Letters To The Editor

WASHINGTON STATE

Conscientious remark misinterpreted

Regarding the comment, “Smith said she wouldn’t accept the position if it was given to her” (“Sparks tapped to take over House seat,” Region, July 17). I would like to correct the interpretation of a remark I made to the commissioners during the interview for appointment to Rep. Denny Dellwo’s vacated position.

Why would I bother with the process if I had no intention of accepting an appointment?

I meant that I would not accept the salary of approximately $2,300 per month for the interim period as I was running on a platform of “sensible spending.”

My fellow candidates and myself are three untried novices who will have our hands full running for this position in the primary. I understood there was no slated legislative session or business that could be officially acted upon until January 1997. If I, as an appointee, lost the primary in nine weeks, I would become a “lame duck” official capable of accomplishing very little except paying for my campaign with taxpayer dollars collected over five months. My comments were a matter of my own conscience. Valerie Smith Spokane

Be fair to animals; Pass I-655

As a volunteer signature gatherer for Initiative 655, I want to congratulate everyone who helped out and signed the petition, for a total of 228,536 signatures. This initiative will be the second all-volunteer effort in five years to qualify for the November ballot, with over 3,000 dedicated, hard-working people.

We are very confident from all the support statewide that we will be on the November ballot.

I-655 proposes to ban the use of bear baiting and hound hunting of bears, cougar and bobcats. These methods are considered unfair and unsportsmanlike.

Typically, a bait hunter dumps rotting carcasses, grease, honey and other smelly foods into a barrel. The hunter waits for the bear to discover the bait station and then shoots the feeding animal at very close range.

Hound hunters unleash radio-collared dogs and monitor the chase of the bear or cougar. When the dogs tree the animal, the hunter follows the signal to the base of the tree and shoots the animal at very close range.

These unfair and inhumane hunting practices deserve to be outlawed. Give the bears, cougars and bobcats a sporting chance. Vote yes on Initiative 655. Hal Rowe Spokane

SPOKANE MATTERS

Group Health not profit-driven HMO

In her July 12 letter, “HMOs too profit conscious,” Melissa Ward references Louise Wall’s positive experiences with Group Health Northwest and the HMO system.

Ward points out HMOs have an incentive not to pay for surgeries or treatment because in the end doctors and a long line of executives share the funds that are saved.

Although this is true for some for-profit HMOs, it is not true for Group Health Northwest. Group Health is a nonprofit, consumer-governed organization. There is a huge difference regarding the quality of care received through a quality HMO and the old fee-for-service system.

Group Health Northwest is not in business to stand between the patient and the doctor. Executives, policy planners, etc., do not have more say than the patient or the doctor.

It is time for people to get the facts straight. Do not buy into the media’s recycled HMO out-of-state horror stories. Group Health Northwest has been in our community for 15 years. Its main goal is to provide quality care to its patients and the community. Wendy Hubbart Spokane

Hang in there, Planned Parenthood

I applaud Planned Parenthood’s resilience regarding the bombing of its Spokane Valley clinic.

Kudos, also, to The Spokesman-Review for showing that this recent attack was not the first time pro-choice organizations have fallen victim to the closed mind.

Keep it up, Planned Parenthood. It’s nice to know that it will take more than petty terrorism to scare you away. Zaza Varela Spokane

SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION

Principal’s actions unacceptable

Madison Elementary School Principal Shari Kirihara should be put at another job. She should not be able to work around small children.

I removed my son from Madison in 1992. I made calls to Kirihara about a few boys from school who had thrown rocks at my son’s forehead. She told me there was nothing that she could do; it was off school grounds. It happened five minutes after school was out.

Another time she slammed the phone down while my husband was talking to her. She had locked my child up in a room with only a cot and one small window in it. For a woman with such high standards, is she the kind of person we want around our children? Wake up, people. It’s time to get her out. Sheryl Duhaime Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Scare ads rightly countered

Sincere appreciation for your July 23 editorial, “What voters need is truth, not hope.”

