Letters for March 1, 2023

Turn on your lights

Please call Gov. Inslee and inform him of the following in response to his recent interest in traffic safety. In 1989, Canada made it illegal to drive with your lights off; noncompliance get you a $179 fine. Because of lights-on driving, Canada achieved a 15% reduction in auto accidents. My only and most serious accident was due to a car that hit me with no lights on. On many occasions I have observed autos with lights off after sunset, during dense fog and heavy snowfall.

Why they mandated motorcyclists to operate with lights on and not autos was a decision made with no justification.

I think that the only opposition to mandating lights would be those who profit from accidents, death and destruction.

Mark Matulich

Spokane

CMR’s dream job

On Feb. 17, front page, top of the fold, Cathy McMorris Rodgers uses her “dream job” to blame Joe Biden for the fentanyl crisis. Her public ignorance on the history of the opioid epidemic is one more reason why she is not fit to represent us. The opioid epidemic, which grew to attention in the early 1990s and has grown in three noted phases, should be her talking point and provide direction for resolution, instead of her continued angry blaming political rant. She is not using her “dream job” for the greater good with such dribble.

I would love to see her set her sites on a deep self-examination as she honored and knelt at the bidding of the “former guy” and did not stand strong when the very rule of law and the Constitution were threatened!

As people were excoriated with lies and hatred at his very hands, she said nothing and did nothing. Yet after the State of the Union address by President Biden highlighting a country on the mend, she steps right up with disparaging comments and disrespect.

She misuses taxpayer monies to create a bill to rename the Energy and Commerce Committee, to the applause of the oil and gas industry. As a climate change denier based on a “belief” system not on scientific facts, she enhances the “dream” of the oil and gas industry that donated more to her campaign in 2021-2022 that it had before.

Hold her accountable.

Elizabeth Cobbs

Spokane

S-R misses on content

I take The Spokesman-Review primarily to get the local news, more than just the “if it bleeds, it leads” stories that seem to dominate your pages recently.

Sure, it’s easier journalism to get the news off the police blotter and maybe it sells papers for some. But I would appreciate fewer, smaller stories about the violent stuff around town and the nation and more stories about issues and events that really matter in our community.

The Inlander often kicks your fanny in this department.

Claudia Craven

Spokane

Crypto mining falls short of hype

Thanks to The Spokesman-Review for publishing Kaylee Tornay’s two recent articles (Feb. 10 and 22) on crypto mining in our area. If her work reflects the kind of objective and independent journalism we can expect from Investigate West, the public will be well-served.

The articles come at a time when I have been involved in my own kind of FOMO (fear of missing out) crypto research, through articles, television programs and podcasts. The most favorable conclusion I can come to is that at the margins, some of the related technologies hold promise in area such as identifying authentic (vs. “deep fake”) videos and improving payment systems in underdeveloped countries. However, as an individual who is trying not to be too dispirited by the effects of climate change, it is infuriating to see so much energy wasted on a highly questionable enterprise that has fallen far short of the hype we have been subjected to in recent years.

While some of us are trying to do at least our own tiny bit to help the planet (installing solar panels, for one thing), others have been allowed to use our precious resources at minimal cost for purposes such as the highly inefficient “proof of work” process at the core of crypto mining. The damage done will not be ameliorated by greenwashing. In fact, it appears that the most appropriate use of the term sustainability with respect to the crypto revolution involves the old fashioned “greater fool” investment concept.

Ron Doyen

Spokane

City Line worth the money

In a letter to the editor of Thursday, Jeanie Smith decried the taxpayer funds expended on STA’s new City Line, saying they would have been better spent on “resource areas” for the homeless.

The City Line is largely funded by a federal grant of $53.4 million, a small fraction of the $1.5 billion being spent on the North Spokane Corridor. It is estimated to contribute $175 million to our economy in 20 years. Its eastern terminus is Spokane Community College, which provides the kind of job and technical training that will prepare homeless individuals for stable employment. It will reduce traffic congestion, accidents and expensive wear on our roads. By reducing pollution, it will reduce medical expenses for asthma and other respiratory problems.

I believe that this is putting tax dollars to good use.

Linda Carroll

Spokane