Letters To The Editor

Fri., July 14, 1995

SPOKANE MATTERS

‘Trash the Dumb Zone signs’

Regarding your story, “Blue-Light Special,” (July 8) on the traffic violations on North Division/Ruby: What does “D-Zone” mean, anyway? Division Zone? Disaster Zone? Disorganized Zone?

Going north on Division from Trent, there is one 30 mph speed limit sign on the Division bridge and two at the end of the bridge within the one-block switchover from Division to Ruby.

After that, there are no more speed limit signs until Franklin Park Mall, where a 35 mph sign is encountered.

Southbound on Division, there is one 30 mph sign across from Franklin Park Mall but no others all the way to the Division bridge.

The D-Zone signs are double posted at every traffic light intersection on the Division-Ruby couplet, but certainly not for the entire 10-mile stretch to the north.

The “education process” the police say drivers need might be greatly helped if the traffic control people would just trash the Dumb Zone signs and replace them with ordinary 30 mph speed limit signs.

Also, what sense does it make to have the 30 mph speed limit on Division and Ruby in the stretch where each street is four lanes wide, and then authorize 35 mph about two miles north of there, where there is only one street with two driving lanes for each direction? The traffic load doesn’t seem to be that much different. Richard T. Brown Spokane

Accursed city, beware

I’m writing after reading Doug Clark’s column regarding Jimmy Marks and the Gypsy curse on Spokane (June 25).

The city has had some very bad luck. I understand Jimmy predicted a bad storm with hail this week, and it happened.

We must remember the city police took an oath to serve and protect the Constitution, not each other. A Cub Scout knows you can’t enter anyone’s home without a warrant. The money and jewelry that are missing don’t give Spokane’s finest any points.

Remember the Wal-Mart case for $50 million from one plaintiff? In this case, the attorneys for Wal-Mart shot themselves in the head, along with the shareholders. Will this happen to the legal department of Spokane, Mr. James Sloane?

Jimmy will own Indian Canyon Golf Course, Riverfront Park and maybe the new coliseum, not the one in Rome. Cheryl Johnson Spokane

Good to see fine men’s story

What a sight. I opened the paper on July 9 and saw familiar faces looking back at me (“Memories of encampment at Bella Vista”).

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with and alongside Bruno Bartole, Frank Guastella and John Pelle at the old Spokane asphalt plant and then later at the City of Spokane street department. These were tough times of hard work and not much pay, but we had many good times together.

Due to civil service tests and promotions, I became the immediate supervisor of Pelle and Guastella. They worked hard and drew respect from fellow city employees and many others in the community. I swear that about 15 years ago, Pelle knew half the people in Spokane.

The citizens of Spokane are lucky and should be proud that John and Frank gave so much of their time and lives to the city. May your memories last forever. Harry Lashbrook Newport, Wash.

Don’t rush to judgment

The Growth Management Act of Washington state awakened many people to the need for good longrange planning.

Letters published have been short on patience with county commissioners. The confusion is understandable.

Joe Manson, now in charge of planning after the firing of the three planners, has been quoted as saying he favors developers. George Marlton, replacing Skip Chilberg as a county commissioner, shows concern for reining in urban sprawl, preserving open space and agricultural land from development. Everyone desires cutting cost of governing.

Many who spent years expending efforts to stop urban sprawl, preserve open space, protect wetlands, stop run-off of good soils as well as preserving agricultural land had no help from county planners. The city’s goal of annexing and use of waivers often was not made clear and has become the last straw to many people. It became the answer to a dream for tax revenues made easy for the city.

May we all remember that the final word rests with the commissioners, who still must be satisfied by planners. It may be that we’ve already seen the start of good decision making with the decision against annexation of Moran Prairie. That allows the realization that the old after-the-fact decisions may no longer be made.

Hold your fire awhile and see what develops. Ora Mae Orton Spokane

LAW AND JUSTICE

Bill wouldn’t wreck our liberties

The guest column by Julia Schauble (July 9), president of the Spokane Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union on the proposed anti-terrorism bill would’ve been ridiculous were it not about such a serious subject.

Ms. Schauble would have her readers believe that if the secretary of state decided a foreign organization was “terrorist,” then any American citizen who made a contribution to that organization “could be arrested, tried and imprisoned for up to 10 years.”

Come on now, Ms. Schauble, this is the United States of America. Under the facts you cite, no one is going to get arrested on such a charge without the facts being looked at by a Justice Department attorney who would decide whether or not to prosecute. A federal grand jury would then decide whether or not to indict. Then there would be a jury trial with the defendant represented by an attorney. The jury would decide whether to find the defendant guilty.

If an American citizen or an alien, for that matter, were to be charged simply with making a contribution to a terrorist organization and those were the only facts, the case would never even get to the Justice Department attorney.

There was McCarthyism back in the ‘50s. We are not going to go back to that era, and yet we need to protect this country from terrorism. Please don’t try to convince us that our liberties are going to come under attack. Robert Lamphere Hayden

Troopers’ rights count, too

I take great exception to Interactive editor Doug Floyd’s July 3 Our View piece, “Question authority at your own risk.”

It dealt with Washington State Patrol Trooper Davis Richmond’s successful suit for libel filed against a Seattle doctor; a suit Mr. Floyd feels the trooper had no right to bring.

I beg your pardon, but is Trooper Richmond not a citizen of this country? And as such, is he not entitled to the same rights and liberties as other citizens? Law enforcement officers take an oath to serve and protect, not to forfeit their constitutional rights merely because they wear a badge.

