Letters To The Editor

THE ENVIRONMENT

Don’t let dams be abandoned

According to an April 17 article, “Northwest rivers endangered,” several Northwest rivers are being threatened. The dispute is between hydroelectric dams and their effect on salmon and steelhead runs.

The rising cost of protecting these fish puts smaller hydropower dams at a major competitive disadvantage. Some of the smaller utility companies are threatening to abandon their dams due to these cost increases. If this happens, there will be serious repercussions.

These companies should not be permitted to abandon their dams. If they cannot afford to protect the fish, they should not build in the first place. It is important that these people be held accountable for their actions, or it could lead to similar trends with other dams.

If nothing is done to stop these companies from walking away from their responsibilities, many of our Northwest rivers will cease to exist. Rivers disappear when dams are abandoned. This is because the water level behind the dam drops to a point where it can no longer drain into the head of these rivers. If this happens, we will lose the rivers, and many parks, camping spots and other outdoor recreational areas along with them.

This would also lead to the destruction of rare salmon and steelhead runs, and we would lose out on many great places for canoeing and rafting. These are all treasures, and they should be saved for future generations to enjoy. John R. Kushman Cheney

No time to weaken clean air rules

The Clean Air Act is meant to protect citizens from air pollution and prevent illness and death. But major polluters have launched a multi-million dollar PR and advertising campaign to stop the Clean Air Act from doing its job.

The act sets health standards for several types of air pollution. Many studies show that current standards for ozone (smog) and particulates (soot) do not protect the public. Breathing smog and soot at levels even below those currently allowed can trigger asthma attacks or other acute respiratory problems. It can even cause death.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, because of grass burning and wood stoves, Spokane’s soot levels don’t meet current clean air standards.

Industries responsible for huge amounts of smog and soot - electric utilities and the auto, oil, and chemical industries - are running a massive campaign to weaken the Clean Air Act under the guise of modernizing the law. What they really want to do is keep EPA from setting stronger standards to protect the public, and return to the days when pollution was uncontrolled.

Rep. George Nethercutt should stand up to the polluters, ignore their scare tactics and support strengthening, not weakening, health standards that protect us from air pollution. Jaime Hawk Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Maxey off on another lame crusade

I saw in the paper recently that Carl Maxey is at it again. Now, he is pestering the overloaded courts with a lawsuit to restore voting rights for criminals.

Can’t he find any decent work or a cause to champion beside trying to get some losers voting rights? There are plenty of law-abiding, decent people he can help, if its help he wants to give.

It’s no wonder that the criminals seem to be in control or advantaged, with people like Maxey working in their corner.

Get a life, Maxey, and let the losers and criminals pay their dues for a change. H.L. Potter Spokane

Justice was done; Closure is needed

After following the trial of Kevin Boot and the plea bargain of Jerry Boot, I’m grateful to get the closure that so many of us have needed.

I sat through Kevin’s trial. As Felicia Reese’s friend, doing that was extremely difficult. The job that Spokane County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser and Deputy Prosecutor Jack Driscoll did in prosecuting Kevin was thorough and presented well.

Judge Tari Eitzen was excellent and fair. Without a doubt, the jury did its duty by agreeing on the guilty verdict.

I was also at the plea bargaining of Jerry Boot. I know that Felicia’s mom and fiance were in agreement about accepting that plea bargain. If they hadn’t been, Judge Eitzen stated that she wouldn’t have accepted the plea agreement at all.

I’m sorry that Felicia’s dad could not be, or was not, contacted during the decision making process. However, I believe if he knew the facts he would have accepted the plea, too.

As for Felicia’s family, friends, co-workers, students and the city of Spokane, now is the time for us to get real closure on the tragedy of her death. Let’s not forget everything you know and have heard about how Felicia lived.

I was told after her death that you never know until it’s too late that you’ve just walked with an angel. I hope I never forget to see anyone in that light again. I know that I’ve learned how to accept and forgive through her death. It’s possible for you, too. That’s what Felicia would have wanted. P.H. Marinos Spokane

Public-funded defense abuse prone

Spokane County Commissioner Kate McCaslin is right. We would not need a $430,000 increase in the Public Defender’s office to hire more attorneys if the office were managed better.

Why should the taxpayer pay for legal defense that goes beyond a fair and adequate defense? I firmly believe that public defenders who block and manipulate the system and who stall for time to drag out the defense are going beyond a fair and adequate representation.

