Letters for Feb. 20, 2022

CVSD School Board

At a recently advertised meeting for “district parents and voters” at which all five school board members were invited, I was distressed to hear that certain parents and concerned citizens were not allowed to attend.

I understand that one school board member, Pam Orebaugh, was in attendance, and did nothing to discourage the organizers from turning away these citizens. For a meeting promoted where “the goal for this meeting is a civil discourse that is intended to build trust between parents, students and district leaders,” it is appalling that mild-mannered citizens were turned away and called “the enemy” while one of the elected board members was present.

As a tax-paying citizen, I do not believe that this is the type of leadership that is appropriate in a civil society. We can have differences of opinion, and still listen and be respectful of others.

Colleen Robisch

Otis Orchards

Public education and democracy

I am a proud retired veteran.

Soldiers fought and gave their lives in many wars to guarantee us the right to a public education. America’s founders recognized the need for public education and made me realize that democracy requires maintaining that commitment!

Even before our Constitution, our founders advocated for the creation of a public education system. To this day we have shared an experiment in democracy, unlike anything the world had ever seen. James Madison the father of our Constitution, stated: “A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy.” Thomas Jefferson similarly argued: “Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, but it is education that makes that consent possible.”

While our public education system has been firmly established, the underlying challenges of maintaining it and achieving its goals are resurfacing and are under attack today. Our very own education story, right here in the Central Valley School District, is ultimately a story of the tension between the idea that our nation’s democracy rests on the foundation of education and the inability to ever deliver on that commitment fully.

Will political democracy and public education live and die together? We’re either going to deliver an education that is inherently designed to bring different people together in one place around common values and strengthen our democracy, or we will send them off into their unequal silos. Let the teachers teach. We have a choice!

Bob West

U.S. Army retired

Spokane Valley

New Alzheimer’s drug

I was very disappointed last month when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released their draft decision on Alzheimer’s treatments like Aduhelm. Their proposal is to only cover these types of FDA-approved drugs if someone is enrolled in a clinical trial. This is unacceptable. It leaves the vast majority of Medicare beneficiaries without coverage, including people like my husband who’s living with Alzheimer’s.

If this decision stands, only a privileged few will have access – those who can afford the hefty out-of-pocket cost of $28,600 a year. People facing Alzheimer’s should not have to go bankrupt to pay for a medication that could slow the progression of this devastating disease.

Patient advocacy groups like Alzheimer’s Association had been urging CMS to change this draft decision – and just last week, another glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, along with several GOP colleagues in the House, sent a letter to the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, urging him to abandon the draft decision and ensure more Medicare beneficiaries would have access to the drug.

Thank you, Rep. McMorris Rodgers for standing up for the needs and rights of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Luisa Paolone

Spokane

Coal politics in Washington state

Background: China has 1,400 coal plants; India has 1,200 coal plants of the 5,000 coal plants in the world. The U.S. has 245 coal plants. China and India alone have 120 new coal plants in construction. This data is from the internet. One will find many different numbers on the internet, but the conclusions are the same. While Washington state and the U.S. shut down coal plants, the rest of the world is adding new coal for electric generation and more planet pollution.

Locally, Washington state political and environmental groups have joined forces to pass legislation to shut down the Centralia Coal power plant and replace it with wind, solar, biomass and gas turbines. The result for the state of Washington will be to triple our electric rates, making Avista’s customers products and living more expensive. We will then import cheaper goods from China and other world countries, resulting in loss of jobs in Washington state and the U.S. The world coal use will increase in other countries to produce goods for the U.S. market resulting in an increase in world pollution.

So, what did we accomplish by not using low-cost energy from coal? If we keep our Washington cost of business competitive to the rest of the world, we will keep jobs here for our ever-growing population instead of shipping our jobs overseas. We should encourage more use of high efficiency coal plants, like Centralia here in the U.S. to “save the world.”

Dave Van Hersett Sr.

Spokane

Disappointed by current events

What a dismaying Page 1 on Feb. 9: A prestigious national foundation promoting criminal justice reform may rake back some of the millions of dollars it has invested here because of Spokane County officials’ resistance. At the same time, our county commissioners are giving the sheriff a nearly $400,000 armored military vehicle to use against “terrorists,” aka civilians.

