Letters To The Editor
IN THE REGION
Does dump affect our drinking water?
Everything that gets dumped into the Graham Road Dump is just a little bit too dirty. With all these things getting mixed together and sitting on top of our drinking water, we wonder just how full of bad stuff it really is.
At the end of washing clothes with a wringer washing machine, the water was pretty dark and dirty. Is this what’s happening to our drinking water? Vina M. Mikkelsen Medical Lake
Costly fiasco in the making
Michael Irving (Letters, March 8) identifies the $300 million bailout that we as taxpayers must pay if Dawn Mining Co. gets a contract to import radioactive material for closing its uranium mill at Ford. The mill could be closed for only $16 million using local contractors and on-site materials - a fact ignored by the state.
Far more serious are concerns that the closure design may be flawed. The increasing spread of radioactive contamination at Hanford, where buried radioactive material is being brought to the surface by ants and through the roots of tumbleweeds, is indicative of problems that can be expected at the Dawn dump. The Dawn closure plan mirrors conditions existing at Hanford, where the annual cost of controlling radioactive tumbleweeds averages $248 per acre and is increasing. This raises the specter of more tax dollars being needed to remove and properly bury the waste once ownership and liability are assumed by the state.
Readers should understand that the Washington Department of Health suggested that Dawn Mining Co. should consider licensing the site as a nuclear waste dump. The department did this in spite of a policy restricting importation of radioactive waste into the state and the knowledge that this site is plagued by radioactive leaks that have contaminated parts of the Spokane Indian Reservation.
The Dawn scandal is pork barrel politics and corporate welfare at their worst. Olympia’s re-licensing of the Dawn dump is vindication for public cynicism and a growing distrust of state government. Owen Berio Springdale, Wash.
Closer to home, you find real trouble
It amazes me that Doug Clark (column, March 18) has the audacity to take the moral high ground and make it sound like Franklin County is the only place where outsiders don’t get a fair shake.
From what I’ve seen in the last year and a half here in Spokane, Columbia Basin farmers don’t have a monopoly on greed or willingness to abuse power. Human nature being what it is, these same sorts of problems are going to occur no matter where you live.
I find it interesting to see stories like this when Spokane has the nuttiest city politics of any city in which I’ve ever lived. Perhaps Clark would like to do a story explaining how the city paid $3.2 million for two pieces of dirt by the river downtown that it may never be able to use. There should be enough greed and miscarriage of justice there to make him feel nicely superior. Edgar Lincoln Spokane
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Give pedestrians, kids a chance
Ever since I have lived in Spokane, I have had trouble crossing busy streets. Most every time I try to cross a busy street, no one stops for me - or for anyone else that I see. I would like “stop for pedestrian” signs on some major intersections like Grand and 37th, and Perry and 40th.
I don’t think we would really needs signs if people would think about kids who are trying to cross the street. Last summer, I saw a little girl on her bike trying to cross the street. She got hit by some careless driver and it made me pretty sad.
Please stop for us kids! Thank you. Kevin Brazier, age 11 Spokane
Sleep apnea gear not `monstrosity’
Frank Bartel’s Feb. 28 column could have been helpful to sleep apnea sufferers. His attempted “wit” on the subject portrayed cures as something to be feared rather than welcomed.
The sleep study is not a “nightmare” when taken with a positive attitude that its results will be helpful to the patient.
The nose piece is not any more of a “monstrosity” than are glasses, crutches, wheelchairs and other devices that help people lead healthy, normal and useful lives. It has an advantage over the latter because it is worn at night in the privacy of one’s bedroom. Lastly, nose pieces of different designs for wearing comfort are available to patients truly desiring a good night’s sleep. Those of strong will adjust to wearing it like they do to wearing new shoes. Wimps, crybabies and losers will have trouble with it as they do with other problems in life.
One in 10 people suffer from sleep apnea. For information about apnea, contact the American Sleep Apnea Association, 2025 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Suite 905, Washington, D.C., 20006. Gene Zanck Spokane
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Keep Social Security for retirees
Rachel Bell (Letters, March 1) was incorrect when she referred to people over 65 as being at the end of their lives. Just because a person is retired, it doesn’t mean they’re ready to curl up and die. It’s a proven fact people are living longer and healthier.
