Letters To The Editor

COEUR D’ALENE

City Council priorities all wrong

Our city police department has been working for three months now without a contract because the City Council wants to take money and benefits out of their pockets - benefits they got instead of raises over the past few years.

Now, they have the nerve to say they’re taking $45,000 and $9.5 million out of the taxpayers’ pockets to line the pockets of local business. To me, this sounds like some sort of strong-arm robbery.

The City Council should clean up its first mess before creating another. I always thought that if a business was not doing well, it would move to a better location or go out of business, not expect the taxpayers to keep it going.

The City Council and local businesses say the community wants to spend its tax dollars to “improve” McEuen Field, then to be charged to use it. I have heard only the opposite.

The City Council needs to get its priorities straight. I would like to see our tax dollars go to the city and city employees, where it’s needed, not to local businesses. I also wonder, will the people in favor of the McEuen Field change be wearing masks at the Dec. 16 meeting?

Misty A. Koskimaki Coeur d’Alene

Consider wide range of possibilities

McEuen Field certainly is an unusual bit of real estate. However, it could be useful both as a sports complex and as a draw for visitors.

As an interested private citizen, I have a preliminary plan for the development of this area. I expect other urban planners, designers and architects have their ideas also. These proposals should be solicited and debated with an open mind for the good of the whole community. Some guidelines also need to be developed for the prominent architect who may be hired for the urban renewal district.

Certainly, a green belt must be included in the guidelines, be it baseball fields, botanical gardens or an arboretum. I don’t believe Mae McEuen, as staunch a youth sports booster as she was, would insist that baseball must be played downtown. I think she would commend the city for the numerous play fields that have been developed elsewhere since her time.

A multipurpose ice arena, suitable for basketball, hockey and other gatherings would be very desirable. A swimming pool would have to be evaluated against the private pools available. The library is a desirable asset. An amphitheater-like covered seating area for sports viewing or outdoor concerts might be popular. A farmer’s market could be a colorful, interesting and useful feature.

McEuen Field is a very emotional issue, but our future is based on change. Honest debate is a part of change. Jim S. Yates Coeur d’Alene

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Drug testing doesn’t get desired result

Re: The Dec. 4 article on drug testing in Bonner County.

This programs seems to me to be a colossal waste of money. The Bonner School District can’t seem to find enough money to maintain its school buildings or to build new ones. However, it seems to have no problem taking money from its athletic budget in order to fund random drug-testing of athletes.

The district should spend its money improving the quality of its athletic program, not worrying about what the athletes may have done Friday night.

At best, drug testing can only serve to encourage the use of alcohol among the athletes. Since the tests won’t pick up alcohol, it is easy to figure out which drug the athletes will be using during the season. The breath test the district is considering will only tell if the student is drunk at the time of the test, which would be highly unlikely (assuming they are administered during the school day).

Essentially, random drug testing doesn’t discourage drug use. It simply encourages the use of one drug over another. Edmond J. Stowe Coeur d’Alene

Young people did the work of angels

My mother is a resident of Pinewood Care Center in Coeur d’Alene, an outstanding facility. She’s in the Alzheimer’s unit.

While visiting her last week, I met Donna Messenger and her psychology class from Lake City High School. The class had come to visit the residents.

What a terrific bunch of young people! Not only were they decorating the facility for the holidays, they were also holding hands with, talking to and having their pictures taken with the residents. I noted compassion in their eyes and understanding in their words. They seemed to sense that these people had all been working, contributing members of society.

I was told that some of the kids had never spent time around elderly people. One would never have known that from their behavior. I saw only beautiful smiles and caring touches. No one appeared to be negatively affected by what they were experiencing.

They will probably never know what their kindness and meant to the residents and to us, the residents’ relatives.

All those kids deserve an A, as does their teacher. It’s heartwarming and encouraging to see the behavior of these young people after all the negatives regarding teenagers that have been in the news lately. Our future is in good hands. Mary Lou Prentiss Coeur d’Alene

Marines on a mission: Toys for Tots

For the past 50 years, the Marine Corps Reserves have served this community and the nation in many ways, most notably this time of year through the Toys for Tots program. This year, a group of former Marines and the Marine Corps League joined the campaign and are helping the Reserves to hopefully make this the best Toys for Tots year.

With the help of this community, we can make Christmas a bright time for lots of area children. You can make a donation of a new unwrapped toy at many locations, including area stores and the Silver Lake Mall.

Although we have collected a great number of toys to this point, with an abundance of stuffed toys, we still need many more toys to help families. Right now, we are very short of toys and gifts for children 10 years of age and older.

