Letters To The Editor

Spokane matters

Add light rail before the crunch

Re: “Light rail is remedy to aches of sprawl” (Aug. 8).

Spokane does indeed have a great opportunity to plan now for the population crush that will come. And the only real way to do that is to do it now, before the need becomes overwhelming.

Portland has looked to the future for many years and its population explosion is much easier to take with both the light rail system and the car pool lanes on the Banfield.

Spokane would do a lot for its image by following that forward-thinking city’s example and going for light rail and those same car pool lanes out in the Valley now. Heck, if the right of way has been secured already, how can you say no? It’s as if Someone is trying to tell Spokane, “Build it and they will come!” (Relocate here, start new businesses here, improve the standard of living here.) The possibilities are endless!

Light rail appears to be a win-win situation for the Spokane Valley. Go for it! Melissa Oulashin Malo, Wash.

Park bond a modest, sound investment

Vote yes this fall on the park improvement bond issue. It’s a must-pass bond measure to provide needed improvements to every neighborhood park in the city.

For most or us, the cost to support this park bond will be no more than the cost of a latte a month.

This park bond will also allow the city to acquire almost six acres of land adjacent to Riverfront Park for future generations to enjoy as park property. We must continue the foresight of previous generations to set aside land in trust for park use. We can’t let this opportunity pass to secure park land in our downtown area before it is too costly to acquire such land.

We need nature as much in the city as in the countryside. Our decision this Sept. 14 will affect our parks for many years to come. Get out and vote yes on the park improvements bond. Lynn Watts, co-chairman Citizens for Park Improvements, Spokane

Is this such a great place to start out?

Sometimes we all fall into the trap of repeating things without really thinking about their true meaning. My personal favorite is, “Spokane is a great place to raise kids.” Every time I hear it, one thing pops into my mind: why?

Is it because Spokane is the second-to-last place in the United States in which to do business?

Is it because of all the good-paying jobs in solid, modern industry?

Is it because of our pristine air quality?

Is it because of an overabundance of $5-6-per-hour jobs?

Is it because of our model form of government?

Is it because of our ethnic diversity?

Is it because of our scholastic excellence?

Is it because of our close proximity to Seattle, Microsoft and the smell of money?

Now don’t get me wrong. I enjoy all the beauty of the area’s great outdoors. But then, I’m retired and can afford to be idle with no great ambitions for my future. For me, Spokane is a feast for the eyes. However, if I were very young I’d be looking past the scenery. John P. Campo Colbert

Health and safety

Worker safety top priority at Hanford

I strongly disagree with the conclusion of your Aug. 1 story on safety at Hanford. Our Safety First policy has not had a “melt down” and has certainly not been reduced to “glowing … rhetoric.” Despite the clever radiation references, those characterizations are simply wrong.

My directive for the Hanford site is simple: There is not a project, deadline or milestone on this site worth an employee injury. I am determined to maintain a safe work environment for all employees.

I’m deeply concerned by the allegation that in 1994 or 1995 a group of contractor managers attempted to identify an anonymous worker who had reported a safety concern on DOE’s employee hotline. It’s a very serious matter and I have directed an immediate investigation. We will get to the bottom of the situation and take appropriate action.

The DOE and contractor employee concerns programs are here for our workers to use at any time. They provide a confidential environment in which issues can be raised for fair and objective review. In addition, bargaining unit members have the same protections afforded to them through their respective collective bargaining agreements. Retaliation, intimidation or harassment by management or co-workers will not be tolerated on my watch.

I’ve called on all Hanford workers to exercise their right, responsibility and authority to report unsafe or environmentally unsound conditions to stop work when necessary. I expect and demand that our contractor presidents will promptly correct identified problems and take immediate action when allegations of retaliation occur.

Protecting employee lives at Hanford isn’t “rhetoric,” it’s real. Keith A. Klein, manager Department of Energy, Richland Operations

Waste pile threat exaggerated

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! The ideologue terrorists are at it again.

Only July 31, The Spokesman-Review ran an article on the “radioactive time bomb” in Utah. The subject was the Atlas Corp. waste pile. This pile has been here for 50 years and has not injured anyone. The highway that runs by it is a real killer. No one is calling for the removal of the highway.

