Letters To The Editor

GRASS BURNING

Task force decision will affect us all

The Washington state Department of Ecology recently announced that the decision to certify alternatives to grass field burning has been turned over to the Agricultural Burning Practices and Research Task Force. This board, which is dominated by agricultural interests, is scheduled to meet Friday at 10:10 a.m. in the Shadle Park Public Library.

Anyone who is interested in how the task force intends to solve the issue of grass field burning should attend. Since this group’s decisions will affect the air we all breathe, we all have a stake in observing just how its decisions are made. Paul De Palma Spokane

There is no alternative to breathing

Last fall I called Ellen Craswell’s campaign headquarters and was told she favored letting the grass growers burn whatever they wanted. Gary Locke’s office in Spokane told me he supported the three-year phaseout of grass burning and that he was concerned about the health impacts of field burning.

It was a no-brainer. For the first time in my life I voted for a Democrat.

Now I read where the new director of the Department of Ecology is backing off of Gov. Locke’s campaign promise. He must have taken the farm tour and heard the same whining that we’ve heard for almost 30 years.

The truth is: Burning doesn’t shock the plant into producing more seed for next year’s crop. Burning is done because it is the cheapest and easiest way to remove the residue. All bluegrass fields are rotated with other crops.

The logical solution is for the farmers to plant another crop until they can learn not to burn. There are no practical and economical alternatives to breathing. Sheila Thibodeau Spokane

SPOKANE MATTERS

Stop taking shots at Dave Sabey

Everyone from this newspaper, letter writers Kathleen Whitbeck (Sept. 19) and Ron Wells (Sept. 22), our Mayor Jack Geraghty, and City Councilwomen Phyllis Holmes and Roberta Greene keep taking negative shots at NorthTown’s owner and developer, Dave Sabey. Let’s look at the facts.

Sabey rode into Spokane on a white horse and not only saved the crumbling NorthTown shopping center but spent 130 million of his own dollars to give us the finest place to buy goods between Minneapolis and Seattle, Salt Lake City and Edmonton.

What does NorthTown contribute to the city tax funds? This lilac city receives yearly $16 million as its share of the state sales tax and $3.8 million of that money pot comes from sales at NorthTown. Folks, that’s 24 percent!

We don’t need Mike Tyson to come to town to bite the hand that feeds us. We already have elected officials and this newspaper chomping on Sabey’s mitt. Every corner of our fine city should have reasonable and prudent plans for improvement, but it makes me grind my teeth when high-profile people condemn and berate someone who has so positively contributed to our community and quality of life, so knock it off! Jonathan Swanstrom Sr. Spokane

Take a look at the real issues

Surprise! The Goods Roads Association (they advocate strongly for funding road construction) is supportive of adding more roads to the current infrastructure! Dale Stedman’s letter, “Get Lincoln Street Bridge facts” (Sept. 17) did not cover the facts that are important to me on the $36 million-plus project. The real issues are:

Congestion: The five downtown area bridges have sufficient capacity not only now but also projected to the year 2020 according to modeling results.

Air quality: There has never been an air quality exceedance at the Spokane Club air pollution monitor.

View: A 90-foot-wide bridge over the falls spoils the beauty of our scenic jewel.

Native Americans: Their heritage is not respected or honored by such a massive concrete structure.

Money: Local taxpayers will pay millions in the matching funds as well as a portion of the federal funds. Such funds could be used to fix a lot of streets as well as repair/replace the Post Street Bridge or add two lanes to the Monroe Street Bridge. Kim K. Davis Spokane

There are ways to improve image

The recent series of articles about comparison of the east and west sections of Washington were well-done. Let’s enumerate some things that need to be done to improve our image.

We have an excellent new Arena. Let’s market it aggressively.

Our Convention Center is good but needs expansion.

We need a Triple-A baseball club. If Tacoma can support one, so can we. And publicity is needed.

We must have a north-south freeway. The current traffic situation is and will continue to be a problem.

We need a revitalized downtown area. We’re fortunate to have the Cowles family committed to this.

We need to get behind them and help.

