Letters To The Editor
CORRECTION, published in Letters to the Editor, July 8, 1995: A letter published on Friday incorrectly attributed a July 1 cartoon about the Promise Keepers movement to Milt Priggee of The Spokesman-Review. Actually, the cartoon was drawn by Chuck Asay of the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph.
SPOKANE MATTERS
South Regal needs improvements
This letter is in response to a resident’s opinions on the proposed Hico Village on South Regal.
The main problem with the proposal is the infrastructure, rather the lack of the same in this area. During peak driving times, this area takes on an Indy 500 flavor. In a short time frame, developers have built five major apartment buildings, Shopko, duplexes and numerous PUD single-family developments with only minor improvements to the infrastructure.
The new four-way stop at 57th and Regal now backs up to two blocks at times. Even Silverwood can’t match the thrills when four of Spokane’s finest drivers arrive simultaneously here. This pattern is so typical, allowing developers to rake the profits without regard to roads, then rape the taxpayers later for necessary improvements. I don’t believe the need for another convenience store/ gas station outweighs the need for thoughtful road improvements first.
You have a recipe for disaster here. A children’s play field across from some of Spokane’s gnarliest traffic. One shudders at the thought of children trying to cross Regal to patronize this establishment. Gregory P. Hande Spokane
Parade reviewers’ flagging energy?
On July 4, I listened to KXLY with talk show host Mike Fitzsimmons. An 80-year-old lady called in saying the last parade she attended had only four flags. She asked why and was told the people at the reviewing stand had to stand up too often.
I do not know the source of her information, but perhaps this needs looking into. Armed Forces Day Parade? So few flags? They are inconvenienced because they have to stand up?
Americans - how soft they are. Betty Wolfrum Spangle
Perhaps kids should be alerted
I no longer live in Spokane. However, I have a question. Is it time for all public schools in Spokane County to have a bulletin board that displays photographs of persons living in the area who have been classified or found guilty of sexual misconduct against children? Neda Fisher Nordman, Idaho
LAW AND JUSTICE
Trooper, jury right; editor wrong
Interactive editor Doug Floyd’s Our View piece on July 3, (“Question authority at your own risk”), is another example of the paper’s attitude toward law enforcement.
Mr. Floyd doesn’t agree with Washington State Patrol Trooper Davis Richmond’s decision to sue Dr. Woodrow Thompson for libel or with the damages the jury awarded the trooper. In fact, Mr. Floyd would have us believe that wrongful and malicious complaints against police officers are nothing more than government criticism - democracy at work.
I disagree. As a police officer with nearly eight years of experience, I know that verbal abuse and unsubstantiated tirades do come with the territory of law enforcement. But, Dr. Thompson’s “criticism” of “government agent Richmond” amounted to accusing Trooper Richmond of felony assault. Mr. Floyd’s editorial leads me to believe he doesn’t have a problem with citizens who wrongfully and maliciously accuse police officers of committing criminal acts.
I’m glad the jury sent the message that this is wrong and won’t be tolerated any more. David McCabe Spokane
Initiatives further discrimination
Since passage of the Omnibus Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its later amendedments, I am legally protected from discrimination stemming from the fact that I am a woman, single (which is my choice), agnostic (which is also my choice), short, white or have brown eyes.
I can still lose my job, be evicted, be denied insurance benefits and have my child taken away because I’m gay.
Last week, in Riverfront Park, a woman approached my friends with a petition and asked, “Would you like to sign a petition denying special rights to lesbians and gays? They already have their civil right, you know.”
That statement is false.
Initiatives 166 and 167 would legislate discrimination against gays and against all single people. Be informed. Read these initiatives and don’t sign on, please. Renee Thomas Spokane
Double standard won’t do
I’m a little upset about the commentary, “Drug testing athletes misses mark” (June 30, by Jim Litke, Associated Press).
He says only two classes of people take drug tests on demand in this country: athletes and students. When millions of Americans go to work in the morning, they will be subject to drug tests at random with no choice but to take the test or be relieved of their position.
Maybe, The Spokesman-Review should put a little effort into hearing the other side of the story. An 18-year-old student doesn’t have to have a drug test if he’s playing football. But if he is an 18-year-old student at work, he is subject to drug testing. People need to get a better handle on what is happening in the real workplace. R.R. McCarthy Spokane
CHILD CARE
Parents, take stock and speak up
In regard to the July 3 story, “Inspections find scary day care,” I’m tired of day care horror stories.
You can always find one, and most definitely it should be dealt with. But, come on: Day care is necessary and center-type care isn’t for everyone. That’s why there are over 700 licensed in-home providers.
Kids are in the public school system for 13 years; can’t they just be kids for a few years? Do they really need their every waking moment to be structured play? Is watching Barney really that bad?
Parents come to my day care to get the closest thing to their own home. Their children smell cookies baking, learn to interact with children of various ages and how to entertain themselves. We are like a small family.
