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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

It’ll cost you to impoverish the poor

The jobless rate has hit a 27-year low. What is happening in Idaho? Single-family households are being cut back to $267 public assistance a month.

These are the mothers and fathers with small children. Of course, they will get food stamps so when they are living in their tents in the woods they will be able to eat. How humane! Next, Child Protective Services will come and take these children from their mothers or fathers and put them in foster homes or places like Children’s Village that charge up to $7 an hour for care.

Now, tell me how this is going to save taxpayers money.

Maria Ellis Coeur d’Alene

Make dropout law make sense

Re: “Dropout Driver Law” Jan. 8

I agree with Idaho Gov. Phil Batt as he calls for its repeal. In his words, “Schools are not using the law.”

It is being enforced in some cases. But the total of last year’s dropouts was 2,736 and only 264 licenses have been suspended. At this rate, the total number of suspended licenses will only be 500. Not even half of dropouts will actually lose their licenses.

Batt said that since 16-year-olds may legally withdraw from school, they should not be penalized. If it is so important to keep kids in school, can’t you make a law saying it’s illegal to drop out until a diploma is earned?

Dropouts can still get the schooling they need by being home schooled or taking GED classes.

Of those whose licenses are suspended, how many still drive? I’m sure many do. How many get caught? Maybe a few. Having police pull over every 16- to 18-year-old who drives by or take time to look at all the license plates, just to make no dropouts are driving would rob too much time from real law enforcement.

This law only makes sense if teens are prohibited from dropping out at all. Please, pass this along to the governor. Jackie Plank St. Maries

Bonner County move a bad one

Very disturbed by the dismantling of the Bonner County building department, I called the state’s building safety division in Boise.

A manager there said getting rid of the county code is equivalent to having no code because there would be no enforcement. The state code looks only at electrical and plumbing.

It is a matter of safety, especially in light of recent roof collapses, even though that occurred under the existing code. We need a stricter code to tighten snow load standards, as in Sun Valley or Ketchum, where roofs are not collapsing. He said that without building codes there are no checks and balances as to standards used in construction.

He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency will look pretty harshly on our lack of building codes and what programs are in place for the purposes of hazard mitigation, including building codes.

Furthermore, if the old standards are determined to be inadequate, new construction will not be permitted. Frances Sandberg Careywood

Stories about Bonner County biased

Staff writer Kevin Keating has done a masterful job of presenting one side of the issue in his Sunday articles. He quotes people who directly or indirectly make a living at the public trough.

If one examines his articles, one might find that the overriding concern of the offended Bonner citizens is where their next check is coming from. I found little fact but much innuendo in the articles.

Here are two facts:

In my nine years of residence in Bonner County, I have seen the county budget double with no noticeable improvement in lifestyle as defined by better roads or schools. More ordinances, fees and county employees do not constitute improvement. For every person you find who is enamored with Lone Ranger Van Stone, I will find two people who feel he is part of the problem. Thomas E. Clark Sandpoint

SPOKANE MATTERS

Developing our way to dirtier air

I’m curious as to why the city of Spokane is trying to attract more people to saturate the downtown area when the Environmental Protection Agency is threatening to declare the city’s air is too dirty already.

Even if all the autos are clean running, the additional traffic will add to the problem, since they all give off some emissions. With the geographical and atmospheric conditions of this area, which EPA’s tunnel vision ignores, exceeding the air standards will be inevitable.

This not only affects city residents, it affects all county residents who are required to have their auto emissions checked.

I wonder why, if emissions are so harmful, the testing stations are located in congested areas and why the employees are not required to wear protective equipment? Lewis W. Johnson Spokane

Downtown project a boondoggle

It is stretching credibility to expect the public to believe that the Cowles’ participation in the city’s acquisition of the River Park Square garage is solely motivated by a desire to increase financial security of the city. It is more honest to admit it will increase the financial security of the Cowles fortune, at the risk of bondholders, and in a perfect world, result in helping the city.

