Letters To The Editor
SPOKANE MATTERS
Don’t bog our vital river down
Good news: the Upriver Dam height won’t be raised - yet. The city’s proposal to raise the dam’s height is a half-baked plan to help defray perceived future loss due to electrical utility deregulation.
The proposal overestimates the level of increased energy generated at $175,000 per year. In the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final environmental impact statement, the economic benefit is $81,400 per year with no provision for environmental impact. Even using the city’s estimate and excluding customers in the outlying area, the net effect to customers served is less than 40 cents per year.
Be prepared to face this issue again. Deregulation of electrical utility providers will force competition in the open market. High-cost providers will struggle to find ways to cover their deficiencies. We presently enjoy some of the lowest rates in the country. With deregulation those rates will continue to fall.
Remember all the hype about natural gas, long-distance communication, railroad, and airline deregulation? Prices would skyrocket and service decline. Opposite results occurred; prices went down while both service and choice increased.
The Department of Energy estimates the effect of retail electrical competition will lower prices between 6-22 percent by 2010.
The Spokane River is the lifeblood of this city. Much activity is centered around it. The river is healthy, with self-sustaining populations of fish, small animals and numerous bird species. Let’s keep this unique resource what it is - a free-flowing river, not another sluggish body of water. Don’t be misled by claims of power shortages and higher electrical utility rates. Dan Mork Spokane
Downtown shopping works for us
Re: “Downtown is for buses, not shopper,” Letters, Jan. 4.
I don’t understand Mike Thompson’s problem with shopping downtown. They must not have taught him to read in the Valley. Otherwise, he would have noticed the signs warning about the curb lane being for buses only around the Spokane Transit Authority terminal.
My son returned home from college back East, late because of basketball. So, on the morning of Dec. 24, we took a run into town to do some last-minute shopping. Low and behold, we pulled right into the Parkade and into a parking space - a covered parking space, unlike those at most malls.
Then we got to shop at large, well-furbished stores like Nordstrom and The Bon, and also one-of-a-kind shops such as Rings ‘N Things and Boehm’s chocolates. And then, several of those stores gave me coupons for free parking in a guarded facility.
Our next stop was the Flour Mill, which offers more one-of-a kind shopping and two hours of free parking. Then we went back through town with a quick stop at Hot Flash of America in the art district, where I pulled up right in front of the store.
All in all, it was a pleasant experience. We did our shopping in two hours and didn’t have to walk for miles and miles in a stuffy mall listening to canned Christmas music. Try it again, Thomson. Be a rebel! Jon M. Homer Spokane
Show up for a renewed LC
I have a challenge for all “Friends of Lewis and Clark” High School.
On Jan. 13 at 7 p.m., there will be a rally in the auditorium of LC, as a kick-off to the bond and levy campaign. As many of you know, the bond question that is scheduled for the ballot on Feb. 3, if passed, will renovate our historical Lewis and Clark, making it a modern educational facility while maintaining its historical charm.
It would be great if we could pack the auditorium next Tuesday, to show the Spokane community how important this issue is to us.
There will also be a performance of “The Builders,” and all alumni who have sung “The Builders” before are invited to join in this performance (you must be there at 6 to practice). Finally, there will be tours of the building after the meeting in the auditorium.
Let’s see if we can get enough LC alumni, parents, students and interested Spokanites there on Tuesday to pack the auditorium! What a great opportunity to show Spokane how much we care about this important issue. Laurie Hutchison Dolan Spokane
Swearing-in ‘refreshing’
What a refreshing experience, to attend the swearing-in ceremony at City Hall for John Talbott, Cherie Rodgers, and Rob Higgins. Former mayor Neal Fosseen’s call for openness and truth in city government reflects the hopes of Spokane citizens. Mayor John Talbott’s decision to name Councilwoman Cherie Rodgers as mayor pro tem was wise and positive.
We look to all Spokane council members to support Talbott’s bright vision for the city that we love. Charlene B. Kallestad Spokane
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
People and joys, not percentages, count
Having been defined a person of color by William P. Marineau (“Diversity missing at concert,” Letters, Dec. 27), I feel qualified to respond to his observation of the Holiday Pops concert.
I was one of the multitude on stage, and in my ninth year with the Symphony Chorale. A simple phone call to the Symphony office would have eased Marineau’s concerns. Auditions are held once a year, and open to anyone.
