Public Periscope

Florid over fluoride

Call it a testament to the power of the press. A single sentence in a March 29 Spokesman-Review story brought the fluoridation crowd to the podium at the Spokane Regional Health District board meeting last week to discuss the pros and cons of adding fluoride to the local water supply. … Thing is: There is no move to fluoridate the water. Critics of the idea - which has been controversial in Spokane for half a century told the board they had gotten that impression from the newspaper’s profile of Spokane County health officer Dr. Kim Thorburn.

The sum total of the reference was: “She’s not afraid to raise the topic of fluoridating the city’s water supply.” It was simply a way of describing Thorburn’s character.

Of tykes and tokes

Health board members also heard some anecdotal evidence of the impact of cigarette advertising on children. City Councilwoman Roberta Greene told of watching a 5-year-old in a grocery store help his mother decide whether to buy vegetables or smokes with her limited funds. … The child said, “Why don’t you buy a pack? You said you were dying for a smoke.” Seeing a child involved in that decision was heartbreaking, Greene said.

Better report it to the boss

Tired of having drivers commandeer his convenient reserved courthouse parking space, Spokane County Commissioner John Roskelley was reporting all violators to county ticket writers last week. … By late in the week when he drove a different vehicle to work, he feared his crusade might backfire, so he tried to inform ticket writers that it was his truck in the space. … But after trying (unsuccessfully) to telephone the ticket writers himself, Roskelley gave up and asked his staff for help. Seems the commissioner was unable to connect with the appropriate county worker. “I keep getting the runaround,” Roskelley said.

Just a rumor

A letter making its way around Spokane City Hall regarding the federal loan to River Park Square left a few people muttering that U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., had spoken too quickly when she announced the loan’s approval. … The letter from officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to City Manager Bill Pupo states that the agency finds the loan terms acceptable. But it also cautions that the agency must review the document’s final language before cutting a check. … HUD spokesman Alex Sachs said the letter is boilerplate language written by an attorney. Murray, he said, did not jump the gun.

Pennies for their thoughts

While business groups and Libertarians used the April 15 tax-mailing crowd to call for tax reform, another group asked people to exercise the power of the purse - coin purse, that is. … The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane held its annual “penny poll,” handing pedestrians 10 pennies and asking them to spread them among different jars that represented federal programs. Spend it the way you think the government should, not the way it does, participants were told. … The results of this unscientific poll suggest that people walking the streets of downtown Spokane think about 21 percent of the federal budget should go for education, 14 percent for health care and 13 percent for the environment and energy. Those were the top three last year, too. … Biggest surprise was that about 100 fewer people agreed to participate in the poll. “The lack of interest in national spending is more alarming than any of the indicators from the poll itself,” said Rusty Nelson, league director.