Letters To The Editor

IN WASHINGTON STATE

Health benefit overstated

In your March 17 Region section you printed some misleading information regarding state employees and their health care coverage. Lynda Mapes’ article states, “Right now state employees get free health care coverage for themselves and their families.” Ms. Mapes then quotes Rep. Jean Silver of Spokane, who said, “Everyone else has to pay at least something for their benefits.”

These two segments of your article make it appear that all state employees get a 100 percent free ride with their health care coverage, which simply isn’t true.

It may be true that some have, through their local contract negotiations, arranged to have their coverage paid in full. However, I’m aware of many, myself included, who do bear some of the burden for their own health care insurance, just as our counterparts must in the private sector.

Such inaccurate reporting only serves to increase public disdain for state government and state employees. Please be more responsible with information that you are presenting as factual. Douglas A. Segur Spokane

Governor is not above the law

Regarding the recent article indicating Gov. Mike Lowry has been stopped four times by the Washington State Patrol and has yet to be cited: I find it hard to believe the troopers would be as forgiving for the general population. Capt. Robbins, commander of the Wenatchee district, admitted an apparent policy of the WSP not to cite a governor because he’s a “pretty high public official.”

What would their policy be if a governor’s driving actions caused a fatality? Would they give that governor three more chances?

It’s time to quit treating public officials better than the public they serve. If they violate a law they should be held accountable, the same as you or I. Michael R. Craigen Spokane

Areas deserve special status

Why do Benton, Franklin and Grant county commissioners continue to oppose designation of the Wahluke Slope and Hanford Reach as a national wildlife refuge and recreational river?

Benton County Commissioner Ray Isaacson refers to a resolution passed by Benton County commissioners as evidence of their commitment to protect the reach. But Benton County commissioners admit they lack resources to implement their resolution.

Basic services such as the sheriff’s office are suffering severe budget restrictions. How do the counties expect to provide the fisheries biologists, recreational upgrades, regulatory enforcement and environmental monitoring required to manage resources such as the Wahluke Slope and Hanford Reach? Resolutions without commitment are empty promises and are misleading.

The commissioners also fail to grasp that to protect the reach, we must preserve the slope as well. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation studies show much Wahluke Slope land is unsuitable for agriculture. Will the land end up in the conservation reserve program so that we end up paying for it not to be farmed? There are 450,000 acres of land reserved for farming in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project, yet the commissioners push for farming 100,000 acres of the Wahluke Slope. Why?

The commissioners must abandon their narrowly focused attempt to develop this last piece of our natural heritage. They must join with the overwhelming majority of their constituents who support designating the slope a national wildlife refuge and Hanford Reach a national recreational river. Stan Leja Walla Walla

SPOKANE MATTERS

Shadle graduates, return kilts

For the past four or five years, I have volunteered my time and my sewing machine to assist in uniforming the Shadle Park bagpipe band and Highland dancers. While I can easily make new vests and blouses, it is beyond my finances or abilities to sew a traditional Scottish kilt.

Our kilts are made from the Henderson tartan, which is extremely expensive and can only be imported from mills in Scotland.

It has recently come to our attention that there are quite a few Shadle Park High School kilts hiding in the backs of closets of former band members. Isn’t it a shame that a student may not be able to be a part of the great Highland tradition at Shadle simply because of the dwindling number of extremely well-worn kilts?

If any of you have a souvenir kilt or sporran from Shadle Park High School residing in your home, please do the right thing and return it to us. We can promise that they will be put to much better use than if they were left hiding in a closet. Debbie McMurtery Spokane

THE MEDIA

Cartoon jab right on target

I thank you overwhelmingly for the March 14 (Roundtable) cartoon by Bob Englehart of the Hartford Courant, showing a critic having his mouth pushed in. It is the best cartoon I’ve ever seen.

Certainly, if any group has the right to consider such action, it is the Marines who took Iwo Jima. I’m sure some of us wish we could do it personally to such secondguessers.

