Letters To The Editor

Washington state

Voters would be wise to be realistic

I am a career public safety professional, executive board representative of the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association and I pay the motor vehicle excise tax. I am also very concerned about the impacts Initiative 695 will have on my job and my community.

I-695 proponents say that the claims of revenue shortfalls and service cutbacks by government officials at all levels are mere scare tactics. Are the voters of our state really willing to take that chance?

First of all, I don’t view public officials as being deceitful and manipulating. They, like state troopers, all have jobs to do and services to deliver that are critical to every community in the state.

Secondly, the potential public safety impacts alone scare me as a police officer and particularly as a citizen who relies on local services for neighborhood security.

The motor vehicle excise tax is too high! And our elected officials need to listen to their constituents and take bold and positive actions. I-695 is a sledge hammer approach that will jeopardize our public safety and our economic well-being well into the future. Not only on the highways but in every community and neighborhood throughout the state. Can we afford that? Joe Pass, board representative Washington State Patrol Troopers Association, District 4, Spokane

Voters, don’t be intimidated

Here we go again. The people want a tax cut. The Democrats, liberal politicians, bureaucrats and government employees threaten us with no road repair-construction. They threaten us with no ferry service, no school funding, reduced police protection, reduced social services and other disasters if the people approve Initiative 695. Never do they attempt to cut a small amount of government waste. Never is a tax cut the right amount, the right bill or the right time. Always, it’s increase spending, increase taxes.

Despite a large surplus, these same politicians, in the last legislative session, increased spending by 8 percent and tried to circumvent the spending cap. Our Democrat governor called an unnecessary, unproductive and expensive special session for the sole purpose of increasing spending and increasing the size of government. The Republicans were prevented from amending the Senate budget, which was more than $5 million higher than the House budget.

We have a rare opportunity to send a clear message to our Legislature by passing I-695. The small cuts of I-695 can easily be reclaimed by reducing waste, not services, and by an increase in license and auto purchases.

These same liberal politicians would double our taxes if they could. They threatened the same disasters when the voters proposed I- 601. Thank goodness we passed it.

The threats will be relentless and vicious. Let’s remind those in government that they work for the people. Let’s not be intimidated. Let’s not be dictated to. Let’s pass I-695 and finally give the overburdened taxpayer a long overdue tax cut. J.C. Schindler Spokane

I-695 favors `the little taxpayer’

All the complainers are starting to come out of the woodwork with all the scare tactics against Initiative 695. Apparently, these big-money and business people want to keep the fear in the little taxpayer to vote against I-695 or face the consequences.

All the voodoo tactics are not going to work this time. The average working people are getting smart, knowing how these so-called lobbyists and political activists with their big money are robbing the people to fill their deep pockets.

So read and re-read the initiative on what it cannot do any more without a vote by the voters, which is to impose new taxes or increase taxes.

Big business and big labor have got a hold on all these so-called lobbyists and special interest groups. They are trying to sway the little guy to vote against I-695. Lots of yes votes for I-695 will let them know we are tired of these high license tab fees. The people who are against I-695 can continue to pay the high fees. I’ll go for the $30 fee, then I’ll be able to buy a new vehicle. People who think this is irresponsible and devastating legislation have their heads on backward. Lloyd L. Etier Spokane

Grass field burning

Dust worse than stubble smoke

I address this letter mainly to the reporter who wore the gas mask and wrote the offensive story regarding grass burning last year, but also to the public.

I wonder if they prefer the dust storms caused by the farmers having to plow up their fields of bluegrass, which had helped to keep their farms going when other crops were not as profitable. They’re having to plow these fields now to plant other crops and hopefully save their homes and livelihoods, not to mention their farms which have fed the world and been in their families for generations.

Has anyone ever informed the public that bluegrass is one of the very best crops for our soils? Bluegrass protects the soil with one of the best root systems around and keeps the soil from losing its nutrients. The burning simply shocks the plant and gives back nutrients to make it grow without expensive, possibly toxic, fertilizers. It’s also done under the most extensively thought out and safest procedures possible, unlike how the government itself burns. Then, of course, it also makes very nice lawns and golf courses.

