Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

County lacks horse sense

Regarding “Fairgrounds risks losing ag shows,” May 28:

The people in charge seem to be going in a direction to force horse shows out. Rising costs, inadequate stalls and facilities for horse shows are signs they really don’t care if they have our business or not.

The stalls have broken walls or floors, nails, large boulders and doors that with a swift kick would deteriorate. A sign on the old barn states that after the fair, the stalls will be demolished and replaced. That sign has been in place for at least two years. The stalls are still there, in disarray.

The only adequate stalls are the new ones far from the arena. The plastic on the windows is not just a poor choice, but dangerous. (I hope the individual who was unseated was not hurt. I was nearly dumped a few years ago for the same reason. ) There is not an adequate warm-up area. There are rocks and wet, slippery areas inside the arena sometimes. I show horses, both riding and driving many weekends, and dread the shows at the fairgrounds.

There is a huge need for local show grounds that can accommodate large numbers of horses. I am sure the fairgrounds would not have the horse show business if someone were to open an alternative. Washington state is one of the highest horse-related industry states in the nation. You would think the county couldn’t afford to turn its back on this industry. Lea D. Williams Medical Lake, Wash

Agricultural people should protest

I have to wonder why gun shows, huge yard sales and other commercial events are given priority over the youth events that should be held at the Spokane County fairgrounds. Why is it that towns with a much smaller tax base can afford more updated facilities, with agricultural and livestock events an integral part of their fairgrounds? Moses Lake and Yakima, for instance.

High school rodeo, 4-H, National FFA Organization, pony clubs and the various livestock-oriented associations give our youths goals, education and good, well-rounded values.

Have the powers that be ever considered the tax dollars livestock events bring into the city and county?

When did the priority of the fairgrounds change to accommodate the money coming directly into the fairgrounds coffers? 4-H kids should not have to provide the community-owned fairgrounds with money, since their parents are paying for this facility with their property tax dollars.

An impact statement compiled in Eastern Washington would show the revenue livestock enthusiasts, agricultural and livestock-based businesses bring into this county. A call to the American Quarter Horse Association could give anyone an idea of the broad picture of what quarter horse people alone spend each year.

I challenge horse, cattle and agriculture people to holler “Whoa!” on what is taking place at the fairgrounds. The people who control it are elected officials.

If every horseman would make a noise, the sound of your voices will be heard. For sure, these people understand votes. Deloris Gardner Biegler Spokane

Officials show signs of disregard

“Not so fast on ‘slow’ signs, parents plead” (May 29) presents contradictory messages regarding the legality of residents posting signs on private property.

Bob Brueggeman of the Spokane County Engineering Department is picking up “illegal” signs from both public and private property. He’s attempting to adhere to a state law that I question even applies to county or city roads.

Brueggeman says the “Slow, children at play” signs are redundant because drivers should know to watch for kids in residential areas.

The key word is “should.” Brueggeman is living in the horse and buggy days if he thinks drivers will heed posted speed limit signs or respect the presence of a school.

Come to 17th Avenue and Bernard Street for a reality lesson. Our house is between two schools and a church. Bernard’s speed limit is 30 mph, but traffic flows at 35 to 45. Some drivers go even faster.

I’ve requested a police patrol four times during the past year, with zero response. I’ve attempted for four years to convince the Traffic Engineering Department that traffic on Bernard should be slower. The department’s goal is to move the greatest volume of traffic as fast as possible, with no regard for pedestrian safety.

Commissioner Phil Harris contradicted state law by saying, “Don’t mess with signs on private property, regardless of the law.”

Please clarify what the city’s and the county’s tolerance policy will be.

For our safety, and to avoid the death of a pedestrian, we need the right to post signs on our private property. We also need slower speed limits in some areas and regular speed monitoring by uniformed police. John D. Brown Spokane

BLOOMSDAY

Parker’s infraction not the worst

I’m amazed at the five-year suspension Bloomsday officials placed on Jonathan Parker. Maybe Parker did start at the wrong color, but five years? Obviously, the officials have never been near the strollers.

