Letters To The Editor

Sat., May 25, 1996

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Ill-gotten gains finance ‘new life’

The May 12 Spokesman-Review includes an article (“Building a new life,” News) about a couple living in the Onion Creek area. This couple has two children. They are not married. Both collect welfare checks and they are complaining about how they want to live. They bought their land with welfare checks.

I was under the impression welfare was to feed your family, pay bills and try to live until you got a job.

This couple doesn’t seem to realize decent people work for what they want and don’t sponge off working folks. We work for what we need and don’t have kids we can’t feed.

If there is no work in your area you move to another area. Why is the Department of Social and Health Services allowing this to happen?

Does JoAnn Perrine think she is so special she doesn’t have to work? My grandchildren have to work two jobs to be able to buy a house and property.

I ask everyone, what is wrong with this picture?

Cut welfare cheaters off the welfare rolls and make them work like the rest of us. From the sound of these two, working would be degrading but taking welfare from hard-working people isn’t.

Elaine Elliott Colville, Wash.

Clark dehumanized decent poeple

Doug Clark, in his column on May 21, refers to Social Security workers as “faceless drones.” Maybe Clark should be a defense witness for the Oklahoma bombing suspect.

According to Clark, the Social Security workers killed in the bombing were not parents, husbands or wives; they were faceless drones.

It is people of Clark’s mentality who foster the idea that people in government services are not people like you and me. Clark was probably not concerned about the recent bombing at Spokane City Hall. After all, the potential victims would’ve only been more faceless city employees. Michael J. Devine Spokane

Move beyond ‘reality of racism’

I can answer Stephy Beans’ “I have questions for those light of skin and dark of heart” (Street level, May 17).

Beans, a minister of the gospel wrote of pervasive racism in Spokane. She’s got courage and so does the Review for running her column.

We must allow Christ to manifest His love in us and, at the same time, discredit the reality of racism by refusing to allow it to be a heartbreak. Show racists love and compassion. Pray for and forgive them. When you move beyond the reality of discrimination, you will truly be a minister of the gospel, worshiping God in spirit and in truth and bringing glory unto the Father, blessings unto yourself and others.

God bless you, Stephy Beans. I love you. Your brother in Christ. Robert Spaulding Post Falls

Don’t underrate Down’s difficulties

As a licensed nurse with 12 years of experience caring for clients who have Down Syndrome I feel compelled to respond to E. Mary Wright (“Too few Down’s babies allowed life,” Letters, May 20).

Most parents do not have the resources, financial or emotional, to care for a Down Syndrome child at home. With the current trend of downsizing public institutions, most of these children are being transferred to private boarding homes within the community. These are staffed by persons who have minimal training in caring for clients with developmental disabilities of any kind, much less the multiple medical problems that often accompany Down Syndrome.

A gift of the Holy Spirit? As well intended and Wright’s letter may have been, it shows a total lack of understanding of the lifetime of problems, heartache and suffering that a diagnosis of Down Syndrome brings to a family and child, who have no choice but to live with it. Carol Bordeaux Medical Lake

Home or work? Decide early on

Re: Steven L. Bland’s May 16 letter, “Full-time moms are VIPs” on May 16 and the letters criticizing him in the May 21 paper.

I’m a stay-at-home mom and appreciated his comments. To stay at home may seem like a luxury to these critics, but it’s really just a choice that needs to be made early, before children and before a couple gets used to a double income and then dependent upon it.

My husband makes a fair wage and I, too, clip coupons and cut corners to keep our budget.

Working moms should take into account the true but hidden expenses of working. After subtracting taxes, child care, transportation, possible lunches out and a career wardrobe, how much is really left to spend?

After these calculations you may only actually bring home a couple dollars an hour. Is is worth this to have your children brought up by others? I know this may not be true for all working moms, but in many cases the stark reality of the numbers may surprise you, and the choice to stay home may become easier. Andrea Keith Spokane

GAME LAW PENALTIES TOO MILD

Prisons should reform, too

I am responding to a May 9 letter about making prison a place to avoid.

I understand how some people feel about the prison system, but prison life is not all about fun and having a place to sleep with three meals a day.

Inmates don’t get to just go and use the weight room any day or time they want. Prison offers a lot more than a canteen, weight room and recreation.

Most, if not all, prisons offer many programs to help inmates to better their lives - programs such as drug and alcohol treatment, and classes on stress and anger control. A variety of programs are offered and some are required for inmates.

The community needs to make up its mind. People want criminals off the streets and locked up, yet they’re now upset because the system is spending a little money on the inmates to help better them. Not all of them will change their ways, but if one does change, that’s one less criminal on the streets. It’s one more person trying to make a difference. Leroy Todd Ephrata, Wash.

Appreciate those who try to help

I hope this letter is one of many expressing disappointment and sadness about Shane Petersen’s guilty verdict.

Shame on Spokane County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser. Shame on District 9 firefighters and paramedics for persecuting Peterson for his actions.