Here is another case of the asbestos ghostbusters scam. “Experts” identify a “problem” that they alone can solve (at great expense). The waste pile, though unsightly, poses minimal danger to anyone. The ghostbusters toss around dangerous verbiage like “radioactive time bomb” to scare everyone into believing we must employ them to solve the problem.

There are many who feel they must worry about something. They should find something worthy of their fear. I suggest they worry about that rare steak they ate last evening - 25 percent of American cattle harbor the bovine leukemia virus. This germ related to the AIDS virus causes cancer in cattle. Or they can worry about that easy-over egg they ate this morning. Chickens and eggs are contaminated with the fowl leukosis virus that causes cancer in chickens. That is a good worry.

If you still feel you need to worry about low-level radioactivity, stay out of the sun and be prepared to open your pocketbook. De Lamar Gibbons, M.D. Blanding, Utah

Other topics

Consider breaching alternatives

Once again, staff writer Dan Hansen has put a human face on the statistic that “only 11 farms” would be affected by breaching the Snake River dams.

The Broetje orchard is a major player in the economy of Eastern Washington. It would be a terrible thing to put a dedicated and generous farmer out of business. In order to keep him whole and build an irrigation channel from the Columbia, the back end costs of breaching the dams escalates logarithmically.

I was delighted to read that another hearing was done in Boise to provide a forum for those who have alternatives to breaching. One of those people was Ernie Brannon, the author of the Columbia River bypass channel proposal, which suggests bypassing all eight dams but was revised to only include the four Snake River dams. This is a feasible solution and there’s a desperate needs to revisit it.

I love salmon. Breaching is better than doing nothing but I think there are better solutions. Kristy Johnson Post Falls

No-loss warfare a mirage

Thank God that for a generation we have avoided the draft and a full-sized ground war like those our parents and grandparents endured. But this has come with a price. It appears that we have entered a time in history where we enjoy an illusion of war without risk. That, with minimal sacrifice, we can stand for such high ideals as liberty and equality without even getting our hands dirty.

If we really cared about Kosovo like we said we did, there would have been more than a few heroes return home in flag-draped caskets. Then, maybe flag burning wouldn’t be such a hot issue these days. Jonathan D. Selden Spokane

Abortion protesters way out of line

“Anti-abortion activist owes $23,000 in back child support” (aug. 5) epitomizes my view of an anti-abortion protester: someone so concerned about others’ behavior that they protest and harass others who do not support their views.

It is ridiculous that I should have to be searched, videotaped and harassed by protesters just to enter the local Planned Parenthood office. Planned Parenthood provides needed medical care at reasonable prices. These much-needed services help avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place. If you scare young women away from getting the birth control they need, you are doing them more harm than good. Stop protesting and try to do something constructive for a change. Maybe open a nonprofit adoption agency.

Each woman should be allowed her right to choose. All of us know that for every decision we make there are consequence, some more severe than others. Instead of worrying about someone else’s decisions, make some good ones yourself. Support the children you already have.

After all, if we want all people to take responsibility for their actions, should we not look in the mirror first, before we throw the first stone? Paula M. Malicki Spokane

Able-bodied should support themselves

I believe strongly in reducing the welfare rolls and getting all healthy women and men back into the work force. Healthy people, American and foreign, should have to work to support their own.

Taxpayers should never be responsible for citizens who irresponsibly bring children into the world knowing they cannot provide support. Women who rely on small children as an excuse to remain on the couch should have the child(ren) removed from the home to force her to support what she chose to bring into the world.

Day cares are abundant and regulated by the state to give children training and peer association essential in their development. A child in a day care setting will be a far better individual than one reared at home by a welfare recipient learning only how to be the next welfare generation.

Foreigners should have adequate training and/or motivation to support themselves or be immediately returned to their country of origin. We have become too tolerant and sympathetic to those who refuse to speak our language while holding out their hands.

I supported two children, starting at ages 1 and 3, without state aid. I worked two jobs and went to school. Truly desperate, I asked the state for help with day care only and was told,“ No one asked you to work or go to school.” So I struggled all by myself. Yet in a nine-month time, welfare paid for my neighbor to have three abortions while she raised her school-age kids.

Welfare should be there to help only, never to fully support or educate. Linda Becker Veradale