Letters To The Editor

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

`Compassionate’ just a slogan

If you think you’re getting some new kind of “compassionate” conservatism with George Dubya Bush, you have returned to the voodoo economic zone. Dubya’s first important decision after earning the Republican nomination for president was to choose Bush senior’s friend and former secretary of defense as his running mate. Remember the people who gave you recession and inflation at the same time?

Richard Cheney has the experience and competence to manage the federal government. Isn’t it nice that someone on the ticket does? However, he has a voting record from his days in Congress which shows that “compassionate” conservatism is just a slogan. He opposed a ban on cop-killer bullets. He opposed funding for the Head Start Program. He opposed the Clean Water Act. He opposed a resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela from jail in South Africa.

Dubya and Cheney both embrace extreme views which the American people will reject. Frank A. Malone Spokane

Good time to ask for change in stance

In the months prior to the national elections, concerned citizens will scramble to catch up on the records of our representatives and senators so we can make more informed decisions on our ballots. One issue that recently passed quietly through both the House and Senate should be a cause for outrage among the voting public.

The Senate and the House approved a name change for the School of the Americas, adopting innocuous-sounding names like the “Defense Institute for Hemispheric Security.” I believe that if the public were aware of the true nature of this school, there would be overwhelming pressure to close it immediately and permanently. However, both the government and the popular media are working hard to keep the public uninformed and oblivious to painful realities.

Dedicated to training Latin American military, this school, located in Fort Benning, Ga., and funded by our tax dollars, refers in its manuals to torture, kidnapping and threatening innocent family members as legitimate means of extracting information and maintaining control. Although the government may try to convince you otherwise, there is no way to justify the strategies taught at the School of the Americas.

Please contact Sen. Slade Gorton and Rep. George Nethercutt and ask them to change their stance on this issue. This might be the best time to get their attention. Melody R. Spidell Spokane

Resident wants what immigrants get

It seems odd the United States allows so many immigrants in, who automatically receive medical coupons for dental care. I was born here and served in the Army, and I can’t get my dental needs attended too, much less gainful employment that pays a living wage. And yet, everybody lightly dismisses my dilemma with a smart crack - “get a job.” Wesley Storer Spokane

CHURCH AND STATE

Greater acceptance leads to prayer

“Like it or not, prayer is a useful tool. As such, you’d better accept it, use it and appreciate it. Now please stand up, shut up, and Dear God, let us pray!”

This seems to be what the religious segment is vehemently advocating when it comes to prayer in public. Does this in truth shed light on prayer as a sacred event or is it adversely becoming known as a fighting word? Is prayer a precious gift used for communicating with the omnipotent and omnipresent deity or is it an instrument used to force-feed the lost and confused, the lukewarm and the indifferent?

Prayerfulness is a state of mind where essentially no one can be denied his or her heartfelt thoughts privately or publicly. It’s a false premise to assume anyone shying away from or disagreeing with public prayer is unsaved or an atheist.

A possible solution to finding the church and state more approachable might be an attitude of greater acceptance and lesser resistance to differing opinions with regard to any or all community and nationwide issues - including prayer in public places. An easy and natural flow of events dissolves tension and allows right actions and good decisions to be made. Connie Pomeroy Spokane

SPOKANE MATTERS

Put users in security camps

Drug users find it extremely difficult to hold jobs that demand normal standards of attendance and punctuality. What are they doing to raise money to support their drug use?

When The Spokesman-Review says 66 percent of the men who are jailed for “property” statutes test positive for drugs, we can assume they’re stealing to buy drugs.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the daily take was $200 or more.

I say, build minimum security camps, lock the users up and save productive citizens’ money. Keith Springer Spokane

Summary compares different levels

The July 24 Fast Facts summary of Northwest parolee numbers incorrectly compares the people on parole for misdemeanor crimes in Washington with other states that have adult offenders on parole for more serious felony crimes.

In Washington, the parole board for adult felons was abolished by the state Legislature. After July 1984, only felons committed before then were eligible for parole by a new indeterminate parole board.

Under the 1984 fixed sentence law any felon sentenced to prison after that date isn’t eligible for release on parole which also had provided authority for return to prison confinement for any conditional violation. This is no longer possible.

Washington is one of four states that must now have a new felony conviction before imprisonment. Counties may have local parole boards limited to only jurisdiction over misdemeanors and confinement in crowded local city or county jails.

Parole in other states operates as an extension to a community of enforceable behavior conditions after return from imprisonment. They include pre-release investigation by a parole officer of a proposed place of residence and employment, plus appropriate restrictions. Violation of parole conditions permits immediate return to jail or prison.

Prior to its abolishment Washington’s parole system was over 70 percent successful and better than the national average, with two-thirds of any parole violators returned to custody before commission of a new criminal felony.

Support legislators who are willing to re-join the 45 states that have the indeterminate sentence, for better protection of the community through realistic parole behavior supervisory controls. A. LaMont Smith retired professor of criminology, Spokane

Happy to be a county resident

I am sure glad I’m not a Spokane resident about to be tagged with the recently announced $664,000 in estimated legal costs related to the brouhaha over the parking garage.

The city approved a deal that pledged a lesser amount than these legal costs, funded by parking meter fees, to cover garage revenue shortfalls. It would appear that the new sales and real property taxes generated by the River Park Square project would easily cover this obligation.

Now the city has come up with a suit alleging misrepresentation. As a legal entity with full power to enter into this sort of arrangement, the city had a duty to do its own due diligence and determine if the deal was in the public interest. The guarantee was to secure the project’s financing, and a slow startup for the garage might have been a reasonable expectation. This refusal to honor the deal has resulted in the lowering of the city’s bond rating, just at the time bonding may be required for streets.

