Daily Press

* Pat: Reference Saturday's "Standing for Vick" article. Just curious, where's the community support for the others who were indicted along with Vick? From another perspective, has Vick been charged with physically harming the dogs himself or for being present and involved?

Editor: I think the people at the event were standing up for the principle of "innocent until proven guilty," and would apply it to everybody involved in this case or any other. Their concern focused on Vick because so much media attention is focused on him -- to my mind, a reasonable and predictable result of his celebrity. On that point, I don't think the press has "convicted" him or departed from the presumption of innocence, though.

The volume of coverage is a matter of what people are interested in knowing; it's not a conclusion about the case. We'll cover the story as the evidence unfolds in the legal system, including what is established about how closely he was connected to any harm done to the dogs.

In the documents filed with the federal court on Monday, the other three defendants, not Vick, are said to have killed dogs that didn't perform. To let readers see the government's evidence so far in full, we've posted the original federal indictment and Monday's plea agreement online. We'll keep reporting the story.

* Stephanie, Hayes: I am appalled that the Daily Press continues to depict Michael Vick as a hero on the front page of the newspaper. The collage of photos (mind you, that's all that children see) paints the picture of a hero. You should focus on the facts of what is occurring, what he's being charged with, the fact that he hasn't denied it, the facts of the indictment, etc. Let's show the real picture, not hide the horrors of dogfighting.

Editor: Actually, he has denied it. I think our coverage of the Vick story has been balanced. We've reported the gruesome facts of dogfighting, and the specific allegations in this case. But there's more to the story than what happens in court or in a police investigation, and understanding what makes Michael Vick such a celebrity is a big part of the whole. I don't have the least concern that in the full-running stream of Vick coverage, a collage of photos from his life in Newport News will mislead anyone, child or adult.

* Jane, Denbigh: Sunday's Capitol Notebook column on lawmakers paying their spouses for campaign work mentions three Virginians making the list, but names only Reps. Jo Ann Davis and Randy Forbes. Who is the third representative?

Editor: The third one is Rep. Tom Davis, R-Fairfax, as detailed in a story a few weeks ago. The column stopped with the others because they are local, but maybe it would have been better not to mention there were three without including the name. Thanks for asking.

* I was interested in the article about the Sheriff's department in New Kent saying that deer whistles didn't work for them. We have been using them for about 10 years. In Colorado the state police swear by them.

We have approached animals, not just deer, by the roadside and seen them run away from the road and back into the brush or woods. It might sound facetious, but are they installing them correctly? There are two different models and they have to be toward the correct side of the bumper to work.

Editor: Thanks for the suggestion. *

Today's Feedback responses were written by Ernie Gates, editor.

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