I have no right to criticize my Protestant ancestors for killing their enemies during the Defense of Derry in old Ulster in 1689; those who killed Indians in the French and Indian Wars or British and Tories during the American Revolution. No right to criticize Union troops during our Civil War or those who shot Germans while standing in the trenches of France with mud up to their waists during World War I. And I have no right to criticize my own husband and his buddies, who did what they had to do in World War II to protect themselves, their families, the critics of today and our United States.

Why has it taken these critics 50 years to complain? Has someone printed errors in the school history books? If so, the errors better be corrected. Lillian O. Forster Spokane

Assignment for Priggee

The Priggee propaganda cartoon (March 18) depicting a Newt Gingrich supporter as a child molester in his limousine beckoning to a small boy symbolizing education for the poor, shows a lack of understanding of today’s Republican revolution and propagates yesterday’s liberal class struggle scene.

I suggest an educational program for your cartoonist. He should begin with Rep. Newt Gingrich’s very informative college-level course, “Renewing American Civilization,” aired Saturday mornings on Cox Cable channel 17 at 6:30. David Carroll Spokane

‘Trashy article’ not appreciated

The Spokesman-Review hit an all-time low in journalism on March 20 by printing the trashy article written by staff writer Gita Sitaramiah (“If it’s Monday, this must be ‘Melrose.”’) It is no wonder so many people are totally disgusted with a newspaper that would feature an article about smut and “fans of sexy soap.”

Apparently, the editorial staff of The SpokesmanReview does not understand that a good newspaper promotes truth, values and morality, not garbage. Irene Beeson Veradale

LAW AND JUSTICE

Opinion disregards consequences

It is obvious that D.F. Oliveria’s commentary on lawsuit reform (March 10) was not too well thought out. OK, we’ll have it your way.

A couple of months from now, say you find yourself buying a new car jack. Then your tire goes flat and you have to use your new jack. But in the blink of an eye, the jack collapses because it was defective and your hand(s) are crushed by the weight of the brake drum/car.

Under your premise, not only could you not sue the manufacturer of the car jack, your hands would be permanently disabled. Could you write commentary without the use of your hands?

Under your premise, a manufacturer could make a product - defective or not - and still sell that product on the market without protections for consumers. Whichever way you slice it, that’s exactly what your thesis is.

It’s interesting how an individual gets around in society without thinking about possible consequences in their own life. Greg Gardner Pullman

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Teen’s ingenuity should inspire

I am moved to comment on two articles that appeared on the front page of the March 14 issue of The Spokesman-Review.

In bold headlines at the top of the page was an article headlined, “Juvenile crime on the rise,” and on the bottom of the same page was an article in less bold headline, “Kid hooks long one with 5-iron, tees off pros.” The latter was about a 16-year-old boy who, with some desire and ingenuity, fashioned a fishing pole out of a golf club he found in his mother’s backyard. Without knowing it couldn’t be done, and to the amazement of the experienced fishermen watching, he caught a five-pound, 22-inch German brown trout - not the easiest fish to find around here.

I commend staff writer Kevin Blocker and the editors for giving this story the front page coverage it deserves. I salute Tanner Grant for his ingenuity in making a fishing pole out of a golf club and a coat hook. Who’d a thunk it?

I applaud his single-parent mother Carrie Grant for seeing that this story got told. I’m sure it was an inspiration to all who read it.

I only hope some of the juveniles the other headline on that page applied to will heed what can be done with desire, determination and intention. Bob Dreyer Spokane

Out of the mouths of babes: filth

I’m a sophomore at Mary Walker High School. Our school is a K-12 district and sometimes the students interact with each other.

Recently, on my way to one of my classes, I overheard some elementary students swearing profusely and saying things that I thought were very inappropriate for people of any age to say. When I was their age, nobody said things like this. Some of my classmates cussed a little and thought it was cool because the “grownups” said these things.

Why do these kids use this vocabulary? Do they think it is cool? Where do they learn it? Is it from the people they look up to or is it from some other negative influence? Where are the positive role models for these kids?

