Letters To The Editor

LAW AND JUSTICE

Prosecutor priorities are a mess

I was disappointed to read in the Aug. 9 Spokesman-Review that Kathryn Lee, head of Prosecuting Attorney Jim Sweetser’s major crimes unit, had formally dismissed charges of first-degree attempted armed robbery against a man with eight previous felony convictions.

Lee dismissed those charges in spite of the fact the robbery and robber were captured by the convenience store security camera, an eye witness was ready to testify and the police arrested the suspect nearby wearing the distinctive clothing of the robber shown in the film. Lee said this evidence was not convincing enough for her to prosecute and that, in any case, a large backlog of more serious cases was reason enough to dismiss the charges.

Sweetser said he stands behind Lee’s decision.

In the Aug. 11 Spokesman-Review I was reminded of the armed robbery felony charges again when I read that the same Lee is prepared to levy felony charges against a Post Office employee for battering a marmot to death. Citing the same backlog of more serious cases to try, Lee nonetheless is quoted as saying the county would file charges if the feds declined (as expected). She goes on to say, “He’s not walking away from this.”

It is distressing to think that Lee and Sweetser consider the bludgeoning of a rodent to death is just as serious as the 22 murder cases they are preparing for trial and less serious than the armed robbery attempt captured on film. B.C. Cross Spokane

Help these ‘clods’ find other work

The Aug. 15 Spokesman-Review carried the front page headline, “Accused rapist was on furlough.” Reading the article, it becomes more clear why the crime scene is getting no better.

Here is a criminal who has a history of four felony convictions and 23 misdemeanor convictions. Next, we read where Deputy Prosecutor Kathryn Lee, who supervises the major crime unit, signed the order granting the eight-day release. Of course, so did the criminal’s attorney, George Caplan.

Next, along comes Superior Court Judge James Murphy, who approved the furlough thinking the criminal was only a small-time thief.

“This defendant is an armed career criminal,” according to a report prepared by the county corrections office.

Why isn’t there any communication between these aforementioned branches? We, the taxpayers, have been paying good wages to some very careless people.

Is Lee still employed in the prosecutor’s office? Caplan is undoubtedly a county-paid defender. Does he still work there? Murphy, of course, has his paycheck nailed down until the next time we get to vote.

Any businessman who found that he had hired such a bunch of clods would fire them on the spot. I’ll bet that if any of the former victims had been related to any of the above mentioned, he wouldn’t have been given his freedom.

Let’s get some people in there who look to the taxpayers with some compassion and have the desire to protect them. Robert B. Thompson Spokane

Screw-ups coming thick and fast

What’s wrong with this picture?

A burglar is released for “lack of evidence” after reportedly being videotaped robbing a convenience store at gunpoint, and two eyewitnesses are willing to testify.

However, the prosecutor’s office assures citizens that the man will be prosecuted who killed a pesky marmot.

Then, a career criminal is furloughed and two days later is alleged to have raped a 14-year-old girl.

All three stories appeared in The Spokesman-Review this past week. And each story added fuel to feelings of anger and frustration with a criminal justice system gone wrong with irresponsible decisions of top law enforcement officials. In the center of this ugly picture is Deputy Prosecutor Kathryn Lee, supervisor of the major crimes unit. B.J. Robertson Spokane

3rd LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT

Sparks’ approach turn-off for voters

I am outraged at the audacity of Rep. Lonnie Sparks, who seems to think that he can buy the votes of the 3rd District residents.

We need someone who will help us to improve our community, not play Big Daddy by offering home improvements as an incentive to support him. These shenanigans indicate to me that his maturity level should be in check, not to mention his ethics and values.

Jeff Gombosky is my choice for the state House of Representatives. His experience in community development and government process makes him an ideal candidate. Even more, as a former colleague of his, I can attest to the fact that he is a man of integrity, intelligence and strength.

The Gombosky campaign has been working exceptionally hard to get information out on him. That honest determination is most refreshing to see in a candidate.

