Letters To The Editor
SPECIAL EVENTS
‘Lake City’s biggest’ a bust
An article in the July 4 Spokesman-Review, under “Finding area’s best fireworks for the holiday,” states, “Coeur d’Alene: the Lake City’s biggest display, with more than 2,300 shells, will be shot off a barge on Lake Coeur d’Alene at dusk. Best view is from City Park and City Beach.”
In anticipation of an outstanding display of fireworks, we arrived in Coeur d’Alene at 6 p.m. for dinner; spent $50. We proceeded to Coeur d’Alene Resort and had dessert and coffee; another $10. Carried lawn chairs to City Park at about 8 p.m. and found a small spot.
According to the article, fireworks would be starting at dusk, so even though Friday was a work day with a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call, chances were that the night’s events would not start too late and it would be a fun evening.
The fireworks didn’t start until 10:25. After 15 minutes and approximately 400 displays, it was over. Everyone walked to their cars and waited in traffic another hour. We arrived in Spokane at 12:50 a.m.
What a nightmare.
Who put this event together? I would like to hold someone accountable for this sham. What a terrible waste of time and money. Not to mention the many people in the park filling the time by drinking too much and all the small children getting tired and chilled, waiting for fireworks, waiting for a grand finale in celebration of our country’s Independence Day.
The people have been ripped off. The only ones who benefited from this event were the businesses selling food and alcohol. Carly Kirk Spokane
Thanks for a terrific time
We are using this forum to express our deep appreciation to all who were responsible for the Fourth of July parade.
To the fire department personnel who organize and supervise this occasion, thank you. To the people with the red “parade official” T-shirts - especially the firm-but-respectful lady at the corner of Sixth and Sherman - thank you.
To all the participants - those with a message, those with a product, those with music, those with a smile and a wave - thank you. And to the spectators who rose as one and saluted our beloved flag, and those who fought to keep it flying, thank you.
Yes, we know that there were problems later on. Some people still don’t realize the responsibility that comes with freedom. But for two hours last Thursday many of us chose to come together to celebrate that which is right and good in our community.
To all who made this possible for past, present and future generations, thank you! Mark and Alice Grannis Coeur d’Alene
Over the top and ‘wonderful’
A job well-done. Enjoyment for young and old.
I applaud the pyrotechnicians for the wonderful fireworks display. Sara Caldwell Spokane
IDAHO VIEWPOINTS
Time will tell about airport, grant
On the third of July, I attended as usual the Bonner County commissioners’ business meeting. It was gratifying to see so many others there. Careywood was well represented and these citizens got to see Steve Klatt and Van Stone in action.
At this meeting I protested the acceptance of FAA grant 07. I believe that two or three people understood my objections and believe them valid.
I came here from Washington, D.C., in 1986 with one pure thought on my mind: to enjoy the twilight of my life in the second most beautiful place in the world. I have watched many county commissioners, these being the worst, destroy this dream.
I believe that the community has one hope left and that is Sandpoint Mayor David Sawyer. I believe he has some good ideas and if allowed to function can keep this a nice place to live.
I trust that someone in this metropolis will understand what I say, “Get all the grant money you can get, but don’t take 10 cents from FAA, ever.”
The proof of right or wrong will ultimately be determined by the amount of real money that is actually received by Bonner County over the next few years vs. how much the taxpayers actually contribute to the “airport.”
We will see, especially if the operation of the airport is audited correctly.
As to the question, “Who do I represent when I question things?” The answer is just little old me. James A. Blake Sandpoint
SPOKANE MATTERS
Bottom-ranked and sinking fast
How much and how often can city residents be asked to pay, where good streets are concerned?
Exactly where is our tax money going now and what streets are we seeing being cleaned up with the use of tax revenues? People in this city are being taxed to death.
Just recently The Spokesman-Review published an article ranking Spokane No. 281 out of 300 in a list of the best cities in America to live in. This was calculated on the basis of the cities’ economy, taxes, etc. Does Spokane want to be No. 300? Taxpayers, wake up! S.W. Brownlee Spokane
Wrong to tax property to fix streets
Please look past all the pandering and professional marketing clouding the street bond issue. Yes, we need our roads repaired. Whether we misuse existing funds or not is not the issue. New property taxes are.
