Last week’s installment of Jerry Della Femina’s “Jerry’s Ink,” “What If He’s Not Another Jimmy Carter? What If He’s Another Gorbachev?” generated some intense reactions. Here are some of our readers’ takes.

Tired of Anti-Obama Comments

Dear Jerry:

We KNOW you hate Barack Obama, and the whiny bit is getting old. Every issue it seems it’s the same thing. The topper was when you recently lamented about how “Obama’s new taxes” were going to force you to abandon your Hamptons oceanfront house for a villa in Tuscany. Wow, dude, life’s got to be real tough for you. Pardon me for my total lack of sympathy. But I do have the number for the local Waaaahmbulance. Should we send it over?

Name withheld upon request

Justice for Sick BNL Workers

Dear Jerry:

If you want to see on which side of the fence President Obama sits, ask him why his AG hasn’t prosecuted those that violated President Clinton’s Executive Order 13179 by failing to notify hundreds of thousands of poisoned workers by 2001, thereby denying us free screening and medical treatment for diseases my six doctors never heard of.

The poisoned class may include you, some of your relatives, friends and/or readers that were employed by Brookhaven National Laboratory or one of its contractors and may be entitled to between $150,000 to $400,000 compensation plus free medical and/or survivor’s benefits.

P.S. Al Frowiss’ advertisement on the back page of the current Press issue neglects to mention Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD) and Beryllium Sensitivity (BeS) caused by the most toxic of all industrial metals is also covered, as well as related diseases.

Dr. Carmine F. Vasile, Ph.D., SEC
Patchogue

Letter from the Editor

There were 176 newspapers that submitted 2,908 entries in the New York Press Association’s 2009 Better Newspaper Contest. The Long Island Press was recognized with nine awards at the group’s annual conference in Saratoga Springs on March 26 and 27.

The paper won first place for Coverage of Election/Politics for articles about the November elections, for News Story with “Messed Up,” by Christopher Twarowski, which exposed how convicted drunk drivers continue to get behind the wheel, and for Sports Feature with “The Rivalry,” a story about the Islanders and Rangers feud by Press hockey columnist Michael McEnaney.

Second-place awards went to Kaitlyn Piccoli for Rookie Reporter of the Year, to Beverly Fortune for Best Column with her weekly feature “Fortune 52” and to the entire Press staff for Best Newspaper Website.

Third-place awards went to Christopher Twarowski for Writer of the Year, to Timothy Bolger for Coverage of Crime/Police/Courts and former staffer Michael M. Martino, Jr. for Sports Feature with his story about high school football, “The Big Game.”

The New York Press Association is the trade organization for weekly community newspapers across the state.