Letters for Sept. 12, 2023

Voting for Mead School Board candidates

“Keep our schools free of political social agendas,” a previous letter urged voters in Mead (“Mead School Board race,” Sept. 3). Ironically, it was written by a partisan-elected precinct committee officer with their own political agenda in mind. Still … as a longtime resident, parent and educator in the Mead School District, I couldn’t agree with their statement more!

Last year in Mead, we endured school board directors trying to push failed state legislation in our district, creating division over political hot-topic issues not present in our schools. As a nonpartisan office, school board director candidates should be positive, community -building individuals who work to find solutions to real issues for our families, students and schools.

Luckily, we have three board candidates who are just such people, focused on representing all Mead families and the betterment of our district! They’re running campaigns focused on positivity, not touting partisan political endorsements or using political scare tactics.

Jaime Stacy is a Mead parent and educator who has done amazing work in our community mentoring and advocating for young adults. David Knaggs is a Mead parent and engineer whose expertise and perspective would be invaluable to our board. And Denny Denholm, who is a local business owner and longtime board member whose decades of service have helped make Mead what it is.

Please join me in voting for Jaime Stacy, David Knaggs and Denny Denholm! They will represent all families and students, putting service ahead of politics on the Mead School Board.

Dan Melin

Mead

Solution to KEWU going off air?

KEWU, the only jazz station in town, is going to be “shut down at the end of the year” (“Going radio silent,” Sept. 1) .

“If the university sells the frequency license, there’s a good chance it will go to a religious broadcast of one kind or another,” (Fred) Jacobs said. My response? No no no no no no. This town is already saturated with religious/right-wing (can’t tell the difference) stations on both AM and FM.

So, I have a suggestion. We do have a wonderful, productive, forward-looking, inclusive FM radio station called KYRS. Because of where their transmitter and antenna are located, their reach is primarily rural – to the north of Spokane and into Stevens County. In contrast, KEWU’s location reaches all of Spokane and its surrounding area all the way to Coeur d’Alene, another large population center.

What if the KEWU facilities become KYRS’s and KYRS’s facilities are sold to the religious broadcasters? Could this be made to work? It sure would be a way to resolve EWU’s need to divest itself of a radio station while keeping its intent and mission intact. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how this cookie crumbles.

Michael D. Runyan

Spokane

Pac-12 sacrificed on the altar of greed

Rest in peace, Pac-12! You were sacrificed on the altar of “guaranteed TV money” by greedy university presidents and athletic directors who couldn’t wait to leave sister institutions in the lurch. With the marquee programs, USC and UCLA, already gone, everyone else decided they had better jump ship as well before they were on the outside looking in. With the ACC finally deigning to accept Stanford and Cal, while keeping both schools on tenterhooks for several weeks before finally allowing them in, the destruction of the Pac-12 was complete. How embarrassing for Stanford and Cal, two of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country, was the wait to see if they could pass muster because their football programs weren’t quite up to snuff?

Over 100 years of tradition and regional rivalries suddenly gone all for the sake of massive TV revenue for the conferences involved. Two schools, WSU and Oregon State, are now left to fend for themselves in hopes that they can find another conference that may deign to admit them into the fold. For a fee of course!

It’s straight out of “Wall Street.” In that movie, corporate raider Gordon Gekko is asked why he wrecked a particular company. “Because it was wreckable,” was his reply. The Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC decided to poach programs from the Pac-12 simply because they could. In essence, they wrecked the Pac-12. Disgusting doesn’t begin to cover it.

Ken Rudy

Millwood