Letters To The Editor

HUNTING

Facts seem to have eluded writer

Maybe the viewpoint of Russ Moritz (“Send well-armed ‘Animal Advocates’ to bag hunters,” Street Level, Aug. 24) has some redeeming value, if he’s the type of person who enjoys seeing our current selection of hunted animals die of starvation or be run over by a vehicle because they are coming closer into our habitat due to a poor food supply in the wild.

Maybe Moritz has forgotten or is ignorant of the fact that legally hunted animals are hunted today as a type of population control, so as to ensure the healthy continuation of a particular species. This process is closely controlled by various government agencies.

Maybe Moritz has never spent several days - or weeks - on an unsuccessful hunt, all the while pumping several hundred (or thousand) dollars into the local economy.

But all things being equal, I’m positive that Moritz would have no problem being the first participant in his “game,” going up against a seasoned hunter with many years of experience and shooting expertise. Steven C. Blind Spokane

Hope it was just an unfunny joke

I am responding to Russ Moritz’s Aug. 24 guest column, “Send well-armed ‘Animal Advocates’ to bag hunters.”

I am appalled that anyone would ever suggest such a thing, joking or not. I hope Moritz was joking.

Humans (hunters and nonhunters) are far more important than any animal, and to compare the horrors of what any veteran of war had to endure to the hunting of wildlife is abhorrent.

I am an animal lover just as much as anyone; I have several dogs, cats and horses. I am also a hunter, and to say a deer is of a “harassed, hounded and dwindling population” is completely untrue. Through harvesting game and proper management, game populations are higher than ever in the United States.

I would much rather eat a deer that has had a nice life than a beef cow that has had to endure the treatment that they have to go through on the way to the slaughterhouse. But it really doesn’t matter anyway, because the outcome is the same: the nonhuman animal is dead.

As for suggesting this as a “certain measure of population control,” I hope Moritz has not added to our population. Kathy M. Duncan Newman Lake

Careful what you suggest in print

How ironic that on the eve of the trial of Barry Loukaitis, a young man accused of murders he planned based on something he read (a book by Stephen King), that you would print a tongue-not-so-firmly-in-cheek commentary by Russ Moritz (Street Level, Aug. 24) recommending the murder of children.

Children? Yes, contrary to the stereotype perpetuated by your staff cartoonist, Milt Priggee, hunters are not bearded, beer-belly rednecks, but are children. And they’re grandmothers, grandfathers, doctors, nurses, teachers, ministers and many other upstanding citizens of our communities.

It’s not so tongue-in-cheek when you picture a hunter who has been murdered in the woods and you see the face of a child.

But of course, animal rights activists would never take Moritz’s editorial seriously and murder a hunter, because these activists are all emotionally stable and extremely sane. That’s why they call them “extremists” (now that’s an example of tongue-in-cheek writing). No one in their right mind would read about murder and then go out and commit one - which is exactly what the Loukaitis defense will try to prove. Yet, his victims are no less dead.

Let’s all pray that history does not repeat itself in this situation. Brian P. Roth, M.D. Moses Lake

State restrictions taking effect, all right

About the last week of June this year, I had the rare occasion of seeing my second cougar in the wild. My reaction was, “What a sight. What a magnificent animal!”

As an avid hunter for more than 30 years, I’ve grown to appreciate how vulnerable certain game was to overharvesting. This gives me appreciation for game laws and the protections they give.

I understand a cougar eats about one deer a week. Can you imagine what our deer populations would be like if every hunter in Washington were allowed to take, say, 30 deer per year? A neighbor who lives near the area where I saw my cougar has lost a prize sheep and his pony was attacked. I know this isn’t scientific, but my daily deer sightings have turned into an every-other-week event, and with fewer animals per sighting.

It just seems ironic that this is the first year Washington’s voters decided they would allow virtually all cougars to live unchecked to maul our deer and livestock. Yes, there is a season on cougars, but they are almost impossible to harvest without hounds.

I love all wildlife and will probably never forget that big cat. I am not a hound hunter, but I see the good they do.

Give me back the 30 or so deer eaten (alive) in my neighborhood and I’ll give you back my cougar sighting. It makes me wonder if Washington voters will be on the menu when the deer are gone. Jim B. Terry Loon Lake

REMEMBRANCE

Continue Gellhorn’s splendid advocacy

Last week, Spokane lost one of its finest, on the passing of Katherine Gellhorn. Our entire community has been so enriched for so long by her tireless commitment to the arts. Her greatest legacy would be for all of us in the arts community to continue her crusade to give Spokane the pinnacle of cultural experiences that Katherine worked so hard to attain. Thank you, dear friend. Mary Jo Sattler Spokane

SPOKANE MATTERS

Ex-fairgoer giving in to addiction

Re: “Won’t be going to the fair any more,” Letters, Aug. 22).

Walter E. Lane won’t be going to the fair this year.

Let’s face it: it’s because he is an addict.

