Letters To The Editor

IN THE PAPER

Marks case reporting superficial

Your reporting on the Marks criminal case and subsequent lawsuit has been superficial and often incorrect. After 11 years of reading their own articles, the editors wrapped up their view in an editorial that attributes fact to fiction, outrageous lies and distorted reporting.

Among the worst misrepresentations were the assertions about: the officers’ personal conduct (eating the family’s roast, parading people naked, etc.); the “strong-arm tactics” against CBS (the police, in fact, obtained and civilly executed a search warrant for video tape after CBS refused to let police view it to identify assailants); and the legality of the searches (in essence, the voluminous warrants have been ruled valid, with the exception of a clerical error, and the resulting search of some people not homes due to that error was ruled improper, and the remaining issues were left for the jury to determine).

You also failed to place the $1.43 million settlement in perspective. The city and the police officers looked forward to the trial in order to refute the allegations with evidence. The financial risk to the city was always the potential award of attorneys’ fees and costs to the Markses’ lawyers under the federal civil rights law, not fear of the Markses obtaining financial damages. After a recent court opinion directed the city to pay the Markses’ attorneys’ fees and costs, their lawyers testified in court documents that their costs are already more than $1.5 million.

People ask us how much the Markses’ lawyers paid the Markses to settle the case. The settlement is a tribute to the extraordinary skills and integrity of the mediator, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lonny Suko, of Yakima. Rocco N. Treppiedi assistant city attorney, Spokane

Editor’s note: On Sunday, July 13, The Spokesman-Review published an editorial clarification intended to close the book on staff or reader written commentary concerning the Marks family lawsuit against the city. (The letter above was a work in progress when the clarification was published, so it is being printed today.)

However, other opinions and commentary continue to come to The Spokesman-Review, including a first person account written by Clifford Harding, a police officer who participated in the search of the Marks family home. Obviously, some readers are not ready to close the book.

We have decided to utilize our online service, Virtually Northwest, to publish these pieces and provide a discussion forum for readers with continued interest in this issue. The Internet address for Virtually Northwest is http://www.virtuallynw.com.

‘LOST WORLD’

Accusation of racism baseless

Concerning Jodi Habel’s “Your turn” column of July 9:

I also attended the opening night showing of “The Lost World,” and I, as well as my friends, applauded at the San Diego Godzilla reference. Having grown up with these movies we immediately appreciated the little sight gag and responded in kind.

If it was our clapping that bothered Habel into losing her popcorn and contemplating the horrible racist state of the Inland Northwest, we apologize. But even if it wasn’t us, Habel’s comments still bother me.

Racism comes from ignorance, and Habel showed great ignorance by assuming people were clapping for the demise of Asians. Did she feel she was the only one in the audience to get the joke? Her baseless accusation of racism is just as wrong as the ignorances displayed by bigots everywhere.

Please, Ms. Habel, try to exercise a little thought before you assume and judge somebody a racist. It could save you a lot of embarrassment. Ben L. Foxworth Spokane

Audience reacted as expected

Jodi Habel’s “Your turn” column (July 9) regarding the action of the audience viewing “The Lost World” has left me confused.

How did she determine the sex of the T-Rex? Did she become nauseated and appalled before or after enjoying the T-Rex tearing half the population of San Diego apart, limb by limb?

Habel has taken a piece of comic relief, to which the audience responded as expected, and turned it into a platform to condemn Spokane as a hotbed of racists. She states, “Ignorance is a venom.” I find her column to be dripping with venom.

I suggest to Habel that to find a location totally free of her perceived racism, that she book passage on the next Voyager flight.

Perhaps research has revealed that T-Rex had a preference for Chinese food. Oops! Now is that a racist statement, or not? Hugh J. Junkin Spokane

UNATTENDED CHILDREN

Sorensen used poor judgment

Re: “Sportscaster demands apology from police,” July 15:

Paul Sorensen left his baby unattended in his car and ends up being cited by alert officer of the month Carol “Broomhilda” Brookshire. From the story in the newspaper it sounds like these two deserve each other.

I don’t doubt Sorensen is a good parent to his children, and I am sure Officer Brookshire performs her duty with utmost efficiency, but obviously these two individuals don’t mix well. I think the headline, “The Gestapo and the idiot” would have been more apt.

Perhaps Brookshire should loosen her jackboots a bit and Sorensen should have an “idiot” ticket taped to his forehead for a month or so.

As for an apology from the police, the only one apologizing should be Sorensen to his family for exercising poor judgment. Mike B. Harmon Spokane

Security guards deserve thank-you

Regarding sportscaster Paul Sorensen leaving his 2-year-old daughter in his car for “only five minutes” at the airport, how long does he think it would take someone to get his daughter out of that car and onto an airplane?

I lost my son, when he was 2 years old, at the Spokane Airport in the time it took to walk from the ticket counter to the luggage carousels. In less than a minute, we realized he was missing. My brother and I each ran in separate directions, screaming my son’s name, checking at each boarding gate and giving his description to every official-looking person we saw. Finally we heard, “Will Jimmy’s mom please come to the ticket counter?” over the loudspeaker.

Lucky for us, the woman who “took” Jimmy took him to the ticket counter to find his parents, instead of onto a plane to find new parents. The whole ordeal lasted less than the five minutes Sorensen left his child alone. Sorensen should be thanking the security guards for watching out for his child, instead of demanding an apology from them. I suppose that if something had happened to his daughter he would be blaming them for not watching her.

Parents, never leave your small child alone in a car for any amount of time. It’s just too big of a risk to take. Sharyn C. Thorne Colbert

Officer should get pat on back

I think it’s a shame that sportscaster Paul Sorensen thinks it’s no big deal that he left his vehicle unattended with his daughter inside. I think Officer Carol Brookshire should get a pat on the back for her good work. We should have more officers like her in this world and maybe we would have fewer child abductions.

I think the chauvinistic comments that Sorensen made towards Brookshire show his level of low intelligence. And if anybody should be punished it should be Sorensen. Tarina Rose Spokane

OTHER VIEWS

Equal Exchange benefits communities

Why is the growing wholesaler Equal Exchange Gourmet Coffee (and other fair trade companies) in business? Put simply, it is to provide a cage-rattling alternative to such big producers as Procter and Gamble (Folgers), Nestle (Hills Brothers) and Kraft Foods (Maxwell House). It is in business to bring restoration to the environment and local communities, countering the industry’s quest for quick and easy profits.

Surmounting evidence confirms the long-term benefits of preserving traditional, high bio-diversity coffee plantations cultivated within a forested canopy on sloped elevations. Sun plantations which seek short-term, high-yield coffee production require massive amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, posing health hazards to the farmers and their communities. Such production is neither environmentally nor economically sustainable.

Equal Exchange sells gourmet coffee that seeks to return cultures and ecosystems to wholeness. In establishing direct relationships with farm cooperatives, Equal Exchange expands the production of coffee that is organically grown and community empowering. Their profits are not siphoned off by brokers, exporters and speculators.

The industry at large favors sun plantations and unfairly distributed profits. Now there’s a taster’s choice! Doug A. Demeo Spokane

Statement cause for hospital review

Re: “A safety net for Cheyenne,” July 13:

I was stunned by the sentence that read, “Martha wouldn’t allow an epidural to be administered until Lekecia’s pains were extreme and the doctor said she couldn’t endure any more.”

There is actually a doctor who allows the mother of the patient to determine what the level of painkiller will be? I hope this is cause for review by the hospital or some medical board. Mamie E. Scott Spokane