It is not a question of how many qualified adults or children of color we should have in a city this size, but rather how many want to invest the time and make the commitment to be a member of these groups. I do not think of myself in terms of color. I am so much more than the color of my skin, as is everyone else on that stage or in this world.
Come again next year and let us once more, hopefully, enthrall you with all the colors and the joys of life, blended with sight, sound and song.
Thanks for supporting us. Mary Omer Spokane
How wonderful our medical people are
As I sit here composing this letter, there is a heart beating within my chest that has been in the hands of at least four different surgeons. They prolonged this ex-smoker’s life each time with bypasses of the plugged arteries.
I have continued to live since 1976 because of those humans who worked so hard to prepare themselves to be able to save me and thousands of others who, like me, had behaved so stupidly. Now that’s a happy thought, believe me. We are alive to prove it. We should take off our caps to our ambulance people, paramedics, the cardiologists, surgeons and, last but not least, the magnificently trained and compassionate nurses who are working to preserve and save the lives of their patients.
It does not end there. There are many kinds of technicians who are highly trained to do special jobs. If we compute all the training that it takes to prepare these lifesaving people, it must add up to thousands of hours of sacrifice and dedication to learn how to save our lives. Isn’t that a wonderful accomplishment by these dedicated people? Doesn’t the thought of it make you awe-stricken and happy to know what man can achieve?
We must be thankful that hospitals in our area are considered top of the line in regard to saving the lives of mankind. That makes me proud. Robert R. Root Spirit Lake, Idaho
No reason to opt for fear and hatred
Charles R. Hodges (Whites must be racist to be safe,” Letters, Dec. 31) makes it clear that we as American citizens must make a choice between agreeing with racist thoughts and actions or not agreeing to persecute members of our society.
I, too, feel that we need to voice our choices. I choose to take a hard-line stance and do something to improve our situation. I choose to not be racist. I choose to not follow a group that twists the words of the Bible and deletes other parts to help the members feel good about hurting others.
I choose to scorn a two-faced leader who once fought to save the lives of the Jews he now condemns. I choose to judge people by their actions, not by their birth.
Except for a few, most in the civilized world view the German army of World War II as a monstrosity led by an angry, power-hungry Nazi. The Aryan Nations group is very similar. Those in it believe whites do not commit crimes, that we should fear the “real” problem: people who are different from us and who have beliefs that differ from ours.
The Aryans seek to blame all their problems on others and claim that their harassing actions are based on love. Love for whom? The people they persecute and harm? No. It is a love for their own selfish “white” needs and goals that, of course, are flawless.
Hodges has strongly stated his stance and he is an embarrassment. Long live our diverse America!
Michaele J. Armstrong Moscow, Idaho
Welfare recipient can, should try
Re: Welfare for John Thaemert.
I can’t imagine any young man begging his friends, neighbors and relatives to carry his financial burdens to support him and his children. Shame on him.
I know of several people who have mild to severe fibromyalgia and each of them has found a job that has conformed to their illness. One young lady even manages to support herself and two children. Another woman, who does beautiful yard work decorating and all her actual work, is severely affected. She has days when she must crawl out of bed. She rests to improve herself and then continues on with her life.
Thaemert needs to quit feeling sorry for himself, raise his eyes to the sky and say “I can do it.” I know, as I was disabled years ago. But at age 65, I still manage to bring in a paycheck. He can do it. Pride will be his just reward. Lois A. Scofield Spokane
THE MEDIA
Rosenthal can expect lonely campaign
If New York Times columnist A.M. Rosenthal expects his colleagues of the press to join him in condemning persecution of Christians by the government of Red China, Islamic fundamentalists or anyone else, he’ll be disappointed.
The so-called mainstream press, with few exceptions, currently is engaged in political warfare against what it chooses to characterize as radical, right-wing, Christian fundamentalists, a caste which seems to include anyone who, on the basis of moral principles derived from the beliefs of orthodox Christianity, opposes the sociopolitical goals of present-day statist liberalism.
Chances are, the people being tortured, killed, or otherwise persecuted because of their faith, would, given the opportunity, act and vote in opposition to unrestrained abortion and the many other of the collectivist, statist notions held dear by the functionaries of the American press.
