Letters To The Editor
COEUR D’ALENE
Say no to federal fortress plan
The proposal before the City Council, to grant the General Services Administration permission to remove parking in front of the former post office location at Fourth and Lakeside, is a classic example of the federal “paranoia” prevalent in the nation today.
We are all shocked by the recent tragedy in Oklahoma, but this is no reason to create a fortress out of every federal building in the country. Now is not a time to further isolate the feds from the general public. It is a time to unify and define ways for bureaucrats to understand, and to be understood, in the role they and we play in our society.
In the days of King Arthur, the King (government) built his castle, surrounded by a moat, on top of a hill, and defended him/itself from the very people depended upon for tithes. Could this be the perception of the Tim McVeighs and a cause for these self-appointed Robin Hoods to attack the government? It’s time for the feds to stop building these “castles.” When you erect walls, you lose touch with the people on the other side.
Do I hold much hope for the feds to understand? Unfortunately, no. I can only hope the mayor and City Council, being closer to the community, understand and so will refuse this ridiculous request.
If the GSA can’t handle this, let it be the one to move and find a mountain on which to build its castle. Removing parking is nothing but pure paranoia; it only exacerbates the problem. The money being spent on security would be better spent on protecting all of the people of the community. Don Johnston Coeur d’Alene
POST FALLS SCHOOLS
I will fire up the schools or else
On the sixteenth of May, the choice is clear cut in Post Falls Trustee Zone Five. Voting for the appointed incumbent will continue the present course of crisis management and solving problems with higher taxes.
He voted to spend our precious tax dollars to poll 3,000 taxpayers to find out if we have changed our minds and are now willing to fund a $16 million high school.
I will not and will never vote to raise taxes until two conditions are met. The schools are performing, and you demand it. There is enough money to do the job.
The twelve areas important to me are: a closed campus, longer school day, longer school year, discipline, higher expectations, no sleeping in high school, no tax increases, security fencing, student courtesy and civility, teacher pay reform, vocational school tracks and year-round schooling.
It is time that the schools performed and the responsibility for their failure rests in one place and one place only. The members of the school board need to be flying straight up with their hair on fire, as we used to say in naval aviation.
My aims are simple. The children need our best and good intentions do not cut the mustard. The school board cannot continue stumbling along. I have the practical, analytical and innovative thinking and experience that will serve us all. Voting for me on May 16 is a simple choice. Business as usual or elect me and I will fire up the schools with enthusiasm, or I will be firing those who fail to get the spirit. Robert Hunt Post Falls
Vote for Morgan, return of control
As a former public school superintendent, I have grave concerns about the direction of public education.
Over the years our schools have continued to lose control of their destiny to the state, federal government agencies and teachers unions. As a result of losing this control, our quality of instruction, discipline and student educational competency has steadily decreased.
This past year, the Post Falls School District saw incidents in which students walked out of classes because of non-educational concerns, then were allowed by the administration and district directors to rewrite discipline policies.
The time has come for us to turn these trends around and allow the patrons of the Post Falls School District to take back control and set the direction of our educational programs. Staying the course with existing board members will not resolve any of these problems. We need to begin electing to this board individuals who have demonstrated the desire, knowledge and courage to regain control of our schools and reestablish positive educational direction.
Don Morgan, who is seeking election to the position of school board director, has exhibited the leadership qualities needed to create positive change in the Post Falls School District. A vote for Mr. Morgan would be a positive vote for the future of our district and our children. Donald N. Aschinger Post Falls
KOOTENAI COUNTY
911 centers should stay as they are
I recently met with the agencies for whom we provide 911 service. Each agency that we serve was represented by a member of their ruling board and a chief management official. This group was unanimous in recommending that we continue to operate the 911 facility in Post Falls. Each agency felt that now was not the time to consolidate services with the county.
The county 911 center has struggled since its inception, as evidenced by the number of supervisors who have come and gone in its short history. As each new supervisor was hired and got on board, we have been told everything was in order and that now was the time to join. Our prudence has been proven well founded.
There are dedicated individuals working hard to serve the community at each 911 center. I don’t want any of my remarks to be construed as criticism of either center.
I am concerned that some remarks emanating from the sheriff’s office only serve to demoralize those employees and do nothing to improve service.
The commissioners and I have already committed to keeping politics and territorial issues out of the discussion.
