Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Cowles family deserving of thanks

I feel compelled to write regarding the Cowles family. It is sad that a family that has done so much for Spokane has not received a proper thank you.

Yes, the Cowleses profit some from their ventures, but they truly care about Spokane and want to see our town prosper. They don’t have to put a single dime into any area of Spokane. They could let downtown deteriorate. They could do many things with the amount of money they have, but instead they are investing in the future of my home. They are helping to rebuild the heart of our city.

I personally thank the Cowles family for everything they have done for Spokane, especially saving our downtown. We are all very lucky to have them on Spokane’s side.

Too bad our mayor is on the side of Sabey Corp.’s special interests and not Spokane’s best interest.

I am thankful to the Cowles family and the majority of City Council members for their effort to keep Spokane a great place in which to live. Shelby W. Johnson Spokane

‘A Few Good Men’ a must see

Civic Theatre is currently presenting “A Few Good Men,” one of the most dynamic and truly professional plays that Spokane has had the privilege to see.

It is not a “walk happily into the sunset” type of play, but it demonstrates with true fidelity the occasionally overzealous dedication of the Marine Corps.

Civic Theater has attracted a large group of fresh new actors and they have assumed their roles with such dedication that it’s hard to believe they were not recruited from corresponding roles in real life. The viewer should not be offended by the occasional rough language. It is stark, real and hard hitting but there are many good laughs along the way.

I encourage everyone to see this play if they would like to see today’s Broadway at a token price.

Incidentally, World War II veterans will be reawakened to the way it was. Gene Bronson Spokane

One costly screw-up after another

The brain trust decided our acting police chief does not have the educational background to be moved up to chief. But here we have a city engineer who certainly has a BS degree.

Yes, BS is correct - $7.2 million down the drain and all we have is plans. Oh yes, we also have two former taxpaying entities, Salty’s and the $2 million condo site, that have been taken off the tax rolls because they are now city property. Great move. We don’t have the money to fix potholes, but man do we have plans. We really have closer to $10 million invested!

This sure speaks highly for education. Makes me happy I don’t have a degree.

Funny, when you are not dealing with your own money, how easy it is to throw million dollar bills around. Charles E. McCollim Spokane

‘I applaud the garden club’

During the April 2 downtown Spokane planning design fair, I noticed that the Spokane Associated Garden Clubs made a $3,000 street tree grant to the Davenport Arts District.

I applaud the Garden Club for its ongoing dedication to the beautification of Spokane. Nancy L. Anderson Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Watching for justice to be done

Last November, I was shocked when told that a former member of my Junior Girl Scout Troop had been killed in a car accident. The shock deepened when I read the April 15 Region section, only to find that the man who was driving the car in which three teens were killed was temporarily let off the hook in a mistrial.

The reasoning for this mistrial was the technicality of a question asked by Deputy Prosecutor Andy Metts. The question was deemed inadmissible by Judge Linda Tompkins. She made this judgment because of her agreement with the defense attorneys, saying that “Vreen was delusional when he made the statements” to which the question pertained.

Metts announced that he “expects to put Vreen on trial again in a couple of months.”

I will be following the new trial with interest to see if justice prevails and more light is shed on to the untimely and unnecessary deaths of Katherine and her friends. Shannon S.K. Yellin Spokane

Amendment notions fanciful

Walter Becker (Letters, April 16) writes out of ignorance of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as the Supreme Court’s decisions. He argues that the purpose of the Second Amendment was to grant the state control over the state militia or the national guard of today.

This idiosyncratic definition falls flat on its face because it cannot be reasonably applied to the first, fourth, ninth, and 10th amendments, where reference is also made to the right of “the people.”

The Second Amendment was meant to accomplish two goals crucial to the maintenance of liberty. First, it was meant to guarantee the individual’s right to have arms for self-defense and self-preservation.

The second was the militia because standing armies were looked on with fear by the founding fathers and an armed public was necessary for liberty to survive.