Continual carping about the Lincoln Street Bridge serves no useful purpose. We need the bridge so let’s go ahead and build it.

U.S. Highway 395 north of Spokane is a death trap. It must be improved and four-laned at the earliest possible date.

Spokane is a good town. We have good schools, good parks, etc. We must, however, learn to work together with our neighbors in the county. Eventual amalgamation of city and county governments must come about, and remember that moves such as this are not lost on people looking to move to the Spokane area.

It’s unfortunate that Dave Sabey has decided to throw rocks and money at the revitalization of Spokane. It is out of character and seems to show a lack of understanding of how business operates. What is good for the community is good for all segments and not exclusive to the downtown area. Maury Hickey Spokane

Pig Out in the Park a great success

Thank you, Spokane, for making Pig Out in the Park one of our community’s favorite annual events again in 1997. Following his year’s Pig Out we’ve seen a few letters to the editor calling for us to rename the event. You ask for something more dignified. After all, what will Seattle think of us? Pig Out in the Park has now become controversial. How exciting!

Obviously, some of you have missed the point completely. Pig Out in the Park is not intended to replace the culture of our town, maybe just add something to it. This year, in five days, we served more than 250,000 servings of food, soft drinks and adult beverages. Our free concerts drew the largest audiences we’ve had in our 17-year history.

We are not trying to out-do another city. We are not trying to impress our out-of-town friends. We’re just trying to enjoy the few remaining days of a beautiful Spokane summer in Riverfront Park and at the same time have a little fun.

For the person who suggested a public contest to rename the event - no thanks. Promotion by a public committee rarely works. And for your suggested name, “Labor Day Luau,” wouldn’t we need a pig out in the park to do that?

Thanks again to Pig Out in the Park restaurants, entertainers, customers, fans and sponsors. You’re the best, and we certainly appreciate your growing support. See you next Labor Day weekend, when we all get together again to Pig Out in the Park. Bill Burke, organizer Pig Out in the Park, Spokane

STA

Just fine-tune the current system

The Spokane Transit Authority is in the process of totally changing Spokane’s bus system by moving all routes to arterials, eliminating service to some neighborhoods and decreasing service to hospitals and major medical buildings.

STA says people won’t mind walking an additional half mile (or much more in some cases) to catch a bus. I think it’s unreasonable to expect people to do this - especially in the winter when people have to walk in the streets because sidewalks are not shoveled and plows push snow onto sidewalks along arterials. Also, not everyone is physically able to walk farther than they do now. I have heard many people say they no longer will ride the bus if these changes take place.

Ridership patterns change in the winter, so why didn’t STA conduct winter ridership studies before developing this plan? Why don’t they survey ridership this coming winter before making changes?

STA claims they will gain ridership with their proposed plan, but I think they are doing everything they can to alienate current riders. And what about increased air pollution as more people drive cars, and the impact on the Commute Trip Reduction program?

Since the Plaza opened, STA has seen increasing ridership. That must mean the current system is working. Instead of scrapping what we have now, why not just finetune it? Sara A. Lindgren Spokane

STA proposal illogical

Spokane Transit Authority estimates that if its new route proposals are implemented, bus ridership will decrease by 40 percent. Bus drivers are estimating the decline will be well over 50 percent.

Spokanites live in a perpetual inversion. Our air quality is among the worst in the United States. The garbage burning plant burns any gross material it can get, spewing poisons into the already sick air. Unpaved roads, farming in the Palouse and grass burning contribute particulate matter to this witch’s brew. Traffic gridlock is a major commuting nightmare and grows daily. And now some car-driving consultants from Portland are proposing we drastically reduce bus ridership?

There is a good reason why the bus drivers union is dead-set against this proposal. This is the same reason why bus drivers and bus riders are against the proposal. This proposal is blatantly illogical and environmentally devastating. All air-breathing citizens should register protests with Gov. Gary Locke (456-4417), Sen. Patty Murray (624-9515) and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Slater (800-424-9071).