Why is everyday living now labeled developmentally inappropriate? Why are we, the licensed providers, jumping through hoops to do what’s expected and be all we can be when nothing is done about unlicensed, unregulated baby-sitters? Why are there endless rules and consequences for us but nothing is done to prevent the unlicensed from caring for children? If all care givers aren’t required to have a license, why should we?
One thing must happen. Parents need to start defending their day care choices. People like (Staff writer) Jim Lynch need to hear from parents. If parents don’t get involved soon, they are going to find one day that their choices are gone.
Parents, get involved. Speak up for your own children. Mavis Hogan Eastern Washington Family Day Care Assoc., Spokane
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
Founders valued freedom from religion
I am disconcerted and provoked by Christians who incessantly proclaim that since “the founders understood that no other religion brings liberty, character and selfgovernment,” this must be a Christian nation. (Joseph Kuykendall - “Founders not anti-Christian,”Letters, June 29).
Anyone who has read John Locke’s, “Letter Concerning Toleration” or “The Second Treatise on Government” knows that, although he was a devout Christian, he argued vehemently against the church’s intrusion into civil affairs. In the “Letter,” Locke writes ” … no private person has the right to prejudice against another person in his civil enjoyments because he is of another church or religion.”
Thomas Jefferson drew heavily on Locke for the text of the Declaration of Independence.
The members of the Constitutional Convention spurned several attempts to inject “the belief in the living and one true God” into the Constitution. The subsequent ratification debates also rejected suggestions to make the constitution safe from “Atheists, Turks, Jews, Catholics, and Universalists.”
Kuykendall and his ilk are either ignorant or duplicitous. Anyone who examines the facts will discern that the framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were as interested in freedom from religion as they were in freedom of religion.
Christians, proclaiming that America is a Christian nation, invalidate the rights of all other people of faith. They tarnish the integrity and industry of our founders and mislead honest citizens who are endeavoring to find common ground. James C. Lanham Cheney
Promise Keepers not female bashers
I’m not sure why you selected Promise Keepers as the target for your often skewed humor, but I can certainly understand why you have included the women’s rights activists (Priggee cartoon, July 1).
In a time when many women have seized the upper hand in their homes and are trying with some degree of success to turn men into wimps, the tremendous changes being brought about by Promise Keepers must indeed be very threatening.
To my politically correct sisters, who have struggled to maintain the upper hand, Promise Keepers is not some female-bashing, hatemongering gathering of hairy chested males who are hellbent on taking back lost ground. It’s a movement of Christian men committed to being the kind of husbands and fathers God intended them to be.
Judging from the huge number of men attending Promise Keepers, in all parts of the country, and returning home filled with renewed dedication to their God, their families and their churches, I would say this is the best thing to happen in years. Ask a wife of a Promise Keeper if her husband is a better marriage partner or ask a child if the home is a better, happier place to be since dad came home from Promise Keepers. The answer will be a definite amen.
Get a clue all you women who are chanting “I am woman, hear me roar.” You stand to benefit from Promise Keepers too. Arlene Barnes Spokane
Story insults Californians
On page 1 of the June 30 paper there was an article about California’s garbage coming to Washington.
The article was clearly insulting to the state of California. It’s no wonder there is so much bashing of Californians by narrow-minded people who don’t know what they are talking about, with such articles being printed in your paper.
I was born and raised in California and never heard any complaints about the millions of people swarming there from other states, including Washington. We had a beautiful, profitable place to live and were proud other people recognized it and wanted to live there too.
I moved here five years ago thinking Washington was also a beautiful place to live. I wanted to experience something new and different. After all, ours is one great, big beautiful country.
Articles like this in your paper have encouraged narrow-minded thinking, causing people who have never even been to California to hate Californians. Nice going!
If Californians can get their garbage hauled away for $52 a ton and it costs Spokane people $92 a ton, who is smarter? No wonder they have more money! Sharon Ranney Spokane
Affirmative action meets need
Americans of European descent have long controlled employment and educational opportunity in their favor through “affirmative action.”
They have affirmed that white males will have access to the best jobs and educational opportunities, even if others are adversely affected. Affirmative action favoring whites has been and still is the rule. We see this in the history of the labor movement, where blacks were systematically excluded from representation.
Most will admit there is a tremendous cost to society for failing to address under-representation of certain groups in the workplace and schools. Though the Supreme Court ruled on this divisive question, the issue of under-representation of African-Americans and others of color will not go away.
There should never have been affirmative action favoring whites, but there was and still is. And there should never have been a need to institute affirmative action favoring minorities. What should have been is irrelevant. What’s needed is a level playing field for true equal opportunity.
Affirmative action favoring minorities seeks to address that imbalance. By and large, it has accomplished much good.
The national obsession with race and skin color is unfortunate. Mass media seem to thrive on controversies that polarize people into opposing camps. The affirmative action argument is no exception.
But in truth, affirmative action is really the wrong debate because our problems as a country go much deeper. Mauris L. Emeka Port Orchard, Wash.