Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Heartline says goodbye, thanks

It is with deep regret that the staff and management of Heartline Ambulance announces to our friends, neighbors and supporters throughout the region that due to local politics our doors have closed.

Massive growth and traffic in the local area makes evident the need for additional ambulance services. So why do our county commissioners run the risk of potentially endangering lives with ambulance delays? Why do Post Falls, Worley and Spirit Lake continue to be called to cover the area when the contracted service, Arrow Ambulance, is unavailable? Why did the county continue to ignore the pleas of Heartline Ambulance personnel who were ready and willing to assist in these emergencies?

The frustration of our staff sitting idly by, watching out our doors while the county calls in volunteer agencies, which may or may not have crews to cover these emergencies, was more than we could tolerate.

Why aren’t the county commissioners allowing all ambulance companies the opportunity to operate in our county? The answer is politics, pocketbooks, kingdoms and empires.

We thank all of you who called, wrote or stopped by to say, “Hang in there, we are behind you!” We also extend a very special thank you to all of the medical care providers and patients who chose to use our service. The Thurman Family Coeur d’Alene

Live, learn, drive courteously

To add to my letter about recreational vehicles (RVs) and seniors (July 26), nobody has earned the right to break the law by obstructing traffic. All I ask is that you pull over when you can.

How can anyone retire from their family and say “I’ve done enough?” My grandpa was able to impart some of his wisdom and love to a foolish and cocky grandson before he died; he never gave up on me. What a wonderful inheritance it is to have a loving grandfather.

Money is not a good gift. Bankers, lawyers, politicians and stockbrokers can make it disappear in the blink of an eye. Knowledge cannot be stolen, only remembered.

If you’re looking for the fountain of youth, it’s not in Sandpoint, Arizona or Florida. It’s in a child’s heart. If you want new energy, hang out with kids.

There will be plenty of time to rest in the grave. So for now, everybody is needed to help the youth. Teaching your grandchildren is a good way to correct the errors made with your own children. You have a second chance. Use it and remember Jesus’ patience and love as he hung on the cross for his family, which is all of us. Jim Conachen Sagle

GRASS FIELD BURNING

Gratitude can go up in smoke

This letter is in sympathy for the grass burners. I owe them for quite a bit.

I owe the grass burners for a retirement pension most men would give their right arm for. I owe them for a 20-room, two-story colonial home in which I live free and clear. I owe them my wife’s Lincoln Continental, which has 20-point diamonds in the windows. I owe them for my diamond-studded championship ring, which says I’m one of the best salesmen in one of the biggest companies in the world.

I owe the grass burners a helluva lot.

I was a drug salesman. I introduced the medical profession in Spokane to the first aerosol bronchial dilators. Due to the cold winters we have here, there was no difficulty in my sales keeping pace with the salesmen in Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo and other icebox cities. However, when their sales dropped off in warm weather, thanks to the grass burners, my sales continued to climb. I owe the grass burners a helluva lot.

I do have sympathy for the grass burners, not for any restrictions the Spokane County Air Pollution Authority is not likely to impose. I have sympathy for them because, I know what’s coming their way.

You see, I have a wife who is a bronchial cripple and a son who suffers with asthma.

I do have sympathy for the grass burners, because I have learned when you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Mike Cannon Spokane

Growers may face new cost

Since becoming a part of the Save our Summers Group, I have met some grass burners. They seem to be a nice, but don’t seem to know the terrible damage they’re doing to neighbors.

They claim grass burning is necessary to make better seed, but in truth, it only gets rid of the chaff so sun can get to the crowns of the grass. The pollution we see, smell, taste and burn our nostrils and lungs with is just steam, and we are imagining things. Their burning’s just a nuisance which we should put up with so they can make more money.

This imagining of theirs has destroyed the lives of many who suffer from smoke inhalation damage.

For the sake of a cheap way to weed their fields, they are causing people with heart trouble to die, people with lung trouble to become sick and many others, including children, to develop lung problems.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it was over when the burning stopped. But tiny particulates from grass and wood burning bypass the cilia and keep damaging our lungs after the burning has stopped. Smoke from grass burning is most harmful when its added to pollutants we can’t control. It then becomes deadly.

Those of us who have had our lives ruined by grass burners can also make a bigger profit, and we are finding support from others who are fed up. We don’t want to sue them for damages, but if they continue to endanger our lives, we may have no choice. Dr. Leo K. Lindenbauer, D.C. Spokane

Loyal subjects obey planner lords

Here we are, in the middle of an overhaul of government systems that have gotten out of hand. It’s curious the overhaul is working wonders at all levels except that of our fine city.