Spokane citizens, are your property taxes high enough yet? How does anyone believe a property tax increase is a fair way to pay for road repairs? What about all the vehicles using Spokane streets whose owners do not live here? Also deserving of consideration is the matter of one family having six vehicles while another family has only one.
How does the property tax apply fairly for all vehicles? Simply put, it doesn’t - so don’t. Steve Wilson Spokane
Can’t get there from here?
What is Barbara J. Clark’s answer for getting to your destination if you cannot make a left turn? (“Left can be a turn for the worse” July 6). Why should it be any more dangerous than turning right?
Keeping your distance (one car length per 10 mph) helps, but paying attention 100 percent of the time is also a sure-fire way of staying out of trouble.
Please, Clark, tell us all how to turn westward if we are going in a northerly direction, without crossing the dividing line and opposing traffic. Harry Swift Chewelah, Wash.
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
KKK reference beyond the pale
I couldn’t agree more with the position of the parents group at Madison Elementary School when it comes to the resignation of school board President Terrie Beaudreau. What was she thinking when she compared anything, whether it be the school situation or KREM-2 reporter Tom Grant’s style, with the KKK?
Is she so uninformed that she doesn’t realize the implications of making comparisons to the KKK? If she is in fact that ignorant, why is she sitting on a school board? If she understood what she inferred, then we are in big trouble.
In the Northwest we are plagued with being guilty by location when, time and time again, white supremacy issues rear their ugly heads. We have worked hard to distance ourselves from these people and now we have a school board president who has the audacity to link us once again to the hatred, violence and ignorance associated with these groups.
Terry Beaudreau, step down. Joy Guidinger, vice president Westview Elementary School PTA
Trust these qualified people
Re: “Remarks stoke school tension” (July 4), I am appalled that some Spokane residents feel they can band together and demand the resignation of a school principal and now the resignation of the Spokane School Board president. They are even questioning the ability and objectivity of the person from Eastern Washington University who was hired to mediate the dispute.
If these people are allowed to have their demands met will they next ask that the mayor, police chief, etc., be ousted?
The conduct of these critics demands questioning. If anyone attempts to speak in defense of someone accused of an allegation, some people brand that person as a wrongdoer also.
Principal Shari Kirihara and School Board President Terrie Beaudreau must be qualified to perform their duties as they see fit or they would not be in those positions in the first place.
We put people into office to do the best job they know how to do, not what we want them to do when our children are involved. Some children magnify and misconstrue things from people in authority and if those people are of another race or color. If children are taught and trained at home that everything can’t always be the way they want them to be and to respect people of authority, regardless of color or race, then the situation would be better for all concerned. Doris M. Aaron Spokane
Parents’ charges ring true
The courage of Madison Elementary School parents involved in the effort to remove Principal Shari Kirihara is to be lauded, not twisted with smoke-screen accusations of racism.
As a parent of children who were under Kirihara’s administration at Finch Elementary School, I can express only relief that she finally left for another post. The same complaints being aired so forthrightly by the Madison parents reflect the problems experienced by many parents and students during Kirihara’s 10 years at Finch.
Officials would do well to remove Kirihara as principal and offer her a position that does not require direct public contact. In this age of communication, emphasis is necessarily placed on an individual’s ability to listen, respond and build consensus effectively.
My experience with Kirihara, as a parent and volunteer within the public school environment, has convinced me that she lacks effective communication skills for such a position. It’s a hindrance to the positive educational outcome sought by District 81.
Test scores are not the bottom line measure of an administrator’s leadership, nor is this problem indicative of racism or personality contests. The problem is an absence of effective, comprehensive leadership response. Marilyn Easterwood Spokane
Parents, prepare to be manipulated
So District 81 has hired Fred Schrumpf to mediate the conflict with Madison Elementary parents. How very intriguing.