Putting our farmers out of business is ultimately only going to hurt us. Can you imagine the United States importing grass seed, wheat, peas, etc., simply because of a day or two of burning vs. weeks of plowing entire fields, filling the air with dust and losing precious topsoil?

It’s time for people to think a little deeper and support these folks. Kristine Ruark Barnes Rockford

Burning ban not cause of dust storms

Re: “Does grass burning ban lead to more dust in air?” (Sept. 30) and the Oct. 1 letter on that topic.

We were absolutely appalled that Nancy Larson blamed that recent dust storm on the grass-burning ban. The dust storm was a regional event, encompassing three states. It caused a fatal multiple-car crash in eastern Oregon (where there is no burning ban). To suggest this major event was the result of a few bluegrass growers in Spokane County plowing instead of burning their fields is absurd.

There have always been dust storms in this area. We are downwind of 16 million acres of farm land and when conditions are extremely dry and there are very strong winds, we get dust. Our local clean air authority confirmed that there were significant dust storms in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the last big one occurring in 1993 - all before there were any restrictions on bluegrass burning.

We had hoped that this dust-vs.-smoke debate was behind us. Physicians have certainly been vocal in their opposition to burning. Smoke contains toxic organic compounds, like formaldehyde and known carcinogens. Dust does not. You can wipe dust off of your table. You can’t very well wash smoke out of our children’s lungs.

It concerns us that Larson would buy into the old myth that burning prevents dust. It saddens us that she wants to bring back the smoke in the hopes that she won’t have to wash her car as often. Lanny and Dj Calkins Liberty Lake

Health and safety

Cancer is a bad way to go

Re: Bradley Nixon’s Oct. 2 letter, “Nonsmokers have no room to talk.”

Judging from Nixon’s letter, he apparently uses no form of motorized transportation to pollute the air. He produces no human waste to pollute our rivers and lakes. He eats only organic foods, where no harmful pesticides or fertilizers need be used. And all the wood products in his home came fresh out of the forest.

But he does have the disgusting habit of cigarette smoking.

Two members of my family, who were smokers, died from lung cancer caused from this disgusting habit. This disease is a horrible way to die. My mother’s cancer was inoperable and her lungs slowly filled with the cancer until she no longer could take in air. She suffocated to death.

Nixon’s idea of nonsmokers’ habits may be disgusting but his disgusting habit is much more. It’s frightening. Tammy L. Fountaine Veradale

In the public eye

Ventura could always be worse

In a recent interview, Reform Party leader and Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is quoted with statements that many people find offensive. He refuses to chant the “safe” political litany and has promised his constituents he would never lie to them.

Until Ventura has sex with interns in the gubernatorial office, gives false testimony in court and is fined, and wags his finger at the American public on TV and says, “I did not have sex with that woman,” I think we can tolerate his openness and honesty. William T. Riley Soap Lake, Wash.

Bigger they are, the dumber they are

Re: Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura’s recent comments.

Minnesotan’s deserve better than a governor whose legacy, it seems, will be nothing more than an affirmation of the theory that body size is inversely proportional to intelligence. Ernie Atkinson Ione, Wash.

Is honesty or hypocrisy more offensive?

Which spectacle is more offensive: Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura saying organized religion is a crutch for the weak-minded, or President Bill Clinton making a public show of attending church and “seeking atonement” while in the midst of an affair with an employee a few years older than his own daughter?

Which do you find more honest: Ventura’s comments in Playboy, or Clinton shaking his self-righteous finger in your face?

Vote them in, vote them out, whatever your moral voice dictates. But please, don’t reward hypocrites and liars over men and women who tell you what is on their mind. To the extent that any citizen rewards a candidate with their vote based on how well that candidate says all the proper and moral things, regardless of whether or not that candidate acts on that rhetoric, organized religion truly is a crutch. Charles Kenna Post Falls

Sandberg deserves cheers, not jeers

Recent attempts to smear Washington State Patrol Chief Annette Sandberg are classic attempts to sandbag significant changes occurring in the WSP “work culture” in this male bastion that derives its sustenance from male chauvinism and female bashing at an agency that has been run far too long by the “good ol’ boy” mentality. During her attempts at reforming the agency she has been undermined by the clique and accused of everything from acting like a man (God forbid) to encouraging diversity in the workplace by sponsoring seminars for WSP female employees.

