Letter to the Editor: Reader wants to know why arrest was on page one

Dear Editor,

On the front page of the March 15th issue of the Beacon, you published a photo of one of our young men and ran a piece about how he was in police custody. Meanwhile on page five of this same issue, in the section that remembers our island’s past, the first entry is about the same young man’s father who passed away five years ago, photo included.

About a month earlier, the Beacon featured another front page story and photograph of this same young man who had painted a tarpon on the floor of the post office. He was applauded. Puzzling isn’t it?

Wouldn’t it have been better for our community to focus first and foremost on the memorial of one of our island members than to rush to shame his son, who may very well have been in the wrong. But that judgment should be reserved for when we’ve already had a chance to sit down and speak with him privately about his actions.

At the end of the day, what is the Beacon other than a voice of our community, a voice that supports our community rather than a paper that portrays its members as common criminals on page one.

Carol Napoli
Boca Grande