Letters To The Editor

LAW AND JUSTICE

Firefighter’s sentence a mistake

Re: “Drunken firefighter sentenced to 88 days,” Handle, Oct. 30.

Sentencing James G. Jeffrey to three months in jail is a miscarriage of justice. You will rarely come in to contact with a person of Jeffrey’s outstanding caliber. Jeffrey is a trustworthy, reliable person who would help anyone in need. He was attempting to serve the community when the accident occurred.

The court system has treated this case by the numbers with no regard for the individual. It is very troubling that this type of individual must serve time for an accident that occurred when he was contacted to provide a volunteer service at a moment’s notice.

By imposing this three-month sentence, the court not only did an injustice to Jeffrey, but to the community as well. If the case could not be suspended, wouldn’t everyone involved be served in a more productive way if he were sentenced to community service?

I am a small business owner. I am very concerned about Kootenai County and everything that makes this a special and unique area. I am outraged with the very one-sided view our local newspapers and media given to this story. Is it not their job to show all sides of a story? In this case, their hasty judgment and naive reporting was blatant.

Jeffrey could atone for his mistake and the community could benefit from having an intelligent, caring and hardworking individual acting as a volunteer in possible countless areas. Taxpayers could save money by not paying for him to sit in jail. Michelle White Post Falls

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Low-wattage thinking, WWP

Is Washington Water Power living with Alice in Wonderland?

What kind of topsy-turvy logic is it that says consumers of electricity who suffered financially and physically from the recent power outage should be grateful WWP is not raising its rates? If anything, WWP should be grateful that consumers have not (yet) instituted a class action suit against it to cover the costs of lost work, spoiled food, medical bills and other hardships caused by the power outage.

While the recent outage was severe, it was not unique. Not a year goes by we do not lose power through falling trees. North Idaho is timber country and trees do grow and fall. The obvious answer to this problem is to bury the lines.

I lived in Iceland and recently returned from New Zealand. Both countries have sparse populations but still find it economic to bury their power lines. New Zealand lays double lines so that in case there is trouble with the active line, it is no trouble to switch to the other one. Power outages due to line trouble are extremely rare in both countries.

WWP operates as a regulated monopoly. The consumer has no choice but to pay the designated rate - there is no competition. In return, WWP should be expected to provide uninterrupted service. When interruptions do occur, WWP should bear the cost of repair as well as compensation to the consumer, regardless of the effect on its profit. Ed Bittner Sagle, Idaho

New line but old song and dance

Regarding the Dec. 5 article, “Harpers new product line increases jobs,” I have to take exception to a comment by plant manager Larry Knust.

Knust said he was informed by those of us who left that if it weren’t for the long commute and Idaho taxes, we would have stayed.

Dream on, Knust. Nobody (we who left know) said anything to him before we left. For a company that wants to pride itself on its honesty and integrity, this one has a long way to go.

For the record, most of us who left were with the company from training to start-up. Over the last two years we have watched the company renege on every promise ever made. We watched as our production rates increased and our pay went down. We watched the turnover in senior and middle management, which effected very little change.

This was supposed to be a company of the future, based on leading manufacturing. A family oriented company? Yeah, right.

As far as the new product line and job increases go, why don’t we take another look at those in six months? Daniel Purcell Spokane

TCI creed obviously greed

The cable TV switch is to cost 23 Spokane jobs. Tele-

Communications Inc. is taking over Cox Communications in Spokane. Both Cox and TCI are viable companies, so why would they cut 23 jobs in Spokane?

In the good old days, if you wanted more customers you earned them by building a better product and giving better service, but not today.

Let’s go out and buy them or, better still, let’s do a takeover, hostile or not, and throw the baggage out. After all, what is more important than the bottom line? And who cares, anyway? It’s not happening to me.

What a great Thanksgiving for TCI 23 fewer families to feed, clothe and house. With Christmas coming, the company ought to be ashamed. Norm Ellefson Cheney

DELAYED DEPOSIT

Column’s effect unfortunate

Re: “Temptation didn’t stamp out mail carrier’s integrity”:

Doug Clark’s Dec. 8 column came as a surprise to me as well as to most employees and management of Allied Security.

What happened was clearly an unfortunate mistake by an employee that provided an opportunity to embarrass the company and employees involved.

Doug Clark left out some important details concerning the deposit contents (which amounted to cash of less than $250). It is of great concern to us that Clark made public the amounts involved, and identified the company, ensuring that our employees will have additional personal safety concerns while handling the banking responsibilities.

A thank-you may not have been satisfactory to the Postal Service, but we have been assured the words were indeed said.

As an Allied Security employee for over 25 years, I have always found the management and employees to be caring and responsible, active community supporters and volunteers. We encourage (and expect) our team of employees to exceed ordinary expectations.

It’s a relief to know the Postal Service acted with integrity in returning the clearly identified deposit to the owners and trust they’ll continue to do the right thing, especially when no one’s watching. We are extremely grateful to the postal employees, Chris McIntosh in particular, for doing the right thing in this incident as well as the many other situations they encounter each day. Linda Blevins Spokane

Allied grateful to mail carrier

In response to Doug Clark’s column, “Temptation didn’t stamp out mail carrier’s integrity”:

I would like to publicly acknowledge and thank postal worker Chris McIntosh for his exemplary act of reporting the inadvertent drop of our Nov. 20 bank deposit into a USPS mailbox.

The employee who made this mistake continues to be extremely embarrassed. Another employee from our accounting department, Jeff McGillivrae, was sent to retrieve the errant deposit upon notification from the Postal Service and he did give his thanks. However, we should have known that much more than a simple thank you was due when someone goes above and beyond what would normally be expected while doing his job.