Sheriff Pierce Clegg might more wisely use his energies to supervise his department instead of attempting to tell the commissioners and myself how we should be discharging the duties we have to our constituents. Jim Hammond Mayor of Post Falls
EARTH DAY PROJECT
Park cleanup helpers shined
To those who were able to help with the Earth Day tire removal project at Old Mission State Park, thank you very much.
This project to restore a wildlife habitat to its original and intended beauty included the removal and disposal of over two tons of tires, nearly 170 of them in all.
Already, local forms of flora and fauna are starting to return to this habitat and put it back to its intended uses.
This could not have happened without the gratifying assistance of individuals who worked so hard for those hours spent on such a worthy project. It is with the help of individuals like yourselves that such random acts of environmental restoration can be so successful and serve such a great purpose.
Thanks again. Craig Kenyon, AmeriCorps at Old Mission State Park
SPOKANE MATTERS
Volunteers deserve our thanks
I, like all “Bloomies,” know Bloomsday wouldn’t be possible without the thousands of volunteers who give of themselves so that all of us runners and walkers can have a great, carefree time. I came into personal contact with these wonderful volunteers this year.
My 9-year-old daughter, Katie, was participating in her first Bloomsday. We became separated on Doomsday Hill. Katie did exactly as we had talked about; she waited at the next water station for me.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find her so I assumed she had continued on. Upon finishing the race and meeting up with the rest of my family, I realized no one knew where Katie was.
After nearly an hour and a half of being quite upset, I called her grandparents, who had heard from her. A very observant volunteer had seen her crying and asked her what was wrong. Katie was then taken to where she could call her grandparents.
Katie didn’t want to finish the race, but with encouragement from her grandma and an especially wonderful volunteer who walked the remainder of the race with her, Katie won her Bloomsday T-shirt and we were reunited at the lost and found.
I’m so thankful to all who helped us during this very frightening time. Even though we had devised a plan in case we were separated, we were unprepared for when that plan failed. I hope all parents learn from our mistake and have several backup plans.
It’s important for all of us to thank the volunteers of Bloomsday, our “heroes of today.” Debra Trujillo Spokane
Keep the spirit going
The people of Spokane again have reason to be proud. Fifty-nine thousand people of all colors, ages, sizes and beliefs ran, jogged and walked happily together in the annual celebration of spring. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could keep the Bloomsday spirit alive all year long? Maria Trunkenbolz, chairwoman Bloomsday check-in committee, Spokane
Young Habitat helpers earn praise
In this day when we hear so much negative news about our young people, I feel that we just do not hear enough about what the good kids are doing.
Habitat for Humanity is building a new home on East 10th in our city and we have had great response from our young people.
The first group to offer help was from Washington State University. The students gave up their spring break to wade in ankle-deep mud to offer their time.
They were followed by a group of Whitworth College students who spent a day with wheelbarrows and shovels to help with the landscaping.
John Hagney, a teacher from Lewis & Clark High School, has involved his C.W.A. practicum in community involvement class in our project. The young people continue to be involved and have been a great help.
Most recently, the college-age group from Audubon Park United Methodist Church gave a good, hard day’s work. We also have a young lady from the community college who gives a couple of days a week as her workstudy.
These people have done everything from backbreaking shovel work to house building. They are most capable and are willing to do anything they are asked to do.
There are just a lot of great kids out there and I appreciate the chance to thank them for the help they have given Habitat for Humanity. Jack Shimek Spokane
Put science center elsewhere
I have a question for the exponents of the science center:
Last Saturday I was in Riverfront Park watching all the people enjoying the park as it is. Why take this away? Why not keep the miniature golf and rides for summer and the ice rink in the winter, and make a nice balance by adding the science center somewhere else in the park? This wouldn’t take away from the things the people of Spokane enjoy so much.
They need this place to relax and have fun. Don’t take it away. Betty Tabor Spokane
HIGHER EDUCATION
EWU flunks Sound Thinking 101
I read with considerable disgust the article of May 4 pertaining to the potential conflict between Trent Avenue and the Riverpoint higher education complex. I am appalled that when so much money has already been wasted on the Riverpoint boondoggle, another $25 million is being sought to correct an obvious problem.