As a member of the elderly crowd, my resentment toward big-labor attacks concerning Medicare is difficult to measure. My son will turn 50 shortly and become a prime target for American Association of Retired Persons recruitment. My two daughters, mid- to late-40s, will follow shortly.

Then there are the younger generations, say 27-year-old marketers (grandchildren) you refer to.

I have absolutely no interest in engaging in some form of generational conflict with them. Nor do I have the slightest interest in leaving them with an irresponsible, crushing load of indebtedness as a result of cynical, deceitful political campaign rhetoric.

Enough is enough. The fearmongering that has been so successful in denying any responsible action to avert the unavoidable collapse of Medicare, Medicaid, welfare, Social Security, ad infinitum, must stop.

Your continuing assistance in bringing to readers’ attention untrue, misleading advertising and rhetoric on the part of any group or candidate will be helpful and most appreciated. Jim Smith Spokane

Censorsing ad no way to win

I was shocked to read in the July 20 Spokesman-Review (“TV stations pull commercial,” Region) that our congressman, Rep. George Nethercutt, together with the managers of KHQ and KXLY, do not believe in the Constitution regarding free speech and will resort to out-and-out censorship by pulling TV campaign ads they conclude are deceptive.

It saddens me that Spokane TV stations will resort to this. Let us, the people, decide what is true or false.

Rep. Nethercutt, on this alone you do not deserve to be elected to Congress. You should be ashamed.

Thank you, KREM, for standing up for our constitutional rights. Judy Johnston Spokane

Electing Kaun worth uphill battle

Let there be no mistake; I am a Democrat and I support Susan Kaun for Congress. It is natural that I note the competitor’s activities.

I have been past the new headquarters for Rep. George Nethercutt several times. I admire the professional signs, the sterile, cold-appearing, large space with a desk and a few chairs. On numerous trips by this place, on the way to my doctor’s, I saw there a rather lonely looking lady and no one else.

I was reminded of the Revolutionary War, with the British redcoats battling George Washington’s rag-tag army, the professionals against the poor who were trying to fight for what they believed to be right.

We who support Kaun had raised at the end of March a little over $2,000 - to go against some $360,000 that Nethercutt had. Things have changed. At the last meeting, we had some $20,000 in contributions and our committee has grown from the five who recruited Kaun to somewhat over 250.

This is a grass-roots campaign being run on the cheap, but with pride and conviction that Kaun is not only a fast learner, but someone who has a purpose, integrity and business experience that makes her the most viable candidate we have for the 5th Congressional District.

Study all the candidates. If you have the interest of the people at heart, I am sure you will want a change and elect Kaun. Richard B. “Dick” Hopp Spokane

Entitlement rip-off costly to end

Can you imagine what our senior citizens are thinking after reading the July 16 article (“New law cuts drug addicts off benefits,” News) about drug addicts receiving Social Security in addition to their welfare benefits?

They are eligible for as much as $1,100 per month, depending on their work history. This happens as a result of a failed entitlement enacted by the Democratic Congresses of the past. Gail Whitehead, manager of Spokane’s Social Security office, while acknowledging that the addicts must seek treatment, says, “There was not a high rate of success.”

Now, finally, comes an answer. A new law cutting off Social Security payments. Rep. George Nethercutt’s vote for this law is yet another reason for re-electing him this November.

Carol Moulton’s statement, “I think the big guys (in Congress) need to walk a mile in somebody else’s shoes,” shows the mindset of the bureaucracy that is so dependent on these entitlements. Moulton needs to realize that it isn’t her money. Moulton said that some of the addicts have contacted attorneys. Guess who pays for them? We will now pay for attorneys to bring litigation against ourselves, hoping to cut a deal to spend more of our money. Michael Wiman Spokane

U.S. AND THE WORLD

Showing off our sorry values

The Olympic games are under way and the U.S.A. is on display to thousands of international visitors. I’m sure the streets of Atlanta have been scrubbed, and the homeless have been hidden from foreign eyes in an attempt to create the best possible impression.

