Letters To The Editor

Fri., Aug. 14, 1998

WASHINGTON STATE

Back up our employees and our laws

I read with growing anger the Aug. 11 headline story about the farmers detaining state Department of Ecology employees. I am sick and tired of the pervasive anti-government sentiment that seems to be the norm in this area.

We are the government and anyone who doesn’t understand that concept should have paid better attention in their civics classes.

If you have a dispute with governmental policies then vote for a change and throw the bums out. But it is not acceptable in a civilized society for us to condone the intimidation of and possible harm to government employees who are lawfully carrying out the work we have given them.

The incident as related in the article should be investigated and, if any criminal activity occurred, it should be prosecuted either by the appropriate county or by the state attorney general’s office itself. There should be zero tolerance for interfering with a public servant in the performance of his or her duties.

Any other position sends the wrong - and possibly a dangerous - message that these employees are on their own out there when they are doing our work. Let’s assure them that they’re not. Richard John Roberts Spokane

West’s help invaluable to school

Sen. Jim West is a great asset to our community.

When the Spokane Guilds School, a school for children with development disabilities, received word that their state funding was to be significantly cut, the director of the school along with many board members contacted West for help. West discovered that the bureaucrats in Olympia were diverting the school’s money for their own pet projects. West’s action was decisive and effective.

West wrote into the state budget instructions that the money was to go to the Guilds School and saved its funding.

West should be returned to the Senate to keep up the good work. He knows how to get things done. Lynn A. Watts Spokane

SPOKANE MATTERS

Reality should be one of preservation

Re: “Despite charm, old school faces new realities,” Perspective, Aug. 9.

I confess that I’m still not clear on what editor Chris Peck’s opinion is on renovating Lewis and Clark High School. What I have surmised from his commentary is that he really doesn’t think much of the intelligence of the citizens of Spokane. As a matter of fact, I feel as though I’ve been patted on the head and told not to worry myself over such a difficult subject, that others much smarter than I will handle it.

I stand firmly in favor of the preservation of LC. One need only take a look at all the newer cookie-cutter schools around the city of Spokane to determine how unique the school is. Anyone who stands back and takes a long, hard look at Lewis and Clark will recognize its beauty and its individuality floating in a sea of mediocrity. I urge people who doubt the value of preserving the school to walk into the building and discover what makes it unique.

It has always been a puzzle to me why Americans (those in Spokane, particularly) seem so willing to throw away, tear down, discard or, to use Peck’s word, “junk” a building. Ned Hammond has implied that an 86-year-old building has no place in the 21st century. Is that also true of 86-year-old people? How sad!

We as a community, as individuals and as parents need to teach our children to appreciate the uniqueness of such a building as LC and then teach them how to care for it. And remember, children learn by example. Gail A. Mangano Spokane

Pass EMS levy to keep vital services

To the people of Spokane, I would like to say a few words about the Emergency Medical Service levy vote on Sept. 15.

This levy is a continuation of the current EMS levy overwhelmingly approved by you in 1992. There isn’t an increase of even one penny. The Spokane Fire Department uses these funds to train and staff our fire apparatus with basic life support personnel and also the paramedics on our medic units. The levy provides the ability to maintain needed training and provide the necessary supplies and equipment for these units.

Our firefighters teach numerous classes and public education programs. In 1997, we responded to more than 16,000 medical incidents in addition to instructing CPR classes for the public, sponsoring Sober Roadways for our high school students, issuing bicycle helmets for our children and much more.

We have seen the role of firefighter change drastically over the last 20 years but our basic goal is and always will be the protection of your life and property. The Spokane Fire Department wishes to continue that role that we have taken on so well and we need the passage of this EMS levy on Sept. 15 to do that.

Please help us continue to help you. Vote yes for the EMS levy. Doug L. Bacon, president Spokane Fire Fighters Union

Another sign of our devious times

The city of Spokane is required to advise residents within a specific area of any public meeting regarding zone changes. A vast improvement was made when the planning department started using a four-by-eight-foot sign board instead of a letter-size sheet of paper tacked on the nearest pole.

Recently, such a sign was placed along the Spokane-Cheney Road regarding a meeting to be held Aug. 10. The sign was strategically placed behind a group of bushes, to make it almost invisible from the road. I expect this ensured little or no opposition to the zone change at the meeting.

Such behavior by our city officials leaves the general public with low regard for our local government. Roy F. Doupe’ Spokane

O’Shea doesn’t deserve bad press

Re: “Shortcut in hiring blew up in city’s face,” Region, Aug. 8.

Precisely how did this “shortcut” in hiring “blow up” in the city’s face? Has there been allegations of misconduct by Dennis J. O’Shea in the performance of his duties as a city prosecutor? Or is it simply that publicly eviscerating my friend will be to someone’s political gain, someone else’s political loss?

O’Shea was a zealous prosecutor. I found him to be honest, straightforward, fair and uncompromising in the discharge of his duties. He also managed to treat my clients with respect. He is effective in trial. He knows his stuff. It is a shame that the city was forced to fire a good prosecutor.

I am sickened by this paper’s treatment of O’Shea. He has enough trouble without this. I am sick of the politics of this city. Please tell me what has been accomplished by publicly destroying this man. Kristy Smith, assistant city public defender Spokane

IN THE PUBLIC EYE

Shabbiness hard for a father to explain

What shall I tell my boy when he asks why we have men of ability, in both business and politics, with so little character?

Shall I tell him that leadership has dropped its drawers and is unwilling to pull the standard back up? Shall I tell him the feminists never had an ounce of truth and that women are objects to be toyed with, regardless of their will; if you have power and influence it doesn’t apply? Should I forget that my own sister said to me once, “If a man would just treat me as kind as he does his dog, I should ever be grateful and be bonded to him forever”? Was that just the articulation of the abused or are we not both negligent and wanting in our sensitivity to the needs and wants of a woman?

