Letters To The Editor

GRASS FIELD BURNING

Ex-urbanites create conflict

Regarding the Intermountain Grass Growers Association ad for the farm families - I applaud them!

All we ever hear about are the people grass burning affects in a negative way. It seems we have a growth of city-suburban folks moving to the country to get the country life. These people then expect the farmers to change the country way of life to conform to the misperception suburbanites have created for themselves.

I moved to the country three and one-half years ago from the Valley and wish everyone would quit complaining.

I’m sorry there are a few individuals who have suffered from elements in the air, but taking away the livelihood of farm families, including wheat growers, is even more tragic.

Most reasonable people realize that the process of burning stubble of any kind releases nutrients back into the soil in a natural way. Plowing and applying chemicals to farm fields depletes the soil’s natural ability to produce needed nutrients, not to mention that doing these things costs farmers excessive amounts of money. Burning is ecologically and economically effective for any crop.

U.S. Senate Document 264 (1936) and the Earth’s Summit Report (1992) say that the soils in which we grow our crops are anemic. This means the soil no longer has all the nutrients in it that our bodies require.

If you can’t stand the smoke, go back to suburbia. P.M. Bailey Colbert

Close to home, things look different

The grass burning issue is tough. The growers have torched their fields for years. I grew up here and like most people, unless something affects you personally, you ignore it.

My 4-year-old daughter, Alex, has cystic fibrosis, an incurable and eventually fatal disease that attacks the lungs. Every breath my daughter takes is important.

In September 1993, Alex was hospitalized with respiratory distress. In August 1994, when Alex started high doses of steroids, her wheeze could be heard 30 feet away. August 1995 was terrifying, with 17 days at Deaconess Medical Center.

This August we decided to go away during burning season. We were gone for over a month. In September we were told by the Intermountain Grass Growers Association that it would be safe to come home.

Wednesday, Sept. 18, was hard on all of us. My daughter, who had just returned from the doctor, was doing pretty well. That evening she was coughing, had bloody noses and headaches all night.

I read the newspapers and have been accused of being whiny. I’ve been told the grass growers didn’t give my child her genetic disease, her parents did, and that we ought to move away. The Heisel family has been in Idaho since the 1800s and nine months of the year the air is fine for Alex.

For those of you who have thought or written these awful things, I will pray for you. Those who have been supportive, thank you. Trina Heisel Post Falls

MIDEAST CONFLICT

It’s all in the Bible

Why do the media always sympathize with the Palestinians? Israel is not theirs and never was. According to the Bible, God gave Israel to the Jews thousands of years ago - forever.

It’s interesting, all this fighting over a tiny stretch of land that really has no value in itself, yet all eyes are upon her. She’s not really a world power like the United States, Europe or Russia, yet the peace of the whole world depends on her.

God’s word revolves around Israel and his dealings with her. This proves only one thing to me. God is, was and will always be sovereign. The Bible is God’s living word of truth, and one day true peace, truth and justice will reign from Jerusalem, and his name is Jesus.

If you want to know the truth about what’s going to happen to Israel, the Palestinians and the whole world, read your Bible. It’s all in there. So far, it has never been wrong. Michele K. Martin Spokane

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Stand up and say no

Along with thousands of other citizens of Idaho I signed the petition that put the initiative to stop the shipments of nuclear waste into our state on the November ballot. The decision to support this initiative was not made lightly.

We are constantly learning more about the hazards presented by nuclear waste to our health and environment; not only to us but to future generations as well.

As long as there are areas of our country willing to tolerate the presence of this waste there will be no pressure to stop producing it. Maybe if we here in Idaho stand up and say loudly and clearly “not in our state” then citizens of other states will find the courage to do the same.

Perhaps this is a David and Goliath situation and it appears quite hopeless. But let’s not forget how that story ended. Sister Carol Ann Wassmuth, Monastery of St. Gertrude Cottonwood

Students need more room

My hat is off to the children of the Post Falls School District. I have visited the Post Falls Junior High during school hours and noticed that the 657 children (in a school built to house 400) handle themselves in a very mature manner and are quite orderly.

This could not be possible without the coordination of teachers to make the conditions as safe as possible. Walking the halls is an overwhelming experience and I do not know if I could function in that situation daily.

I also noticed the repairs that have been completed over the summer. It is my understanding that repairs have been made at each school. So go check it out for yourself. The district is very receptive to visitors. It is great to see that the school district is taking care of the buildings that they have.

It is time for the community to do our part and reduce the overcrowding at each of the schools in the district. On Oct. 8 we have an opportunity to vote for a new high school. If you do not believe that we need additional space for the students, go find out first hand. The ballot this time will have two parts, one for the basic school structure, and the second for a sports and auditorium facility. You can vote on each part separately.

Speaking to people after the last bond levy it amazed me how many people voted without adequate information. They took the time to vote but did not take the time to go and get information on the issues.

Yes, when the school bond passes it will cost us money. It is time for those of us living in the Post Falls community to give something back to our community. Let’s build on the future and help our children succeed. Vote yes on Oct. 8 for schools. Barbara Broncheau Post Falls

Support the upcoming bond election

I am a retired citizen of Post Falls, Idaho. My children have long since completed their education in our school district. In fact, I have grandchildren who have completed their education in this district.

My late wife was a long-time teacher and librarian at Post Falls High School. For many years I served as a member and chairman of the board of trustees. In short, I have great knowledge and experience in the needs of Post Falls School District and the job that it has accomplished through many years of austere management.

I would like to express my support for the upcoming bond election and urge all my friends and neighbors to vote yes for the much needed facilities. All age, income and special interest groups owe their support to the future of our nation - the children. Paul Ziegele Post Falls

Elect Watson to Legislature

I endorse Larry Watson for Legislative District 4 against our present, so very young, Rep. Tom Dorr.

