Letters To The Editor

BUSINESS

WWP honest, above board all along

I agree with (Opinion editor) John Webster that the whole community benefits from restoration of the Davenport Hotel. I’m pleased he recognizes the merits of our proposal for a comprehensive cleanup of the steam plant oil leak.

However, certain other facts and assumptions in his Aug. 31 editorial require clarification.

The oil spill was never kept secret. It was quickly reported to both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Ecology when discovered in 1982. The investigation was conducted in complete public view until Ecology determined the spill posed no public health or environmental threat in 1984. These actions are fully documented in public records.

Until WWP reopened the investigation in 1991, there was no reason to question whether the spill boundaries were any different than believed in 1984. WWP reopened its investigation voluntarily, before anyone began “pressing” for a cleanup.

Your newspaper’s coverage of Ronald Wai Choi Ng’s ownership of the Davenport shows he has consistently blamed his inability to finance his project on a succession of other parties over the past five years. WWP’s oil is no obstacle to his renovation and we intend to prove his lawsuit is utterly baseless.

In the meantime, we hope these unfounded allegations will not hinder the ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown Spokane or inhibit a productive public dialogue over our cleanup proposal. W. Les Bryan, senior vice president Washington Water Power Co.

WWP has accountability gap

Washington Water Power Co. has caused damage to people in the Four Lakes area and isn’t accountable. Then there’s the oil slick at the Davenport Hotel site - not accountable.

We in the area south of Colville have had electrical interference with our television reception, cable and satellite systems caused by WWP high voltage lines for the past 15 years. The problem involves the type of insulators used. We’ve tried for the last four years to get the company to fix this.

Last October WWP finally sent a technician to search out the problem. Last March they did an experiment and found the clue. They replaced some of the insulators, but now they’re out of them and won’t be have more until October.

I’ve had more excuses from WWP than most people can think of. The company doesn’t want to accept responsibility or be held accountable.

I’d like to see legislation passed to stop this type of action by monopolies. I wonder if there are any attorneys who will go on principle alone and not the almighty dollar to help us put a stop to this abuse.

There’s a merger in the works with Sierra Pacific of Nevada. Will that be a plus or a minus for consumers? In a few years, consumers will be able to pick and choose the source they buy power from. I wonder, if WWP doesn’t change its ways, how many of its customers will switch to another company. I know many who can’t wait for that day. Pat Halland Colville, Wash.

SPOKANE MATTERS

Library measure deserves backing

Tuesday, Sept. 19, voters in Spokane County can increase their library’s materials, facilities and computer access to its collection.

As a teacher of elementary children, I’m excited about the plan to increase the amount of books and other materials, in addition to upgraded computers. Students in middle, junior high and high schools will have a connection from their schools to the county libraries and other resources.

The five-year proposal for $12 per year per $100,000 property valuation is a bargain in today’s information society. I urge you to vote yes. Nadean Meyer Spokane

Elect Schindler fire commissioner

The state regulates fire commissioners closely, so the mission is narrow: carefully watch over the budget and to deal with people.

Lynn Schindler can do both. I know Lynn has the experience to do both very well. She’s proven it time and time again.

I believe that the firefighters of our community know exactly what they’re doing. It’s important to let them do it and to manage a budget that will meet the fire protection needs of the community. We all know that wants and needs can be a world apart. Lynn has the skills necessary to negotiate these differences without polarizing the parties involved, thus losing the battle.

It’s time to elect a fire commissioner who will care for my tax money the same way that I watch over my personal finances. Lynn Schindler is my choice for District 1 Fire Commissioner, Position 2. Jim Robinson Otis Orchards

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Medicare: Check the money trail

Among the items Congress will consider when it reconvenes is a reduction of $270 billion in Medicare.

That is a reduction experts say would be devastating and more than twice what is necessary if the goal were to place the program on a secure footing into the next century.

Particularly repugnant are some of the proposals to achieve this reduction, such as the voucher proposal that the Wall Street Journal indicated could be a windfall for insurance firms.

