Letters To The Editor

OVER THE LINE

We were sold out to a corporate bully

Like the man who seduces the attractive woman by promising everything, so has Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway promised everything to get its fueling depot over our aquifer.

BNSF promises to provide drinking water to anyone whose water is ruined by their depot. Livingston, Mont., residents drank the water for years and developed strange illnesses before discovering BNSF lied and illegally dumped toxic waste into the landfill. BNSF didn’t offer to pay those residents anything. It paid $14 million when a Montana jury awarded damages.

BNSF promises to post a $1 million bond in case it ruins our aquifer. Livingston’s aquifer will be clean in 500 years. A million dollars is a pittance. BNSF promises a “stateof-the-art” facility. At BNSF’s North Dakota cleanup site, trenches have been dug and pumps vainly try to restore the aquifer. That facility is also state of the art.

The ultimate insult for 5,000 locals opposing the depot was when Commissioner (Jobs Plus) Dick Compton ruled he didn’t have a conflict of interest. What a joke. His mind, like Dick Panabaker’s was made up from day 1. They will jeopardize our health for the idiotic goal of giving the impression Kootenai County is open for new business.

The legacy Compton and Panabaker will leave future generations is that they sold out to a bully corporation that cares so little about residents that it refused to compromise and move a few miles to a safer area. Steve F. Bell Coeur d’Alene attorney

Decision defies comprehension

Call me stupid, but I just don’t understand Kootenai County Commissioners Dick Panabaker and Dick Compton’s decision. Compton says that if the county rejected the railroad’s application, it might lose the right to apply any conditions to depot operations and the issue could go to the federal Surface Transportation Board for relief.

By this analogy, we should allow Richard Butler to build an Aryan Nations hate depot in our region for fear of regulation from the feds.

Even if you buy all the arguments from Burlington Northern that it can protect our aquifer, some important, common sense issues are being ignored by Panabaker and Compton.

Popular opinion is squarely against endangering our aquifer and allowing the depot to be built. Do the people no longer matter? What if there is an accident? There’s no second chance when you destroy an aquifer that hundreds of thousands of people depend on.

There is no economic benefit to either North Idaho or Eastern Washington residents who depend on the aquifer. The value of a safe, healthy drinking water supply far exceeds any other benefit this depot might provide.

Conditions imposed by the commissioners raise several questions. Who will enforce the conditions and what are the consequences for violating them? Look how many fines Kaiser Aluminum pays for exceeding its pollution allowances. What good did fines and consequences do to those who suffered from the Valdez spill? Doesn’t anyone remember Love Canal?

Where will the “alternate drinking water” come from that must be supplied to “anyone whose water is contaminated by the depot”? Peter H. Grubb Coeur d’Alene

Referendum was called for

Re: “Depot above aquifer approved,” (March 7). It’s outrageous that it was approved - and by a handful of people! Something with far-reaching effects such as this should have to be on a public ballot with the people getting a say in it. After all, it’s the people who drink this water every day!

What a tragedy. It makes me want to sell my home now and beat the rush when the inevitable happens! Rebecka S. Green Medical Lake

How can we get a recall going?

Kootenai County Commissioners Dick Panabaker and Dick Compton have blatantly sold out their constituency by voting yes for the construction of the fuel depot over our drinking water. Now their spin doctors are working magic, “Don’t worry, they have the best technology available. This is really the best for the county.”

Yeah, right! I’ll bet the folks near the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant were told the same type of lies.

I am sick and tired of elected officials selling out their constituency. Not that it matters to our elected turncoats, but I’m wondering how I can start working with the committee to recall to these shameful and corrupt politicians. Ron L. Johnson Post Falls

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

High fuel prices government’s fault

Regarding escalating fuel prices: It’s our money!

Folks, here we go again. Our legislators and executive branch of the government have allowed us to get into another pickle that will affect every citizen. And the sad thing is, most of us have been through this one once before.

Remember the 1970s when the price of fuel skyrocketed? What’s the main topic around your work and neighborhood with friends and co-workers these days? The price of gas just paid at the pumps and the expected price this summer.

Didn’t we solve this problem in the ‘70s with increased reserves, expanding technologies to discover new sources on U.S. territories and legislation that permitted more drilling? What happened to the great plan by Congress and the president to prevent past events from ever happening again?

