Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Give Sinsley your vote in primary

Kootenai County is a wonderful place to live. As more people discover our county, we will continue to grow. We need political leaders with balanced approaches to problem-solving. We need leaders who can do more than propose ordinances with English-only attitudes and cross lines of jurisdiction to meddle, rather than cooperate, with other elected officials.

I got to know Jim Sinsley while I was a Kootenai County commissioner and he was a representative for the assessor’s office. After only a short visit with Sinsley, most people will recognize that he takes a conservative approach to property values and supports fair and equitable taxes for all as the way to meet our local budgets.

He believes some property tax reforms are needed but that county commissioners should not give special consideration to only some individuals or interest groups.

Property values should be determined by using an equal approach to value. There is little room for arbitrary decisions about property values. Property values are determined by skilled evaluations of readily available market data.

Join me and vote for Sinsley in the primary election on May 26, 1998. Bob E. Macdonald Coeur d’Alene

Progress gratifying at Bonner schools

A dramatic example of business, community, student and staff cooperation took place recently. On April 29, students, staff, the district maintenance crew and community members spent the afternoon digging, hauling and planting at Sandpoint High School. This dramatic metamorphosis is a result of donations from many local businesses, Citizens for Quality Education, and many individuals.

Jack Dyck deserves a special “thank you” for his efforts in coordinating this project.

Sandpoint Middle School recently culminated its artist-in-residence program with a wonderful evening of student involvement in many artistic efforts. Linda Navarre is the main mover and shaker of this project.

Students have said they savor this type of learning experience, evidenced by the usually large number of participants.

Idaho Hill Elementary School has received an Excellence in Education award, making it one of the top 15 schools in Idaho. This is a direct result of staff and student cooperation and hard work.

These are three examples of the many schools in Bonner County that have worked hard to improve the education of our students. These projects, some visible, some not so visible, improve our children’s lives.

On behalf of the Bonner County Board of Trustees, I want all district staff members to know how much we appreciate their work. Too often, the board, parents and community get so caught up in day-to-day activities that we forget our purpose - the young people of Bonner County. Ann E. Souza, chairwoman Bonner County Schools Board of Trustees, Cocolalla

SPOKANE MATTERS

City parks poorly maintained

Last year, after completion of the new Shadle branch library, I thought for sure we would see positive changes in the care and maintenance of the park. Not so. Now, a new year, surely we’ll see the half-dead tree at the corner of Wellesley and Belt removed, better care of the puny lilac bushes that have grass and weeds grown up around them, weeds removed from the new shrubs along Wellesley and parking lot for the new library. Not so.

Recently I drove around these parks: Shadle, Audubon, Cannon, Clark, Franklin, Sharpley-Harmon, Hillyard Pool, Hay’s, Mission, Manito, Comstock, Hamblin, Liberty, Manito Boulevard median, High Drive median and Mission Avenue median.

Manito Park and Manito Boulevard median are certainly the best maintained, followed by Comstock, except for the corner at 29th and Howard. The median along High Drive appears to receive plenty of water but lacks trimming and edging. The Mission Avenue median is a pasture.

With a few exceptions, the remainder of the parks I looked at are poorly maintained, with many dandelions and large brown spots. They need trimming, edging, weeding, etc. Most homes surrounding the parks have well-maintained landscaping. The dandelions in our parks go to seed and blow into the yards of property owners who spend much time, money and effort to keep their property presentable.

We hear much about keeping our city neat and clean, our properties presentable. Why not our parks? All of them. George Britton Spokane

BUSINESS AND LABOR

What is Kaiser’s game plan?

On Oct. 3, 1997, CF&I/Oregon Steel forced 1,100 steelworkers out on strike in Pueblo, Colo., by repeatedly violating U.S. labor laws. CF&I/Oregon Steel continues illegal actions by not allowing the unconditional offer to return to work from the steelworkers.

Is this Kaiser Aluminum’s plan? It sounds surprisingly the same, since it is breaking its own contract forcing 16-hour shifts when it has employees on layoff, forcing substitute work, allowing foremen to do work without safety training and threatening the union with injunctions. Is Kaiser for sale? Is this why it is taking these actions? Does the company want to force the workers out?

I guess time will tell. After all, we were told Bunker Hill would never close, too. Linda R. Wilson Coeur d’Alene

Kaiser out to ‘provoke a strike’

I am an employee at Kaiser Aluminum’s Mead Works. I am writing in regards to the suit filed by Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. Trentwood against United Steelworkers Local 338. Kaiser officials accuse the union of violating the contract between them.

