Thanks for the election letters; keep on writing

It’s not even election day yet, but we’re ready to get back to normal — regarding letters to the editor, that is.

In an effort to get as many letters as possible in support of various candidates and initiatives, we had to put aside numerous letters on a variety of important topics. We’ll be reviving those letters in the coming days and looking for a new crop to fill that daily section of the Opinion page which is most people’s favorite part.

Some of the topics catching your attention seem to be the Everett Events Center, the Brightwater sewage plant proposal in Edmonds, Boeing layoffs and, of course, the terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan.

There certainly isn’t a shortage of new stories and issues to get worked up about. News that the nation’s unemployment rate jumped to 5.4 percent last month and even more talk of recession ought to generate some thoughts worth putting on paper (or email, for most of you). And, even though we don’t know the outcome of the state’s two most contested legislative seats up for grabs right here in Snohomish County, it’s not too soon to let the Legislature know what you’d like to see accomplished when the 2002 session starts in January.

As always, we have a few rules for writing letters to the editor.

For starters, please keep them to 300 words or less. We bend the rule on that sometimes, but when we’re in a deadline crunch shorter letters get picked and the longer ones don’t make it. Always include your first and last name, address and daytime phone number. We only print the letter writer’s name and city of residence, but the other information is useful for verification and contact purposes. We respect the writer’s privacy and never give out personal information.

If you’re sending a letter via email, please use regular email letter format. Do not send your letter in an attachment. It will be rejected. We can’t risk any email viruses.

We know not all of you have access to email, so we’re still accepting letters via good old-fashioned snail mail. Please include your name and return address on the envelope and clearly address it to Letters Section. We’re taking every safety precaution these days, so suspicious-looking letters will not be opened.

Unfortunately, we get so many letters we can’t respond to writers to let them know if theirs was accepted for publication. We apologize for that.

Thanks again to all of you who sent us your thoughts about political candidates and issues. When you finally recover from the political season, take some time to jot down your thoughts about all the other things going on.