Remember, our country was occupied by England’s standing army when the revolution began. This had a great bearing on the writing of the Bill of Rights. K. Lee Osborn Spokane

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Guns are innocent people do wrong

It seems to me that the author of, “Children, guns bad mix” (April 3) is, like the rest of the country, focusing the blame for the Jonesboro, Ark., incident in the wrong direction. Instead of putting the blame on the instrument that caused the tragedy, we should focus on personal responsibility.

The statement, “Don’t teach kids to shoot” ranks right up there with “Don’t teach kids to drive.” When teenagers are involved in auto accidents where fatalities occur, do we say that if it hadn’t been for the car the tragedy could have been avoided? Barring vehicle malfunction, the blame is on the individual who was driving.

The same goes with shooting incidents. The individual pulling the trigger is to blame, not the gun.

But the statement is not only ludicrous, it would be damaging if it were to become reality. There are Olympic hopefuls in this country, many of them youths, who compete on various levels in shooting sports, hoping one day they can represent the United States in the Olympics. No such youth has ever, after completing their event, decided to take out part of the crowd that may have made them angry during the competition.

To ensure that another Jonesboro incident doesn’t occur, we must rely on parents to be responsible for their children’s actions. Teaching kids not to shoot is not an answer. With proper instruction comes the proper use of firearms. Darrell Zorn Eastport, Idaho

Burning disposal of N-waste?

No way I am a bit disturbed by the wording in the April 14 article on the Washington State University incinerator. The article says that radioactive wastes are “burned” in it.

Anyone who doesn’t know better could be misled to believe that radioactive substances can be disposed of by burning.

Radioactive substances are not affected by heat, at any level short of a nuclear fission reaction. Any radioactive material burned there releases the radionuclides within it to be emitted out of the smokestack or to concentrate in the ash wastes, thereby producing another form of radioactive waste.

I think you should publish a clarification of the article on this. It’s very important that people understand the true hazards of radioactive materials. Tommy Walen Colville, Wash.

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Jones’ case a farce from the start

Ron Yorke (Letters, April 9) intimates that somehow justice was not served in the disposition of the Paula Jones case. Furthermore, he believes some form of permanent damage occurred.

First and foremost, this was a civil case - all about money. No great or irreparable harm was done to anyone by not airing out this batch of innuendoes. Secondly, if there was malfeasance and chicanery, Jones and her attorneys took a back seat to no one. Thirdly, this flimsy case was given far more credence than it deserved.

The first rule of a civil suit is to prove that actual damage occurred without consideration of who caused such loss. You can’t be compensated if you haven’t lost anything. Jones was so hurt by this alleged incident that she waited years to file suit. She couldn’t prove anything happened to her employment situation as a result of this. Her statements about her loss from the start of the suit were in direct and comical contrast to her latest statement. Jones couldn’t even get to square 1! As to chicanery, sorting through the fantasy statements, wiretapping, book deals, silent financial backers and press leaks propagated by Jones would be too time-consuming.

If injustice was done, President Clinton and the presidency were dealt far more of such than the system. This lawsuit ensured that any future public official could be the subject of such suits. Imagine, Jones could have received $300,000 without having to prove anything! Sue a rich guy and he’ll have to pay you to go away. Gregory P. Hande Spokane

Our real deficit is of self-esteem

The deficit is soaring, higher than it’s been in years. All leading indicators are down. Our budget sorely needs a healthy dose of discipline if we will avoid permanent inflation.

I am not speaking of the fiscal economy. I am speaking of our soul. Moral spending is much too high. Gold standards once ensured stable currency; if not a gold standard, we should at least return to the Golden Rule.

It is high time to give God a tax cut. We burden him so much. If we cut the sin rate 15 percent, we’ll see a flood of sincere growth. It is time to put an end to our talk-show culture stagflation. We need leaders who can look children in the eye and speak without a crooked smirk.

How many more Jonesboros and Moses Lakes will we accept? This is bigger than gun control. We’ve lost touch with a generation. We are obligated to re-connect with them.

Bill Clinton is the head of this tax-and-spend welfare state. He makes us feel good about our shortcomings by coming up short himself. Never mind the sex. Reckless fornication doesn’t impress me. But what he does to others to save himself is unconscionable.