What shall I do when I’ve asked my boy who his heroes are and he disappears into the 1,000-yard stare, as if he has witnessed the killing fields of Pol Pot or been there at My Lai, listened to “I’ve never inhaled,” “Let me make this perfectly clear,” or “Senator, I have no recollection” one too many times? When “I don’t know, Dad” is said in hopes of making me move to another subject, as he glances at the evening news - news that would embarrass the worst of our forefathers. News of heroes fallen. What shall I tell my boy? Karl Moegling Spokane

This is persecution, not prosecution

I’m tired to hearing about the soap opera in the White House. I am getting very disgusted at hearing about Monica Lewinsky and President Clinton on the radio, TV and in the newspaper.

Over the years, other presidents have had affairs while in office and nothing was done to them. Now, for the first time ever, the nation is hearing all of this - the stained blue dress, DNA testing - and the president might have to give a sample for DNA.

I thought Independent Counsel Kennth Starr was hired for Whitewater. How did it get to this?

We don’t even know if any of what is being said is true. Only two people really know. If it is true, that should be between Clinton and his wife, not the whole world. I feel sorry for his wife and daughter, having to hear all of this. Someone is trying to make a name for themselves.

Clinton is doing his job, and there are much more important matters going on that need attention - things which have nothing to do with what we keep hearing. The media are having a field day with this.

I am getting upset that our president has been put in this position. Sally Hazlett Spokane

Adultery is a big, damaging deal

I listen to Washington, D.C., Democrats stating firmly that adultery is no big deal. Others, on the radio, in print and on the street say the same thing: the president’s adultery is no big deal.

Adultery murders a family. If there are children, the carnage is horrible. Lately, when I hear people say this, I wonder: How many times have you cheated on your spouse?

This is very disconcerting. I will have a hard time voting for any Democrat this fall, even though I am sure they are not all roues. Winifred Edwards Greenacres

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Reserve oil destined for N. Korea?

On the front page of the Aug. 6 Spokesman-Review was an article about President Clinton’s plan to reopen a national petroleum reserve in northern Alaska. Reopening this reserve puts a very delicate ecosystem at risk. What the article didn’t discuss was the reason why the government would put such a delicate ecosystem at such risk.

Oil prices are down and there is an abundance of oil in the world now, which made me wonder why we need to reopen this reserve. Then I remembered a few articles I read in the past couple months concerning the agreement reached with North Korea about its nuclear activities. In this agreement, North Korea was promised 500,000 metric tons of oil each year until its new reactors are built. In recent articles it has been documented that the fuel is to be provided, for the most part, by the United States.

The articles further described that the United States has been late on its oil deliveries this year. Explanations for the delay have fallen under the fact that the project has come up between $400 million and $500 million short.

Forcing myself to put two and two together, the only logical explanation I could think of for reopening this reserve is to come up with the oil the United States is lacking for completion of their deal with North Korea. This to me is absolutely offensive. I urge you all to write letters to your congressman urging them not to allow Clinton’s plan to succeed. Erin C. Stelter Cheney

Don’t let our military deteriorate

Deja vu! Not since the end of World War II have the strident calls for demobilization and disarmament been heard throughout the land to the extent they’re being heard today. It would seem that history is about to repeat itself, as we strive to emasculate our military capability.

Are we so shortsighted that we will again have to buy time with massive losses of American lives in a conflict for which we are unprepared? If we learned anything from the Korean War, it was that the world is full of tigers, and if we want to remain a moral and peace-loving country, we’d better be prepared to defend ourselves against all enemies.

The so-called peace dividend is an illusion, for unless we remain a world superpower, our resources will be strained to the utmost trying to defend our interests around the world with inadequate armed forces.

According to most sources, the Soviet Union has been dismantled, but its army and nuclear capability remain intact, notwithstanding the large standing armies maintained by China and North Korea. The Persian Gulf War was won quickly and decisively for the simple reason that we could immediately bring to bear a large well-trained combat force, adequate for the task at hand. If events continue on their present course, our next confrontation may be akin to bringing a knife to a gunfight. We must not let that happen! It’s time for some congressmen to remove their rose-colored glasses and see the world as it really is. James H. Wiecks Post Falls

OVER THE LINE

Rich mining companies? Nonsense

The Aug. 2 Spokesman-Review subhead, “Silver Valley ores made many companies rich; now who will cover the damages?” continues to create a factually incorrect image of the “many companies.”

You allege that many companies got rich. Yet you offer no proof that any company got “rich” during the time the environmental damage was done. The fact that this same analysis recognizes that only four or five of the original 68 companies still exist, or are not bankrupt, argues against your unsupported allegation that many got rich.

Besides, a corporation is owned by many shareholders. Any riches were passed on to those shareholders, who passed them into the general economy. Corporations are not like the Disney character Scrooge McDuck, greedily hoarding cash in large vaults. In reality, any riches, like the former shareholders, are long gone. And these corporations, with new shareholders, are struggling to survive in a national anti-mining climate.

It is time to quit alleging, arguing and pointing fingers. There is environmental damage. The government encouraged industry, especially mining, not just during the war efforts but during the growth of our society. The government should look upon all the beneficiaries of the alleged riches, society as a whole, as the source of funding for whatever cleanup the hoards of lawyers, scientists and pseudoscientists will agree upon. Unfortunately, as long as these hoards are allowed to continue the funding controversy, I expect little progress. Ralph R. Noyes Hayden, Idaho

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

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Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.