These trips are not unsafe.... been there and it was totally fine.... stop freaking out and over protecting kids that are just trying to get a good experience and explore the world. Learning about culture is best done first hand.

And then the article prompted responses about student safety at the school in the first place:

Is this the same school that shuts down every time it snows more than a couple of inches because of the kids safety?</i>

One reader begged to differ with that:

<i>Ah no.... this school sends kids to school in horrible conditions when the superintendent wont even drive. I believe they need 12 inches of snow or white out conditions to cancel. My kids school bus was involved in 2 accidents this year, at one of which, the bus never showed up to pick the kids up till after 9 a.m. and the other time the bus missed the turn and landed in the ditch, with a bus load.
SPEAK UP!</i>

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