Letters To The Editor
MINE WASTE CLEANUP
Cleanup is a two-state concern
On Nov. 14 Environmental Protection Agency ombudsman Bob Martin will be in Spokane for a public hearing on cleanup efforts for mining pollution in the Coeur d’Alene River Basin. Mining in the Silver Valley from 1880 to 2000 produced $4 billion worth of metals for corporations, investors and governments. The 72 million pounds of mine waste dumped into the waters of the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River are the unfortunate toxic legacy of these mines.
Tundra swans die from lead poisoning in the killing fields of the wetlands of the lower Coeur d’Alene River. Spokane Valley beaches now have warning signs placed by the Spokane Regional Health District alerting beach users to the danger from heavy metals in the beach sediment. These dead swans and health alerts are reminders that real health risks exist outside the 21-square-mile box that is the formally designated EPA Superfund site.
We the people of Washington who live downriver of this slow-moving toxic plume must tell the ombudsman that we must have a voice in the cleanup process. We can’t let the state of Idaho and environmentally weak Idaho congressional delegation control cleanup efforts of heavy metal poisons that originate in Idaho but threaten the health of the people of Washington. We need to tell Martin that our health interests need equal representation. Rob Benedetti, M.D. Spokane
My cleanup plan mischaracterized
Recently, some people falsely attacked my efforts to reform the flawed Superfund law and secure $250 million in federal support for Idaho’s cleanup plan in the Coeur d’Alene Basin. It is time to set the record straight.
Mine is a responsible effort to end the stalemate to allow prompt, fair cleanup of the basin. It is time that we in this region embrace a balanced, fair cleanup opportunity and place questions and controversy over Superfund designation behind us.
Superfund laws should generate cleanup funds by targeting all liable parties. Instead, special interests seek reforms that lessen their responsibility and place it on others. My approach is for comprehensive reform that balances changes fairly among all. Piecemeal reforms will result in failed cleanup efforts and continued high costs and litigation.
Opponents of my efforts accuse me of helping mining companies and argue that taxpayers should not pay for cleanup here. They are wrong:
The federal funds I seek for environmental restoration here are in addition to, not in lieu of, money from the mining companies. Mining companies should pay for their fair share of cleanup.
The federal government should pay for part of cleanup costs because it managed and used the mines’ output during World War II. My proposal funds the federal government’s share of liability.
I will continue to request federal funds to assist in cleanup, insist mining companies and all liable parties pay their fair share of the costs, and fight for comprehensive reform of Superfund so it is balanced and workable. U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo Idaho Falls
WASHINGTON STATE
DSHS predator plans faulty
The Citizen’s Action Committee of Medical Lake wants the Department of Social and Health Services to consider public safety before any other criteria when placing violent sexual predators into our communities.
DSHS is sacrificing safety for the convenience of placing legally defined sexually violent predators in our communities. How? By “facilitating” the 13-member Secure Site Placement Committee with six, and more, DSHS personnel into the “consensus” that would provide their greatest ease. They have pitted police response time against the legitimate protection of a buffer zone. Having the police arrive during a crime is better than arriving merely to clean up, investigate and file paperwork. But, in reality, actual response times for law enforcement are far longer than a few minutes.
DSHS has promised electronic tagging and monitoring, to ensure that these offenders can be found, making response time even less critical.
But that’s not the worst of it. They have talked about state land for housing predators but in fact plan to put sexually violent predators into communities.
There is absolutely nothing in the proposed criteria to keep DSHS from placing these predators right next door to your house. Don’t take my word for it, look for yourself.
http://www.wa.gov/dshs/geninfo/secure.html
I therefore request a one-mile buffer zone from any location where children and vulnerable adults live or congregate, with electronic tagging and monitoring of the predators, and that these should be considered before police response time. I hope every Washington citizen will join me. Ken Guidry, director Citizen Action Committee, Medical Lake
What will they think of next?
Now a halfway house for sex offenders - lucky us residents of the West Plains community near Medical Lake. Everything no one else wants ends up here. Maybe they should just rename it the Waste Plains.
When they come, could they please wear leg chains and long skirts so everyone will know who they are? Or a big “S `’on their noses for “sex offender”? Let’s be fair about this and give us a chance to know who they are. Vina M. Mikkelsen Medical Lake
LAW AND JUSTICE
High court at odds with people’s will
Re: “State Supreme Court strikes down I-695” (Oct. 27).
Apparently, eight of the nine court members decided Initiative 695 violates the state Constitution by allowing citizens to say no to any arbitrary increase in taxes and fees by our government. To someone like me, the message is perfectly clear: “We don’t care if you don’t like what we’re doing because we have the power of the state backing us and all you have is outrage!”