This oversight should not detract from the fact that Allied has been a model corporate citizen in our community for over 50 years.

It’s ironic that the employees at Allied Security were recognized for their generous donation ($1,500) to The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund just two days before being publicly embarrassed by Clark.

Again, thanks and best holiday wishes to McIntosh and all the hard-working postal employees. Terry E. Hunt, president and CEO Allied Security, Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Priggee owes companies an apology

Electrical crews and power people worked very hard during Ice Storm ‘96 to repair the damage and get people’s power back. On Dec. 4, staff cartoonist Milt Priggee took a very cheap shot at three companies. He owes Washington Water Power, Kootenai Electric and Inland Power a big apology. Barbara Potter Spokane

Not one bit funny

I realize that it is the function of any newspaper, especially on its editorial page, to print diverse viewpoints. Recently, you should be complimented for your many uplifting articles throughout the paper on those among us who have been an inspiration to others. I refer to things like the wonderful articles on our community pulling together to help each other through our latest disaster, the belated tribute to our men of color who served so valiantly in World War II, the warmth of Doug Clark suffering through sexless, cold nights, etc. I really felt our local newspaper was vastly improving.

Then, on Dec. 4, came staff cartoonist Milt Priggee’s coupon for reimbursement from the utility companies. In one thoroughly tasteless cartoon he lays all the blame for the damage recently suffered on local utility companies and, through innuendo, suggests area residents are a bunch of lazy slobs looking for Big Brother to take care of their every problem.

How easy it is for one unfeeling person to cast aspersion on all - all utility company personnel, local citizenry and the many from outside our area who worked hand in hand to help their neighbors in time of need.

Don’t you think it is about time Priggee be replaced by someone with sensitivity who more closely identifies with the wonderful spirit of self-reliance that is so evident in the Inland Empire? Michael Jeffery Spokane

AIDS Day given short shrift

I am disappointed in your newspaper’s lack of publicity of World AIDS Day. This day was set aside to remember those we have lost, and to promote education and awareness about this horrendous disease.

You would think that a paper of your influence could take the time and effort to really think about how this disease affects each and every one of us. To put a tiny box in the back of the IN Life section, telling us only what time the ceremony started, is insulting. Is that all the space you feel something of this magnitude really deserves?

The only way we will ever be able to fight the misconceptions, fear and guilt associated with the AIDS virus is through education and the promotion of awareness. Your newspaper had a tremendous opportunity to be a part of this education on this very special day and you chose to ignore it. Now you are among those who promote these misconceptions and unawareness.

I hope in the future you will realize the positive effect your paper could have on our community, and on the face of this disease as a whole. Angela S. Fish Spokane

Editor’s note: World AIDS Day was mentioned in or the subject of nine stories, announcements, letters to the editor, etc., between Nov. 28 and Dec. 4. Among them: On Nov. 28, “AIDS crisis growing by 8,500 people every day” detailed the scope of the epidemic, Page A22; and on Dec. 2, Spokane’s AIDS Day observance was reported in “Hundreds remember victims of AIDS,” Page A9.

Pistol ad a threat to society

I was shocked to see a particular ad in the Nov. 6 Spokesman-Review. Smith & Wesson/Sharp Shooting Indoor Range and Gun Shop are irresponsible in their advertising, obviously targeted to teenagers.

The statement, “We’ve got you covered!” has the double meaning of covered with a coat or a gun. The models in the photograph are young and attractive. A free gift of a waxed cotton jacket valued at $145, presently fashionable among young people, is a destructive inducement for a teenager or anyone to buy “a .357 magnum revolver or a qualifying centerfire pistol,” guns for killing people.

Teenage gangs and violence in the community, schools and homes are serious social problems and are becoming more prevalent and less controllable. This advertising is encouraging these problems.

The tobacco industry is presently being chastised for unscrupulous marketing to young people. This unconscionable advertising of weapons has more deadly consequences. Suzanne J. Grainger Spokane

GIVING THANKS

Thanks and God bless you

Thank-yous should be in everyone’s mouth, to all the utility workers who worked so long and hard against great adversities, to bring us all to comfort.

And thanks to a very special couple, Roe and Valerie Thosath, who came to my rescue and took me and my poodle to their home in Mead to stay until my home was OK again. Caring and helping was such a blessing to receive from them.

To all my dear neighbors who came, called and were concerned for me, my deepest thanks. God bless you all. Betty Krous Spokane

Thanks due all around

My grateful thanks go not only to the Inland Power and Light personnel for restoring my power during the ice storm but also to my ever-faithful newspaper deliverer and mailman. I live in the rural area of the county, but in spite of the snow-covered and icy roads, my paper and mail were delivered each morning. Corine F. Brown Spokane

Hospitality came from a distance

My wonderful friends, Don and Bene Prentice, who are in sunny Sun Lakes, Ariz., for the winter, heard of Spokane’s ice storm, saw it on TV, and she never just sat down and said “poor things.” She got up and got going.

A phone call to Spokane, and the door of her lovely home in Quail Ridge Circle was open. We had warmth, light and food. She phoned daily to make sure we had all we needed. We had more than enough. I even gave to the food drive and helped others. Three other families dropped in for a hot meal, hot shower and all because the Prentice Family cared.

Thank you so much, Bene and Don. And Washington Water Power, God bless you one and all. I am so proud to be a part of Spokane’s big, loving heart. We made it. We shall always make it for we care. T.R. Nelson Spokane

Electrical professional’s help great

We thank our neighbor, Kent Mason, who owns Customer Electric, for his help during the ice storm. Among other things, he shared his generator with our neighbors, Jim and Alice Rodgers, so they could have heat part of the time, and he gave us wood for our fireplace. Shannon Hoots Spokane