Arrow-right Camera

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

Letters for Jan. 29, 2022

Stockton and vaccines

Regarding comments from John Stockton and Aaron Rodgers on the topic of COVID-19 vaccines:

What if, in the 1950s, Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was publicly questioned by George Mikan (Minneapolis Lakers) and Otto Graham (Cleveland Browns)?!? How inappropriate and harmful would that have been? Of course, information didn’t flow as freely back then, and people weren’t as susceptible to conspiracy theories. There should never be a time when nonexpert opinions matter. Period.

P.S. I met Otto Graham when he was the athletic director at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in th ’70s. I am positive he would have known better than to poison the discussion of the public health emergency posed by polio. I’m confident of the same from George Mikan. I wish the same could be said of today’s athletes/celebrities.

Bob Legier

Loon Lake, Wash.

Stockton’s research

Ah, Spokane! Born, raised and educated there. That education must be why I have such great ideas.

Here is a way to save the government a ton of money. We should abolish the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Drop the “Health” portion of the Department of Health Education and Welfare and perhaps work to abolish the World Health Organization.

Then, we could hire John Stockton for a few million dollars per year as our universal health guru. He says he’s done the research which comes out contrary to all these expensive scientists but he says he’s right. Who am I to argue.

Deadly accurate (if you get my drift), health information at a minuscule price. What a great deal.

Fred Brown

Dallas, Ore.

Correlation vs. causation

It is obvious that our educational system doesn’t do enough to teach critical thinking. Correlation vs. causation comes to mind. If someone dies and they also have been vaccinated against COVID then obviously they died from the vaccine. This brings to mind the idea that in New York City, in the summer, the purchase of ice cream cones and the murder rate increase at about the same rate. Hence eating ice cream must increase the murder rate. Unfortunately people don’t understand real causation that actually establishes a scientific link between one event and another. Unfortunately, anti-vaxxers research is typically finding anecdotal evidence to support their beliefs and believing correlation is evidence of cause. Hopefully we can get past this ignorance and corral this pandemic with the scientifically proven vaccines.

Keith Hegg

Spokane

Money pit

I was shocked, shocked I say, to learn that the new downtown stadium was going to wipe out some of the much-needed parking lot for the Veterans Arena. I read in the paper that the Spokane Public Facilities District is getting a loan for $5.25 million from the Spokane County Commissioners to purchase the land where Value Village is located so they can turn it into a parking lot. Why didn’t Mark Richard and Nadine Woodward and the downtown partnership tell us of extra expense? Do you think they will have to charge for parking at this new parking lot so they repay the loan? This is beginning to smell a lot like the River Park Square parking garage fiasco.

I fondly remember going to high school football games at Joe Albi stadium. There is so much open space around the stadium that there is room for all the free parking you could ever need. And the good part is the land is already owned by Spokane Public Schools and the voters said they would prefer the Joe Albi site for the new stadium. I have a suggestion for the name for the new downtown stadium, the Mark Richard Memorial Money Pit.

Rick Johnson

Spokane

Man up, Bingle

Here we go again, will it never end? Jonathan Bingle, a newly elected Spokane City councilman, refuses to wear a mask on city property, defying state and city mandates.

The mask … Well Jonathan whatever your point is, you made it, you got media coverage or whatever. Also interesting that you seem to feel that if people are uncomfortable working around you they can go home and work. Aren’t you special one month on the job? And this causes issues for other council members who I am sure have better things to do.

There are a lot of valid studies that show wearing a masking beneficial, but that really isn’t the point. Respect and caring for the people you come in contact with is what wearing a mask is really about. Time to man up, Jonathan.

Larry Reisnouer

Spokane

Letters Policy

The Spokesman-Review invites original letters on local topics of public interest. Your letter must adhere to the following rules:

  • No more than 250 words
  • We reserve the right to reject letters that are not factually correct, racist or are written with malice.
  • We cannot accept more than one letter a month from the same writer.
  • With each letter, include your daytime phone number and street address.
  • The Spokesman-Review retains the nonexclusive right to archive and re-publish any material submitted for publication.

Unfortunately, we don’t have space to publish all letters received, nor are we able to acknowledge their receipt. (Learn more.)

Submit letters using any of the following:

Our online form
Submit your letter here
Mail
Letters to the Editor
The Spokesman-Review
999 W. Riverside Ave.
Spokane, WA 99201
Fax
(509) 459-3815

Read more about how we crafted our Letters to the Editor policy