The Social Security Act was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to ensure an income for those unable or unwilling to work any longer. Through the years, working people have paid into the Social Security fund. In years past, a relatively large number of working people paid into the system, while a smaller number collected from it. That situation is reversing, with those collecting doing so for more years than ever before. Adjustments are needed before 2013, when payouts are expected to exceed revenues.
Bell should talk to people drawing monthly payments from Social Security. I’m sure she would find none of them want their benefits stopped or decreased. Many elderly people rely on their payments, which are often their only income.
I agree that something should be done to improve wages for teachers. A good place to look for the funds would be the pay raises our lawmakers give themselves. The public is well aware their raises are much more than the cost-of-living raise the public workers receive. Whatever is determined to find the funds for teacher pay raises, the Social Security program should not be involved. Those funds were never meant to give pay raises to anyone other than retired persons. Donna J. Williams Spokane
We elect for judgment, too
Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s equivocation on the subject of abortion brought to mind two thoughts, both articulated by famous British statesmen. I believe they speak eloquently to the responsibility of our legislators and to the functioning of our republic.
The first is that of Edmund Burke: “Your representative owes you not his industry only, but his judgment, and he betrays instead of serves you if he sacrifices it to your opinion.”
The second is attributed to St. Thomas More in the movie “A Man for All Seasons:” “When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duty, they lead the country by a short road to chaos.”
Voters would do well to bear these truths in mind at election time. Michael Cain Spokane
Don’t buy pressure group’s spiel
I have truly been amused, even though I’m also irritated, at the flood of TV ads regarding Rep. George Nethercutt’s comment on the limit of time that he felt might be appropriate to serve in Congress. At that time, term limits were a hot item. However, since that time both parties have come to the conclusion that the best control of the length of service should lie in the hands of the voters.
That’s not, however, why the political group responsible for the ads is running them over and over. I hope the voters of the 5th Congressional District are smart enough to see through this campaign.
The problem these people have recognized is that since Nethercutt is doing such a good job of representing the people of this district, no one representing the opposition party can beat him in an election. Their idea is to attack him in such a manner that he might quit, leaving the position open.
Don’t fall for it, voters.
And please, Nethercutt, don’t let this scurrilous attack by a politically motivated group get to you and push you to do something only the voters should control. Thanks for representing us now and I hope for years to come. Orville L. Barnes Spokane
Term limits only good if national
After watching the commercials on term limits as they relate to Rep. George Nethercutt, it is very evident they are either sponsored by some sore Democrats or persons so shortsighted that they need lessons on how Congress really operates.
I am for reasonable term limits - five terms for a representative, three for a senator. This will allow them enough time in office to be effective, in the last six years for the representative and the last 12 as a senator. There is much to learn as a newly elected representative. Little in the way of new, innovative bills benefiting Washington state can be expected at first.
The only way term limits can work for Washington state is for them to be adopted nationally. Anyone who uses their brain at all should realize using only rookie Washington state senators and representatives against 20- and 30-year veteran members from the other 49 states would be foolhardy. The likes of Sen. Ted Kennedy and Rep. Dick Gephardt would have a field day with our Washington kindergartners.
Wake up, people! Spend your money, time and energy to get an even playing field for all. Work for national term limits, not Washington state prosperity limits. B.A. Overland Spokane
We have the term limits we need
The recent television and radio ads against Rep. George Nethercutt are the nastiest I have seen. Who sponsors and pays for these obnoxious ads?
Nethercutt has served the 5th District very well and has been appointed to some very important committees. voters should decide who they would have represent them, not some outside big-money spenders. Remember, we already have term limits - it’s called the ballot box. Bernece “Bunny” Bippes Tekoa, Wash.
Nethercutt should stay on
I intend to write Rep. George Nethercutt and ask him to please continue to represent us in the 5th District for another term. He serves on several important committees and it would take several years for a new person to gain that much, if any, clout.
I realize that Nethercutt was sincere when he said he’d serve only three terms. When he gets to be my age he’ll realize even more strongly that six years goes by in a blink!
The incessant ads by term limits outsiders are a testament to Nethercutt’s effectiveness in the House of Representatives. Alice F. Peck Liberty Lake
BUSINESS AND LABOR
Unions exist to keep things fair, safe
I am a fourth-generation Kaiser Steelworker. The pride I possess for my family and the hard work that they have endured to put food on the table is tremendous.