This year I decided that, at ages 10 and 12, my daughters were old enough to participate in Bloomsday. We signed up to go near the back, where they would be able to go at their own pace and not be an obstacle to other runners.

Bloomsday used to have a rule that strollers started together near the end. This year, I saw them entering at whatever color they chose, not the color they were wearing, and using big-wheeled strollers to bulldoze a pathway.

Are the rules changed now that strollers may be in any color? That’s all Parker did.

If there was any security watching the strollers, many people should have been suspended longer than five years.

My 10-year-old daughter was just ahead of me when a female runner with a large stroller pushed though and, after bumping into me, she ran into my daughter, pushing her into a mailbox and knocking her down. As my daughter lay there trying to get her breath, the stroller and runner continued.

An experienced runner started in the wrong color and didn’t hurt a soul. But no attention is paid to the problems that really are a danger.

If officials can take that strong an action against an experienced runner who didn’t bother anyone, why can’t they add some kind of security for the other people who don’t follow all the rules? Debi L. Moon Spokane

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Flinn’s actions indefensible

The purpose of recent editorials and political diatribes are not to defend Lt. Kelly Flinn but to assault the military and tear down traditional notions of sexual responsibility.

Flinn was not fighting her court-marital by claiming innocence. She acknowledges what she did. Her defense is that her actions should have been allowed.

Feminists should not defend Flinn but criticize her. By sleeping with an enlisted man, she presented herself to the airmen as a sex object instead of an officer deserving respect. By sleeping with a married man, she assaulted the emotions of her lover’s wife. By refusing a lawful order and lying to investigators, she proved herself to be a poor officer. By claiming there is nothing wrong about these actions, she proves she’s not worthy of our respect.

Flinn is not representative of women who serve their country. By claiming she is, feminists insult all women and unwittingly promote sexism by demanding the public respect somebody who is not worthy of that respect.

Flinn’s case is not about the Air Force or women’s struggle for equality and respect. It is about a person who did not like the rules, ignored them and now demands that the rules be changed so she can continue to break them.

The Flinn case is about an individual who does not like the rules; it is not about gender or institutional sexism. Bruce B. Dimon Post Falls

Anti-women prejudice at work

The June 3 Roundtable cartoon says it all. Indeed, if Kelly Flinn is negligent for adultery and lying, I have to second that the commander in chief, Bill Clinton, certainly is getting some breaks. This is prejudice against women and she does not deserve what she is getting. Saundra L. Patterson Spokane

Untrustworthy officers must go

A recent nationwide poll indicated that about 60 percent of Americans do not think that character and integrity are relevant. Lt. Kelly Flinn obviously does not think so. Robert Root obviously does not think so, either (“We see through the phony dignity,” Letters, June 5).

It’s not about illicit sex. The word is “adultery.” It is about character and integrity.

Flinn voluntarily swore an oath that included high standards of character and integrity. She committed adultery. She broke her oath. Then she lied. Again, she broke her oath. Next, she willfully disobeyed a lawful order issued by her commander. She broke her oath.

That’s what it’s about. Flinn cannot be trusted.

Flinn was a combat pilot. I was, too, in the Vietnam War. I would not trust my life to someone who will lie and disobey. I would not trust my life to someone who has no integrity. I would not trust my life to Flinn. Fortunately, no one else will have to, either. Travis O. Jones Colonel, USAF, retired, Coeur d’Alene

THE MEDIA

Concert review like being there

Three cheers for correspondent Suzanne Pate and her dynamite review of the recent Tina Turner concert. As a longtime Turner fan, I was sorry to miss this concert but felt as if I had experienced the entire event after reading Pate’s lively description. Her fresh writing style and colorful use of quotes brightened my morning. Eric M. Sodorff Spokane

Speak up when offended

Re: “V-chip not the whole answer,” Letters, June 5.

Government intervention is not the solution for the moral decay of our society. We can stop it ourselves. Instead of writing to our newspaper or congressman, write a letter directly to whoever is responsible for the publication.

