Letters for Wednesday

Safety first on the river

Opened my Aug. 3 Spokesman and could not believe my eyes with the photo of grandma and her flock of kids under 7 floating merrily along on the Little Spokane River.

Out of the group only one had any type of personal flotation – and arm floaties would not go far in saving that little one. On moving water gramma would be forced to choose who she might want to save if the group capsized.

As a parent and grandparent myself, to think that the grandmother would have even considered taking to the water like this in the first place is almost beyond belief!

But for a Spokesman-Review editor to think such a photo was worthy of publication shows pure incompetence! There certainly had to be other photos of people having fun in the sun.

Consider the fact that in the month of July, two young adults have drowned in the Spokane River and a 3-year-old was also reported to have drowned. Not one of course had life jackets!

Funny how grandma seemed to think the kids needed to be dressed head-to-toe for apparent UV protection, but not tools essential to crucial safety in case of an accident?

Having been a whitewater rafter for over 40 years, safety has and is the top concern before hitting the water. This image goes against any and all of those best practices!

Paul Delaney

Spokane

There has to be a solution

I quite appreciated Kiantha Duncan’s column in this Friday’s paper (“Seeing humanity behind addiction can help reframe your experience”). Her response to the person concerned about constantly running into homeless people showed that she is a very caring person. As are most of us in Spokane, whether or not we belong to churches, I’m willing to bet that the majority of people want to help those who are in dire need.

At the same time, many are frustrated that it’s difficult to go anywhere without having people ask for assistance (money) or without having to walk around people sleeping on sidewalks and cluttering them with their tents, shopping carts and other stuff. There has to be a solution that takes care of the homeless, addicts and mentally ill members of our community while also addressing the rights of taxpayers and visitors to use the sidewalks and parks without being threatened.

Jim Kershner’s history column has been focusing on Expo ’74; one aspect that has been mentioned was the “People’s Park” which was set up to provide a place to stay for people who came without much money. Camp Hope offered a similar means of addressing the needs of the homeless population. While it might not have been ideal, it certainly was an attempt that provided some benefit, at least providing a consistent and reasonably safe for the homeless to stay and create a community.

The shelters and long-term housing that we have are helping, but we need more. What can we as Spokane do to address this situation in a fair and equitable way?

Suzanne Harris

Spokane

Comfortable to congested

I was shocked the other day as I drove down Southeast Boulevard between Regal Street and 29th Avenue. A section of land that was once a small forest was now stripped of everything. No plant life was left. Just piles of trees surrounded by bulldozers and graders. No wonder I have started seeing rabbits, skunks, raccoons and marmots in my backyard.

I saw the same thing off of Glenrose between 29th and 37th. Why? Developers think they are doing us a favor by building multifamily housing that congests our streets, taxing the infrastructure and making a once comfortable living area a stressed, unpleasant place to live. What is our city government doing? Nothing, just approving without a second thought. But then trees don’t pay taxes or vote.

Jim Zarkos

Spokane