Letters To The Editor

ON THE ROAD

Our roads need a better fix

If you are a Spokane driver then you know what I mean when I say that the roads are falling apart. Over the past few years, street surface conditions have gone from moderately smooth asphalt to rugged, moonlike terrain. But this year it seems that all of the streets in Spokane are in dire need of attention.

I’m a food service delivery driver, so I experience the condition of the roads daily. If repairs are not followed up on, a large number of our cars are going to end up in shops for shock and strut repair.

Is something actually going to be done about our roads? Sure, we could just patch the potholes like we usually do, but patchwork tends to settle and reveal a slightly lighter version of the hole that it occupies. If the decision to repair the streets is made, hopefully the City Council will chose the right contractors and materials for the job.

Harry Davidson’s (Letters, Jan. 27) reference to the Dutch, who mixed their asphalt with latex during World War II to increase the durability of their roads, really made sense. When I discussed the topic with my father, he told me that the practice had been discontinued because the mixture easily caught fire. But with today’s technology I’m certain that chemists could come up with a fire-resistant, cost-effective alternative to latex.

This idea needs to be considered when we do fix our roads. It could prevent the same asphalt deterioration we are having now from occurring several years down the line. Fritz Nichols Spokane

Life in the slow lane

I moved here from Connecticut about two years ago and I still can’t get used to the way people drive here. Most people here must have all the time in the world. Not only do you drive slow, but it takes you an eternity to make a right turn into somewhere.

You get onto what you people call a highway and there is always someone in the left (passing) lane going slower then someone on a side street in Veradale. Does anyone know that the left lane is just a passing lane and not a travel lane? You get in the left lane to pass someone and then you move back in the right lane.

It never fails, I always get behind someone in the left lane going slower then the right lane, then they get all upset because I want them to move over so I can pass. This must be where road rage comes from.

Go back east and drive this way and see how long you last. Jim Nobitz Veradale

Only cops can stop red-light runners

What is it going to take to stop people running red lights? I drive through downtown and back every day on my trips to work and home. I have seen the billboards. I have seen the bumper stickers. I have heard a driver convicted of murder, because he ran a red light and killed people, speak out in warning.

I still see an average of three red lights being run on every trip through town. It isn’t just a yellow-to-red the drivers are cruising through. It’s red for several seconds, and usually two or more cars run it. If you honk your horn or point out the red light, you receive the one-finger salute for your reminder.

I think the money spent on the campaign to print posters and billboards would have been better spent on an extra officer or two with no other duty than being stationed at different lights and taking license numbers as the light is violated. I don’t know the fine for running a red light, but $1,000 would at least slow the practice down and more than pay for the officers.

It’s time to do something that is effective to stop this practice of running red lights. The billboards aren’t working. Mark W. Harry Mead

ANIMALS

Give something back to animals

I believe we should find a more practical method of working toward our goals of saving the nation’s endangered species. I have to agree with the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s idea to maximize the protection of species at the least cost and inconvenience to the public (Spokesman-Review, Jan. 24). I also found the Princeton Department of Ecology’s statement about endangered birds being clustered in only 19 counties nationwide, and mammals in 29 counties, to be a perfect example of how uninformed most people are.

Most people believe this issue doesn’t pertain to them simply because the endangered animals don’t live in their back yards. I’m talking about two different classes of animals that happen to thrive in a total of 49 little counties nationwide. Forty-nine counties isn’t very much area, so there must be centralized locations among these counties which could be used for public wildlife refuges. It is these centralized areas in which the investments should be made, instead of trying to deal with little battles.

The agriculture industry is the main reason for needing to create and preserve wildlife refuges. Haven’t we stolen enough of their space as it is simply to grow crops for our consumption? When are we going to start giving something back instead of always taking? As the cause of this near-extinction of many species it is our duty to create wildlife habitats at any cost.

I’m sure if the human race was near extinction, we would be crying for help. I know the animals are too. Jake Clark Cheney

Bison could go to tribes

As the husband of one who has Blackfeet ancestry, I feel as she does that the Big Sky’s native people need a bigger role in the matter of bison leaving Yellowstone National Park and losing Uncle Sam’s protection.

Gov. Racicot doesn’t want to be portrayed as the villain in the western, since he ultimately has to approve their killing if they might endanger the state’s cattle population once they stray from the park. But we say let’s give the Indians the white hats in this epic.