When Henry Kaiser owned Kaiser Aluminum, people were proud to go to work every day. Now, in the three years before I and 3,000 other Steelworkers went out on strike, I have seen nothing but greed. Downsizing and union busting is all Kaiser cares about.
Many people do not know what a union does. The main goals for unions are simple: save jobs, save wages, save lives. The union does not allow corporate greed to downsize or to cut our wages in order to line their own pockets. The union does not allow a company to compromise our safety for its productivity.
We have been out of work for five months now. The scabs doing our jobs have now seen what it’s like being without a union. They were guaranteed a lot of money to work. Now, I hear that their wages have been cut drastically. At nearly every plant the injuries are up over 100 percent. That is not a safe working environment.
The greed must stop before it ruins our country. Therefore, I have a suggestion for all scabs: Quit supporting something that will eventually be your undoing and support something that will save you and your children - the unions. William Hefling Spokane
ABORTION/REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Planned Parenthood defense laudable
It was heartening to read Deborah Lawrence Hale’s March 16 letter regarding Planned Parenthood. She will no doubt receive negative feedback from the so-called right-to-life contingent. I congratulate her for her courage to write a rational, reasoned letter regarding Teresa Van Camp’s efforts to intimidate those who use the many services provided by Planned Parenthood. I applaud her support of safe, legal abortions for those who choose this option in the event of an unplanned pregnancy.
A report recently published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, “The Incidence of Abortion Worldwide,” studied abortion in 69 countries, including 10 where the practice is “highly restricted.” The authors found that developed and developing nations can have lower abortion rates, depending of the availability of contraception and family planning services, but that legal restrictions have little effect on lowering abortion rates. About 26 million legal and 20 million illegal abortions took place in 1995 worldwide. The study concluded that “stringent legal restrictions on abortion do not guarantee a low abortion rate.”
Access to family planning services and adequate reproductive health care do appear to have an impact. The effect of making abortion illegal is not to decrease the number of procedures, it’s to markedly increase the numbers of women who die as the result of incompetence or of self-induced abortions.
Women use Planned Parenthood’s services for a variety of reasons; the vast majority are there for pregnancy prevention and other reproductive health needs. Planned Parenthood does more to prevent abortion and unwanted pregnancies than any other health care provider in the United States. Penny Reid Spokane
`Author of death has died’
Re: Steve Benson’s March 8 cartoon about recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
The author of death has died. The wearer of the black robe of infamy has already faced the judgment that all of us must face when we die. Let us pray (for those who do) that the Lord (for those who believe) has shown more mercy to Blackmun than he has afforded the unborn.
If the figure stated in Benson’s cartoon of 38 million babies is anywhere near true, does anyone realize the enormity of this massacre? It dwarfs anything ever seen in history, including the Holocaust of the Jews by Hitler and the pogroms of Stalin.
The killing of only one unborn is murder and should never be tolerated even under the guise of legitimacy. When will we learn? Carlo J. Ferraro Spokane
RECREATION
We’re not all perfectionist skiers
I would like to let Linda Bauer (Letters, March 15) know that she does not speak for me as a cross country skier. I am very happy with the cross country trails at Mount Spokane. I think the groomers do an excellent job on well-designed trails that serve the majority of skiers at Mt. Spokane Ski Area well.
Bauer should slow down and take off her ski goggles next Saturday when she’s up on the trails. Look around and notice the families with rosy-cheeked, laughing kids in tow. They aren’t in any hurry and aren’t concerned about bumps in the snow. Then notice the novice teens and adults, some of whom are skiing in their jeans and down jackets. We aren’t all in Spandex and racing attire!
I watched the sport of downhill skiing go from $5 a day up to $25-$40 per day. One of the reasons for the incredible increases is the demand for high-tech grooming by fanatics like Bauer.
I don’t want to end up paying $8 per day to ski at Mt. Spokane. I like buying a trail pass for the entire season that only costs $40 for unlimited skiing. Don’t mess up our bargain in a futile search for perfection.
My suggestion to Bauer is to get a few rich racing buddies together and buy themselves a ranch, to purchase her own grooming equipment and groom her own trails. That way folks like me won’t be falling and messing up her perfect paths. Mary A. Naber Spokane