I find that hard to believe. A company that has absolutely no regard for following a contract itself has the audacity to file a suit like that. Kaiser did this to try to convince the public it is the honest good guy and that the union is out to get it.

Kaiser officials would not comment on how many people were supposed to work in the casting department (Spokesman-Review, May 5). Either the company did not know or did not want to admit that that is where 30 jobs might be eliminated.

At the Mead plant, the problems of not following the contract have been addressed with grievances and complaints. The only response from KACC is: Oh well, sorry, but we can do what we want; that contract means nothing.

I have been with Kaiser for nine years. My uncles work there, as did my grandfather. I have never seen so much deceit and lying in my life from a company that has such an impact on our community. I have to agree with a previous letter writer; Kaiser is doing nothing but trying to provoke a strike. Larry A. Heid Jr. Spokane

THE AQUIFER

Tell officials no refueling over aquifer

Burlington Northern plans to install a refueling station at their Hauser Lake switch yards. It would store 2 million gallons of diesel and other chemicals over the Spokane-Rathdrum aquifer.

Despite claims that the structure will be state-of-the art, no man-made structure is 100 percent safe. The Department of Environmental Quality book, “Cleaning Up Montana - The Super Fund,” cites 24 items of contamination by BN and 14 of these pertain to BN’s diesel operation. Cities that have felt the effect of BN contamination are Helena, Livingston, Great Falls, Missoula, Butte, Laurel, Glasgow, Essex, Shelby, Whitefish, Billings and Jones Junction.

Burlington Northern is working on eight of these sites with only three minor ones being put in the de-list category. Should an accident occur and the aquifer become contaminated, the entire Spokane area would experience the taste of diesel-polluted water. Once you have it, it’s here to stay.

On May 28, 6 p.m., at Prairie View Elementary School, Poleline and Greenferry, there will be a hearing on the matter. We urge you to attend or send a representative to voice your objection.

BN’s refueling track record is poor. Protect our aquifer and let our children inherit the same high-quality drinking water we have. Don’t risk contamination by storing diesel over the aquifer. Sy R. Thompson Post Falls

Say no to 30,000-gallon spills

I am a concerned person living close to Burlington Northern’s proposed refueling facility. My address is 200 yards north of the proposed site. My major concern is storage of 1.8 million gallons of fuel over a sole source water supply for 400,000 people.

Burlington Northern expects to spill at least 30,000 gallons a year.

I appeal to people to not let this happen. I appeal to the Kootenai County commissioners to stop this now. I appeal to Spokane County commissioners to exert pressure on Kootenai County to not let this happen to the water supply. Douglas A. Reed Rathdrum

Don’t open arms to ‘foolish plan’

I am strongly opposed to Burlington Norther Santa Fe Railroad putting 1.8 million gallons of diesel over our aquifer. We are to trust that BN, which already has many contaminated sites, will not follow its old pattern and leave us with diesel or other deadly chemicals in our water?

Now we are choosing to open wide our arms to this foolish plan, ignoring when our children and our livestock become sick. When damage is caused to our aquifer, nothing can ever reverse it. Nothing! How do they plan to provide water for more than 300,000 people? It is an impossible feat. BN has no right to place us at this risk.

People often use children for leverage to bring something about, claiming it’s for the children. I ask that this be protested not just for the children but for the mothers, fathers and others who live here. When someone becomes sick and dies, the grief and pain falls only on the victim’s family.

At 15, I question if I will want to return here in five to 10 years. I will never come back to raise a family here if the water has become contaminated. Anne M. Radavich Post Falls

One spill, one leak and it’s all over

We are very concerned about the quality of the water in the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer if the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad refueling station goes in three miles west of Rathdrum on Highway 53.

Even if they use state-of-the-art equipment to protect the aquifer, it will eventually fail. They can put plastic down under the ground where the tanks will be, but eventually, the rocks will poke holes in it. If something is wrong with the tank - bingo! We will have fuel in our water.

The only way they will know if they have a leak is to sample the water. And by then, it is too late.

Look at all the other sites that BNSF has in Montana. Some have three to 10 feet of fuel on top of the water in the wells. They supply bottled water to the town. We don’t want this to happen to our water. We could go on with many more things that could happen, but just think of all the people and land that will be affected with an impure water system.