There is no question that having a campus straddle a busy street such as Trent is a completely undesirable situation. This is just another example of the complete lack of a sound intellectual foundation underlying Eastern Washington University’s Spokane programs.
Why are so many otherwise intelligent people committed to this folly? A pleasant, relatively modern campus is a very short distance away, in Cheney. The short drive is the only aspect of the EWU Spokane programs that is not repugnant.
EWU is grossly underfunded. Its library and other facilities are not adequate for existing student needs. Many of us find it impossible to complete assignments without going to the libraries at Gonzaga or Washington State University; I have been to both. Classes are too large, the faculty workloads are too high. Millions of dollars are being wasted to support students who do not adequately value the educational opportunity presented in Cheney. It is obvious that educational quality is being sacrificed for political expediency. It is time for legislators and the EWU administration to come to their senses, live up to their obligations and end this lunacy. Douglas R. Mitchell Cheney
IN THE PAPER
Items registered on worthiness scale
I am reminded only occasionally of why I continue to read the morning paper for something other than the job ads.
I tip my white woven, black-banded, cherry-bedecked boater to Frank Bartel for his May 10 column on accountability in government. And to Mark Doerr for his letter (“Let reality bite a veepburger,” May 10) that reminded me I could survive quite comfortably on about one-fifth of what one college president makes. Judy Maibie Spokane
Ship really a destroyer
Wonder how many comments you have received about the identification of the picture of the “battleship” USS Turner Joy (DD-951) on Page G3, Sunday, May 7, 1995, Special to Travel.
Kraylen Kelly identified the vessel as a destroyer in the article - boldface identification under the picture strikes one’s eye on scanning the page. The Turner Joy would be dwarfed by a battleship. L.R. Broun, CDR, USN (Ret.) Coolin <> Why picture a smoker?
I enjoyed your Bloomsday section so much. But why did you have to ruin it with the picture of the fellow smoking on page 36? Bloomsday is such a good celebration and a tribute to good health. I just can’t imagine why that picture had to be run. Joan O’Brien Spokane
ENVIRONMENT
‘Superb reporting’ appreciated
Congratulations to journalists Karen Dorn Steele and Jim Lynch for winning the distinguished Leo and Polk national awards. Their superb investigative reporting of Hanford mismanagement is appreciated by Hanford downwinders.
I also applaud The Spokesman-Review’s courage and diligence in challenging a recent 9th Circuit Court ruling which sealed a scientific paper relating to the Hanford case. Even though I’ve never seen the document, and believe the content irrelevant, the very fact that any scientific work is unavailable to the public is reason for grave concern.
There is ample evidence available, much of which comes directly from Department of Energy and Department of Defense files, which confirms magnitude of past and present environmental contamination and how exposure to said contaminants causes health affects. This includes human experimentation.
Many lawyers, environmentalists and people serving on Hanford oversight boards have failed to utilize or address much of this data. Doing so perpetuates a despicable cover-up. Much worse, its unavailability to health care providers and the affected population prevents early diagnosis which potentially saves lives. What a grim reality.
Thanks to your publication, chinks in the armor of deceit, denial and fraud will, with every hope and prayer, ultimately bring truth to this tragic chapter of our country’s history. Lois Camp Lacrosse, Wash.
Don’t buy B-2s, fix dams
Why not modernize the Columbia River dams to save the salmon runs, instead of increasing defense spending?
The Republicans are proposing a $50 billion increase in defense spending in order to buy expensive new weapons. We already have the best weapons in the world and there is no credible conventional military threat to this country. It’s a poor investment in our future to spend billions buying B-2 bombers that will require another billion dollars per year to operate. Such an expenditure has a negative cost-benefit ratio.
Modernizing the Columbia dams would be a much better investment. It would create construction jobs in the short term and the economic multiplier effect is better than defense spending. In the long term it would create fishing jobs, recreational fishing and food. It might get some people off welfare. Salmon fishing is a pretty good cottage industry which doesn’t require a college education.
If the salmon runs could be increased to 500,000 fish, the resulting economic activity would pay a lot of money to the treasury. Improving water utilization in the West is necessary and inevitable.
Despite the obvious cost-benefit advantages, it would require a lot of voter pressure. Republicans have always been big defense spenders. Saving the salmon runs smacks of environmentalism, which has bee demonized by the new Republican right wing and some special interest groups. S.S. Howze Sagle, Idaho