The increased cost of fuel will impact all of us, and especially the low income, fixed income and poor. By not paying attention, our Legislators have allowed this fuel crisis to escalate. This crisis can be controlled with a concerted effort of our Congress and President Clinton. We just need to let them know how we feel about it. After all, it’s just our money they are absorbing, again.

Write to President Clinton and your senators. David Keister Medical Lake

VIOLENCE

Guns a mortal threat in today’s society

Joseph P. Domon, Jr. (Letters, March 10) is correct that guns aren’t the reason for violence. But what both he and Steve Morse (Letters, March 10) don’t get is that human attitudes in this society changed after 1963. Children were watching violent movies, Morse, even in the mid-20th century - movies meant for a much older audience.

What children did not do, was use the movies they watched as an excuse to kill their classmates. But, in the 1980s, if children were dissed, the gun became a means of revenge. If children began to covet their classmates’ clothing, the gun became the means to an end. If young people were mad at the world, the gun became the means to an end. This attitude change since the 1980s has continued to plague society.

Instead of looking for scapegoats, an argument that gun controllers use, both Domon and Morse could address the burden of responsibility that society does hold for why this country is violent, fearful, in it solely for themselves - and with an easy access to guns. That is the proper mix for a Columbine High School massacre and for 6-year olds killing each other. Joan E. Harman Coeur d’Alene

In today’s society, you need a gun

The March 4 Detroit News cartoon was an excellent portrayal of where we are in this society. President Clinton spouts off with rhetoric blaming guns for the violence, ignoring that guns are inanimate and that our culture is immersed in immorality, child neglect, dissolution of the family, disrespect for marriage, commitment and the like.

The cartoon supports the National Rifle Association. So do I.

Drug dealers and other criminals have no problem getting guns. Because of the increase in violence and lack of respect for property rights of others, this is a wake-up call for those who are peaceful and unarmed. We need to get a gun and take shooting practice for our protection from thugs, and before the government bans all purchases of firearms. It is our constitutional right. Chris Stone Moses Lake

PEOPLE IN SOCIETY

Development `isolation’ is just fine

I read with interest Julie Titone’s Feb. 28 article, “More people live in world apart,” with the underlying message of isolation. My husband and I moved to a gated PUD - Whisperwood, at 19th and Sullivan - two years ago. Most of the families are older than us. We are considered to be “the kids,” because we both still work and go inline skating with the grandchildren when they visit. We, too, have found ourselves isolated - from the very things we left when we moved here: barking dogs, speeding traffic, eyesore automobiles and neighborhood homes falling into disrepair.

We now find ourselves surrounded by homeowners with like values - a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, pleasant green areas, safe streets and no barking dogs. We share Saturday morning coffees, monthly potlucks, holiday dinners, lunches out on the town, card games and book groups. If this is isolation, we wish we’d done it years sooner! Ruth P. Andrew Veradale

Golfer’s gaffe brought on trouble

Rob McDonald’s recent column, “Golfers are ambushed by prejudice,” says a lot about his lack of understanding of the courtesies and etiquette of the game. He rightfully deplores the prejudice displayed by the group playing ahead of him that day but seems not to understand that he and his partners probably made the situation worse.

Due to the potential for injury, hitting a golf ball into the group playing in front of you is about the worst thing you can do on a golf course. Should it happen, it is not the responsibility of the wronged party to “mention it at the next hole,” as McDonald contends. Rather, it is the responsibility of the player hitting the shot to shout “fore” in warning, followed immediately by an apology. To hit into the group ahead a second time is beyond comprehension and few golfers would fault their reaction of hitting the ball back.

Rather than being concerned with this “flagrant” violation of the rules of golf, McDonald might better be concerned with how his own flagrant violations of the etiquette of golf contributed to the subsequent confrontation. Robert Mielbrecht Spokane

EVENTS

Honor presidents on own days

I was glad to read the Feb. 23 column by Philip Terzian of the Providence Journal, regarding Presidents Day and Maryland Rep. Roscoe Bartlett’s bill HR1363. I hope it passes so we can dig ourselves out of this part of the 1968 Monday holiday law, which I’ve never favored. Even though it wasn’t intended that the two presidents’ birthdays be observed together, it has turned out that way.