The size of the reduction, which was determined before Medicare was studied to see what should be done, the fact that a tax cut going mostly to those making over $100,000 is also being considered and the type of proposals being considered, such as the voucher plan, suggest that the welfare of those of us who use medicare is not the first priority of the current Congress. Stan Robinson, president Senior Legislative Coalition of Eastern Washington

GOP devil in Medicare details

Now come the Republican details to balance the budget by 2002. There’s a $270 billion hike in Medicare costs for the elderly poor and a $245 billion tax cut for wealthy citizens and the biggest corporations.

To say Medicare will go bankrupt unless it is cut this much is a lie. It’s been adjusted nine times in 25 years, so adjust it, don’t bust it.

Fact: Medicare part A causes no deficit. It’s entirely self-funded. Medicare part B caused 6 percent of the deficit. Republicans make Medicare shoulder 36 percent of the deficit reduction, not 6 percent.

The military, which caused 36 percent of the deficit, isn’t cut at all, but increases to 52 percent of all discretionary spending. Is that fair or even smart?

Republicans say they’ll save Medicare by cutting severely spending growth. But spending growth was caused because: 1, hospital, drug and doctor’s costs increased at twice the rate of inflation; and 2, seniors live to retire and become Medicare-eligible.

Now comes Republican public relations to convince seniors their benefits won’t shrink. Such a lie.

The cost is $3,500 per senior. The bottom line is, if no tax cuts are given to the rich and everyone pays their fair share, we’ll balance the budget without gutting Medicare.

Our Congress’ majority is sold out to the rich and to the biggest corporations. Local phone books list the numbers for your senators and congressmen. Call them - they listen. Vern L. Klingman Billings, Mont.

Hearings are political persecution

It’s obvious what is going on in the Whitewater hearings. They want to keep our president down in the polls so he won’t be re-elected in ‘96, and they plan to keep the hearings going until after the election.

It has cost $20 million so far, and by the time they’re through it’ll cost much more. I’m a little unhappy that the Democrats are having to help foot the bill to have our own president defeated.

The Republicans have been told, after four investigations, that the president is innocent of anything illegal. But they plan to keep right on with these investigations that are getting downright monotonous, expensive and outrageous.

When they got independent counsel Robert Fiske to investigate Whitewater, they agreed to accept what he found. When Fiske found the president was innocent, they wouldn’t accept that.

This should be illegal. They put a man on trial in court only once if he is found innocent.

Well, Democrats, what should we do to stop this? There’s never been a president treated as badly as Bill Clinton has been. He’s a very good president. The economy’s good. He’s for the middle class and is helping our schools. He is accused of raising taxes for everyone, but he mainly raised taxes for those who make over $100,000 per year - people who shouldn’t be hurt by paying their fair share. Ernestene Becker Clarkston, Wash.

EDUCATION

District 81 message needs work

I read the Aug. 24 paid advertisement from Spokane School District 81 with great interest. I was excited that the goal is improving the learning of all students and that the district had been working hard to raise the standards of all students. Since this is the disctrict’s duty, it’s only fitting that it do so.

While the rhetoric is impressive, the message to parents doesn’t support this. Parents are urged to talk with their children about standards. Athletes, actors and musicians are suggested standard-bearers. Many of these do have high standards, yet generally, these standards don’t reflect the educational standards parents want for their children. Parents, other family members, historical figures and other such heroes are noticeably missing from the list.

Parents are also encouraged not to ask their children if they have completed their homework. Instead, they are to ask if the homework meets the student’s standards.

This is an example of the very talk that has resulted in lower student achievement. Research proves what parents already know: What we expect is what we get.

Instead of this foolish talk, parents should be urged to expect the best, not just from their own child but from the school district.

Excuses, often blaming parents, and fancy rhetoric don’t add up to improved learning. So, parents, continue to ask your children not only if they finished their homework, but also hold them to their best work and expect this from the district, too. Muriel Tingley Medical Lake, Wash.

EarthWeek was classroom tool

What happened to the EarthWeek feature that appeared in each Sunday edition? I used it with my sixth-grade class last year and planned to do so again. It was a nice tie in with science and world history.

The Spokesman-Review has always encouraged use of the newspaper in the classroom. I was very disappointed to find this teaching aid missing. Betty Jo Hagman, LaCrosse Elementary School LaCrosse, Wash.

IN THE PAPER

Cyanide spill news came late

There’s been quite a debate raging over the proposed Crown Jewel project in the Okanogan Highlands near Chesaw, Wash.

