Letters To The Editor
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Story is how safe our restaurants are
Local media announced two recent cases of hepatitis A in food establishments, causing unnecessary panic for patrons and uncalled for blemishes for the restaurants. These cases do not stand alone. Almost 8 percent of the more than 320 cases of hepatitis A in Spokane County this year have been employees in the food industry.
When the Spokane Regional Health District receives a report of hepatitis A in a food worker, we undertake a thorough investigation that includes the worker, co-workers and inspection of the food establishment. We apply four criteria to determine risk to the public: food worker hygiene, tasks assigned to the food worker, any symptoms in the ill worker and policies and hygiene practices of the restaurant. If there is a concern in any of these areas, the district will make a public announcement recommending that exposed patrons receive immune globulin shots, as we have done in four incidents since last fall.
If there is any story here, it is that Spokane’s food industry is remarkably safe, even in the face of a hepatitis A epidemic.
The Health District finds that food establishments in Spokane have paid heightened attention to safe food handling and consequently, very few food worker cases of hepatitis A have represented a risk to the public. Nearly 6,000 food workers have been vaccinated against hepatitis A.
The district continues to encourage all food establishments to vaccinate their employees as a means to enhance the protection that they already offer. Kim Marie Thorburn, M.D., M.P.H. health officer, Spokane Regional Health District
Wash your hands - get it?
People are not getting the message.
Isn’t it obvious? Use the bathroom, wash your hands! Do you wash your hands frequently at home? Have the same respect and wash them at your workplace, school, etc. Failing to do so results in putting lives at risk, at home, at play and at work. Young and old - everyone - is in jeopardy. It shows me that people are acting irresponsibly. It is ludicrous.
We all must take every precaution possible against germs and bacteria. Tami N. Sorensen Spokane
‘Lax parenting’ had no part in fatality
Re: “Lax parenting can lead to tragedy” (Letters, Aug. 13).
My nephew, Travis S. Farley, was the 16-year-old killed Aug. 8 on Highway 53 near Rathdrum. This was not about irresponsible parents. My sister and her husband were probably the best parents Travis could have had in 100 lifetimes.
Travis was a wonderful, hard-working boy. There were no drugs or alcohol involved. Speed wasn’t a factor and he was wearing his seatbelt. This was simply tragic because he fell asleep on a dangerous road on his way home from work. Whatever comfort there is to be found, my family found knowing he was following the driving laws. A freak accident took him from us.
Instead of intensifying our grief, please spend your energy writing to the Idaho Department of Transportation and plead with them to place a guardrail on this dangerous stretch of highway. Paula Anderson Spokane
Unsafe wave riders self-limiting
Re: “It’s safety last for wave riders,” (Aug. 7).
I concur with the uproar over the misuse of personal watercraft on this region’s waterways. But there aren’t enough decent human beings on this planet to suit-up in Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputy’s garb, empowered with huge wave-making rubber boats or personal watercraft, available to control the problem.
Regrettable as the death of teen Sergio Allen is, personal watercraft ought to be seen for what they really are: a dangerous nuisance when they are in the hands of the uninformed. But it’s not the watercraft that are dangerous, it’s the operators.
Eight-year-olds and 16-year-olds have a better grasp of maritime rules and common courtesy than what exists amongst the nose-picking ranks of the Recreation Enforcement Division of the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department. The drumbeat for minimum ages and the licensing of vessel operators rumbles. Personal watercrafts ought, in every circumstance, yield the right of way to all other boats. But they shouldn’t be stopped and pestered, either.
If Idaho would adopt this concept, we could eliminate the jerks from the lake through social Darwinism. Responsible personal watercraft operators would be on notice that they’d better look before they leap into the path of a larger vessel. If you’re navigating a 12-foot sailboat onto a collision course with a supertanker, you’d better get out of the way. What’s the choice here? A flotilla of scared, informed and responsible personal watercraft operators or yet more armed, uninformed punks in Sheriff Pierce Clegg’s Recreation Enforcement Division? David P. Bond Coeur d’Alene
SPOKANE MATTERS
STA rides roughshod again
About a year ago, the Spokane Transit Authority announced plans to make significant changes to the bus routes in the city and county. STA encouraged public input. It held public meetings and heard loud and clear that the proposed changes were unacceptable. Many regular riders were very angry, some scared.
