Cda Businessman Only Looking Out For No. 1 Letter Of The Week From Jan. 19

Once again, Duane Hagadone pushes for a development of questionable benefit to our community as a whole. He vows hydroplane racing on Lake Coeur d’Alene will provide economic growth (i.e. benefit Hagadone business interests).

His last attempt at stimulating local economic growth was the ill-fated Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Park, from which he quickly withdrew once it became obvious it would never enjoy profits.

Hydroplane racing could well benefit his Coeur d’Alene Resort, but will it prove equally beneficial to the rest of us? Would we continue enjoying pristine qualities of the lake and region after the races? These are qualities that draw tourists here in the first place.

Those of us who remember the hydroplane races of the 1960s shudder at our memories of the noise, confusion, pollution, outright mess and the near riots we dealt with then. We couldn’t and wouldn’t handle it then, so we should want to now?

What is Hagadone’s answer to those objecting to the noise and disruption of their enjoyment of our lake? “If they don’t like it, they can go to the other end of the lake.”

Typical Hagadonese. If you don’t like what Hagadone proposes, you can go straight to … well, at least to the far side of the lake. Marilyn Roberge Rathdrum

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