It is these same kids who give our school the bad reputation that we are slowly beginning to overcome. Rae Ann Wood Springdale

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Urge no vote on SB143

“Older workers proving valuable” (Spokesman-Review, March 17) couldn’t have been more timely.

Senate Bill 143, now pending in the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, threatens to abolish the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), one of the most effective work training and placement programs in the nation and in Washington.

SCSEP helped me start a new career in my 50s, after years of working menial, part-time, temporary jobs to support my eight children. I worked at Hillyard Senior Center, first as a SCSEP enrollee, then I was hired by the city. I moved on to work as editor of Senior Times for five years and director of YMCA’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program six years, until I retired at age 67.

As RSVP director, I trained SCSEP enrollees and hired my trainees whenever there was an opening. One of my best workers had no work experience or educational background for her position, just natural ability. Her only other option was SSI, which would have cost a lot more tax dollars.

Block granting SCSEP would be a disservice to seniors. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 older workers and trainees would lose their positions if the program is block granted.

The Spokane SCSEP is sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons, one of 10 national sponsors. In Washington, AARP placed 75 percent of enrollees in unsubsidized jobs, compared to 49 percent nationally.

All who hope to sustain this valuable program should contact Sen. Slade Gorton immediately. His no vote on SB 143 is urgently needed. Elinor Nuxoll Spokane

Nethercutt falls off contract wagon

Last week, Rep. George Nethercutt voted no when the U.S. House of Representatives passed sweeping reforms for our antiquated and costly civil legal system.

HB956 placed a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages and eliminated the collateral source rule.

Huge non-economic damage awards drive costs up on everything we buy and drive many small businesses bankrupt.

Legal reform is a necessary and important piece of the Republican “Contract with America” that Rep. Nethercutt signed. He promised he would promote the interests of his constituents. Obviously, the American Bar Association’s interests are more important than his commitment to the people of Spokane or his commitment to the contract. Lee Whitfield Spokane

House priorities puzzling

The House of Representatives recently hired a television preacher for $100,000 whose past experiences included convincing citizens - often poor citizens - to empty their pockets for the sake of God. Pastors from the Washington, D.C., area volunteered free prayer for Congress but it was not accepted.

This is very ironic that Congress is submitting legislation which will empty the pockets of the poor. Does this Congress really want to cut their budget? Wesley Sweitzer Spokane

Wealth redistribution, GOP style

Chris Cathart misses the point of his own letter (March 16). What is a tax cut to the super rich, those who make millions to billions of dollars every year? The people and corporations who can find tax loopholes or recover their profits by passing tax expenditures on to the consumer? They have already gotten a “tax cut.” Now, the Republican majority wants to give them another one.

What does a tax cut mean to the newly coined middle class, those who make $200,000 to $1 million each year? They have joined the super rich in looking for tax loopholes. They have already gotten their tax cut. Now, the Republican majority wants to give them another one.

What does a tax cut mean to the new working poor, those who make $50,000 to no more than $5,000 a year? Whoops! Not even on the tax cut radar screen.

Now, who was it again who informed us that a tax cut only reduces money “stolen” by the government? Who informed us of the”twisted logic of liberalism” that money is the sole property of government to be disbursed in whatever way the powers that be wished?

Well, Republicans have fallen into the same liberal trap. For they are prepared to pay for their generosity to their special interests on the backs of children, welfare dependents and the working poor.

These are the people from whom the Republican redistribution of wealth will steal. Joan E. Harman Coeur d’Alene

Welfare may dampen initiative

As I listen to the debates on welfare reform, I am reminded of the year I took the time to read the Forbes Magazine package on the 400 richest people. My interest was to learn if there as a pattern to success.

I found there were only two groups: those who inherited wealth and those who started with nothing.

People who began with nothing were in the majority. It became clear to me that people who had just enough to meet their needs lacked the push to succeed. By providing just enough welfare support to get by, we may be tearing the wings off butterflies. Ethel Hurst Athol