Citizen upset is bringing about major changes in federal laws concerning overspending, individual rights, property rights, excessive environmental regulation and more. The state is following suit by trimming size and cost of government. Even the county is curbing extra spending and giving residents more say.

How then can the city continue to act so automatically in its planning process?

If you wonder why government is turning off citizens, come to the public meeting on Indian Trail development. A citizens’ task force was led by city planners to say what the city wanted. Planning decided the development must have very high density, so the task force came up with all kinds of reasons to support their statements, each one failing as it was exposed to logic and reason.

Set up a public meeting, but don’t notify the public. Develop a plan, identified by a professor of planning, as a policy statement, not a plan. Allow building at a rate that will always outstrip the ability of the area’s one corridor to safely provide access - even in emergencies.

Remain oblivious to high-density-housing opportunities in other parts of Spokane. Put on blinders to inevitable development adjacent to city limits.

Development is both good and necessary, but so is logical planning. When the only reason for decisions is the planning department wants it that way, citizens lose faith. Bill Mote Spokane

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Farm official one of the best

I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of knowing and working with Larry Albin for almost 28 years. He’s one of the most honest and capable persons I’ve ever known.

As state executive director of Consolidated Farm Service Agency, Larry has shown great leadership, not only in the agricultural community of Washington but serving on national task forces concerning agriculture. He is well respected across the nation.

The (initial whistleblower) charges brought against him by a very disgruntled employee were proven to be completely false. At the agricultural summit held in Spokane in 1993, Larry gave $5,000 of his own money to help pay for the luncheon, which fed some 300 people. Larry’s integrity is above reproach. Gordon Lederer Latah, Wash.

Lowry should not run again

Is our governor a man of principal? His womanizing says no. Does he really care about us, our families, our jobs, small business and our Judeo-Christian values? I think not.

Gov. Mike Lowry’s second veto of legislation protecting children from the child pornography industry tells me he doesn’t care about the children but does care about the billion dollars-a-year pornography business.

Gov. Lowry partially vetoed legislation restoring parents’ authority over runaway children, removing a section dealing with chronic runaways, effectively taking the teeth out of the bill.

On tax cuts for families, the 1995 final legislative budget ($1.5 billion over the 1993 biennial budget) included a 50 percent rollback of the massive business and occupation tax increase passed in 1993. The governor vetoed this rollback, again shifting the burden of funding state government growth to family-owned small businesses.

Let’s hope he decides against running for this high office which demands impeccable behavior and decisions. Karen Hanson Newport, Wash.

IN THE PAPER

Reviewer the one who’s out of tune

It saddened and disgusted me to read Joe Ehrbar’s review (Aug. 2) on the Collective Soul concert Sunday night at The Met.

Collective Soul was far from dreadful. With every song it performed, I could feel the energy growing in the audience. There was a lack of frenzied thrashing and stage-diving because the audience was listening to and feeling the emotions being put out by the band, not just enjoying the loud, live music.

Joe Ehrbar obviously hasn’t bothered listening to anything Collective Soul has put out. With its lyrics and music, the band captures emotions most of us can’t put into words. Collective Soul’s music will transcend the years, whether closed minds like Ehrbar’s believes it will or not.

The band members were also very friendly to those of us who waited outside for their exit. They didn’t seem bothered by the fans, and talked and had their pictures taken with many of us, something that can’t be said for many bands. Collective Soul is very personal with its audience, never forgetting how important we are to its success.

Calling the band “nothing more than throwbacks to the cheesy, Sunset Strip, hair rock scene of the ‘80s” is an insult to the band and all of its fans, and I take it quite personally.

Maybe it’s time for The Spokesman-Review to send out reporters who are more in touch with today’s youth and the music it listens to. Kasey Kampster Potlatch

Send Priggee, fan to North Korea

As a retired Marine veteran of both World War II and Korea, and having left my blood in a couple of pestholes in Asia, I protest the soft-brained drivel of Milt Priggee’s Aug. 6 political cartoon in The Spokesman-Review.

Perhaps Priggee could be made a part of an exchange program with Cuba or North Korea as I am sure he’d enjoy working in a country he so admires and within the freedom that comes with socialist regimes.

If you cannot place him in those two countries, then perhaps you could hire Helen Davitt (“Priggee, you’re the greatest,” Letters, Aug. 6) to assist Priggee in his efforts to degrade the men who fought and died to give him the freedom to disparage the men who gave him the freedom to draw and print such hate America drivel.

Then, after hiring Helen, you could print a photo of the two of them so we’d at least know what these leftist dual airbags look like. I.R. “Dick” Stone St. Maries

Shame we don’t count enough

My delivery person informed me there will be no delivery of The Spokesman-Review to our area after Sept. 1. I’m amazed that after all these years we’re being let down by you.