If you listen carefully through the coughing and honking, you can just barely hear auto dealers yelling, “Yippee!” Or is this a sneaky attempt to shove a light-rail system down the taxpayers’ throats? Margaret E. Koivula Spokane

AIDS AWARENESS

Work by councilwoman appreciated

I reviewed the Sept. 19 Spokesman-Review articles about last Thursday’s Board of Health meeting with great interest. I’d like to express my admiration for board member Roberta Greene’s artful handling of the issue of safer-sex messages in public health advertising targeted to the gay community.

By surrounding the innocuous, comical sketch of the see/hear/speak/do-no-evil monkeys with controversy, she succeeded in making this important, life-and-death issue of AIDS prevention newsworthy. It was appropriately featured on the first page of the regional section. The graphic image was presented to a far larger group of people - a silent, hidden segment of at-risk people who desperately need to hear this message: Unprotected sex, straight or gay, can transmit lethal infection with HIV.

Beyond that, City Councilwoman Greene (a voice for fiscal responsibility) raised the level of media coverage and attention at no cost to the Health District. Way to go, councilwoman! We appreciate the good work. Carole A. Saxton Spokane

Shock tactics get the most attention

Re: “Anti-AIDS ads fail with health panel”:

I saw the ad with the four monkeys. I’m still trying to figure out why Roberta Greene is offended. If she doesn’t like all the tacky stuff that goes with sex, then she should find another line of work.

We should not be conservative or reserved when it comes to trying to change people’s sexual habits, especially if it saves lives. It’s conservatives who want to prevent my kids from getting condoms without their parents knowing about it, or being counseled about sex.

I am a mother of three, two of whom are boys. Soon we’ll be having the sex talk; AIDS, condoms, teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases. If these ads scare my children into using condoms or - yippee! - abstaining from sex, then these ads have done what they are supposed to do. I can tell my boys not to have sex, and if I’m lucky they’ll listen. But I also know that there is a possibility they won’t listen and they will have sex.

If that is the case, I want them to use condoms. I want them to live! I don’t want them to be statistics. All those horrible, deadly diseases are not pretty.

Why should we run pretty ads? Get real, people. Sometimes it takes shock tactics to get anyone to listen, and if it saves my children then I’m all for it. Tracy K. Palmier Republic, Wash.

School issues

Do what’s right for Spokane kids

Last week, our family rebuffed Spokane School District 81’s efforts to bus our daughter to another school against her will. But instead of addressing the real problem - not enough teachers - the district waged an eye-opening campaign to intimidate and punish our child into accepting its dictums.

While we recognize budget limitations, we need more teachers to educate our city’s children. The district must make tough fiscal decisions, but balancing the budget by involuntarily busing children is wrong. They are citizens too, with all the rights thereof.

Tiffany courageously opposed the district, and stood up for her beliefs. In return, she was placed in solitary confinement and denied any contact with fellow students, who were threatened with punishment for doing so. Isolated in a virtual prison cell, she was denied by the district her basic freedoms and equal educational opportunities guaranteed our children by state and federal law. This approach is dictatorial and downright un-American - what a poor civics lesson for our kids to take home.

Is this school district a totalitarian state where school administrators can play with children’s lives, emotions and well-being while pretending to champion their education? No, this is America, where we respect the rights of individuals - including children - and welcome public discussion and debate on matters upon which we disagree. That’s what a democracy is all about.

We appeal to Spokane School District 81 Superintendent Gary Livingston to do what is right for Spokane’s children. Stop busing, and return them to the schools and classrooms where they belong. Greg, Tammy, Tiffany and Tori Cook Spokane

District should abide by motto

In regards to School District 81’s sad behavior in refusing Tiffany Cook and many others admittance to their neighborhood school, I ask: What happened to your district motto, “One student at a time”? Is that true only when it’s convenient to your administrative rules?

To Tiffany I say, congratulations for being such a principled, brave young lady. Sharon A. Monk Spokane

Column tells it like it is

Congratulations, Doug Clark, for your Sept. 21 column regarding the highly overpublicized event of spoiled Tiffany Cook and School District 81. Finally, someone from the media had the guts to speak out the truth. What a shame that the reporters didn’t do this from the beginning. Mike E. Glover Otis Orchards