At one of two such meetings I attended, I overheard two elderly ladies discuss how, for years, they had caught the same bus at the same stop to go shopping. Now, they will have to walk six blocks. One stated, “When you’re 80 years old, it might as well be six miles.” She began to weep.
If you have been used to catching a bus within your neighborhood, forget it after Sept. 6. You’ll never see another bus unless you walk to an arterial bordering your neighborhood. STA has changed the routes to run on the faster arterials. Buses will move faster and in some cases, even farther. It’s believed such changes will increase the number of riders, which of course will increase revenues to STA, which already has pockets spilling over with money.
Neighborhood service has been gutted. As usual, STA operates as it very well pleases, regardless of citizen input.
Another example of the obnoxious attitude STA has for its citizens is the downtown transit Plaza. Much effort and money is being put into improving our downtown with that big eyesore right in the middle. George Britton Spokane
Commissioners mistreat employees
Why would the three good ol’ girl and boy commissioners let the county bonds go out for bid? It’s only a million or two. They’re far too busy trying to grind the average county worker into the ground.
For the third time in the last 10 years, an outside firm has come into Spokane County to dissect public works from the bottom up. To try and find out how to privatize the bottom of the food chain - employee jobs. The last one cost $75,000, only to find out management was at fault.
The commissioners only spew their venom on the little person because doing so is popular with taxpayers. Forget the millions, certainly don’t put it out for bid. No commissioner understands this. How about another $75,000 labor survey?
By the way, Marshall Farnell was demoted once. Maybe the next demotion can be out of the county. Or is he part of the commissioners’ little group? Ed C. Ellenz Spokane
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
Human rights measure unjust
The City Council has decided to ignore all the arguments and evidence against expanding special civil rights status to include a new category: sexual orientation. The council will now work with lawyers and Realtors to “clean up” the vague and inconsistent wording of the ordinance.
Nothing can be done to “fix” this ordinance. It is ultimately flawed because it is not sound public policy to legalize, and therefore put an official stamp of approval on, behavior which is immoral and destructive to both the body and soul of the individual and all of society.
Washington state legislators have been rejecting any attempt by the powerful homosexual lobby to add “sexual orientation” to any list of protected minorities for the last 20 years. And for good reason. The ordinance will impose serious regulatory obligations on every employer in the city and any business which has a contract with the city government, any Realtor or property owner who rents or sells, and all public accommodations. If there is any “perceived” infraction, the employer, business owner or Realtor could be facing fines of $10,000, court costs and punitive damages. Ten alleged cases in the last two years in a city of 200,000 does not warrant such extreme government regulations and the likely expense of creating a civil rights department.
Bisexuality and homosexuality are changeable behaviors. Business people have a moral and ethical duty to take this into consideration based on their own value system, not one imposed under penalty of law. Penny Lancaster Coalition for Better Community Standards
Enlightened, but only to a point
It’s utterly absurd that the same city which advanced human rights recently with the anti-Aryan demonstration now has members encouraging discrimination against fellow human beings.
While reason alone should dictate that no one would consciously choose to have an unusual sexual orientation and receive the scorn that accompanies it, a certain gene has a strong correlation with alternative sexual orientations.
Although neither science nor anti-gay groups can definitively prove the amount of free will homosexuals have with their sexuality, the American ideal of justice is based on the premise that 10 guilty men should go free before an innocent one is convicted. Accordingly, no one should pass judgment upon gays, lesbians and bisexuals without proof that every single one of those people actively chooses their lifestyle.
People who condemn homosexuality in the name of the Bible also tend to err in their analysis of the “disease.” The Bible states that all sins are forgivable in the eyes of the Lord and are to be judged exclusively by him. It also compares homosexuality to fornication in severity. Religious zealots need to consider the entire Bible when deciding upon official church doctrines, instead of exploiting isolated passages out of context. Religious people should continually examine the words of their religious leaders as a check against one-sided theology.
Remember, the Bible has been cited in support of slavery, wars and ethnic as well as gender-based oppression.
If people open their minds to new ideas, they might be surprised at the doors that will open in succession. Lincoln W. Ellis Spokane
PRIGGEE
Cartoon insulting and erroneous
Cartoonist Milt Priggee’s caricature of Dan Fitzgerald (Aug. 5) is an insult to Fitzgerald, Gonzaga University, its alumni and the community of Spokane. It demonstrates a callous and reckless disregard for the truth.
