Letters for Aug. 16, 2023

Context for EV argument

My wife and I are the owners of a Tesla Model X we bought used.

The article in the Aug. 9 Spokesman-Review was excellent (“Driving electric can save you money in Washington”). I would like to bring up a couple of additional points.

There is a misconception that EV owners ‘cheat’ the system because they do not pay tax at the pump. We do, however, pay a road use fee annually when we renew our license tabs. This year that fee was $150.

Secondly, while the article mentioned the saving of electricity versus gasoline/diesel, there are other savings to consider such as no tune-ups, no oil changes, no radiator maintenance, no exhaust maintenance, etc.

One other thing to consider: if an EV owner lives in an area where Avista provides power, Avista will supply, for free, a level two charger (240 volts.) All the homeowner has to do is pay 50% of the installation.

I hope this information helps anyone considering purchasing an electric vehicle.

Lonnie V. Scott

Spangle

Maui tourney article misses the mark

I found Theo Lawson’s article in the Aug. 20 Sports section, “Maui fires jeopardize upcoming tourney,” to be appalling and insensitive.

To date, 96 people have lost their lives to the fires, devastating surviving families and friends. Hundreds of homes and businesses have been lost, with the community of Lahaina essentially being wiped out. In the face of this catastrophe Mr. Lawson chooses to focus on the impact the fire may have on future basketball games – really?

I doubt that the people of Maui are focusing on something as frivolous as a college sporting event. This is an example of how colleges and universities (including alum and fans) have lost their way, allowing sports to be all-encompassing. In addition to academics playing second fiddle when it comes to allocating resources (especially to football and basketball), it now appears that loss of lives and property due to a disaster are less important than where a future tournament will be played.

To clarify, I am a Duke alum, and have lived in Spokane for over 20 years. I enjoy college basketball (especially Duke and Gonzaga), and watching a football game between rivals during a fall afternoon. And sports can play a role as part of the overall educational experience. However, taking up newspaper space on the location of games that are three months away, rather than focusing on the heartbreak and calamity the people of Maui are facing is, in my opinion, poor journalism and in bad taste.

Gary Klingsporn

Spokane

Division on Division

The changes proposed to make Division more pedestrian and bike-friendly will only work if Spokane also changes zoning to encourage and incentivize high-density residential building along with existing commercial development. We all love to visit the beautiful European cities where everything is within walking distance but we refuse to accept the high-density housing that is needed to support it. High-density residential zoning along Division must be implemented along with the transit, biking, and walking improvements to make it successful.

Some people don’t like the idea of high-density housing but many of us, especially senior citizens and young people, love the idea of being able to walk out our front doors to nearby bars, coffee shops, grocery stores and all the other services we need without having to drive.

Al Parso-York

Spokane

No more single family zones

Mr. Gardener’s response to concerns about increased density are troubling (“City paves way for more townhouses,” Aug. 8). He just cites the Growth Management Plan when residents raise concern about unchecked growth and infrastructure. “The Plan” doesn’t give funding for increased sewage, fire, police, sidewalks, parks, schools or bike lanes. Many streets in the city of Spokane still aren’t paved. Arterials like Driscoll Boulevard, with three public elementary schools, still doesn’t have sidewalks and bike lanes for children to safely get to school. Many parents and day cares continue to drop off children so they arrive safely, since elementary schools are designed for walkers, not school bus service. Very few neighbors have parking restrictions and with increase street parking, emergency vehicles may be hindered in response.

I wonder why the city of Spokane doesn’t encourage builders to go up like downtown and build middle income condos near transportation hubs? Condos are wonderful middle housing for seniors and young adults. The city of Spokane Valley Planning Commission continues to consider these issues while allowing for growth in small lots in the Urban Corridor in the R4 zone. This zone has sidewalks, bike lanes, public transportation, services, etc.

Sherri Robinson

Former Spokane Valley Planning Commission member

Spokane Valley

Support both common sense gun laws and Second Amendment

Thank you to Carrie Cardenas for her recent letter on the hypocrisy of Cathy McMorris Rodgers (“McMorris Rodgers shows hypocrisy,” Aug. 10). I wholeheartedly agree.

I recently read that Cathy has reintroduced the bipartisan Safe to Tell Act which helps create threat reporting systems in schools nationwide. Sounds good, thank you. But let’s not forget that Cathy also voted against the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expands access to community mental health programs, provides federal money to provide those services in schools, increases background checks for those under 21 years of age wanting to purchase a firearm and makes it easier to take weapons away from people adjudged dangerous. Cathy also voted against the Protecting Our Kids Act which would establish new criminal offenses to federal firearm laws such as gun trafficking, and expands regulations on guns without serial numbers, bump stocks and ghost guns. And don’t get me started on her votes against the Violence Against Women Act, Assault Weapons Ban, and the Enhanced Background Check Act.

She doesn’t really care about the safety of our kids in schools or any of us, for that matter. It’s the guns, Cathy. You can support the Second Amendment and, at the same time, pass common sense laws to reduce gun violence and address mental health.

Patti Livingstone

Spokane

How about ‘vote to protect our democracy’?

We’ve seen recent letters to the editor about voting your conscience or voting accordingly.

I suggest reviewing Dave Barker’s July 30 and Jacalee Michaelis’ June 30 letters (“Vote with your conscience,” “Vote accordingly”).

Michaelis lists the “achievements” she credits Trump with while president. Barker presents a rebuttal and a balanced scorecard of Trump’s “achievements” while in office, and his current “achievements/actions” to date. I use the term “achievements” loosely.

Trump has clearly warned us he will “greatly expand” the powers of the presidency if he is returned to office. He will bring our society into one that supports his autocratic intentions just as Hitler did in 1933. Separation of powers will be removed.

Our rules of law will no longer exist. We can kiss our rights provided by our current Constitution goodbye. Our two-party political system will cease to exist. We’ll all be members of the MAGA party and mandated to vote for the dictator and his idiot puppets. Congress as we know it would be disbanded with only the MAGA party members remaining. We saw the damage Trump did in his first term and continues to do daily. The damaging second term possibilities are endless with Trump in control when he eliminates our democracy. Imagine our stars and stripes being replaced by a white flag with a big red T.

If you truly have a conscience, please vote accordingly. We’ve heard the saying, “There’s no cure for stupid.” Let’s not prove it.

Randall Ulberg

Spokane

Honoring Riverkeeper Jerry White

As a long-time Sierra Club member, I and my SC colleagues were very happy to see the fine article on Spokane Riverkeeper Jerry White (“ ‘The visionary’: Spokane Riverkeeper Jerry White Jr. stepping down after a decade advocating for waterway,” Aug. 6). We consider him a river and aquifer hero. We worked with Jerry on efforts to move the Spokane City Council to adopt summer water conservation measures beginning back in 2015, and Jerry has been a good partner in our efforts to establish a total maximum daily load for cancer-causing PCBs in the Spokane River. Since we settled our ten-year-old PCB-related lawsuit with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2021, Jerry has worked with us in monitoring the EPA’s work in establishing the TMDL.

We salute Jerry as a man not only of great love for the Spokane River and its watershed, of deep knowledge about the river and its needs, and of enormous energy for protecting the river’s resources and their contribution to the welfare of our community. We salute him also as a man of a humble and winsome nature, as a sensitive and effective leader, and as a person of integrity and honor. Even when he is no longer officially Spokane Riverkeeper, we know he will be present for us both in his past accomplishments and in his continuing involvement in honoring and promoting our right relationship with the river and the natural world.

Tom Soeldner

Valleyford