Watson is a slightly older and much more experienced volunteer firefighter, emergency medical technician, Ski Patrol volunteer for more than 12 years, and a founding committee member of Shoshone Chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

I believe we have had a representative who endorses and believes in what the so-called Christian Coalition has espoused, and he is too inexperienced to be of any real help to District 4 citizens. Dorr also believes in punishment of women in need of welfare or who are not “married” mothers. (I spoke to him about this on Sept. 7 at the site of The Women’s Vote ‘96 in Pinehurst.)

Watson is Shoshone County’s chief deputy assessor, with much more local experience and knowledge of the depressed economic climate in Shoshone County and North Idaho, since he is a native-born resident.

Watson believes in a balanced economic climate, which he has developed with the duties of his present office, and his practice in his assessor’s judgments of our property taxes. He also values the North Idaho environment, as his volunteering demonstrates.

Elect Watson to represent North Idaho in Boise, and we will gain a more rational voice in 1997. Joanne and Bill Peters Kellogg

Trailing-edge Chenoweth must go

Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth appears to have learned her sense of honesty from Richard Nixon and Steve Symms. Those old ways are no longer acceptable. Slush funds and bagmen won’t work any more. Phony stories and lies to the voters are not acceptable. Chenoweth and her old ways must be removed from Idaho politics. She is a disgrace to Idaho. Mark Arneson Lewiston

FIREARMS

Licensing a lose-lose policy

Nice try, R.L. Jones (“Gun owners should be licensed,” Letters, Sept. 27). Licensing gun owners and requiring firearms training is worse, constitutionally speaking, than restricting guns.

Several states (Oregon for one) have mandated firearms training for those applying for concealed weapons permits and said that registration and training fees would be minimal. Yeah, sure.

When New York enacted the Sullivan Law in the 1930s, the registration fee was to be about 50 cents, so everyone could afford it. Now, it’s over $100 and the permit takes months to get, if you can ever get one.

Oregon anti-gun politicians employed the tactics of not scheduling training classes or scheduling fewer classes than demand required. Enrollment in private sector firearms training classes costs $200 or more.

Think of what would happen with millions of new gun owners per year. The instructor manpower needed would be enormous and the price of government-run training would be out of the question.

Gun owners had better know their candidates in November as the anti-gun forces are dredging up all their favorite bills in hopes of an anti-gun Congress and president. Pro-gun organizations are backing Bob Dole formally or, like the National Rifle Association, informally. Clinton has shown his anti-gun stripes. Also, 5th District Rep. George Nethercutt has a pro-gun A rating. Dale S. Weiler Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Try to see wisdom behind move

Elizabeth M. Berg (Letters, Sept. 26) said she wouldn’t vote for President Clinton because he “put a cap on the development of coal being mined in Utah by declaring thousands of acres a U.S. national monument.” She called this move of his a “dirty trick.”

Berg is due her opinion, but I don’t get it.

I feel for families who lose their livelihood to protection of the environment, but I vote to protect it. I also vote to use tax dollars to help those folks through the transition.

I don’t understand how anyone missed the hundreds of reports on the disastrous results to our world from the mining and use of coal.

I understand fear. I felt it last year when I made only $6,000 to feed, house and keep myself warm. But I would have taken up a paper route before a pick or drill. I would have sold something created with my hands and mind that proved beneficial to someone and not poisonous to the very cells which make up the human body and the body of every other living thing on Earth.

My grandfather died of black lung from his days mining coal.

I am environmentalist, Ms. Berg. Reach out and take my hand. Trust me. We can make it through together - you, me and the miners - through this issue to a place where we no longer kill each other like an insect, as you say, “attacking another to survive.” Patrick M. Murphy Edwall, Wash.

Senate wrong to uphold veto

I am saddened, knowing our Senate voted to not override President Clinton’s veto of a bill banning partialbirth abortions. So continues the slaughter of babies as they are four-fifths born.

Clinton, Sen. Patty Murray and every other senator who sided with the president’s veto should witness a partial-birth abortion. Perhaps then they would see that these abortions are nothing more than the murder of a tiny human being so close to taking its first breath. If these babies were puppies or kittens about to be born, the world would be outraged. God help us. Diane N. Brown Veradale

OTHER TOPICS

Repayment a matter of integrity

Chiropractor Michael D. Tyrrell complains that the law regarding repayment of loans for school is unfair and that he doesn’t lead an extravagant life (“Chiropractor loses license after default,” Sept. 26).

Tyrrell read the fine print and signed on the dotted line when he borrowed money backed by the government to educate himself. The fact he couldn’t make the extravagant living he expected is sad, but there are no guarantees. The fine print does not say you are guaranteed an income.

I took out loans to finance my four-year college education. Even when I was working as a waitress (waiting for that teaching break), barely able to put more than coffee and crackers in my cupboards and driving a beater, every single month for 15 years I sent my loan repayment in because, regardless of what I was earning, I had purchased an education at the taxpayers’ expense.

There are no guarantees, but there is integrity and paying for what you take. Pamela Goering Spokane

Only big smugglers face trial

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that Alan Berson, U.S. attorney in San Diego, admits that for the last two years his office has had a new policy of expelling rather than prosecuting drug dealers who bring anything less than 125 pounds of marijuana across the Mexican border.

I cannot imagine any greater lure to criminals who aspire to become rich with absolutely no risk!

It is certainly no mystery that drug use among teenagers in America has skyrocketed. America, don’t you care? Vote Clinton out of office in November. Esther Trusler Colville, Wash.