Letters To The Editor

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Jail visitors encounter hard time

When I went into the Kootenai County jail to visit a young friend, I was taken aback seeing how visitors were treated. Depending on how many came to visit, that dictated how long one had to wait.

The one person handling all that crowd is to be admired. But those waiting soon realized we were treated on a par or worse than the inmates. These are people whose worst fault is that they have love and hope for an inmate. This is not just young friends but many are parents and grandparents. Should they be punished?

The greatest insult the sheriff has to offer these innocent visitors is the seating facilities available for the young and the elderly are benches built of slats and are really torture racks. There seems to be an attempt to cause innocent Americans to feel guilty and unclean.

There has been a push to get citizens to respect and support law enforcement like we do firefighters. How can we do that when we receive a sense of disdain? Hey - we are the ones who pay your wages. Robert R. Root Spirit Lake

Dumping Morrow a big mistake

I have been waiting to read a press release about the demotion of Ron Morrow, our District 2 road foreman. The rumor is on the street over here. I had to call the Bonner County Commissioners’ Office to learn that it had already been done.

This news has disappointed and saddened me. When I was in office, I talked to our crew every morning before I went to the office - for six years. I knew most county employees on a first-name basis.

I did not have to hear about “problems” from someone else. I do not believe that elected officials who are rarely or have never been in a department can know the real truth. It is time for them to get out where the rubber meets the road and see what a good job our employees are doing.

When our new commissioner took office, about the only thing I remember telling him was that Bonner County’s most valuable resource is its employees.

I urge our commissioners to please revisit their decision and look carefully at all sides. Then do the right thing and reinstate Morrow with an apology and a bonus. He deserves it and so do the citizens of District 2. H. Dean Stevens Priest River

Conservationists, begone

Re: “Conservationists say state knows suit premature,” (Jan. 25). These people need to go naked in the wilderness forever and let the rest of us live our lives. Without our good use of this Earth, they would not be able to make life miserable for the rest of us who have to work for a living. Bill Kennedy Kooskia

More volunteers deserve thanks

Re: Jan. 15 Handle extra.

I am thankful to Sandy Mamola for her wonderful commitment to the St. Pius soup kitchen and Dirne Community Health Clinic.

I also thank Kathy Giesa Montgomery, who wasn’t mentioned in the “Devoted to the cause” article but deserved to be. Montgomery, a local teacher, has also volunteered her Fridays for 11 years at the soup kitchen. She also shares her time at the community health clinic.

A big thank you to all of the volunteers who make these programs work! Leslie Pickens Hayden, Idaho

LAW AND JUSTICE

Remains violated with impunity

The Kennewick Man is a prime example how scientists from the anthropology and archaeology fields disturb the remains of Indians and then use the name of science as an excuse to justify their actions. Why is it that Indian people’s remains are allowed to be desecrated for the sake of science? For these two reasons, scientists have been allowed to violate Indian remains and rob their burial sites, without any regards of letting our ancestors the decency to rest in peace.

If anyone had the rights to his remains, it should have been the local tribes of the region, since they would of been where he descended from.

In 1990. Congress passed the Native American Graves and Repatriation Act, which is suppose to protect Indian grave sites, which includes artifacts, and the remains of Indian people.

But still to this date, there are hundreds of Indian remains and artifacts at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., including some major universities around the country. Recently, the Nez Perce Tribe had to buy back some artifacts that were taken from them long ago from an organization in Ohio.

It’s sad to know Indian people are not looked upon with the respect that we deserve, even after we’ve passed on to the next world. I believe it’s time for some people to wake up and think about what I’m saying. In the meantime, I’ll pray that the creator above will touch your hearts and open your eyes to the truth. Mark S. Ramos Spokane

Overreliance on prisons wrong

We, as Americans, must hang our heads in shame on Feb. 15, 2000, a date when our nation is estimated to reach another milestone in history. Our prison and jail populations will be reaching the disturbing 2 million mark, with more than half being nonviolent offenders.