Who can imagine no Sunday paper at all in our area? We look forward to your daily in-depth news and business coverage. We’re no longer profitable in your estimation. I suppose goodwill and community involvement mean nothing to your bottom line figures, but I’m sure the B basketball tournaments and other events we support in your town do nothing for your economy, so we don’t count!

Thanks for counting us as one more unnecessary group of people. Perhaps someone else will count us in! Barbara Dezellem Bridgeport, Wash.

Travel section too provincial

I found it very symbolic, several weeks ago when a large picture of a trout was featured prominently on the front page of the Outdoor/Travel section. While I think trout are nice looking and have fished for trout, this picture illustrated the newspaper’s new focus on the local area.

In the old days, I looked forward to the Sunday paper because the Travel section was fun and interesting. I’m not a jet setter; in fact, I haven’t made it to “yuppie” yet, but I do love to travel. I save money for two or three years and go somewhere far from the Inland Northwest. In the past you’ve had great articles about faraway places I could dream about the rest of the week.

I also loved the columns by Royce Gorseth. His information and tips were one of the best parts of this section. Now, I notice there have been several Sundays where there’s nothing on international travel.

According to the Chamber of Commerce, Spokane is the hub of the Inland Northwest region and as a trade area serves some 500,000 people. I find it hard to believe few of these people like to travel outside the United States. There’s a lot of information already available about trips in the Northwest. I sincerely hope you consider shifting your focus to a larger area. Nancy Muir Hand Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Heavy smoker just dissembled

As one who gave up a four-pack-a-day cigarette habit more than 10 years ago, I have no sympathy with Joanne Scribner’s whiny, self-exculpatory screed (“Smoking mad”) in the paper on July 30 . Millions of people have given up cigarettes in exactly the same way they took up the habit in the first place: voluntarily.

Ms. Scribner seems eager to blame everyone but herself - tobacco company executives for not admitting tobacco is habit forming, the government for not banning cigarettes and the pharmaceutical and health professions for not providing free nicotine patches.

Most outrageous is Ms. Scribner’s claim that, although she smokes three packs of cigarettes a day, she is unable to afford $100 for a month’s supply of nicotine patches and $45 for a prescribing doctor’s fee. By my reckoning, $145 is about what one month’s smoking is costing her now!

If Ms. Scribner would give up cigarettes she could perhaps devote her attention to picking up some more-salutary habits like common sense, self-control and a little personal responsibility. Jerry Gough Pullman

Relativism is so limited

Secular religion was the topic of a recent article in The Spokesman-Review (July 22). The focus was on Alexandra Roth, who considers herself an athiest but likes the trappings of religion - “the stained glass and the bells and the smells and - the stories.”

However, it’s “those little niggling points, like the divinity of Christ, that get in the way.” She just doesn’t believe.

Since niggling is used to describe an unimportant detail, Roth is saying the most important element of Christian faith - God is human flesh - is unimportant. Christians couldn’t disagree more.

Roth seems caught up in the relativism which permeates contemporary society. She covets for her son “an ability to think independently.” To her that means he will never hold to the idea of absolute truth - especially the “disgusting” idea that Christianity might be uniquely true.

Beneath the skin of most relativists is a core of absolutes. They often speak of right and wrong, especially when their own space is violated. Yet when it comes to religion, the idea that one of many might have it right is rejected.

I believe Christianity does have it right - preeminently in its assessment of human nature and in its remedy for human sin and death. These aren’t niggling issues, nor is Jesus Christ, the God-man. For he came to die a sacrificial death and open the door to eternal life. He can be rejected, but sin and death remain. They can’t lightly be dismissed. Edwin A. Olson Spokane

Fat: Don’t wait for magic bullet

Whee! Modern science has discovered a “fat hormone” that could end obesity in the United States! What a breakthrough for overweight Americans. Instead of following a boring diet and exercise program, we’ll flock to the family doctor for a magic fat-burning injection! Ain’t life grand!

Hold on a minute, folks. General availability of the fat-reducing hormone is still years away. Obesity is a life-threatening condition that is epidemic in our country. Recently, the National Institute of Health reported 34 percent of Americans exceed their body weight by over 20 percent.

Obesity elevates the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and several types of cancer. It interferes with the immune system and discourages an active lifestyle. Several studies have linked obesity with reduced life expectancy.

So what’s a person to do until the magic shots are available? Simple: Cut calories by replacing the fat-laden meat, poultry and dairy products in your diet with whole grains, vegetables and fruits. A plant-based diet, recommended by health authorities, contains abundant protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber.

In a few months, you’ll probably find you don’t need the magic shots after all. Anne Sciortino Spokane