Sparks ought to return to his life as a trial lawyer and leave the community in Gombosky’s capable hands. Erin Hays Spokane

Gombosky’s not buying votes

Re: “Staking out territory” (Aug. 14):

Jeff Gombosky is out every day meeting the citizens of the 3rd District. He’s earning my vote, and my support isn’t for sale to the highest bidder.

It’s an insult to the thousands of hard-working, low-income people for Rep. Lonnie Sparks to suggest that those who aren’t property owners don’t pay property taxes. Isn’t he aware that the high rental costs in this area include property taxes?

He suggests that those who can’t afford, or choose not to own, property have a lower level of intelligence; they just don’t understand the privileges and rights that go with ownership. Baloney! For many, the problems are strictly the economic conditions and low wages combined with the rising cost of housing - all vital issues for our representative to work to resolve. Sparks is the one who doesn’t understand.

If Gombosky had chosen to spend the last year and a half working for private industry instead of working as a VISTA volunteer at a meager wage, he too might own property at this time. He sacrificed a comfortable salary when he chose to serve his community.

Gombosky is working hard to earn the people’s trust. He’ll work just as hard to find solutions to the problems we face. He’s using his own time and energy in his campaign, containing campaign costs rather than throwing money around.

I want my representatives to be as careful with our tax dollars as they are with their own dollars. Problems aren’t solved by throwing money at them. Mary C. Gaddy Spokane

Actions, attitude both crass

Rep. Lonnie Sparks’ action involving a $150 payment to a 3rd District resident in order to remove his rival’s signs and replace them with his own destroyed yet another degree of my local political idealism.

His justification for his action and condescending remarks he made about Jeff Gombosky, however, destroyed another degree of my humanism.

I agree with the president of the Spokane League of Women Voters, whose disapproval of Sparks’ action included the statement, “I don’t think we would appreciate people paying to put signs up … that would undermine the whole democratic process” (“Staking out territory,” News, Aug. 14).

A democratic process depends on being in touch with ethics, conscience, conversation and intelligent respect for the individual. I feel Sparks, in competing for a crucial position to represent an economically struggling district forsook the democratic process and instead used money, property and the guise of justification to win yard space for his campaign. I prefer to choose my representatives on ability to persuade me intelligently, not their ability to purchase me. Julia Arce Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Critic deals in misinformation

Paul Lindholdt (guest column, Aug. 4) decries the use of “lies, distortions and ‘counterscience”’ in debates about environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest. Lindholdt claims such abuses are routinely employed by certain “anti-environmental” “special-interest groups,” including the mining industry in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene watershed.

Ironically, by drawing on this example, Lindholdt exposes himself as a purveyor of the very type of distortion he objects to. The so-called counterscience he refers to is a thinly veiled reference to my article in the scientific journal Northwest Science (May). I pointed out that U.S. Geological Survey research on the chemistry of sediments in Coeur d’Alene Lake is faulty. The USGS claim that dissolved metals could be released en masse from the lake floor should the deep waters become depleted of oxygen is based on a questionable interpretation of highly suspect data.

In an attempt to discredit these uncomfortable conclusions, Lindholdt asserts that “the mining industry scientist’s findings were never peer-reviewed.” The truth is that my report was thoroughly and critically peerreviewed by two of the best sedimentary geochemists in the world. Both agreed with my critique.

I’m not a “mining industry scientist.” I’m a professor of marine geochemistry at the University of British Columbia who has carried out extensive, widely published, peer-reviewed research worldwide on the chemical behavior of mine wastes in lakes and the ocean. I have nothing to gain or lose in the Coeur d’Alene watershed issue.

I want to see good science be the cornerstone everywhere of well-formulated public policy. T.F. Pedersen Vancouver, British Columbia

What can you do about nature?

Well, it’s that time of the year again and our skies are full of smoke.

The wind has moved a lot of smoke all through the Northwest, from forest and range fires caused by lightning and other causes. Doctors, environmentalists, whiners, people who don’t like farmers, nature lovers - take a good look and see if you can get Mother Nature to put a stop to this. And it happened on a weekend. Did nature get a permit or ask the DOE? No.

Grass growers haven’t even struck a match yet. Ken Oenning Uniontown, Wash.