Meanwhile, the Sabey Corp. should quit whining about a multi-million-dollar boondoggle soon to be perpetrated upon the residents of Spokane. A billion dollars can be spent and it will not affect NorthTown because the city is basing the solvency of its endeavor on parking revenue - which is the reason downtown is dying.

Let them do their typical bureaucratic stuff, sit back, enjoy their futility and stop worrying. Vicki Ojdrovic Springdale, Wash.

Dedicate holidays to filling potholes

The ticket says the Parking Violations Bureau is open “from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.” I don’t know if they were open or not on Jan. 20, a national holiday, but they were certainly giving tickets that day.

In fact it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day dedicated to fairness and justice. On that day, my family and I were downtown celebrating the national holiday, the memory of Dr. King and the enriching diversity that we can all share. The schools were closed that day. So were the banks and post office. Garbage collectors were off, too. So, why did the city ignore this holiday by giving tickets?

If national holidays are no longer to be observed, at least as a grace period for parking tickets, I propose that they “give” parking tickets on Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Christmas and New Years, as well. Might as well give parking tickets on Sunday, too. Why stop on any day?

Let’s use these special, extra revenues collected on national holidays to pave the numerous potholes in Spokane’s streets! David Simmons Veradale

BUSINESS AND LABOR

Sellers, try a 2 percent solution

The topic in “Credit cards hurt business” (Your Turn, Jan. 29) has interested me for years. I agree with most of George Goss’ points.

Here’s a potential solution to his (and any openminded merchant’s) problem in regard to operating profitably while eliminating that “36 percent” grab currently taken by the bank when the customer uses a credit card.

In lieu of paying the 3 percent bank fee when folks use a credit card, why not reward the customer who is willing to pay cash with a 2 percent discount?

Recently, we purchased our new automobile via credit card - quite a healthy sum. My credit card company rewarded me with a 1.5 percent cash rebate, also a healthy sum. Had that dealer offered me even the same discount to pay cash it would have been a win-win situation for him and for me. The loser? Obviously, the credit card company a la bank, and the tax collector who also got 8.1 percent of that healthy sum. James R. Schenk Spokane

Young people should be free to work

I’m almost 13 and don’t think it’s right that kids can’t work until age 18. Many of us are from single-parent families and need the extra income.

If kids were working, they wouldn’t be on the streets, wouldn’t need to steal because they would have money to buy what they want. At a time when juvenile crime is at an all-time high, kids need to be able to work. Young adults learn the work ethic from the jobs they work as teens. Scott Janssen Spokane

Get facts on PCS yourself

PCS is here to stay. Philip Sandiford’s Feb. 1 letter (“Sprint PCS only for the short run”) was very eloquent, but he is misinformed.

After doing some research, I have found that there are several levels of PCS (i.e. GSM, PDMA, CDMA). At present, none of the companies that have these different digital products are saying they are interchangeable. In fact, the companies admit they are not. Each is building its own system that will be usable for years.

Sandiford did make one intelligent statement: “Buyer beware.” If you are interested in this technology, research it. Don’t just take the word of someone writing their opinion in the paper. Bill Forrest Spokane

MARIJUANA

Economic bonanza? Check it out

I was excited to see hemp’s positive environmental attributes mentioned in Doug Floyd’s Jan. 26 Perspective article, “Marijuana Lobby.”

Floyd included an interview with Allison Bigelow, who runs an industrial hemp store. Her testimony served as strong support for legalizing hemp.

Before this piece was printed, I wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea to legalize marijuana. This article made me consider the benefits. I’m not in favor of legalized pot smoking and the selling of marijuana cigarettes. However, this article makes me think we should pressure legislators to learn the important differences hemp could make in the future of our environment.

The benefits of saving trees, conserving fossil fuels and reducing the use of pesticides (unnecessary in growing hemp) stack up to respectabe evidence in favor of investigating the vast possibilities hemp could provide.

We should face the fact that part of a now illegal plant could really benefit our society, which needs alternatives to trees and fossil fuels. We should look ahead to what will most benefit future generations. Some day, new resources must take the place of ones we’re depleting.

