Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Fences hamper utility access

It has been three weeks since the big ice storm. Washington Water Power has taken much criticism, most of it uncalled for. All in all, WWP has done a commendable job.

Last summer, WWP had a contract crew clearing brush from much of the city.

Everyone should ask themselves what they can do to make it easier for all utilities to deliver their product.

If your area has easements for the utilities to run through, do you fence those easements and plant trees and shrubs so the utilities can’t get vehicles through them? My block has an alley that people have fenced in to about a 25-foot width. Access is very easy.

When the block east of mine was replatted, the alley was abandoned and made into a utility easement. Everyone cross-fenced this block, and last summer when trees were trimmed, the brush crew had to trim the trees and drag all the brush out to the street by hand. That was a time-consuming, expensive operation.

Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves: Are we doing all we can to cooperate with all utilities and make these easements what they were meant to be? Remember, the easier we make it for utilities to deliver their product, the less it is going to cost us.

Maybe it’s time to change the law to assure utility easements remain unfenced and as accessible as they were meant to be.

Edwin O. Weilep Spokane

WWP plugs into ‘the float’

The other day there were three Washington Water Power Co. executives on TV. Butter would melt in their mouths.

WWP Vice President Rob Fukai explained that they would not charge us for electricity that we did not have. It made me wonder: Do they really think we all flunked out of the first grade? As I understand it, the meter has to have electricity running though it to operate. So with none available, how could it function?

Then, in the Dec. 11 Spokesman-Review, they state that for meters they cannot get to to read, they will estimate and give the suckers credit when they can read the meter. In banking circles, that is called “the float.” They get your money for nothing, use it for a month, then graciously charge you the proper amount.

A million for college students but a little short when it comes to maintaining the power lines. As Pogo says, it gets curiouser and curiouser. Charles E. McCollim Spokane

There’s a better way to go

We have just recovered from disastrous weather conditions. These conditions were magnified by power failures. The same company that has a fortune to install natural gas lines failed to install electric lines where they probably would be no problem in a fire or a storm - underground.

What folly. We are dependent upon electricity, yet we are given natural gas. Natural gas could have been turned into electricity, and the money spent to install it could have been used to bury electric lines. Mildred Wittman Herbes Spokane

No medals for the locals, folks

One of the yearly awards from Norman Vincent Peale’s Positive Thinking Foundation just went to Aaron Feuerstein, who has kept his 3,000 employees on the payroll while he rebuilds his Lawrence, Mass., textile mill. The mill was destroyed by fire last December.

With that as a guideline for next year’s awards, might I suggest we nominate Washington Water Power Co. for not saddling its ratepayers with its $10 million to $15 million repair costs resulting from last month’s ice storm? Or nominate the Cowles family for deciding not to push its plan to stick Spokane’s taxpayers with a $30 million obligation to buy its River Park Square parking garage?

Nahhh. Charles G. Cromwell Spokane

Parking fine a net loss for Spokane

In mid-November, I received my last parking ticket in Spokane. After a pre-Christmas-shopping lunch, I found the ticket on my car. Thankfully, this happened before I shopped. I have spent my last dollar downtown.

We drove to Idaho to shop. The money saved on liquor paid for the ticket five times over. Sales tax savings were well over $100, which more than paid for a lovely dinner in a scenic setting free of those ugly parking meters.

I have now founded BAND Buy Absolutely Nothing Downtown. Furthermore, in the event that any spending in the area might benefit downtown via shared sales taxes or a multiplier effect, I have founded BANANAS Buy Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near or Around Spokane. There will be no officers, dues or fees. Nor will there be a charter, since that would permit the powers that be to infiltrate and sabotage our organization, as they have local political processes.

We’ll meet in the free parking spaces at Idaho shopping centers. We will be easily recognized as the ones with big smiles and fatter bankrolls.

The sole requirement for membership is dedication to not buying locally in such a hostile environment. Members will refuse to pay for $2 million parking lots with our quarters and $10 fees. Dean A. Kronberger Spokane

WASHINGTON STATE

Run-down bridge: such a deal

Re: “State may close Riverside bridge,” news, Dec. 13.