I wrote a popular magazine, canceling my subscription because of an advertisement of a woman sitting on a toilet to sell shoes. They wrote me to apologize and to inform me that the ad would not run in future issues. Either a lot of people complained or it just takes one.

We have the power to set social boundaries ourselves. Kathy D. Sharpe Spokane

Clark is just picking on police

I saw where the Sacajawea vandalism incident became yet another excuse for Doug Clark to attack Spokane police. What’s behind Clark’s obsession with demeaning these people?

Has Clark ever wrestled a suicidal person on one of Spokane’s bridges, fought a berserk husband intent on beating his wife’s face to mush, rescued a sexually abused child or taken a murderer, rapist, burglar, drug addict or drunk driver off the street? I assume not.

Could that be Clark’s problem? While cops performing the above services risk being punched, kicked, bitten, spit on, stabbed or shot, Clark risks nothing more than fabric burn on his bottom. But what service does he actually provide while taking this risk?

Well, it looks as though Clark fancies himself the watchdog of police practices. In other words, he sits and watches while others perform useful or valuable tasks for the community.

I can see where our little bench warmer night have self-esteem problems. I can also see how these problems could manifest themselves in jealous or bitter behavior. It doesn’t seem right that Clark can use a newspaper to unjustly tear down some of the doers of the city just to raise his self-esteem. Robert W. Webb Chattaroy

OTHER TOPICS

Leaders should share in blame

Many in our area appreciate your coverage of the Timothy McVeigh trial and addressing the potent danger of the so-called Christian Identity militia movement.

Three summers ago, I attended a Militia of Montana meeting at the Fort Colville Grange. John Trochmann was the featured speaker and recruiter. The look in some of those 75 people’s eyes was eerily similar to the detached look I have seen in Timothy McVeigh. Mark Reynolds and Chevie Kehoe were also in attendance.

Later that summer, I was informed by a rather irate church militia member that the look was that of the Holy Spirit and not the crazed “Children of the Corn” look that I saw.

What I saw was a consuming hatred for government and it was being encouraged by the Militia of Montana presentation.

I and many others believe the leaders of the Christian Identity militia movement should be held accountable for their peddling of paranoia, which has provided a spark for some very volatile personalities, i.e. Timothy McVeigh, Robert Mathews and Gordon Kahl. James Gordon Perkins Colville, Wash.

Architect’s presentation inpsiring

A great big thank you to Washington State University architecture Professor Tom G. Bartuska for his outstanding presentation, Exploring Community Sustainability, at the main library May 27.

To become aware of the many forward thinking plans and developments that consider future generations as well as the present one and things already happening in other cities inspires and raises hope.

My thanks to the Inland Empire Public Lands Council, Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association, and Creating a Future for co-sponsoring this superb presentation. Bernadine M. VanThiel Spokane

Molinari too Republican, Davis?

How long are we to endure the liberal rantings of Fred Davis, a visiting professor at Washington State University? His guest columns continually espouse the viewpoint of modern journalism professors, insulated from the workings of the real world, surrounded by like-minded cronies, unable to change an opinion no matter what the evidence.

Take for example Davis’ advocating affirmative action in college admissions and hiring practices. Out here in the real world, admitting students and hiring employees for any other reasons than what their qualifications dictate is seen as unfair. It can only happen when government bureaucracy forces it upon us.

In Davis’ June 2 column, he complains that CBS has gone too far in hiring a politician to be a journalist. That’s better than having so-called journalists pretending they are politicians.

As for his complaint that this hiring is why “journalism today is held in such low regard,” this just shows how out of touch the talking profession is. Journalism is, of course, held in low regard because of its overall liberal and misleading message. Polls show that the numbers are falling precipitously for all forms of the major media. We are rejecting the biased reporting across the board. This bias is generated from our schools of journalism.

I wonder if Davis’ complaints are rooted in the fact that the ex-politician is a Republican? Why else would he support the hiring of the liberal ex-senator that he barely mentioned in his column? Michael G. Wiman Spokane