Chris Benedict, Blue Springs

Feature: "Party Cove Pimps," August 3124-Hour Party People
What exactly was the point of Ben Paynter's article that made it worthy of publication?

If you had wanted to do a wide-angle piece on the wild times at Party Cove, then you should have interviewed partiers, local residents, law enforcement, etc., and given us a thorough, informed picture of this seasonal happening. Or, if you wanted to focus on the controversy (if any) surrounding how Hinrichs and Barber capture and distribute their Party Cove pics and videos, then you should have done that.

Instead, you gave us a meandering story that wound up at a private swingers party aboard a houseboat. The reporter apparently got too freaked out to stay for the party's activities (be sure not to let him read the ads in the back of the Pitch, as those might upset him, too) but not too freaked to not report what supposedly happened at the party, including naming some names of who did who. Some people's major privacy was violated in a story that served no purpose. Nice going.

I have sadly watched the Pitch go journalistically downhill at warp speed, especially since that phony Civil War burial site story awhile back. Nowadays, I usually just pick it up for Savage Love and concert listings.

I know you guys don't have the resources of the Star, but will you consider going back to covering real stories again? Important ones that would otherwise fall through the cracks? Chris Benedict, Blue Springs What a piece of crap. I feel dumber for having read it.

Jerry Crist, Houston I consider myself a liberal, and yet the Party Cove story left me thinking that right-wingers like John Ashcroft are right, that the fabric of our nation is disintegrating and debauchery is taking over. Last time I checked, the Lake of The Ozarks was a public waterway. If the state of Missouri doesn't want to properly police it, eventually you can expect George Bush's culture police to swoop down with a thick coat of napalm for the entire cove. And I, for one, will look the other way, knowing that for once the right-wing zealots were right.

B. Walker, Kansas City, Missouri Fuck The Real World, The Surreal Life, the fuckin' midget family, the racing asshole and his daughters. Fuck The Simple Life, The Apprentice, Dog the bitch-ass bounty hunter and his balloon-smuggling wife, and any other reality shit passing television-worthy rating scales. They can't touch these kooky bastards.

You fuckers are the Pitch, right? Pitch that shit! HBO, fuck. They'd be all up in it. Any cable network would kill for story lines like that. Ya know, it's hard down at the lake fo' a pimp.

But you need to get on this, fast. Hell, if Marc Hinrichs is the enterprising slut he comes across as, he'll hype his own camera crew to watch him, Ma and Pa Party Cove, Party Girl, the fiance, Kung Fu fighter Paul and Kevin Barber.

Imagine that first season! Robert Hawkins, Kansas City, Missouri After reading "Party Cove Pimps," I must admit that I felt very angered and a little nauseated. Being that I was born and bred in Kansas City, the Ozarks was always the close yet "far away" destination for summer vacations as a kid. My dad owned his own business and rarely got more than four days off at a time, so the lake was a very rational and enjoyable destination.

It disgusts me that lowlifes like these two "businessmen" have cheapened and tarnished the history of this beautiful man-made wonder. Not being pre-judgmental, I do have to admit that it came as no surprise to me that these guys are from Gardner (the Blue Springs of Kansas) and Lee's Scummit ('nuf said). If they want to be big shots in the amateur porn industry, they should move to Las Vegas, or at least relocate to Lake Havasu or South Padre Island, and quit polluting (in more ways than one) this decent, peaceful lake community. Name withheld by requestCafé, August 17Cookie Cutup
You have to know that the Classic Cookie has fabulous soups and wonderful food at breakfast and lunch — standing room only on weekends. Leslie, the owner, is terrific and can put in 90 hours a week to make the food great. Joann Munagle (my mom) is also a part-time wait staff, and she loves her customers. I know all this because I am Leslie's sister — just ask her customers, who love both her and my mom! I may be prejudiced, but I have never had a bad meal there, although I have had to wait in line!

Stephanie Spelic, Omaha, NebraskaWayward Son, August 10Local Motion
I think the Pitch awards are terrific. However, I am confused. I thought the awards were for the local Kansas City music scene. Yet the winner of the best live act and a couple of other awards went to the Esoteric, which is a national act.

I understand honoring them, but they really should not be in the same category with truly local acts. I think once a band is signed for over a year — or if they spend 50 percent of their time in other areas — they are no longer local. Lori Dehner, Harrisonville"I consider myself a liberal, and yet the Party Cove story left me thinking that right-wingers like John Ashcroft are right."