Letters are posted as we receive them during the week, and before they are printed in the paper, so check back frequently to see new letters. If you'd like to send a letter to the editor, use this postmarks submission form, or email your letter directly to mail@austinchronicle.com. Thanks for your patience.

Dear Editor,
    So, our rail or fail Mayor Leffingwell reminds us that there are some 860,000 people in Austin, and it's hard to remember that when confronted by 200 loud voices in the chamber [“Quote of the Week,” News, Jan. 9].
    Perhaps if he'd been more of a leader, less confrontational, and paid more attention to the issues of those various 200 people, he'd have been elected in 2012 by more than a paltry 10% of Austin voters.
    Voter apathy in Austin is legend, and you get what you vote for.

Dear Editor,
    I am the staffer responsible for SB 108, which is referenced in the article you wrote on Jan. 9 [“Criminal Justice: Mercy at the Margins,” News]. Your description of the bill – "Whitmire has his own bill, SB 108, designed to make it tougher for minors to be exonerated from crimes they did commit" – is wrong. Senator Whitmire's bill does nothing of the sort. In fact, it allows for minors to have more than one expunction for this type of offense. I believe you saw the removed language and did not actually read the bill. The removed language, not more than one, eliminates the restriction on how many can be expunged.
    This is a serious error that makes the work we do harder. This needs to be corrected and, in the future, please understand what you are writing about.

   [Editor's note: Thanks for the correction, and we apologize for the error. The story has been corrected online and a correction ("Oops!") also appears in this edition. (We'll resist the impulse to respond in kind.)]

Dear Editor,
    Hey, city of Austin, you seem to be confused over several facts, so let me clear them up for you:
   Winter is cold. Rain is wet. Cyclo-cross is muddy. New Year's Eve is a specific date, which cannot be canceled.
    Now that everything is understood, can we have our events back? And while you're at it, bring back Aquafest as well. Sincerely, a resident who cannot afford the hefty C3 bribe apparently needed to keep my favorite events running.

Dear Editor,
    The recent killing of the editor and staff of French magazine Charlie Hebdo in the name of defending the honor of the Prophet Muhammad of Islam is extremely sad and should be condemned by all. Those who commit such acts bring Islam and the Prophet Muhammad into disrepute and achieve exactly the opposite of what they set out to achieve.
    Throughout his life, the Prophet Muhammad showed compassion toward those who disrespected and persecuted him. When a lady who used to throw trash on him every day stopped, he went to her house to check on her health, finding her to be sick. His response to Abdullah bin Ubayy, who insulted and plotted against him repeatedly was “let us deal with him kindly,” and upon his death, he led Abdullah’s funeral prayers. Respect of the Prophet is in following his example of forbearance instead of taking innocent lives for fake standards.