County leadership is giving Spokane a black eye. In addition to resisting justice reform, our Republican commissioners have conspired with an incompetent and vindictive health district manager to defame and fire health officer Dr. Bob Lutz and have violated the intent of a new state law for broader representation on the local board of health by eliminating all medical doctors and stiffing any representation from Spokane, the state’s second largest city.

They’ve also fought unsuccessfully against expanding their board to include two additional commissioners; hired two political refugees from the administration of the defeated Donald Trump, including Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ brother; and have arrogantly moved to retain control over future county agendas to thwart progressive ideas.

Meanwhile, Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell fights racial equity progress while his unelected wife gives us a black eye nationwide by posting racist comments online.

In the 2022 election, county voters have a choice. They can elect two new commissioners and a new prosecutor, who already has a more moderate Republican opponent. And if they’ve had enough with the current commissioners, they can oust them as well. I’m calling for a clean slate.

Karen Dorn Steele

Spokane

Crypto mining at former newsprint facility

As Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid said, “Who are these guys?”

We have Allrise Capital which in turn owns Ponderay Industries. Another subsidiary called Merkle Standard is presently operating the former newsprint facility. Merkle has contracted with a company called Bitcoin Technology. Ponderay Data will do the crypto mining. Cascade Digital Mining is a partner that will hire full-time employees. Brookfield Renewable Energy is negotiating with the PUD for the power to run the operation. “Who is on first, What is on second and I Do Not Know” would be a good analogy.

Now comes out the information all the computer equipment is being purchased in China. If you are employed by any of these companies your paycheck, even if issued locally, will be in some ways tied to an offshore Cayman Islands banking relationship.

Outlining the above ownership and intertwined entities does not indicate the entire operation has a “smell.” Offshore ownership is a fact with many companies due to our inept tax laws. Plus, the corporate shield is erected to protect investors who under present reporting requirements can remain unnamed. All legal.

Beyond all of the unanswered questions above, the County and PUD needs to be very cautious. Do we want a viable, jobs-producing entity that enhances our economy? Or do we want to be the next national headline of a local community being left “without a chair when the music stops?”

Why am I suspicious of this proposed convoluted operation?

Robert W. Schutte

Newport

Reality please!

Regarding Rob Leach’s request to “Strip them of their power” advocating the removal of medical professionals (e.g. Fauci, Lutz), look at the facts: China reported COVID-19 to the world in December 2019, locked down cities and required masking/distancing of citizens, limiting current deaths to 5,712 (WHO data), while the United States has turned the viral epidemic into a political morass that questions scientists, scientific fact, and has resulted in 915,622 American deaths. All those deaths over a mask, 6 feet of distance and a vaccination. Embarrassing facts, if you believe in facts.

George A. Rickert

Sandpoint

Recent court decisions

Recent court decisions have been real “head scratchers,” to say the least.

Witness Spokane County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Anderson’s decision to allow a reduced sentence for the dump truck driver who displayed gross negligence in causing so much physical harm and property damage on Aug. 20, 2021. In addition, there was no mention in The Spokesman-Review of court-ordered restitution to victims and property/business owners nor any mandatory drug treatment for the offender. What a travesty of justice! Not to mention U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle’s decision to sentence a woman to only 21/2 years in prison who spent decades faking the results of strength tests on steel used in submarine construction and only requiring $50,000 in restitution for her crime.

It seems as though our criminal justice system lacks the will to impose appropriate sentences to fit the crimes committed. We should pay more attention to whom we elect/appoint as judges. Our system of justice is failing us and our society suffers as a result of it.

Mark Newbold

Spokane

The Big Lie

The “Big Lie” isn’t about the results of the last presidential election. Joe Biden was duly elected president after Vice President Mike Pence oversaw the certification of the election results.

The “Big Lie” is what Donald J. Trump did from 2011-20. On Feb. 9, Mazars (the accounting firm for the Trump Organization) severed relations and wrote a letter stating the following:

“We write to advise that the Statements of Financial Condition for Donald J. Trump for the years ending June 30, 2011 – June 30, 2020, should no longer be relied upon and you should inform any recipients thereof who are currently relying upon one or more of those documents that those documents should not be relied upon. We have come to this conclusion based, in part, upon the filings made by the New York Attorney General on January 18, 2022, our own investigation, and information received from internal and external sources.”

Having your accounting firm fire you is a big deal. Standby for Trump and the Trump Organization being indicted under the New York Racketeering / RICO Laws. Seeing Trump in an orange jumpsuit to match his orange makeup would make my day.

Mike McCarty

Spokane