But then the Legislature decided to toss a bone to the people by making the $30 annual license tab fee permanent. Apparently, they understood what might happen to those who opposed it. Unlike members of the Supreme Court, who hold lifetime appointments, the members of our Legislature have to convince people they should remain in Olympia to continue representing them.
I wish I knew the name of the one holdout on the Supreme Court. I would like to tell that person I admire their courage for taking a stand in support of the citizens of this state. Ernest J. Chamberlain Spokane
PEOPLE IN SOCIETY
Good Scout welcome news indeed
I read with appreciation Doug Clark’s (Oct. 19) column about high school senior Bryceson Tenold organizing construction of a chalet for disabled skiers near the Mount Spokane lodge as his Eagle Scout project. As the charter representative for the church that sponsors Boy Scout Troop 325, I’ve had the pleasure of watching Bryceson grow from a boy of 11 to a young man at 17.
Through Scouting, Bryceson has learned about leadership and has developed a sense of responsibility. When he was 14 he led a 50-mile backpacking trip in the Olympic National Forest. He has learned how to conduct himself in ways some adults never master. During a campout at Bead Lake a younger Scout was acting inappropriately. Bryceson was a leader. Instead of berating the boy in front of the entire troop, I watched Bryceson take him aside and talk to him privately.
It’s said that of any 100 boys who become Scouts, all will learn something from Scouting but only four will reach Eagle rank. While only one in four boys in America will become Scouts, three out of four of the leaders of this nation were Scouts.
The Boy Scout and Girl Scout movements provide a terrific opportunity for boys and girls to be self-sufficient, to grasp opportunities, to make ethical choices and finish what they start. At a time when the headlines of our newspapers scream at us with stories of violence and sorrow, it’s satisfying to read about a young person who is a role model for all of us. Greg B. Plummer Manito United Methodist Church, Spokane
Funding need an aspect of good story
Doug Clark’s Oct. 19 column told about Bryceson Tenold, an aspiring Eagle Scout, and his project to build a new adaptive ski building at Mount Spokane for the use of skiers with disabilities. This great article was much appreciated by many of us in the community with disabilities. It’s heartwarming to discover again that there are wonderful people in our community who will take on such a project.
The Disability Awareness, Surveillance and Health Promotion Project at Spokane’s Health Improvement Partnership took advantage of the public acknowledgment of Bryceson’s project and invited him to talk about it at one of our Advisory Council meetings. As the DASH project works to help people with disabilities in the Spokane community achieve the means to more fully participate in community activities, the Advisory Council was delighted to have Bryceson join us and provide project details and anecdotes. He also shared with the DASH group the need for additional funding to complete the adaptive ski building project. A fund has been established at Washington Trust Bank to receive donations toward the building.
The Spokesman-Review’s publishing of Bryceson’s story is much appreciated. Positive articles like this highlight the valuable contributions of Spokane’s youths, articulate the civic responsibility of citizens and express the inclusiveness that makes Spokane such a great place to live, especially for people with disabilities. Alas, the funding need was not specifically addressed in Clark’s column.
Thank you for your interest in this deserving young man. Diane Weldert, project coordinator Health Improvement Partnership, Spokane
Ostrich approach bad for region
Regarding the Aryan Nations parade, Oct 29.
I applaud the group of protesters who came to downtown Coeur d’Alene to show opposition to Richard Butler and his followers’ messages of hate. However, I was saddened by some of the comments made in the article, “Aryan Nation parade: Raining on his parade.”
I can’t believe that some people look at the presence of a hate group parade as a mere inconvenience to their parking and shopping plans. It is this apathy that continues to make the Northwest a haven for hate groups. For too long a majority of the community has chosen to turn their backs toward and ignore the radical and racist ideas of these groups because they don’t want to call attention to a small group of extremists. This community silence has given Idaho and Eastern Washington a black eye in the views of the nation as being a region filled with intolerance.
These groups and their rallies are more than a “spectacle that interfere[s] with our day.” These racist groups and their rallies are reminders that we have a long way to go and should serve as a call to action for all anti-racist people.
Butler may be broke and operating under another name but he and many others are still out there. Pretending they don’t exist and going on with our lives is not going to make them go away. Shelley Pinckney Seattle
What regrettable taste in bands
I suggest that, in the future, The Spokesman-Review divide the category of Favorite Local Musician/Band into two categories: original and cover.
