On the Opinion pages, John Benoit (letter, Saturday, July 20) and Charles Krauthammer (column, Sunday, July 21) observe that the trial of George Zimmerman was not about race. But, they omit an important fact that Judge Debra Nelson severely limited racial bias in the trial by preventing prosecutors from mentioning racial profiling.

George Zimmerman is the victim of both Trayvon Martin and the American media. Zimmerman was at least able to deal with Martin and the threat he posed, the biased media is going to be a much more difficult threat to confront. This is because the media, which treated Zimmerman as guilty and even tried to influence the court to hang this innocent man, still believes that “advocacy journalism” has a place in the newsroom. This event should be seen as a warning to all journalists of the dangers of “advocacy journalism” in which their coverage was more in the nature of a lynch mob with the journalists as vigilantes.

I would like to inform everyone who drives here in Maine. Road construction is part of life. We all complain when roads are bad, yet we do the same during repairs. Please keep in mind those doing this job are making sure the roads are in best conditions before we can drive on it. Many roads are paved over, while others are dug up, corrected then paved over again.

I attended the Hallowell Day parade today and was sad to see so many people that brought dogs to such an event on such a hot day. All the dogs were panting hard and all walking on the hot pavement. As I was watching the parade, I noticed that the Kennebec Valley Humane Shelter had a float. Augusta and the surrounding area is fortunate to have the great care that they give the animals, but where were the dogs? Were they on the float riding? No. One was lucky enough to be inside the cab, others were again, walking on the hot pavement, panting very hard and no water in sight for them to drink. The humane shelter should know better than to put an animal through such great stress. One can only hope that if this situation arises again, the animals would be able to ride on the float with needed water and cover to protect them from the extreme elements.

I believe your editorial cartoonist for Monday, July 22, may not be very good at math. In an attempt to show the magnitude of student loan debt, the cartoonist errs egregiously in the estimate for national debt per man, woman and child in the U.S. The left panel depicts a debt-per-person amount of only $3,279.43.

I believe your editorial cartoonist for Monday, July 22, may not be very good at math. In an attempt to show the magnitude of student loan debt, the cartoonist errs egregiously in the estimate for national debt per man, woman and child in the U.S. The left panel depicts a debt-per-person amount of only $3,279.43. However, some simple calculations prove this to be woefully understated. Go to the Congressional Budget Office website or any other number of sources readily available online. Current U.S. debt stands at almost $16.9 trillion (or to make it simple, use 17 and put 12 zeroes behind it). Next, according to the U.S. Census Bureau the current estimate for total population is 317 million (or 317 and six zeroes). Divide those two numbers and you get a figure greater than $53,000.

I read with interest Buddy Doyle’s response “Maine’s Captain Queeg’s gotta go, mateys” to my letter “Sen. Katz worse than Gov. Paul LePage”.