Dan's Papers - May 9, 2008 -

Dear Dan,
The story about Plum Island and Lyme disease released in this area in 1975. FYI, Lyme, Conn. wasn't the origin of the tick disease here.
Many years ago, Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders brought cattle to Montauk and with the cattle, the tick. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever was the result. I remember at least one death on Shelter Island in the '40s. We had no access, at that time, to all the great antibiotics we have now and the fever was a killer.
Since then, we also have the tick from Lyme, Conn., as well as the One Star tick.
Incidentally, I thoroughly enjoy reading Dan's Papers, and being a Shelter Islander (although not a hare-legger,) I look forward to Sally Flynn's "The Sheltered Islander."

One more vote for Sally! - DR

Dear Dan,
For the largest part of my working life (I'm now retired) I spent it in the Wall Street area. Doing business with a financial printer at 130 Cedar Street, I can attest that the beautiful Greek Church you wrote about wasn't at Washington and Liberty Street, but was on the corner of Cedar & West Street.
I'll be in Florida for a couple of weeks and then probably off to our beautiful Montauk for the summer. Looking across to East Lake twenty years ago all you could see was a couple of homes, the yacht club and the airport.
I guess when I get back this year it will be completely filled with dozens of new homes. Nothing stays the same, just go to Whites.

Dear Dan,
At the end of the day, other factors besides "Newsday For Sale Billionaire Battle For It" (Dan Rattiner - May 2) beyond whomever the new owner - be it Sam Zell, Rubert Murdoch, Mort Zuckerman or James Dolan will determine Newsday's future. We are fortunate to be living in one of the few remaining free societies, with a wealth of information sources available for any citizen to access.
Sadly, most American cities and suburbs are down to one local daily newspaper. They may face competitors in the surrounding suburbs along with national editions of USA Today, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. There is also all news radio, national network news such as ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS along with their local and independent news broadcasts or FOX 5, MY 9 and CW 11, cable news stations such as CNBC, CNN, FOX, BBC and the Internet for late breaking news which can become stale by the time it reaches print the next day. A growing population of new immigrants supports their own newspapers, radio and television stations.
I remember the original daily Long Island Press and short-lived Suffolk Sun decades ago, which unfortunately was ahead of its time. Today, Long Island residents can select from Newsday, Daily News, Post, Times and if traveling into NYC - AM New York, New York Metro or Sun. There are also weekly options such as our very own Dan's Papers, Long Island Press, Suffolk Life or your local town newspaper. You can also listen to News 12 or 55 along with a number of Long Island based radio stations.
In the marketplace of ideas, let us hope there continues to be room for everyone including Newsday.

But again there is one Long Island daily. - DR

Dear Dan,
We are very proud of the success of our 46th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and we hope everyone enjoyed it. All of this would not be possible without the support of some very special people. We would like to express special thanks to Chief Todd Sarris and the East Hampton Town Police. We would like to thank all of the East End Fire Police, Chief Robert Gosman and the Montauk Fire Department for all of the help throughout the Parade. Thank you to the East Hampton Parks and Highway Departments for all of the help. We want to thank all of you at Dan's Papers and the Montauk Pioneer for the many years of coverage that you give to the Montauk Friends of Erin and the St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Naturally, a big thank you to all the participants, the thousands of spectators and our financial supporters. With their cooperation we were able to make this years parade one of the best yet.
Our sincere thanks to all. See you in 2009.