I don’t know why I let it bother me when I’m not a Washington taxpayer, but $100,000 to evaluate a 55-year-old wooden bridge that would cost $375,000 to replace, and with money you may already have available - what kind of logic is that?

I’m no whiz, but if I had a question as to whether something that old needed to be replaced and it would cost me 25 percent of the replacement value to have someone tell me it is old and should be replaced, you know what I would do?

I think I’m gonna start me up one of them there engineering firms, or run for public office - finance section, of course. Keith Cotter Harrison, Idaho

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Builders’ mind-set revealed

Re: “County keeps tax for now” (Dec. 11).

Hurrah for the 3-0 vote approving the conservation futures tax for one more year. Thank you, county commissioners, for your intelligent decision on this matter.

I was disappointed, however, by comments made by Suzanne Knapp of the Spokane Homebuilders Association. Knapp said, “If you buy land and can’t develop it, what’s the point?” I understand this to mean adding public access facilities, guardrails, restrooms, signs, etc.

Land and habitat saved is valuable for its own sake, even (and especially) without development for public access. Surely, all the plants, birds, bugs and animals spared from development and excessive human intrusion understand this point.

Even more troubling was Knapp’s comment objecting to the idea expressed by Parks Manager Wynn Birkenthal that land bought by means of the conservation futures tax is “threatened by development.” To this she said, “What a loaded statement. Development isn’t a sin.”

I am disappointed with these comments because it appears to me Knapp cannot imagine any part of the living community as separate in any way from issues of monetary profit. Deidre G. Allen Spokane

Keep growth management local

After reading the Dec. 14 article on the Growth Management Act, I think the most significant and scary statement was that it will affect people’s “lifestyle, bank accounts and retirement plans.”

If that doesn’t make a person shudder, nothing will.

I would further like to point out that private property rights are protected by our state and federal constitutions. There is nothing in those documents that talks about anything else in the Growth Management Act.

The goals of the Growth Management Act are like asking someone if he loves his mother. Of course you are going to get a positive response.

Your survey of 408 persons indicates that roughly 70 people (that’s 17 percent) know about it. I guess I also would question the validity of your survey.

Land use issues are important but they should be handled on a local level, not mandated from afar. The West Side’s problems are not our problems and its solutions are not our solutions. It’s time to take control of our land use decisions at home in Spokane County. Greg Sather Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Killer already getting off light

Regarding the Dec. 13 article, “Cop killer asks for clemency,” I totally agree with Brian Orchard’s brother, Doug Orchard, who stated that Lonnie Link received clemency when he received life instead of death.

I was at Bryan Orchard’s funeral with several other officers from the Grant County sheriff’s office and saw the distraught family and friends that day.

I am appalled that there is even an avenue for convicted killers to be pardoned. He should rot in a 6-by-6 cell with no one else to watch him but himself.

Link was a convicted criminal before he shot detective Orchard., I and other law enforcement officers feel he should continue life imprisonment for this crime. Bill Wiester, Grant County sheriff president, Washington State Sheriffs Association, Ephrata

Past doesn’t bear on victim status

As an agency providing services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, our response to the Nov. 24 article, “Police hesitate to rule death suicide,” is mixed. On one hand, we are pleased that attention has been called to the very serious issue of domestic violence in our communities. However, the article went on to blame the victim.

An individual’s past history and arrest record is irrelevant to his or her current status as a victim of domestic violence. Oftentimes, victims do get into more than one violent relationship. This does not make them less credible.

A victim will often minimize his or her abuse, rather than exaggerate it.

Domestic violence is a community problem. Please educate yourselves about the issues. Services are available to victims in most every community. We hope that newspapers, as a source of knowledge in our communities, will offer the public information that sheds light on domestic violence rather than add to the myths and misinformation that perpetuate it. Sandi Thompson-Royer, director Connections, a Ferry County Community Services program

Give Barstad an assignment

To Doug Clark and his James Barstad column of Dec. 15: Amen!

