Letters for March 27, 2024
Further discipline is needed at Wilson
While the music teacher at Wilson Elementary needs to be held accountable for the newsletter sent home, she is not the only one who needs to be placed on leave.
The building principal is where the buck stops, and accountability is required. It is the principal’s responsibility to check every schoolwide newsletter/correspondence to determine if it reflects the school’s mission. If it doesn’t, it is the leader’s task to correct any wording and to discipline/counsel the staff member.
If the principal had done her due diligence, this newsletter would never have been printed and put into patrons’ hands potentially harming students and families.
Therefore, it seems the district must also hold the Wilson principal to task for allowing an environment where such a newsletter is created and for not knowing the contents of mail sent to patrons in the Wilson district.
Eleanor Lathem
Spokane
Different angle on EVs
In response to recent Spokesman-Review articles about electric vehicles, here is a perspective not addressed.
I previously owned a 2018 two-wheel drive Kia Niro hybrid that averaged 45 mpg over three years of town/long distance driving (including three round trips to/from Arizona). For the past 2½ years, I have owned a 2022 two-wheel drive Hyundai Kona EV. I can highlight all the benefits of owning an EV for mostly driving around town – no internal combustion engine and associated costs/pollution, charging at home at night by Avista 220 volt at $0.112/kWh (including city tax). Electricity at an Electrify America charger is $0.56/kWh – about five times the cost of Avista electricity at home.
While contemplating my first long-distance trip to Portland (360 miles), I used my Electrify America app to figure the cost of electricity if I used EA charging stations – $56.60 (my EV averages 28.1 kWh/100 miles).
For comparison, at $4/gallon for my former Kia hybrid at 45 mpg, the 360-mile trip would cost about $32 for gas. For an average 32 mpg U.S. sedan/small-medium SUV, the comparable cost is about $45 for gas.
Therefore, regarding the cost of a 360-mile trip, comparing EA electricity verses gas, the cost for my EV is $24.60 more costly than gas for my previous hybrid and about $11 more costly than for the average U.S. sedan.
Thomas Mosher
Spokane