Rather than slaughter the brucellosis-infected bison, why not give these outlaws to Montana’s native tribes and allow them the chance to round up and take them to their reservations? There they can either be inoculated or separated from any cattle that might become infected. Surely the tribes involved might even pay the transportation or other expenses in such relocation. No better stewards of the bison could be found than their ancient brothers of the Earth.

It’s only fair and proper that our government agencies, both state and federal, that played such an historic part in the decimation of the once mighty buffalo herds and of the native people who depended upon them, should endeavor to correct long-standing injustices and in doing so rewrite a terrible tragedy into a happy ending for all. Dale Roloff Spokane

Horses: Not what writer said

The assertions quoted from James Conaway’s pro-cow book, in regards to wild horses, are incorrect (R.K. Barcus’ letter, “Wild horses: Not what you think,” Jan. 18).

Domestic horses eat as much as cattle do. Draft horses eat more. Mustangs, the wild horses, eat less than all of them because they are small horses, kept that way by a lack of grass. Draft horses and many other domestic breeds can’t survive in the wild because they need too much food, are too slow and can’t handle weather extremes.

As for the damage to our public rangelands, that is being done by cattle. Ranchers have to pay only $1.25 a head per month in grazing fees, as opposed to the $10 a head per month the rest of us pay. So, they run more animals than the land can safely feed. It’s called overgrazing.

The wild horses we have are descendants of the Spanish Andalusian barbs. Yes, they do have some quarter horse in them. However, does that justify exterminating them so ranchers can continue to overgraze public lands? I think not.

The horse originated here and spread to the Old World, so I think they have more right to public lands than cattle do, especially since they do less damage. Judith M. Jones Spokane

AKC lets dogs and people down

I hate to say it, but I agree with those who say our priorities are a little fouled up. We should protest loudly and offer help when those abused, neglected and starved are human, not have all this much hoopla over dogs.

Animals have two organizations that should be able to handle these problems: The Humane Society, whose job it is to protect and defend helpless animals, and the American Kennel Club (AKC).

If the AKC paid better attention to kennels that register dogs and would have some kind of inspection system for all puppies registered, people who run operations like the Bergmans’ kennels would be put out of business completely because they wouldn’t register their puppies and the money would dry up.

Put pressure on AKC, not the authorities who are hard pressed to handle the human element with their limited resources.

It’s pretty sad when even the lowly rabbit has to be inspected by a local registrar in order to be registered but very expensive puppies don’t have to be. Registrars spend years raising, showing and judging rabbits before they get to be official registrars. This eliminates many problems and there’s more control.

The whole thing is awful, but if AKC keeps registering animals sight unseen, there will continue to be kennels like this one. Lu Broadsword Rathdrum

ABORTION

Put your beliefs on the line

Here’s a simple solution for the people who are against abortion:

They can all sign up at an abortion clinic. Then when a women comes in for an abortion, the clinic staff will give her one of the names of the people who signed up. That person will pay for the lady’s hospital and doctor bill, then take the child to raise when it’s born.

No more abortions. That’s what’s called putting your money where your mouth is.

I’m really amazed that some can plant bombs and kill people and preach against abortion. L.L. Stone Newport, Wash.

Media polarizing abortion issue

There seems to be one-sided coverage of pro-life events in the national media, who seem obsessed with painting the pro-life movement as violent.

The pro-life movement is the most peaceful grassroots social movement in the history of this country. There are always a few radicals at the fringe of every social movement, but the national media seem to be going out of their way to find these nuts and put them on TV.

Take the news coverage of the Right to Life March. Was National Right to Life quoted, the official spokesperson for over 3,000 pro-life affiliates? Did the media interview any of the really interesting groups at the march? No, half of the televised coverage of the pro-life side was of some nut who joined the march at the last minute and sputtered about “violent response.” It was replayed all day on all three networks.

Fanatics get attracted to both sides of important social issues. A computerized PressLink search revealed hundreds of local stories on violent attacks, bombings, even shootings of pro-life protesters by pro-choice people. Why didn’t the national wire services pick up any of these stories?

Let’s focus on the issues. The abortion debate isn’t about violence or the lunatic fringe. It’s about choices. Many friends are pro-choice because they feel that a mother’s needs sometimes outweigh her unborn’s life. I’m pro-life (unless the mother’s life is in danger) because I feel there’s always a way for both to live. My pro-choice friends and I get along and maybe we can even have some ongoing dialogue, but not if the media insist on polarizing us. Tim DeRyan Spokane