Granted, I wasn’t at the scene. But as I understand the incident, the bottom line is that Petersen helped a victim at an accident scene. Does Petersen’s guilty verdict make District 9 firefighters and paramedics liable for not maintaining control at an accident scene?

In contrast, what a breath of fresh air from our Spokane Police Department. I was delighted and encouraged to read about the actions of Patrolmen Barry O’Connell and Kevin Kliewer. Not only did the two officers graciously accept the assistance of four concerned citizens, they are actively seeking these individuals to send them letters of commendation.

The efforts of concerned citizens in both incidents are clear. Why the dichotomy in the two cases/departments?

I say to Lt. Rick Oliver that efforts and resources should be focused on accident victims, not extraneous distractions (weather, environment, media, bystanders, etc.). Be accepting and forgiving.

I am thankful Spokane has uniformed personnel - O’Connell and Kliewer - who show these traits. Forrest V. Diehl Spokane

Penalty too weak to deter poaching

I found your May 11 article about the Eagle’s Lake ranch overharvesting-poaching case almost too ridiculous to comment on.

First, it took a three-year investigation to bring about the charges against the defendants, then the cost of trials and, of course, a presentencing study.

The total fines cost less than a good shotgun or a guided hunt.

Before people will take game laws seriously punishments will have to be somewhere near reality. The should at least enough to cover some of the costs of game loss and court costs.

Look at the odds of being caught, let alone prosecuted. With these consequences, why not poach? It’s cheaper than a guided hunt and odds are it’s not going to be very high on the court’s list of priorities.

Isn’t it about time to put some teeth into our game laws? Or should we just let them become the new generation of blue laws? R.L. Erdahl Spokane

Reserve executions for the guilty

Karen Kennedy (“Quit quibbling and execute killer,” Letters, May 19) is in a big hurry to see Don Paradis executed. She is upset that his appeal is “based partly on the fact” that Kim Palmer may not have been killed in Idaho.

If it were a loved one, or even she, who was facing a death sentence, she might understand that his appeal is based entirely on the fact that he didn’t commit the crime that he has been sentenced to die for.

It is disturbing to know that not only citizens like Kennedy but elected and appointed officials whose job it is to see that justice prevails would close their eyes to compelling evidence of innocence.

A death sentence is forever. If the death sentence is to be used we must all be very sure that the person receiving it is actually guilty. Kelli Mead Elk

THE ENVIRONMENT

Forest congress outcome misstated

As a participant in the 7th Forest Congress, I want to correct some of Edwin G. Davis’ misrepresentations in “Lands belong to ‘moderate majority”’ (Roundtable, May 14).

Davis notes that the 7th Forest Congress supported the salvage timber rider (Principle 61). However, he fails to recognize passage of Principle 37, which in essence says the same thing: “Citizens and interests have the right to seek administrative and judicial review to ensure that land management decisions comply with existing laws, including the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, National Forest Management Act and National Environmental Policy Act.”

Currently, actions taken under the logging rider are exempt from judicial review. No laws apply to national forest management under the disguise of the logging rider.

As far as the “dead and dying” salvage Davis alludes to, how about the 1,000-acre Gatorson timber sale, the 4,000-acre Addy timber sale or the Rocky Brook old-growth timber sale - all of which are green, not dead.

Salvage logging isn’t about salvage at all; it’s the same old logging with new window dressing.

Principle 28, which recognizes the special values of old growth forests, was supported 681 to 225. Another key principle, 57, states that “all federal public lands should be maintained for present and future generations and managed in accordance with national laws.” This passed 704 to 216.

A national poll in February found that 74 percent of Americans oppose the logging rider.

Pollster Richard Wirthlin found that 80 percent of Americans believe protecting the environment is so important that standards cannot be too high. Timothy J. Coleman Republic, Wash.

Consider area around waterways

People know the numbers of trout, steelhead and salmon are dropping steadily. Native fish runs are almost extinct, having been replaced by commercially grown hatchery fish.

I am curious about whether people know why fish numbers are dropping. Dams and commercial fishing are two obvious causes, but there is another, often overlooked or ignored, reason: destruction and degradation of necessary vegetated areas that cover the banks of native fish-producing waters. These areas, called riparian zones, are vital to the ecology of natural spawning beds in streams and rivers.

The riparian area surrounding a stream provides many things that benefit fish. Overhanging plants keep the water cool with their shade and also supply food for leaf-eating bugs that live on the stream bottoms. These bugs in turn make up most of the diet of young trout and salmon. These riparian areas are part of an important food cycles, of which fish are at the top.

By not protecting these areas, we are destroying an ecological link. How can we expect there to be large, healthy numbers of fish when we are grazing cattle, recreating and building housing developments in these areas? It just doesn’t work that way.

Please, when you see a stream, don’t just look at the water. Look at the surrounding vegetation. Everything around a stream affects it. Awareness is the key to protecting our natural resources. Riparian areas are also a natural resource; we should protect them, too. Teunis Wyers Cheney