The probable minimum extra cost of one-quarter of 1 percent over 30 years on $100 million bonds adds $7.5 million in bond interest expense.

This fantastic goof-up would have me supporting recall if I were a resident of Spokane. John A. Peterson Spokane

Colliton’s dodge lacks humility

In his smug, bitter stab at deflecting blame from himself onto the current City Council, defeated councilman Jeff Colliton refers to a “temporary shortfall in garage revenue” (guest column, July 29). Funny, I remember suggesting to him on the phone two years ago that the structure of the deal looked inordinately risky from a business standpoint, and that the garage bondholders would soon need to be paid from meter cash. He said I didn’t know what I was talking about.

Now, he pins the blame for the bond downgrade on the current council, and shudders at the extra interest cost to be borne by “our citizens.” But it was Colliton who was unwilling to submit the garage to a vote by these citizens. Instead, an “emergency” was found to exist, and a council majority without a single member who had ever been outstandingly successful in business voted public money into a partnership for private profit.

While humility is probably too much to expect from Colliton, his friends might at least counsel with him on the benefits of reticence. Robin Corkery Spokane

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Escort from auditorium not per NIC

Re: A recent letter to the editor details events at a dance recital where a woman and her developmentally delayed son were asked to leave North Idaho College’s auditorium.

Readers should know that the recital was given by a private dance studio, which was renting the auditorium, and should also know that the dance instructor and unidentified gentleman who asked the woman and her son to leave were not college employees.

Nonetheless, the college regrets any embarrassment this woman and her son suffered and has written to her directly to express this sentiment. Steven W. Schenk Vice President, North Idaho College

Cruelty to kitten outrageous

The other night on my drive home from work I had to deal with a situation that really outraged myself and my girlfriend.

As we were driving north on Maple Street just above Northwest Boulevard, traffic was stopping for a kitten that had been run over by a car. Everybody was stopping to look, but then drove away, while this 10-week-old kitten lay there struggling to move.

I got out of the truck to see what I could do. This poor animal was pretty crushed from the shoulders to tail, but was still trying to move. I picked this poor creature up off the street and was trying to figure out what to do when a lady who saw this “accident” came to me and told me someone in a pickup going north on Maple had tossed this little animal out the window as they were driving. Then the kitten was hit by the car following.

As I stood there hoping someone would claim this kitten, the little thing died in my hands.

How could someone toss one of God’s creatures out of a moving vehicle and drive away knowing it would be killed?

This kitten had a serious eye infection, so I guess it was easier to kill it than to pay a vet bill.

All they had to do was drop it off at SpokAnimal, or make a phone call and they would pick it up. But no. They had to throw it in the middle of a busy street so the kids in the area got to learn a little about death.

I truly pray to God that the so-called human who did this will have nightmares for as long as they live. Sean O’Hare Spokane

IN THE PAPER

Van Camp `came through’ for client

I read with astonishment the recent inflammatory articles about Attorney Russell Van Camp. Unfortunately, these articles represent only one side.

Although I cannot attest to the accuracy of the allegations, I can talk about the person. I have known Russ since 1982 and consider him to be an exceptional attorney with high integrity. Russ has been my attorney since 1984 when he helped unmangle a property transaction gone bad. At a time when I really needed an attorney I could count on, Russ came through for me. His personal involvement in my case and caring attitude made all the difference.

Perhaps the biggest vote of confidence I can offer is that even after taking into account the present serious allegations, I would not hesitate to have Russ represent me today. As an attorney, Russ has earned my total trust and respect.

I would encourage other folks Russ Van Camp has helped to come forward and offer your public support. William S. Ramshaw Nine Mile Falls

Why d’ya try to hide Wardner?

Re: “Visit Wardner, just for clicks,” front page, July 26.

Where in the world is Wardner? In the beginning I looked at road maps of Washington, Idaho and Montana and found nothing. Then, as I don’t give up easily, I consulted state atlases of Washington and Idaho and finally found a reference to Wardner in Idaho and located it just south of Kellogg. But the atlas did not show any roads that would get me there.

With all this in hand I went to my computer and detailed CD road maps and finally found where and how to get there, and the fact that Wardner is apparently just a mile south of Kellogg on about the only road going south from the center of town.

Why keep is location such a mystery? John R. Gaines Spokane

Shame to leave cemetery to brambles

Re: “Dozens of cemeteries in county are either forgotten or neglected” (The Region, July 16)

I visited Mica Cemetery on the day before you published this article. I have great-great-grandparents buried there. My last visit to Mica Cemetery was about 20 years ago, and I recall it being overgrown at that point, though nowhere near as bad as it sits today.

I spent 45 minutes hunting through the bramble-filled “cemetery” until finally finding my great-great-grandparents’ headstone in the middle of a five-foot tall bush.

Once I returned to my car, I had to spend 15 minutes picking the nettles and other debris off my clothing.

It is a shame that Spokane County has left this cemetery and others to literally rot away for decades. If they are not willing or able to maintain it, they should work to create a community group of relatives who will do so. Dennis R. Higgins, Jr. Kent, Wash.

OTHER TOPICS

View different from local angle

Re: “Wolves worrying ranchers,” (News, July 23)

The Feds don’t care if Darden and other local residents don’t like the idea of wolves coming back to the St. Joe valley. Period! I guess local residents just don’t see the big picture as clearly as people living in Washington, D.C. Truman Cantrell Spokane