Letters To The Editor

SPOKANE MATTERS

Airport board blows $6 million chance

Your Spokane Airport Board has decided to waste 6 million tax dollars and in the process demolish 75 lower-income homes. Newspapers regularly report on the loss of low-income housing, but when our elected officials actually have a chance to do something about it, they take a NIMBY approach.

The back yard the airport is trying to protect from this low-income trash is 33 acres out of several hundred acres of vacant industrial land around the airport and several thousand acres of vacant industrial land readily available all over the West Plains.

The board is forcing the Air Force to spend $3 million to demolish the housing and return the 33 acres to pristine condition. Of course, those are federal dollars spent in Spokane, so that’s good, right? The problem is, we end up with 33 acres of prairie worth maybe $700,000 on a good day. The board gave up the opportunity to secure $1.5 million from the Air Force to preserve the housing area. The board refused all offers to sell the area to developers for another $1.5 million. Add it up and you’re paying $6 million for 33 acres of dirt.

Ask them why they’re demolishing the Geiger Field housing area and you’ll get a list of red herrings, such as asbestos, pollution, poor condition, etc. The real reason is they don’t want a pocket of housing in the middle of their long-vacant industrial area. Too bad for the employees at the new post office a block away.

It’s another sad day in the mismanaged growth of Spokane County. Leonard Butters and 75 families with no voice Spokane

Goodbye to grass growing benefits

Well, Spokane, finally you have what you want - no grass burning. Too bad, though, it was the most ecologically sound crop this region had. Very few inorganic inputs and the crop held our valuable soil tightly for years without disturbance.

Grass growers were told that mowing, raking, baling, stacking and hauling away is an economical alternative to burning? Now, instead of grass smoke once a year, you can have diesel exhaust and dust all year.

Too bad we can’t roll the grass residue into little white paper, have the surgeon general sign off on it and sell it to smoke. Tom R. Sheer Colfax

Spokane Club’s plan detrimental

As I review the facts surrounding the controversial Spokane Club parking garage, I am appalled at the lack of responsibility the club has taken in making very important decisions.

It appears club management is blinded by its own ignorance. If the goal is to address and resolve member concerns surrounding parking problems, why aren’t members allowed to have a voice in the final decision? What is this telling our community?

As we have embarked on major improvements to our downtown and surrounding areas, it’s unimaginable why the Spokane Club, which is a landmark in Spokane’s history, would want to build a structure that completely defies that goal. Where is its community commitment?

One of Spokane’s attractions is the river and its majestic beauty. To think this beauty will be blocked by a parking garage saddens me greatly. I hope the club will step back, take another look at the impact of this parking garage and find another solution. Tracey St. Onge Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Beware your burdensome righteousness

I was sorry to see yet another letter expressing the opinion that people of homosexual orientation have made an intentional decision to turn away from God. It seems to be a foregone conclusion among many Christians that there’s something inherently sinful about having a homosexual orientation, regardless of whether one has succumbed to one’s temptations or not. If this logic holds, I must be guilty of adultery and fornication, since I am heterosexual. Guilty even if innocent.

Has everyone forgotten that it’s not a sin to be tempted? The Bible tells us Jesus himself faced every kind of temptation we have to face and yet never sinned. Obviously, it isn’t a sin to face temptation, no matter what kind.

What’s more, the Bible tells us that Jesus is able to feel compassion for those struggling with their weaknesses, because he is human, too. Those who boldly award themselves the title of “Christian” should remember that Jesus reserves his harshest words for those who consider themselves righteous. “Woe to you! You create enormous burdens for others to carry, but you will not lift a finger to help.” Heedless of their scorn, he seeks out those labeled as “sinners,” just as they are, and where words of condemnation had failed, his love and compassion succeed.

Let us have similar compassion for those who carry a different and perhaps a heavier cross, even if they’ve fallen under it. Maybe someday it will be their prayers and support that will carry us through our own times of trial. Thomas F. McFadden Spokane

Who would choose homosexuality?

Re: The article in The Spokesman-Review about homosexuality. How simple to consider homosexuality as a preference. Who do you think would choose to put themselves in a position to lose their jobs or their families, to be ridiculed or made the target of a hate group?

Until the 100 years mentioned in the article, there was no reason to put a label on people who loved within their gender. In Christ’s time, it was accepted practice. The Greeks were openly involved in same gender relationships for centuries before Christ. I realize you are young and look at the world through eyes that are idealized and try to see that others’ values come in many forms, and we are blessed by God when it enters our lives.

Who am I to question the creation of God by accepting and loving people, no matter what their values? You are showing growth and maturity. In my high school years, we couldn’t have had this discussion. The world is an ever changing place.

We are counting on the younger generation to ensure that the world will change for the better for all people. I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Rochelle Davis Spokane

Dyer shows the makings of greatness

I congratulate Derrick Dyer for earning his presidential scholarship at Gonzaga University. Dyer is someone to look up to. He has courage to continue on with his dream, even when his life has not been a bed of roses.

Few could go homeless without moaning and groaning, and being determined at the same time to try to better their life. He deserves the best. But how many people can achieve this while living a hard life on the streets at the same time? Dyer is an incredible and determined man with a bright future.

It is also good to know that colleges such as Gonzaga University are still admitting not only students with a perfect 4.0, but those with hard work and persistence as well.

We should watch for this man in the future. I’m sure Dyer will be something great that he may have never thought possible before. Holly Mondoux Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

Credit life insurance was a rip-off

I find it appalling that automobile dealerships promote and sell insurance policies, but when tragedy strikes and action is required, they refuse to help.

My parents purchased an automobile from a local auto dealership. The dealership also sold an insurance policy to them, and because my mother was younger than my father, the insurance policy was put in my mother’s name.

Unfortunately, my mother passed away this past February. My mother, even though she was battling cancer, was a conscientious consumer who made payments through June. My father contacted Wells Fargo Bank, which financed the loan, to help with the insurance claim. But the bank was unsuccessful. When my father contacted the automobile dealership, they said, “After we sell it (insurance policy), we’re no longer responsible. It’s between you and them.”

I say they are responsible in at least helping make the claim and that the policy is honored in a timely manner, since they sold the policy.

American National Insurance, out of Galveston, Texas, has not paid off the loan so the title can be released to my father, nor has it refunded the four months that were prepaid.

As consumers, we need to be more aware of who we are dealing with, and we need to ask questions of those who sell insurance policies, so no more innocent, well-meaning consumers are taken advantage of during their time of loss, when they are dealing with so many other issues. Peggy Harriman Post Falls

Yuha - well, I’ll be

It was with much interest that I read the article on page A1 of the May 4 Spokesman-Review about the illegal immigrants facing the perils of the Yuha Desert. I was born and raised in Yuma, Ariz., and for most of my 86 years I ave been aware of the Yuma Desert, but until Monday had never heard of the Yuha.

I realize that with our modern times, many longtime businesses - even the Washington, D.C., airport - are changing their names. But is it possible that even our deserts are being caught up in the process? Francis O. Polhamus Moses Lake