I thank and applaud Rosenthal for his humanitarian efforts. But nowadays, you may insult and abuse only Christians with no fear of being labeled a bigot by the morality police in the liberal-press-government consortium. Leonard C. Johnson Troy, Idaho
Ad stratagems backfire
Re: “Edge ads a nuisance” (Letters, Jan. 6).
Hurray for Dianne L. Cook and her edge ad peeve. I thought I was the only one. But Cook overlooked some.
What about the one where the center section sticks up about an inch higher than the outer section? What about the one where the pages are printed in several directions, all folded differently and then assembled such that you have to disassemble it to read it? What about the one with the little quarter sheet on it that falls off when you pick it up? And there is one that has edge ads and a little book inside, with coupons yet.
I know someone in advertising thinks these are real eye catchers that will incite us to read their ads and buy their product. But, like Cook says, all they do is tick us off. Keith D. Cotter Harrison, Idaho
OTHER TOPICS
Guns are OK, within certain limits
Curtis E. Stone (Letters, Jan. 6) characterizes me as favoring a total ban on all firearms. Nothing could be further from the truth. I support guns, as follows:
I totally support hunting. Nothing I like better than to see a moose draped over the front fender of a pickup driving down Pullman’s Main Street.
A friend of mine has a wonderful gun collection and I like to view it, examining the flintlocks and muskets.
Skeet and target shooting are great sports and should be encouraged.
I support laws that increase public safety. Citizens should be trained in gun use before buying a gun. Private sales allow the sale of guns to convicted felons and anyone else, and should be brought under the Brady Bill.
Stone asserts that Australia has a tyrannical government and along with England is not a nation of a free people. I visited Australia during World War II on my destroyer, the U.S.S. Clark DD-361, and stayed one year in Edinburgh, Scotland, on a sabbatical year. I found the people to be freedom-loving. In London’s Hyde Park, I found debates on soapboxes for anyone who wanted to speak. I’m sure the residents of those countries would resent suggestions by Stone that they are not free. Walter A. Becker Pullman
Drug war is wanted and needed
Nora Callahan (Letters, Jan. 4) encourages us to look behind hysteria and pay attention to the facts of the so-called drug war. That’s good advice. We also could use logic in evaluation of those facts, instead of yes-hysteria.
She states that 87 percent of “our federal judiciary” is opposed to sentencing guidelines. Could it be that some judges’ egos are hurt by having any guidelines whatsoever, while the public feels it deserves protection if it pays for it in taxes?
The drug war is a good example of our government inefficiency. It seems that our government does not want to win it. Otherwise, how difficult would it be for our Air Force to destroy all the coca plantations in Columbia? Or what about streamlining the border protection? If drug traffickers were caught, the next thing they would see would be gallows, and that would also be the last thing they would see.
Our armed forces destroyed 100,000 lives in Iraq of people who posed no real danger to our nation or national interest. Why are we hesitant to kill people who profit on drug proliferation and are destroying this nation from within? And yes, Callahan, we are all for freedom. The freedom from illegal drugs. Peter C. Dolina Veradale
Corps of Engineers stifles studies
A June 6, 1902, newspaper report told of the find of a complete human skeleton near White Bluffs, Wash. The similarities between “White Bluffs Man” and the recently discovered “Kennewick Man” are profound. The White Bluffs site is approximately 40 miles from where Kennewick Man was found.
Paralleling the recent find, the bones of White Bluffs Man contained an arrow point from a previous hostile encounter. It had healed intact in the skull. Neither wound was the ultimate cause of death.
Most significant, the White Bluffs skull, it was reported, “has the appearance of being that of a white man.” Reliable dating of ancient bones wasn’t available in 1902.
The article speculated that the skull might have been from one of the victims of Chief Moses’ raid through Central Washington in 1878. Recent research, however, indicates that the bodies of the Perkins family were found eight days after the massacre and identified.
Now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is defying a court order by scheming to obliterate the discovery site of Kennewick Man to prevent further archeological study. One can only speculate on the motives of a government function that wants to limit knowledge about the aborigines of North America. Long held historical beliefs, treaties, hunting and other vested “rights” as well as an entire federal bureaucracy may be at stake.
Why is a rogue branch of the Army being allowed to promote and protect political agendas? Don’t we the people deserve knowledge about such matters as a DNA match between Kennewick Man and White Bluffs Man? Kenneth L. Alexander Lewiston, Idaho