We need to let every one from Sandpoint to the lower Spokane and down the river know what we are up against. Jack A. and Doreene L. Wirth Post Falls

Attend meeting and oppose BN plan

Coeur d’Alene and Spokane residents, your water source is being threatened! Burlington Northern and some of Idaho’s elected officials have decided it is OK to put at least 2 million gallons of diesel fuel over the Spokane aquifer. It is a proven fact that it takes 12 hours for spills on the surface to reach the water table.

A meeting will be held at the Kootenai County Planning and Zoning Commission in Coeur d’Alene on May 28. It’s going to take community representation to make a difference. We need to stop the commission from granting a conditional use permit.

There are no gains to be made by putting this refueling station over our aquifer. It is in direct opposition to Kootenai County’s comprehensive plan.

Please help - you can make a difference by voicing your opinion. Bobbie A. Hunsinger Rathdrum

OTHER TOPICS

Wall is about forgiving

After reading an article in the May 10 Spokesman-Review, I can’t help but feel that a lot of people are really missing the point of “The Wall That Heals.”

Vendors want to make a buck off the wall. Money isn’t the issue! Religious groups want the Lord included in the occasion. God wasn’t even in Vietnam. Politicians want the limelight the wall will give them. Go kiss a baby, instead.

The wall is about healing and that includes forgiveness.

Many vets say they will never forgive Jane Fonda for her treason. To them I quote a line from a Don Henley song, “If you carry ‘round that anger, it’ll eat you up inside.”

I forgive Fonda because she really believed she was doing the right thing. I forgive the Army of the Republic of North Vietnam and Viet Cong for trying to kill me. I hope all those I killed forgive me. I forgive President Clinton and all the rest of the men who ran to other countries, rather than risk their lives in Vietnam.

Lastly, I forgive the war protesters who greeted my plane at Travis Air Force Base when I returned, as well as the young man who screamed “baby killer!” at me and spit on my uniform. I hope he has found it in his heart to forgive me for breaking his right arm, two ribs and his nose. Forgive me, I’m not a baby killer! James L. Youngman Spokane

Forest policy has taken a wrong turn

Darrel L. Kenops, supervisor of the Willamette National Forest in Oregon, has compiled data that reveal some of the high environmental and other costs of turning our formerly multiple-use state and federal forests into single-use recreation-based parks.

Between 1989 and 1996, the Willamette timber harvest dropped from 855 million board feet to 65 million annually. According to Dr. Patrick Moore, a founding member and former head of Greenpeace (Spokesman-Review, April 5) no other use of public land brings such important environmental benefits as producing wood for building and fiber for paper. These are the embodiment of solar energy, infinitely renewable, and substitutes require more pollution-producing energy.

Jobs dependent on the Willamette timber harvest fell from 3,900 to 866. Income from these jobs declined from $118 million to $27 million per year, and federal income tax paid went from $17.7 million to $4 million. Gross revenues from the Willamette fell from $187 million to $24 million, and net revenues from $145 million to $7 million.

The jobs and revenue went to other countries. Canada now supplies 37 percent of U.S. timber products, more than double the amount supplied by all other countries combined just a few yeas ago. More than 300 mills have closed in the Pacific Northwest. Remember the big Louisiana-Pacific mill in Post Falls?

Half of all Washington state land is publicly owned, and for environmental and other benefits, forestry - planting, caring for and harvesting trees - should be allowed, where suitable, on some of it. Edwin G. Davis Spokane

Fraternities do share responsibility

Brian C. Grant writes, stating his opinion that fraternities shouldn’t in any way be held responsible for members’ actions. I would agree if this involved only one or two members and had nothing to do with school policy and the effect that it has on its affiliates. This doesn’t seem to be the case.

For good purposes or bad, being affiliated with a group involves shouldering responsibility for other members’ actions. An organization, whether it be a corporation or fraternity, has a certain amount of social responsibility. This is what sets groups and organizations apart from the general public.

Slapping this responsibility off in the aftermath, as Grant does in his letter, only reduces the fraternities’ credibility.

I believe I began learning that in the ninth grade. Perhaps they have cut that part of learning out of college curriculums, but a stop by the library or the local school may clear things up a bit. Then again, a generation that riots for such important things as beer most likely doesn’t know what a library is. Lick your wounds and take the heat, WSU. You play, you pay. Michael B. Harmon Spokane