Battle Mountain Gold Co. would like to dig an open pit gold mine on Buckhorn Mountain in the Okanogan National Forest. Many local people are concerned about potential risks to the environment if this mine is given the green light. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has been issued and citizens had until Aug. 29 to comment on it.

The Sept. 5 Spokesman-Review included an article concerning the cyanide spill at Hecla Mining Company’s open pit gold mine north of Sunbeam, Idaho. This real-life occurrence closely mirrors the what-if fears of those opposed to the Crown Jewel project. Even though the accident happened on Aug. 21 - in time to convince some people of the reality of such dangers - it wasn’t reported by the paper until well after the DEIS comment deadline. Oops! Jeffrey A. Kocol Wauconda, Wash.

OTHER TOPICS

Rodeo: Animal cruelty in action

The Spokane Interstate Fair brings us many great things each year - except for rodeos and especially except for calf roping events.

In calf roping, the young animals, running up to 30 mph, often sustain severe injuries. Among the most painful are neck and back injuries, internal bleeding and extreme bruising. Some states have enacted legislation that bans calf roping and requires veterinarians to be present at all rodeo events and performances.

The few laws that regulate rodeos are designed to protect only human participants. They don’t take into consideration the animals’ welfare. Rodeo promoters and contestants argue that they don’t mistreat their animals because they need them. But the fact there’s never a shortage of animals to replace those that are killed or injured irreparably undermines their reassurances.

The rodeo circuit is a cruel detour for cattle and horses on the road to the slaughterhouse. Please join me in boycotting the rodeo. Sharon Daggett Spokane

Hansen right about ‘30s living

I’m responding to Bernard Bobb’s Aug. 10 letter concerning your article “Home from war and ready to shop,” referring to the returning GIs of WWII. Regarding indoor plumbing, refrigerators, etc., writer Dan Hansen describes conditions correctly for my own 1930s decade.

My mother and I went to California in 1930, having left a large city in the deep South where we had had everything known to society except a refrigerator. Ice was delivered by horse-drawn wagon and us kids followed the driver for a block or more, taking all the ice chips he offered.

Once we were in California’s Mother Lode (the Sierra Nevada foothills), this became our own “backwoods.” Most of my schoolmates and I prepared homework and Bible lessons by kerosene lamplight. We drew water in buckets from hand-dug wells, for kitchen use, bathing and wash day. Our mothers used zinc washtubs and the well-known “Irish piano” or washboard.

Ice was delivered once a week from a town 10 miles away, at two cents a pound. When it melted in hot summers prior to the next delivery, we lowered Bossie cow’s milk, homemade butter and cottage cheese into the depths of the well where it was cooler. We made Jell-O only on delivery day.

The outhouse was moved when the underneath was full, but lime was used in all trenches. We kept clean, healthy, morally straight and we stayed in school. Lillian O. Forster Spokane

Evolution proof? Forget it

The federal government doesn’t need to spend our money to continue to try and prove evolution. No finding has as yet stood the test of time. I don’t argue that large animals once roamed the earth. The Bible is very clear on this. The dating is where we part company.

Secondly, about the findings being 10,500 to 350,000 years old. That’s a difference of 339,500 years. If that’s as close as they can come to the date, why should we believe them? Other examples of error:

A mud turtle from the Montezuma well in Arizona which died in early 1961 was tested at an age of 15,000 years old. (Vance Hayes, Radiocarbon and Tritium Dating, 1966).

At the University of Arkansas, bones were on display of a mastodon dated at 10,000 years old. They’re no longer displayed there because a man came forward and proved that as a child, an elephant from a traveling circus got sick, died and was buried in that exact spot. The bones were then proven to be that elephant’s, so the university pulled the display. (Bible-Science Newsletter, 6-7-73).

The point is, we wouldn’t accept this type of error in any other field, so why in this one? It would be nice to see a creationist viewpoint to show the difference in the two views. It takes more faith to believe we came from nothing than to believe we do in fact have a creator. Kevin B. Dahl Coeur d’Alene

Correction

Sandy Smith’s Sept. 2 letter about Cozza-Standard traffic concerns should not have included a reference to 15 mph, and should have read, in part: “The Cozza Drive-Standard area has a multitude of problems due to continued growth and development …”