Editor:

I believe the meeting at the Wharfinger on Feb. 26 was a complete hoax and a whitewash of the death of a beloved priest (see "Free to Go," page 8). If a more rigorous screening system and a thorough risk assessment process had been in place, the murder might never have happened.

The minister's request that we all honor one another just served to nullify the criticism that the Sheriff's Department justly deserved over the loss of a remarkable man in the community. Instead of focusing attention on how long an alcoholic could be retained, the panel would do well to take a serious look at its screening process and the giving out of free bus tickets so the released prisoner could find his way back home.

Fred Mazie, Eureka