The conflict resolution program that Schrumpf co-authored, which is being used in District 81 and Nine Mile Falls schools, is primarily based on the theories of Third Force psychologist William Glasser. In one of the books Schrumpf co-authored it is stated, “Conflict resolution is rarely about honesty or establishing truth - it is more about unifying perceptions.” Schrumpf contends that conflict resolution should be a win-win situation. In other words, no right, no wrong, just “unifying perceptions,” coming to consensus.
What this means for the Madison situation is that District 81 won’t have to admit that all the nasty and uncalled-for things that they have done to the Madison parents were wrong. And the Madison parents, because they won’t be savvy to the semantics of the highly sophisticated but phony process of “consensus” being used on them, will be facilitated to the desired conclusion.
Parents own the schools; it is their children and they pay the salaries of teachers, administrators and staff.
Since the District 81 board seems to be acting out, maybe the Madison parents need to process (Think Time) their school board. Lynn M. Stuter Nine Mile Falls
ABORTION
Provide a viable alternative
Rev. Jerry Falwell some years ago called for all Christians to elevate their stance on abortion: provide special homes for the mothers-to-be who do not want their babies, money for education and living expenses, pay all medical bills, find good homes for their babies and then extended counseling after the birth.
He reasoned, and correctly so, that just praying, blockading clinics, killing those doing abortions or harassing the women would not stop abortions. Something positive had to be done and the aforementioned steps would take money and commitment from the Christian community.
So instead of just talking or protesting, the Christian community has the sacred opportunity to put up the money and the organization to make this happen. Instead of writing letters to the editor, start writing checks to the pastors and others who will set up and run these programs. Start volunteering your time to help these women and their babies prosper.
If you cannot be part of the solution, perhaps you are part of the problem. Robert R. Cannata Spokane
Such evil must not be legal
Staff writer Sherwood Anderson (“Pointing fingers,” Perspective, June 30) suggests pro-life people adopt a benign, live-and-let-live attitude toward abortion, all in the interest of peace, civility and unity.
But unity must be formed on truth. The truth is, babies are being ripped from their mother’s wombs - 1.3 million per year in the United States - and 97 percent of abortions are done for the convenience of the mother. Anderson asks us to shut our eyes to this because, if abortion were made illegal, some women would still seek abortion, as they always have.
As the world accepts abortion, it will soon accept euthanasia, infanticide and God only knows what other abominations as they may be made legal, one by one.
The argument that evil should be legalized because some people are going to do evil things anyway is ludicrous. How does it apply to other forms of murder or stealing or perjury?
Remember the inalienable rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? The order is no accident. Pursuit of happiness is most difficult without liberty. Liberty is meaningless without life. The life of an unborn baby has a higher right than the liberty and pursuit of happiness of the baby’s mother. The baby is not part of its mother’s body, but has its own life to live.
If government allows us to take the life of anyone, when will it stop? Walt and Velda Weid Spokane
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
Hard edge detracts from touching piece
Jim Shamp’s heartfelt column in “Street Level” (“All it takes is effort,” July 7) about his loving, noble father, disturbed me with its picture of that rifle hanging suspended above the belt used for meting out whippings.
In an age in which 25 percent of all marriages have battering; where the leading cause of accidental, non-automotive death to women is death at the hands of their partners; and where beaten, broken children are showing up more and more in hospital rooms and morgues; perhaps it’s time to change our thinking about using violence to solve family problems.
A child recognizes the difference between a slap or a spank in anger and the cold, calculated, cruel aspect of a beating given long after the crime. In many households, when violence is used to control behavior, the violence tragically escalates.
A typical human foible is the mistake of thinking the way it is for us is the way it is for everyone else. Shamp’s father blended physical punishment into a fuller ethic of child-rearing and example-setting, inculcating solid and lasting values. Not all kids are as lucky as Shamp.
Failing a barometer to measure how much hitting is enough and appropriate, we would all be better off in this country with less violence, not more.
Parents can find other ways of leading than by reaching for a strap. Fred Glienna Coeur d’Alene