Again, let me thank the community for your generosity. There are many children out there who are counting on our help. Ray. P. Kincheloe Coeur d’Alene

Small stores offer something special

Re: “Boxed in retailer bails out,” (Dec. 9). I love that hardware store at 11th and Sherman. I pay more for some items, but you can’t get that personal service from the big chain stores. If we continue to overlook small stores for a small savings, we will be the ones looking for help - with none available - later. Molly S. Best Coeur d’Alene

SAFETY

Teen drinking party cost plenty

Ruth has been informed that there is nothing more that can be done at this time in the area of surgical re construction.

Arrangements have been made for her to attend a community college specializing in educating and developing the skills of those who must try to piece together their lives and become as independent and selfsupporting as possible. The facilities and training will be provided for the next two years.

Her father, my cousin, taught her to avoid tribe parties where alcohol is consumed. Following instructions, she asked to be driven home. She and other young tribe members got into a car. The driver was in a rush to return to the teen drinking party on the reservation. The single-car accident occurred on a reservation road.

Ruth spent several months in a local hospital and then the Shriners took her into their care and started rehabilitation, in San Francisco. After two years, she has 20 percent use of her left arm and hand. The last surgery gives her use of her thumb and forefinger to pinch with her right hand. The rest of her body is totally paralyzed and she doesn’t have bowel or bladder control. She turns her head and blows into a computer device to be able to type.

Ruth, a high school junior at the time of the accident, is now 21 and won’t return home to the tribe for two more years. Keith Leon Contor Sagle, Idaho

First requirement is safe drivers

Re: Ann Braeman’s letter, “Bike lane on Addison not safe” (Dec. 10): I, too, am concerned and I agree that it’s dangerous to ride a bicycle on Addison, or any other street in this city, with or without a bike lane. I also agree the bike lane is positioned dangerously on the roadway. The parking lane should be removed and the bike lane should be half again as wide and moved to the curb.

Whenever Braeman drives an automobile, she should be aware of any other person on the roadway, whether a pedestrian, cyclist or motorist. She should realize that crossing paths with others is unavoidable. The smooth and safe flow of traffic requires cooperation by all road users. It’s not the bike lane that creates the danger. Rather, it is motorists who speed, fail to signal turns and generally disregard the safety of others on the roadway.

Fortunately, it’s legal to ride a bicycle on Addison and the bike lane provides added protection for cyclists. A 4,000-pound mass of metal and glass hurtling along at 30 mph can pose a serious life threat to any being in its path. Motorists must fulfill the responsibility that driving requires for our streets to be safe. N.G. Hannon Spokane

On the phone and otherwise out of it

I walked to work for 18 years crossing three arterials. I have been on more than one occasion brushed back from the curb, chased down the sidewalk and twice was bumped in while in a crosswalk.

I have observed drivers shaving, applying makeup, drinking from huge containers, using the horn for greetings, totally distracted by a second party, listening to the radio at a zillion decibels (or, worse, using headphones) and reading the newspaper.

One individual who caused me to leap out of the way stopped and mumbled apologies. I noticed he had a horse racing sheet bent across the steering wheel. Of all these mindless twits, the most amazing was an individual who entered traffic while balancing an espresso and talking on the phone - steering with an elbow?

I received my driver’s license 50 years ago, when traffic was much lighter and slower. It was constantly emphasized then that driving is a full-time job: both hands on the wheel, use the mirrors and stay alert to your surroundings. The eyes and ears will determine your reaction time. The above observations indicate some drivers ignore both.

This may not be indicative of drivers in general, but the proliferation of cellular phone use while driving is becoming commonplace and it is the ultimate in attention diversion. A recent study concluded that use of cell phones quadruples the risk of collision.

Several countries have already passed laws prohibiting the use of phones while driving. Richard A. Winters Spokane

‘Missing hunters’ asked for trouble

Re: “Missing hunters found uninjured” (Dec. 10).

No spare tire, no warm clothes, no flight plan, no food, no gear - no brain! Bill them for the cost of the rescue and hold them up to public ridicule. Rescue cheated the mountain lions of a good meal and put these three back in the gene pool. Bert N. Lomax Bethesda, Md.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Slick beats dumb any day

Bravo to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno for sticking to her guns in the face of all the Republican whiners. They remind me of ditsy cheerleader types trying to drag down some girl who is popular because she is smart, not easy.

Clinton may have broken some obscure law with his fund-raising activities. Who cares? He is still the best president we have had in over 20 years.

As to Sen. Larry Craig’s assertion that “This administration will go down in history as one of the most corrupt,” well, sorry. Nixon set the benchmark for corruption, closely followed by Ronald Reagan and the Iran Contra Affair.

Clinton may be slick, but that’s better than dumb. Jon S. Waldrup Sandpoint