I applaud her efforts to normalize the male-dominated-10- to-1 work force to reflect a more realistic gender ratio and for insisting on performance criteria that will hold all troopers accountable for their actions, regardless of gender.

It’s expectations such as these that make the Washington State Patrol a credible and highly regarded organization. John M. Hardin Airway Heights

Entertainment `Beauty’ movie just ugly

Drugs, sex and violence apparently “fix” all of life’s day-to-day problems. That’s the message of the highly acclaimed film, “American Beauty.”

I went to see the film because of the outstanding reviews. What I found was a totally disgusting anything-goes story with a sad and destructive message that sex, drugs and violence are “normal.” The story promotes totally unacceptable behavior as a satisfying cure for getting life on track. The film has its moments but overall is a sorry disappointment for anyone with personal values. B.J. Robertson Spokane

`Basket’ fills a need

I have been reading with interest and concur with other writers about the wonderful movie, “ The Basket.”

To be a movie fan and have so few movies to go to that can teach, entertain and move to higher goals and feelings is a problem. “The Basket” solved my problem for a week, but how about the other weeks in the year?

May North by Northwest receive enough of everything to do it again and again and again. Leeola J. Mittelstadt Spokane

Other topics

Confiscations lead police astray

Re: “Police share marijuana farm seizure funds” (Sept. 30).

If linking economic rewards to law enforcement activities isn’t frightening to everyone who learns of it, our educational system is as bad as everyone says it is.

Credible journalists resist paying sources because of the corrupting influence such payment has. In this case, the county police now have a direct financial incentive to take private property. This does little to improve their credibility - something that must be done in the light of Rodney King, The New York Police Department’s recent abuses and any number of smaller police misbehavior inspired by our failed war on drugs.

Please, let’s restore integrity. Pay the police a salary, yes, but don’t encourage them to bust only people with property, which is just one example of the poor motivations our current policy provides. Ron Richardson Renton, Wash.

Here’s mascot name Indians might like

I have watched with interest as different schools’ sports teams throughout this area have been forced to change their mascot names. It seems that none can be called savages, warriors, Indians, etc. This is offensive to our Native Americans.

Even my alma mater, Eastern Washington University, is now called the Eagles instead of the Savages. For several weeks now, I have watched the Native American commercials on television, touting their gambling casinos. Indians in all kinds of cultural dress are depicting a different forest scene. The commercial ends with a warrior in war paint shooting an arrow dead center into a roulette wheel. I call this hypocrisy. I’m sure that in this case a sports team could now be favorably called the Gamblers. How about it? James A. Nelson Spokane

Book protectors’ notions subversive

Re: “IN Life,” Sept. 28 (“What’s behind banned books?”).

The arrogant and ignorant assumption that children know more/better than their parents is precisely why the alternative education movement is gaining momentum so rapidly.

The American Library Association, peopled by folks like Jacci Bottler, who lack discernment and shun wisdom, side with the child against the parent, adding immeasurably to the chaotic society in which we find ourselves today.

The totally discredited liberal social philosophies of the 1960s are still deeply entrenched in our public school system.

We all need, desperately, people in her position to reinforce the genuine concerns of parents to safeguard their children from what they perceive as unhealthy. But that won’t happen until those strange-brew stargazers can establish in their minds the link between their bad ideas and the fact that they’re not safe in a parking lot after dark. Tom Frisque Usk, Wash.

Kershner’s humor is delightful

I have always enjoyed Jim Kershner’s writing, but his Oct. 2 column on “how to tell if you are wealthy or not” is humor at its best! Thanks, Kershner, for brightening my Saturday. I’ll choose you over Dave Barry any day! Shirley L. Foien Cheney