I read with a grimace the results of your readers’ poll and observed that the only local, original talent listed was fourth-place-tie runner-up, Too Slim and the Taildraggers. It’s depressing to think that of all of the original talent that exists in the local scene, three cover bands won the “favorite” for this category.
The best Spokane has to offer is sequenced-geriatric-cheese-pop covers? Sad indeed.
Perhaps this simply proves a notion that many of Spokane’s art and music patrons are small-minded xenophobes who fear anything that hasn’t been spoon fed to them by mass media and the homogenized outlets that peddle drivel to the unblinking masses.
Oldies and country covers? You must be kidding.
Small wonder that so much local talent flees to more supportive pastures. Dave Fish Spokane
BELIEFS
To forgive is divine
I have not walked in the shoes of those who lost friends and loved ones at the hands of Robert Yates Jr., so I am not able to feel their pain and anger. But I extend my sympathy. I have seen, heard and read a lot of hatred manifest toward this man and it is understandable, considering the enormity of the crimes and the reality of our emotions.
On the other hand, if Yates has truly repented before God of his awful deeds he is forgiven. The Bible declares it in First John 1-9. Such is the grace of God. Whether Yates was sincere or not is not our place to judge. I hope he was. He will certainly suffer the consequences for his deeds one way or another by our justice system.
We are admonished to forgive others’ their trespasses, and if God can do it can we do less? Let those of us who are without sin cast the first stone. Ruth C. Russell Spokane
IN THE PAPER
Concert review a couple of notes short
Re: Ann Le Bar’s review of the Oct. 27 Spokane Symphony concert (Spokesman-Review, Oct. 29).
I also attended the concert and agree that the symphony played very well. But I am mystified by the total omission of the performances by the Spokane Symphony and Chorale and the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus. It seems obvious to me that the “Carmina Burana” could not have been performed without them.
Anyone who read the review and did not attend the concert would not know what outstanding performances were given by these two groups. We are fortunate to have such talent in our city. Hopefully, Le Bar will present a more accurate and professional review of concerts in the future. Elizabeth A. Christy Spokane
Chorale, children’s chorus omitted
On the evening of Oct. 27, people in a packed Opera House were privileged to hear a remarkable concert by the Spokane Symphony, outstanding soloists, the Spokane Chorale and Children’s Chorus.
Unfortunately, your reviewer did not even mention the chorale and the children’s chorus in her review. If it were not for these splendid singers there would have been no need to even perform the beautiful “Carmina Burana.” Shame on your reviewer. Donald H. Head Spokane
Reviewer not up to the task
After 37 years’ experience as a music educator at both high school and college levels; professional conductor and singer with Expo `74, Spokane Symphony, Spokane Opera, Northwest Bach Choir and musical director of 30 churches in Spokane, I take exception to Ann Le Bar’s review in Oct. 29 Spokesman-Review.
How can a reviewer critique “Carmina Burana,” which is one of the major chorale and symphonic works in the symphonic literature, without mentioning the choirs? The “Carmina Burana” cannot be performed without a chorale and a children’s chorus.
After all the hard preparation and study that went into Friday night’s performance by Fabio Mechetti, the soloists, the Spokane Symphony, the Spokane Symphony Chorale, and Tamara Schumpan’s fine Spokane Area Chidren’s Chorus, it is a disgrace that Le Bar did not do her homework on Carl Orff’s music and understand that all the parts are important for this major work to be successful. Perhaps The Spokesman-Review can find a person with the skills to review this level of major symphonic work next time. Michael W. Caldwell Spokane
U.S. AND THE WORLD
Death squad victims’ kin still wait
Serial killer Robert Yates will never be free to kill again. While his 408-year prison sentence may be of little consolation to his victims’ loved ones, it is a measure of justice rarely shared by relatives and friends of thousands murdered by serial killers trained at the infamous School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga.
Thanks to The Spokesman-Review, its readers know the names of Yates’ victims. How many of those readers recognize the names Oscar Romero, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan? Romero was Archbishop of San Salvador when he was assassinated while saying mass. Ford and Clarke were Maryknoll Sisters, Kazel an Ursuline nun and Donovan a lay churchwoman when they were raped and murdered in El Salvador. Orders to kill Romero and the four women may have come from SOA graduate Roberto d’Aubuisson, a right-wing politician and notorious death squad leader.
While the brutal murders were reported in many U.S. newspapers, the names of thousands killed by SOA-led troops in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and other Latin American countries are generally unknown in the United States.
On Nov. 18 and 19 at Fort Benning, the names of many “unknown” will appear on white crosses carried by nonviolent peace and justice activists dedicated to closing the school that trains serial killers. Richard Harger Spokane