Mr. Floyd stated it was “the nature of the job” for an officer to be the target of an irate citizen’s tirade, implying Richmond had no right to protect his name and reputation from assault. This is the same rationale employed by those men who feel justified in verbally and sometimes physically harassing females working in restaurants and bars, because that’s “the nature of the job.”

Is Mr. Floyd implying these men would be correct and that a person’s rights as a citizen - including the right to sue - are determined not by birth and naturalization, but by the position one holds and the uniform one wears?

Apparently, as far as Mr. Floyd and the doctor who libeled Trooper Richmond are concerned, the trooper is merely supposed to die protecting them from the ills of society. He’s just not supposed to think he’s quite as free or as deserving of the democratic process as they are. Joan Overfield Spokane

‘POCAHONTAS’

Reviewer mangles history

I was surprised at the parallel drawn between the plight of Native Americans in this country and that of the Jews in Hitler’s concentration camps, made by Nathan Mauger in his review of “Pocahontas” (July 5).

He uses the word “genocide” in connection with the Jamestown (Virginia Colony) settlers of 1607 as if they crossed the Atlantic for the express purpose of exterminating the Native Americans.

The word “genocide” means the systematic killing or extermination of a whole people or nation, according to Webster’s Dictionary.

The Virginia Company of London was engaged in exploration, which England had carried on for many years. My Encyclopedia Britannica gives these reasons for this voyage: “To build a merchant fleet with help from the New World for ocean trade, to spread the Christian doctrine and to plant a Protestant colony in Virginia, and to look for precious metals.”

Without prior knowledge of or later attempts to understand each other’s culture, economy, and social practices, lots of battles occurred in the ensuing almost 400 years, the last one being early in the 1900s with the Modoc Tribe in California.

I wish Disney had posed its “Pocahontas” as more of a what-if? story. This should also be stated on each cassette, toy, video and theater screen. As Nathan suggests, no more attempts at history should be made. I commend him for this thoughtful article. Lillian O. Forster Spokane

Season melting pot with humor

It’s amazing how much furor can be created over a couple of comments by a few overly sensitive American Indian representatives. And all over a cartoon! Good grief!

My grandmother came from a Cherokee reservation in the 1920s. My grandfather (her husband) was a Scotsman. My heritage also includes Irish, English, German and Lord knows what else. My point is, we live in a melting pot of heritages and cultures. While it is important to appreciate these cultures to further appreciate our family heritage, we must remember America, as young as it is, has it’s own heritage and culture.

Been to a ball game lately? Where else can you get a bag of peanuts and tiring one liners hurled at you by the same clown? “Pocahontas” features values that are truly American. Not American Indian, not English.

They are values most parents want to graft into their children. So what if it isn’t historically correct? Did Anglo-Saxons whine that “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” was not historically correct? Did they when Mel Brooks butchered the same story for laughs, twice? Perhaps the biggest mistake Disney made was naming the ‘toon after a historical figure, and patterning the story after something that occurred in history. Maybe “Pocahontas” should have been named “Hocapontas” to dissasociate the story from history. What would make these crybabies happy?

Lighten up! Get more than a life, get a sense of humor! (Another truly American tradition: turning sacred cows into pork chops!) Enjoy the show! David Etenburn Hayden, Idaho

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Democrats also have Pharisees

If Mike Kennedy (Letters, June 28) wants so badly to compare politicians to the Pharisees, he really should start with his own party.

Voting down a president’s nominees is perfectly fair. Mr. Kennedy said this himself. Does he remember Robert Bork, John Tower, or Clarence Thomas? Fortunately, Democrats were not successful blocking Thomas’ nomination despite Anita Hill’s outright fabrications, which the Democrats used to their advantage while completely ignoring numerous character witnesses who held Thomas in the highest regard.

Mr. Kennedy thinks Sen. Bob Dole has sold his soul to the far right to gain the Republican presidential nomination. What about the joker in the White House now? Bill Clinton long ago sold his soul to the far left, and now he oversees the most arrogant, overzealous and intrusive administration in recent memory.

Strobe Talbott, Donna Shalala, Robert B. Reich, Janet Reno, Al Gore and especially Hillary Clinton - this bunch of mostly Ivy League-educated lefties scare me much more than the conservatives mentioned by Mr. Kennedy. Modern liberalism is rife with such sanctimonious Pharisees.

The only good thing about Slick Willie and his gang is that they caused the people to go out last Nov. 8 and elect Republican majorities in both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. Patrick Braden Post Falls

Congress overstepped authority

I’m amazed how many people don’t know what form of government we have. Some argue we’re a democracy, and some (including a couple of United States congressmen) say we are a republic. They are both half right.

China is a republic. It is governed by appointed representatives. America is also a republic, but with one unique difference. Representatives are elected by way of a democratic process. Therefore, we are a “democratic republic.”

Lesson two.

The national forests, parks, wildlife refuges, conservation land and monuments don’t belong to the nation, nor does the Constitution grant Congress legislative authority over them.

It clearly states in Article 1, section 8, subparagraph 17 of the Constitution, Congress shall only be granted exclusive legislative authority over a 10-square-mile area as a national seat, and all other places purchased with the consent of the states legislatures in which the place lies, and only for the purpose of constructing needful structures, forts and dockyards.

Records show that Congress didn’t purchase or have the states consent to obtain any of the national forests, park, etc. it now exercises legislative authority over. The Constitution doesn’t grant Congress legislative authority over any species of animals, plant, bird or fish that reside within a state’s boundaries.

However, the 10th Amendment does say that all powers not delegated to Congress by the Constitution shall be reserved to the people or the states.

Very interesting, don’t you think?

Class dismissed. Ellis Baumgarner Toledo, Wash.

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