Opinion

This whole business of seeking fame, or becoming infamous by being offended is so complicated I can't figure it out. Just for a few examples: Turns out George Wright was a murdering scoundrel so those who were offended by the fact that streets and statues etc. HONORED him had to be changed and/or taken down.

So, the Supreme Court is going to take on the Second Amendment ("The Supreme Court hangs a pistol on the wall," Ruth Marcus, April 29).

What this city needs is more well-trained police officers; more affordable housing; a homeless policy that works; roads that won’t destroy your car; much bigger emphasis on cleaning up the river; enough police presence downtown to make it safe to go there; political leadership to stop developers from buying up every available piece of land, clearing every tree in sight and building over-priced houses; and, contrary to current trends, stop ignoring the will of the voters and build a new stadium at Joe Albi where their can be parking as well as other amenities.

Governor Jay Inslee recently signed a bill banning government contractors from operating federal immigration processing facilities in Washington -- the result of a years-long misinformation campaign with serious negative implications for the very migrants activists claim to speak for.

Amy Flint and Jeanine Asche are by far the best candidates running for East Bonner County Library board. Jeanine is a trained librarian with 40 years of library experience and years of experience on the library board. She is fiscally responsible and cares deeply about all of the library patrons and staff. Amy has lived in Idaho for 30 years and also has experience in libraries and the board. She believes strongly in collaboration, working with others and in-depth consideration of the many issues that libraries deal with.

What is the right answer on the climate solutions quiz, the great test of our time?

Thanks to Shawn Vestal for his April 28 column, “Idaho ‘Mockingbird' flap makes mockery of lawmaking.”

Throughout a 42-year teaching career, Eric Magi has touched countless lives in Spokane while creating a culture of trust and learning.

Recently a new, full-page feature has been appearing in The Spokesman-Review. The feature is “Further Review” by Charles Apple. And it’s terrific.

As constituents of Washington state, we are writing to ask for your promotion and publicity of implementing a Mental Health Awareness week in K-12 schools in the month of May as proposed by The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI). The goal of this week would be focusing on specific aspects of mental health education to enhance social-emotional learning inside and outside of school.

On April 20, Lady Justice smiled upon us and justice was done when the jury in the George Floyd trials came back with guilty verdicts. April 20 is now a day that is chronicled in our American history books. Over a period from May 25, 2020, thru April 20, 2021, and 330 days later, it is estimated that the police brutality of George Floyd riots cost between $1 billion and $2 billion. As for the death of Mr. Floyd and the countless injuries, property damage, overtime, nondocumented anxiety and the cost to our democracy, there are some things you can’t assign a value. There is no return on investment when you consider that this all started over a supposedly $20 counterfeit bill.

Washington State University says it is requiring a COVID-19 vaccine for the upcoming year and the title of the article says it will allow "some exemptions." In allowing personal exemptions, the university is threatening the health of its local community, the state, and the country. Anyone who does not want to receive a vaccine could use a "personal exemption." There is no COVID vaccine requirement with that option.