Earning the title of “the world’s largest jailer” is an atrocity. Our nation must begin serious debate of its current policies.

The political foolishness of imprisoning the masses for the illusory benefit of societal need must be brought to a swift and just end. And our government hypocrisy only becomes more embarrassing when our leaders self-righteously criticize countries such as China, Iraq and Cuba, while it works slowly to erode our own cherished rights and freedoms. We, as a people, must say - no, we must scream - enough! Glenn H. Early The November Coalition, Colville, Wash.

Euthanasia is murder

Again, the reality of assisted suicide has raised its ugly head. To help a loved one die is illegal in the state of Washington. No matter how much pain your loved one is in, no matter how much he pleads with you for help, a loving act of compassion may result in a murder-1 charge against you if you choose to aid him in hastening his death.

Euthanasia is denied to a terminally ill person who wants to die with dignity and peace surrounded by his loved ones. Instead, far too many times he/she dies wasting away in diapers, enduring agonizing pain and comatose at the end. What reason other than religion could there possibly be for so much suffering when it is not necessary? What good does it accomplish for someone to languish away days and weeks on end? It seems we treat our animals with more kindness.

We need to pass a law allowing physician-assisted suicide with all its built-in safeguards so that families do not have to risk imprisonment by deciding and acting themselves. Every terminally ill person should have the right to die and to make choices about the time and manner of his or her dying. Valerie Snipes Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

We are grateful to so many

The Allen family would like to thank many people for their support and contributions at our time of grief and loss:

To the community for all of their prayers; Sacred Heart Intensive Care Unit ward; Holy Family Hospital; the Spokane Tribe of Indians; Ball and Dodd Funeral Home; Fairmount Memorial Park; the entire judicial system; the American Red Cross; Fire Station 16; “A Little Class” Limousine Service; Schossers Flowers; The Galleria; Kinko’s; Jeff and JoAnne Doud; family and friends who served as pallbearer attendants; and all who sent flowers and gifts. So many others who have shown us their love and care are not mentioned above but are acknowledged in our hearts. Anthony Lamar Allen and Jamesetta Renee Shealey Spokane

Manipulation hurting Cuban boy

Five years ago, two young relatives of mine were involved in custody battle similar to the one being played out in Miami. Picked up by one parent for a short visit, they were spirited away to Ohio without the knowledge of the custodial parent. The courts were told that life in Ohio was better for them than life in Spokane. They were given expensive gifts and taken to theme parks.

My young family members are back in Spokane now but they still suffer the scars of their unplanned two months in Ohio. They have difficulty with authority figures and rules, and often have irrational fits of temper.

Elian Gonzalez is being bought with things and being brainwashed by his relatives in Miami. I fear that no matter where he ends up, he will suffer the scars of this terrible custody battle. This poor child needs to be with his father and grandparents in Cuba. It is a sad commentary that politicians in this country feel that things are more important than people.

It is tragic that many people feel more hate for Fidel Castro than they feel love for Elian. I have written to Rep. George Nethercutt and Sens. Slade Gorton and Patty Murray, requesting that they support returning Elian to his father.

I fear, however, that politics matter more than family values. Deborah Lawrence Hale > Greenacres

Anti-choice militants overbearing

Re: “Abortion foes assert rights; Supreme Court struggles with law keeping protesters away from patients,” (Jan. 20). Anti-abortionists are battling a Colorado law that keeps them eight feet from abortion clinic patients. They claim it is a denial of free speech. That’s free speech as in harassment. Free speech as in trying to physically prevent patients from obtaining a legal procedure. Free speech that could cause medical harm to the patient and not spare the fetus.

Question for the anti-choicers: When you argue that your rights supersede all others, conduct yourselves in a manner that denies rights to others, are you necessarily preserving rights for the next generation? Joan E. Harman Coeur d’Alene