However, all of these cosmetic efforts are wasted when the biggest wart on the American way of life jumps at you whenever a radio is switched on or a newspaper is opened.

One week, the nation’s leaders are divided on the wisdom of raising the minimum wage from $4.25 per hour. The next week, the news is full of the names of athletes who are being paid millions of dollars a year to play games, and in many cases the demands of their playmasters that the taxpayers dig into their pockets to build them new places to play.

Sadly, the thing that will stick in the minds of Olympic visitors when they return home won’t be the clean streets of Atlanta. It probably won’t even be the astronomical salaries paid to a group of people who in general are poor role models and, compared to other professions, have little value to the community. It will be of a society that somehow allows and actually encourages this absurd situation to exist. Peter Gillespie Veradale

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Good guy deserved story

Mensch: A person having admirable characteristics, such as fortitude and firmness of purpose: “He radiates the kind of fundamental decency that has a name in Yiddish; he’s a mensch” - James Atlas, American Heritage Dictionary.

It is wonderful to pick up the paper and discover that somebody else believes, as you do, that a friend is good and decent and deserving of praise. Chuck Naccarato is a stand-up, generous soul whose openhandedness extends equally to Courthouse patrons, his many friends, his wonderful family and the occasional skin-and-bones stray dog who finds his way to any restaurant where Naccarato is eating. His is the kind of life worth celebrating. Judge Michael Donohue Spokane

Don’t accept era-based cop-out

What does it mean to say, “It’s the ‘90s”? Does it mean that now you have permission to do anything, say anything or wear anything?

I never thought the ‘90s could think for another person, but lately, the ‘90s are being dubbed as all-knowing. So what happens to the best attributes of our brain, such as reasoning and sound judgment?

Each period of life has its own good stuff. If you pick your “Dark Ages” to despise, whether the ‘50s, ‘70s or ‘80s, also look at the good stuff there. If you are too young, ask someone who is older and learn. If you can find good stuff in the past that you like and can believe in, and you dare to be independent, then allow it to give your life direction and more-informed choices in the ‘90s.

To simply react to the ‘90s and say, “After all, this is the ‘90s,” as we often hear, to justify what we do, remember, you may be caught up in the decadence of a society which is bent upon appealing to your most impulsive and immature attributes. You deserve better. Phil L. Stack Medical Lake

OTHER TOPICS

Bombing, like abortion, is wrong

I had a wedding rehearsal to attend or I would have been at the vigil protesting the bombing of the Planned Parenthood office.

Had I been there I would have also proposed a vigil for the unborn who, on a daily basis, are dismembered piece by bloody piece and slaughtered in the name of freedom. I ask, whose freedom? Whose choice?

Buildings can be rebuilt; dead bodies cannot.

Would to God that The Spokesman-Review give equal time and headlines to the innocents who cannot speak for themselves. Curtis A. Fox Spokane

Good that NBC is covering games

So nice that NBC is broadcasting the Olympics in Atlanta. Coverage of the past winter Olympics, as broadcast by the CBS Network, was a farce.

Its efforts to make a role model of Tonya Harding was a disgrace. All cameras followed Harding around like animals in heat and her broken shoelace became a major calamity. With NBC manning the cameras, let’s cheer for participants as they earn their medals and we applaud their efforts. Don Kerley Grand Coulee

Just read the book

For answers to her questions, I suggest Claudia Kampfer (“Accusations ring hollow,” July 18) read the new book, “Partners in Power,” by Roger Morris, who is not necessarily a friend to conservatives. Morris has written an excellent, informative and documented biography of the Clintons before his presidency. Before I would give Hillary too much credit for her book, I would remember she had a ghost writer. And I would wonder how much of the contents are her original thoughts.

The Clintons truly are unique. Lois Wells Spokane