Abraham Lincoln, born Feb. 12, 1809, and George Washington, born Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11 by the old-style calendar of Julius Caesar, before we adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1751) were quite different types of men.

I try to always observe Washington’s birthday by displaying my Betsy Ross flag on Feb. 22. In 1932, people in this country observed the 200th anniversary by attending parties in early 1700s-style clothing, much of it sold by Montgomery Ward.

In a California grammar school in the 1930s, we kids sang this song: Oh, little month of February, you are filled with big events; But, we love you best because you gave us two great presidents. Washington, our noble hero, lessons find his life in parts: First in war, then first in peace, and always first within our hearts. Lincoln, loved by all the nation; what a wondrous man was he: Undivided, kept our land, and set a grateful people free. Lillian O. Forster Spokane

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Enough of Alltus’ demagoguery

Ah, the hypocrisy of it all! State Rep. Jeff Alltus’ latest attempt to privatize public TV for showing “It Is Elementary” reminds us why Idaho receives such a negative image. He does this in the name of other values but it’s really hypocritical bigotry.

I did not see “It Is Elementary” on public TV, not because I feared becoming a homosexual. But now I plan to see it if it’s shown again. I did, however see “Amazing Grace,” produced by public TV.

There is a better opportunity for Alltus to impose his misguided, myopic vision of demagoguery on his irrational, radical, right-wing, nonthinking cohorts and leave the rest of us to think for ourselves. He should propose a law that all who think like him must watch “Amazing Grace” on public TV. They might learn something, perhaps reconciliation, as John Newton did.

The author of “Amazing Grace,” John Newton, a slave trader, felt so guilty about his role in creating human misery that he became a minister and later wrote the words to the hymn. This became part of his penance and his redemption.

Luckily for Idaho, there were some thinking members of the Legislature, such as Rep. Wayne Meyer, who voted not to print Alltus’ bill. Let Alltus and his cohorts, who fear thoughtful information and differing points of view, decide on their own what they should not watch and what they should not learn. He must stop the hypocrisy and stop trying to impose his demagoguery on the rest of us. Larry M. Belmont Coeur d’Alene

Measure `trashed,’ not tabled

The Shoshone County Planning and Zoning Commission heard the voice of the people loud and clear at the public meeting March 8 at the courthouse in Wallace. The issue at hand was a draft ordinance for sewage disposal on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River.

Contrary to the headline of the Handle section of The Spokesman-Review, this draft was not tabled. It was unanimously voted to recommend to the county commissioners that it be “trashed in its entirety”.

It was indeed moving to see the approximately 250 concerned citizens turn out for this meeting and put forth a united effort to protect their rights. This document was directed solely to unfair restrictions and permit fees to privately owned recreational lots on the North Fork.

The letters and public testimony to the zoning commission are a true statement of concern and a stand for good citizenship.

On behalf of the North Fork River Campers Association, our heartfelt thanks to each of you for your support. Also, a special thanks to the planning and zoning commission for listening and acting on behalf of the voice of the people. Claudia M. Howe, Joan L. Dorsett and Tammy Oliver North Fork River Campers Association, Post Falls

Recall is voters’ bid for attention

The recall of councilwoman Nancy Sue Wallace has nothing to do with her daring to dream the big dream. It is about the oligarchy that has been created at City Hall at the behest of Hagadone Hospitality.

Wallace, Councilman Chris Copstead and especially Mayor Steve Judy don’t seem to want to listen to the voters’ voices. A recall is the only option left to citizens of Coeur d’Alene. Maybe, just maybe, this recall action will get their attention. George W. Greenfield Coeur d’Alene

Good ol’ boys will be good ol’ boys

Methinks the “good ol’ boy” ethic is still alive and well in North Idaho, if the recent decision at a public hearing about a request for a second continuance on the Squaw Bay Rock Quarry conditional use permit is any indication. And the good ol’ boys don’t even have to show up to win.

Should anyone feel in the mood for some cheap entertainment, might I recommend attending the next hearing on May 4 and any subsequent hearings as well. Many Squaw Bay residents in attendance indicated that they will not be able to attend this meeting to voice their opinion, so there should be plenty of available seating. Keith D. Cotter Harrison, Idaho