The courts can balance the budget. Citizens have clearly already impeached his personal ethics. They just want someone who will give them self-esteem. Something Clinton has in surplus. Mark J. Bessett Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Tobacco fight really about money

Robert M. Stevenson is ill informed on the battle involving the tobacco industry, the Clinton presidency and liberals in the House and Senate. If the Democrats really wanted to protect us and protect our children because of the dangerous and evil tobacco companies, then ban it all together. If smokers have no responsibility for their own actions, then save us.

Of course, like most liberal legislation, or White House arm twisting, it’s not about that. It’s about money; wealth that can be redistributed and, of course, the cut off the top that government will get, plus the power and control that comes with that authority.

The Republicans in government will have about the same courage as Clinton, which is no courage at all, but a wanting and lusting look in their eye, and a desire for new toys they can buy with money that is not theirs. Jim C. Allen Spokane

Habitat home can mean so much

On Sept. 15, 1997, my children and I moved into Pend Oreille Valley’s first Habitat for Humanity House here in Newport. We had spent the previous year and more than 500 sweat hours helping to build our new home.

Since that time, my girls have delighted in bringing their friends home instead of just hanging out somewhere. In fact, they usually even keep their rooms clean. They have all brought up their grades and are generally in a much better frame of mind than they were a year ago. This is home.

Now, Pend Oreille Valley Habitat for Humanity is preparing to build a second such home in the area. A lot has been purchased in Cusick for this purpose but funds are still needed to build the home. All of the labor and some of the supplies are donated.

Pend Oreille Valley’s Habitat for Humanity’s fourth annual banquet-auction fund raiser, sponsored by Soroptimist International of Newport for the purpose of procuring funds for the project, will be held on April 25 at 6 p.m. at River Pigs Inn in Priest River. Tickets cost $22. I hope you can come. Barbara Jenkins Newport, Wash.

No devious purpose in Jacklin plans

Recently, an article appeared in The Spokesman-Review written by staff writer Karen Dorn Steele that Jacklin Seed, a division of J.R. Simplot Co., was “moving production to the Yakima Indian Reservation.”

The article, despite all of my assurances to the contrary, tries to paint a picture that we are moving production to the Yakima region in an attempt to bypass the new state burning regulation.

Once again, Steele has totally misled your readership through inaccurate and deceptive reporting. As I told Steele numerous times during our phone interview, we are doing trial production in areas like Yakima. These areas have a warmer and longer growing season than current bluegrass production areas, allowing us to expand our production area as our industry moves toward no burning through short rotation bluegrass farming.

If areas like Yakima, Columbia Basin, etc., prove to work well for short rotation farming, yes, we will have production in these areas. However, if the state of Washington says we cannot burn, as it has done, then we will not be burning, whether we are on tribal ground or on non-tribal ground, plain and simple.

I hope this clears up all misconceptions created due to Steele’s erroneous reporting and lack of information. Glenn C. Jacklin Post Falls

Editor’s note: The Spokesman-Review stands behind its story as published.

VIOLENCE

Holocaust victim total irrelevant

Re: “WSU shoots down Holocaust revisionist” (April 14).

I am constantly baffled by the ongoing debate over the Holocaust. There are two factions, generally. One side says 6 million Jews were systematically butchered. The other side usually says that the Holocaust never happened, or that the numbers have been exaggerated.

What neither side mentions, and perhaps neither side comprehends, is that the body count is immaterial. The crime would be no less heinous if the number of dead were 10, or even one, let alone millions. It is the mere fact that these human beings were so callously murdered that makes the crime evil, not the numbers.

In addition, why is the Holocaust depicted as an exclusively Jewish tragedy? Political dissidents, handicapped persons, Gypsies and homosexuals were also victims.

The historical reality is that the Holocaust is a human tragedy which must never be forgotten. Victims’ groups isolating themselves will serve only those who wish to expunge the memory and exonerate the guilty. Harlan J. Close Spokane