This caricature is a disservice to the thousands of students whose lives were enriched because of their association with Fitzgerald’s athletic programs. This caricature is a disservice to Gonzaga University and its alumni who were adopted by Fitzgerald as his own family and enriched because of their association with him. Most of all, this caricature is a disservice to Fitzgerald and his family, who have given so much to not only Gonzaga University but to this community.
Fitzgerald, like all of us, has made mistakes in his life. It probably was a mistake to fail to keep that receipt for a meal he bought for some stranded band member in San Jose. It probably was a mistake to buy a secondhand automobile to facilitate recruiting efforts.
It probably was a mistake to rely upon the incompetence of the financial office at Gonzaga University. It probably was a mistake to stay at Gonzaga, running an athletic department on a shoestring budget, with little financial support from the administration. These mistakes were done not for personal gain but as a result of his love of the game of basketball, student athletes and the university.
This caricature is so far from the truth and shows such disdain for the truth that it truly reaches a new low for what used to be called journalism. Daniel P. Harbaugh Spokane
Fitzgerald did not benefit personally
The Aug. 5 cartoon depicting Dan Fitzgerald pocketing Gonzaga University funds for personal gain is an unwarranted low blow. What Fitzgerald did was wrong, as he admits. But neither the NCAA nor the university found that he gained personally from the mishandling of funds. I believe him when he says that he gained nothing personally. To state otherwise goes beyond the facts and is unworthy of The Spokesman-Review. Bernard J. Coughlin, S.J. Chancellor, Gonzaga University
Cartoon showed what he doesn’t know
Staff cartoonist Milt Priggee owes an apology to everyone who has schizophrenia for his distorted and stereotyping portrayal of schizophrenics in his Aug. 2, cartoon.
I have worked in mental health for almost 35 years, and most people with this illness are not deranged, delusional, violent or paranoid, which one might infer from that cartoon.
After reading the accompanying editorial by Rebecca Nappi, I thought, this is community support? Priggee needs some education. Barbara M. Morrissey Spokane
OTHER TOPICS
Terms confused, notions unrealistic
Ken Fuller (July 30) claims that “we can no longer talk or teach about God. … We are heading into a Godless era. Shame on us.” Where was he looking? My phone book lists more than 12 pages of churches, with a wide distribution in Spokane and North Idaho. All welcome attendance, offer support and provide spiritual counseling.
Too many people regard science as a dark, evil plot to deny God. Science only studies the physical universe, and only interprets it features through recognized natural laws. Scientific interpretations must tested and its conclusions can only be verified through those natural laws. Technological applications provide further testing; if the theories are wrong, the technology won’t work.
Miracles are physically unexplainable events that lie outside the capabilities of science. Therefore, science can neither confirm nor deny their existence.
God does not deny his creations, nor can science deny God. Natural laws, which presumably are also God’s creations, are used by science to explain natural phenomena (gravity, electricity, magnetism, radioactivity, genetic, evolution, etc.).
The Post Falls schools did not reject God, they rejected religion-based “creation science” from their biology classes. They don’t teach music or football in biology classes, either.
Religious beliefs are the responsibility of parents and churches. Teaching any single religious belief in public schools is unconstitutional, though teaching comparative religion is not. Even the U.S. Supreme court has disqualified creationism as science (June 1987). Why are Fuller’s views so far from reality? D. Paul L. Weis Spokane
Outdoor enjoyment views reprehensible
A few years ago, my wife and I found ourselves in a Spokane bar, sitting in a dark corner next to an older lady who was having a drink and smoking a cigarette. She told us of a trip she had taken recently on an airplane. She told us she had not been allowed to smoke on the plane and she was mad. She said, “If people don’t want to smell my smoke, they should just stay home.”
We have told that story many times over the years and had many laughs. It has been our favorite story to show how ignorant some people are about the rights of others. We never thought that it would be topped for ignorance in our lifetime.
Well, editor Chris Peck topped it in his Aug. 7 editorial. The outdoors belong to all citizens of this nation and a person can do whatever they want while there - except ruin the experience for others.
For Peck to tell others to sit at home so they will not be disturbed by the action of others is so ignorant that I don’t think I will ever be able to read anything he has written again. He owes the readers of The Spokesman-Review an apology. Wayne S. Rawley Coulee Dam