Opinion

As we end a year of COVID-19 gloom, acquire vaccines and adjourn, squinting and stretching, into springtime, we – at least those in several Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern and Southern states – will have company: the billions of periodic cicadas known as Brood X.

I think Jim Allen just hit the nail on the head when he wrote “That vote has remained the biggest obstacle as the board weighs a proposal that surfaced only two weeks ago from the Downtown Spokane Partnership” ("Downtown stadium gets heavy support," March 18), so when is the vote and advisory vote backed by 67 percent of the voters an obstacle? Is voting useless? How many people attended the pair of two- hour meetings that the headline stated the downtown stadium gets heavy support, but how many people did attend?

With reference to your recent correspondent, a veteran, who states that the average citizen does not need multi-shot military style weapons, I am in total agreement.

Do you know of anyone in recent times who has used a 'machine gun' in any type of crime? The letter to the editor headed "A 23 -year vet on guns" (Vernon M. Witmer) in the March 30th edition is a deliberately misleading tactic used by someone who should know better.

“Tax Day,” the filing deadline for individual federal tax returns, is normally April 15, but it was extended this year until May 17.

The letters by R. Schutte ("By the numbers") and R. Reed ("What do they want?") published on March 28 make clear the purpose of the former Grand Old Party. That party passed a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and cast zero votes for the American Rescue Plan that puts money in ordinary folks’ pockets and helps with pandemic relief. Both cost $1.9 trillion.

Charles McMillian, a 61-year-old man who witnessed George Floyd's excruciating death, testified earlier this week that decades of experience had taught him what horror could await a Black man who is perceived as resisting arrest. That is why he was yelling at Floyd - already pinned to the ground - to "Get up, get in the car. You can't win." He broke down as he explained this on the witness stand, remembering how he told police officer Derek Chauvin that Chauvin got to go home safe to his family, and that the people Chauvin interacted with should get to, too.

Anyone with a Twitter presence gets used to setting off the occasional firestorm. If you’re sane, you just keep your distance. A conflagration I ignited Monday, however, took me by surprise and left me wanting to delve into the fury.

“Your actions speak louder than your words” was a familiar phrase from my mother when I was 12 years old. I earned this retort after having said one thing and then doing something else.

Recently the state of Georgia enacted sweeping voting restrictions. The legislation criminalizes photographing your own ballet, and giving people food and water while they wait in line to vote. It restricts the number of absentee ballot boxes available and the time in which voters can request an absentee ballot, also making the request process more complicated. Many Democrats including President Biden are concerned Democratic voters will be disproportionately restricted by these new voter laws.

Working families in Spokane are getting a rude awakening at the mailbox this tax season: property tax bills. Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come.

What if - after every instance of a driver plowing into a crowd, killing people - lawmakers called for restrictions on car purchases and wanted to outlaw "assault vehicles" (heavy trucks and large sedans)? Perhaps large vehicles should be locked up. Does licensing drivers and vehicles prevent such catastrophes?