Sep 11, 2013 2 min read

A comment or two about a matter or two:

• Kudos to everyone in your organization responsible for putting together the annual high school-college football edition. It’s better than ever!

• Most of us would think it presumptuous to tell a newspaper what to publish, but what if a story that many would consider to be newsworthy is barely covered or not at all?

The print and broadcast media gave short shrift to the death of 88-year-old Delbert Belton in Spokane, Wash.

Mr. Belton was waiting in a parking lot for a friend so they could go bowling. Mr. Belton was robbed by two teenage punks and when he resisted, was beaten to death. Mr. Belton was white, his killers, black.

You can bet your butt that had he been black and the killers white, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson Sr. would be holding news conferences, smiting their breasts, rolling their eyes heavenward, demanding justice.

Delbert Belton, whose nickname was “Shorty” because he was only 5-feet 3-inches tall, was wounded by the Japanese during World War II and awarded the Purple Heart.

Those of us who have served in the U.S. military think people like “Shorty” Belton are 10-feet tall. He was buried with full military honors.

That the print and broadcast media basically ignored what happened in that Spokane parking lot is shameful and disgraceful.

Ross A. Matlack Jr.

Dormont