Change is hard to undergo, but hemp’s alleged benefits hold enough possibilities that a formal, in-depth investigation is called for. Kim Meyers Cheney

Don’t ignore plant’s positive side

I’m writing in response to “The Marijuana Lobby” (Perspective, Jan. 26). This article attests to the energy and efficiency of the pro-marijuana community.

Marijuana is illegal at the moment for a specific purpose that many of us realize, pot-heads or not. Marijuana negatively alters the physical and mental processes of our bodies and plays a big part in our nation’s drug problem. This is why we cannot just legalize it.

But if marijuana is indeed scientifically proven to control nausea as well as soothe other illnesses, then legalization of this drug should be considered. However, restrictions on this legalization must be enforced. For example, only patients with medical prescriptions from certified doctors would be allowed to legally take this drug. Another restriction would be that marijuana could only be legally taken under the supervision and prescription of a certified doctor.

We already know marijuana to be a fungus eating away our young adults. However, maybe with further studies we can change its image. We could use hemp as a medical miracle and perhaps as an environment-saving industrial product.

If we recognize the positive things marijuana can do for our society and restrict legalization to these things, we can shift the focus of marijuana from negative to positive. Carla Coldeen Cheney

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Plan is to benefit Hagadone interests

Re: “Hagadone details plans,” News, Feb. 1, about Duane Hagadone’s dream of creating a memorial to his late parents.

At first, this seems to a genuinely compassionate idea toward both his parents and the city of Coeur d’Alene. Soon, the reader finds out this donation will have a stipulation that the proposed library and botanical gardens be located directly next to his pristine resort. Not only will McEuen Field be displaced, so will the boat ramp and parking lot thousands of recreationalists use every year.

Hagadone is quoted, “This is not a commercial project for me.” Why, then, is the money promised only if the gardens and library are located in this one area? Has Hagadone done a study to see where the best spot for locating the library for optimum use is? Why not use another spot where the field and boat access area don’t have to be relocated?

The reason is that Hagadone knows his hotel’s status as a “world-class destination resort” would benefit greatly from getting rid of this working- and middle-class eyesore and replacing it with a garden for his patrons’ enjoyment.

Hopefully, Coeur d’Alene will figure out that their lake and community are slowly being taken over by big business, and that they need to protect their public areas. The first step would be to study all of their options before giving in to Hagadone just to receive his donation. Robert Fury Spokane

Think carefully about proposal

Whose needs are being served, the community’s or the tourists’? When McEuen Field is at stake, this question must be raised. This is prompted by the possibility of replacing active recreation, as enjoyed by youths and families, with passive recreation, as viewed by tourists.

There is a real need for a community center and for library expansion. But this proposal, as packaged, brings us no closer to gaining either.

Surely, a botanical garden is a beautiful sight. But so is the bounty of wildflowers that bloom each spring on Tubbs Hill. Or better yet, the smile on the face of a youth standing on first base after his first hit.

I trust that the Parks Commission and City Council will make good sense of this complex proposal and act with community needs in mind. Charlie Roan Coeur d’Alene

OVER THE LINE

Locke has my hopes up

Is Gov. Gary Locke for the better of Washington? The answer is unknown. He is better for the country. He could increase exports from Washington and even the entire Inland Northwest through agreements with Idaho or Oregon.

Secondly, is he like the other 99 percent of politicians who pretend to want to do good but then mess everything up? We won’t know until he has had a good couple months in office. I’m betting he is an all-around good guy who just wants to help out society the best he can, one step at a time. Jeremy Cox Plummer

OTHER TOPICS

Blind or not, justice better win a few

Tom DiBbartolo’s arrest came as no surprise to me. We can expect more and more of this type of thing, because the O.J. Simpson criminal trial and verdict sent a clear message: Through jury nullification and lawyers with the moral values of rats, the system can be beat.

If O.J. Simpson had been caught on videotape committing this crime, Johnnie Cochran could have and would have instilled doubt in the criminal trial jurors’ minds.

I hope we can fix the judicial system before a situation turns to vigilantism and anarchy. I hope justice will be served to help shore up eroding faith in the judicial system. John C. Mundy Spokane