However, 25 years per life seems a little cheap. A shorter time in jail with quick execution seems a much higher price Barstad should pay for taking the lives of two people.

A further condition of his parole after 40 years in jail should be that he be given the address of every high school paper in America; that he write letters to said papers recounting the deeds he has committed. Maybe other kids will learn from his “indifference.” Then, his jail time will have been good time.

Good for him and good for society. Larry R. Treffry Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Provide better alternative

In my experience, many young people use dope in their search for hope. We need to teach them they can find hope without dope. When offered drugs, hopefully, they can respond, “Nope, I have found hope without dope.” Wells J. Longshore, Ph.D., educational psychologist Spokane

Society too willing to ignore abuse

It is sad that in this day and age we still read stories about the sexual abuse of women by professionals.

The Spokesman-Review’s two-part article (Dec. 1 and 2) recounting dozens of reported and previously unreported incidents of abuse by a medical doctor during a 30-year period provides glaring evidence that we as a society still don’t believe victim-survivors when they tell their truth. That these women could have spoken clearly about what happened to them and not have been heard by the medical profession, the legal profession, the clergy and other community people is reprehensible.

Can you imagine anything more morally, emotionally and psychologically wrong than being abused by a trusted physician and then reporting it and being ignored?

Take care to prevent this abuse. Learn about it and its effects and always listen when it is reported.

Had it not been for a Rape Response and Crime Victim Center in Idaho Falls and a determined prosecutor, this case would never have come to light, nor would it have been prosecuted. To this day the offender denies any wrongdoing - classic offender profile. Offenders in positions of power rely on that power to enable them to continue their aberrant behavior. Marcia Black-Gallucci Spokane Sexual Assault Center

OTHER TOPICS

Birth control terms confused

Natural family planning (NFP) may be popularly known as the rhythm method by the press (see “Pope calls for birth control experts,” Dec. 8, and the article this year in Parade magazine). But the most basic research into reputable NFP sources would uncover that NFP and the rhythm method are radically different.

While both methods rely on a woman’s natural fertility cycle to prevent or achieve conception, they differ significantly in methodology - and in success rate. The rhythm method attempts to predict the fertile days in a woman’s cycle based upon the number of days between cycles in the past. The rhythm method fails so often because a woman’s cycle can easily vary by a couple days, cycle to cycle.

In constant, NFP relies on observable biological changes (e.g. temperature, secretions, etc.) to observe when the fertile time actually begins and ends. NFP is a scientific method with a combined success and safety rate greater than other methods of birth control. Couples who practice NFP report feeling greater intimacy and love toward each other as they respect the way their bodies are made, rather than damaging them through chemical, surgical or mechanical means in an irresponsible quest for carefree pleasure.

NFP is not ever correctly called the rhythm method. It is taught throughout the world by hospitals, NFP clinics, doctors and others who, like the Catholic Church, promote this safe, loving, natural method of birth control. Lyra Pitstick Spokane

Deficit ills: We’re all to blame

I would like to continue the thread that C.W. Voss began in his fine letter of Dec. 8 (“Law required to balance budget.”)

Not only do Congress and President Clinton lack the courage to balance the budget but so does the American people. Countless surveys consistently show that Americans favor a balanced budget, yet many of us disagree with cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other entitlement programs. With discretionary spending such a small part of federal outlays, what choice does Congress have?

It’s a shame a fine lawmaker like Bob Dole will stand up and exclaim proudly that he helped “save” Social Security in 1983. One only has to look behind the curtain of the Social Security trust fund to understand that the money for all future Social Security retirees has been borrowed, with non-marketable Treasury securities serving as collateral. Essentially, those are government IOUs. Do we really understand that we are being lied to?

We, the people, haven’t been holding our elected representatives accountable. We like the transfer of wealth our government perpetuates. Choices involve sacrifice and we aren’t ready or willing to sacrifice. At some point, we won’t have a choice. Jack Hinshaw Spokane