Many of the indigents who qualify for public money can come up with money for bail and other expenses, but because they know there is taxpayer money for criminal defense, they figure they are entitled to it. If they were paying the bill they might restrain their attorney from crusading tactics. These tactics shed no truth or light on the defense but merely delay proceedings in order to get a more favorable plea bargain, thereby running up costs.

Thanks to McCaslin, someone is watching out for the average citizens who keep funding programs that begin with good intentions but end up being abused. Dorie G. Clark Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

‘Ellen’ reflects greater reality

Editorial writer D.F. Oliveria’s comments on the TV show “Ellen” illustrate the power of prejudice over intellect.

Oliveria takes great care to attempt a logical, but negative, explanation for the decision of Ellen DeGeneres to portray a positive lesbian lead character. Commercial TV in America is driven by an attempt to portray on the screen what the audience sees as reality, or as imagined reality. If millions of Americans view this show and accept it, it is because this is what they see or expect to see when they look at the world around them.

For someone who surrounds him- or herself with a community that constantly reinforces their own fears and prejudices, it can be difficult to accept that long held beliefs are fiction and not fact. The challenge is to look at the world, to look at the people who are somehow different, and actually see and understand the reality, even if it clashes with your prejudices.

The portrayal of gay characters on “Ellen” and many other TV shows has long been more stereotypical, less positive, and hence less threatening. The arrival on our TV screens of Ellen as a different type of lead character and a different type of gay character perhaps signals that more people have taken the challenge to see when they look. Charles Owen Spokane

World’s ills misdiagnosed

Re: “Homosexuality a threat to all,” (Letters, May 8), Don Otis’ piece on his idea of family values. He was offended by the television show “Ellen,” and blames gay people, divorced parents, and single parents for the so-called decay in family values.

Well, I’m offended by people like him. I’m a divorced, single parent who has raised two sons. My oldest graduates from college this June and my youngest graduates high school, and will attend college next fall. Neither are drug addicts, thieves, depressed or suicidal. However, I do know children from traditional mom-and-dad families who do fit in one or two of these categories. How do you explain those children?

It doesn’t matter who raises a child. It can be the traditional mom and dad, a divorced parent, a single parent, a gay couple or parent - it’s how they raise that child that counts. If a child is given love, respect, and understanding, the child will have a good start. If a child is taught morals, responsibility, fairness and compassion, he or she will grow up to be a happy, healthy adult.

I worry more about children being raised by small-minded people who teach their children to hate, stereotype and judge anyone different from themselves. If you don’t like “Ellen,” change the channel. But don’t blame gays or single parents for all the world’s problems. That just shows your ignorance. Barbara A. Williams Spokane

So easily, needlessly, threatened

Three cheers for Don Otis (“Homosexuality a threat to all,” Letters, May 8) for not letting the facts get in the way of his diatribe against homosexuality and, it appears, any other lifestyle except his own.

It’s so annoying when intolerant people research their opinions instead of simply leaping onto their soapboxes, as it means that someone has to expend intellectual energy proving them wrong. Not so in Otis’ case. Right from the start, you know you’re dealing with simple excoriation.

For instance, he apparently thinks there’s a correlation between homosexuality and alcoholism, petty crime, poverty, unemployment and depression. The first four of these are so ludicrous no rebuttal is necessary. However, I submit that the main cause of depression in people who love other people of the same sex is the bigotry and hatred they experience from the factually challenged.

Otis fears that by publicly celebrating her sexual orientation, a high-profile TV personality (Ellen) is encouraging the youth of this country to adopt this sexual orientation. Would he, I wonder, follow the same train of thought about, say, a Native American publicly celebrating her cultural heritage? Would we all want to be Native American?

By coming out on TV, Ellen is helping to raise awareness about a small but significant part of our society.

If your first reaction is to find this awareness threatening, you probably need to do some serious soul-searching. James D. Hunter Spokane

Don’t let the door catch on her wings

Any of the rest of you ready for Saint Ellen Degeneres to get back into the closet? Mike B. Martling Spangle, Wash.

Poor folks have poor ways

I worked 25 years in an industry that hired some low-or no-income people. My company trained them as best it could, expecting only that they show up for work every day.

Thursday was my company’s pay day was on Thursday, so for these people, Friday and Monday were no-show days.

How can companies be expected to put welfare recipients to work when a number of them can’t get out of bed in the morning? The Clinton administration should spend some of the taxpayers’ billions to teach these people the responsibility of holding a job and see if they can be trained to get out of bed and go to work. There are jobs out there. Kathleen S. Richmond Mead