He will deny his grandchildren the pleasure of going to the fair and grandpa’s company because he can’t quit smoking for a few hours. Maybe he will be denying his grandchildren the pleasure of his company when he gets seriously ill, or even expires from this addiction.

Now that I can wander the fairgrounds smoke-free, I will buy Lane’s tickets and take my grandchild. Barry M. Lychak Deer Park, Wash.

So, smoking is what’s more important

Re: “Won’t be going to the fair any more,” ( Letters, Aug. 22.

Oh please, Walter E. Lane, don’t make us all feel sorry for your grandchildren because you won’t be taking them to the fair any more. And don’t blame the fair board because it imposed a no smoking policy.

It’s simple. You’re not taking your grandchildren to the fair because you can’t go without a cigarette for an afternoon. You may be a gentleman smoker, but nonetheless, smoking is more important to you than showing those kids the good time you have had in the past. It would be worse for them to hear,”Sorry kids, grandpa can’t go any more because he has lung cancer.” K. Denise Masiello Spokane

Making big deal out of small sacrifice

Walter E. Lane states the he can no longer take his grandchildren to the Spokane Interstate Fair because of the no smoking except in designated areas rule.

Isn’t it a shame that grandpa would choose to put his smoking before the fun of taking his grandchildren to the fair? He is a role model for his grandchildren and would serve them, not to mention his own health, far better by not smoking.

Surely, he can give up smoking for a few hours of pleasure with his grandchildren. Clair Sheeley Coeur d’Alene

Littering should be stopped

Have we given up in the fight against litterbugs? What can be done to discourage their outright disregard for the land?

I can hardly imagine the lack of regard that one must have to roll down their window and chuck their garbage out. I have tried to do my part by picking up litter around my parents’ home in Colbert, but sometimes it seems like my efforts are hopeless. Every day, there are more beer cans, bottles, cigarette cartons and fast food garbage cluttered along an otherwise beautiful landscape.

Many people in Spokane seem oblivious to the unsightly trash cluttering the city and the strong negative message it sends. I only hope that through our schools, parents and more-stringent fines by our city government, the general public will become more conscious of the problem. More people should join in the fight against litterbugs. Tracee B. Jenson Colbert

WASHINGTON STATE

Anti-drugs racket: Better days coming

So kind of Rep. Mark Sterk to reveal his linear perception of a most complex issue of our time: illegal drugs. Regarding Initiative 685, our medical marijuana initiative, Sterk said, “I would never legalize drugs.”

Of course, we have all kinds of legal drugs now. Billions of dollars are spent each year promoting some of our most lethal drugs to children. Look at the billboards. Look at the hydroplanes, race cars and stadiums. Look in the grocery stores and quickie-marts. Watch the Super Bowl. All the protect-our-kids rhetoric is rotten hypocrisy.

Money has smothered reason in American politics. Campaign financing is an influence bazaar where for the right price you can walk away with just about anything. Lots of money there for lawmakers willing to go real low.

On the law enforcement side, arrest a drunk driver, child molester or burglar and it generates no money. If a few marijuana plants are found on a property - Bingo! Seize the property, sell it and use the proceeds to find more plants on more properties and on and on. This is an ugly situation in a land becoming less and less free.

And please remember, Sterk is running for sheriff.

Government is not serving the voters. Government is serving the ones buying the votes. But hope is growing. Voters who understand drugs are replacing voters blinded by 60 years of big-bucks propaganda. Knee-jerk politicos obsessed with spending vast sums of taxpayer money hunting down and locking up marijuana smokers might be replaced with people more willing and able to reason. Randall G. Clifford Spokane

We must meet child care need

There have been countless articles about welfare reform and the need for child care for ex-welfare people who take a job.

We have an unskilled work force and children who need child care. Why haven’t we thought to try to solve both problems at the same time? We could train these unskilled workers in child care. Then find buildings or space to house state-sponsored day care centers.

People who had no marketable skills could be employed caring for the children of the ones who can find jobs on the open market. Some of these children are considered high risk for not completing their education. Head Start programs could be implemented in these centers. We would be giving these children a much deserved leg up.

I realize numerous hurdles would have to be crossed to achieve this, but wouldn’t the results be worth the effort?

I’ve always been one of the silent majority, but these issues are too important to remain silent on. Creative solutions must be found. There is not much time before a large number of people will be dropped from welfare.

It is our responsibility to watch over these children and a problem that concerns us all. We cannot leave it to the bureaucracy. It is a problem for people like you and me to get involved with and solve. Dawn Ingram Spokane

BUSINESS AND LABOR

WEA set poor example

I note that the Washington Education Association was fined for illegal use of political funds and used the excuse of “using the wrong forms.”

We who have followed this investigation know it was a well-thought-out program of deception and that this statement is one more lie. Isn’t it a travesty that an organization that has so much influence in the education of our children uses lies and deceit in its own internal workings and does not use morally correct disciplines itself? In reality, WEA wished to elect certain persons to office and used any means to do so.

Is winning the whole program? Or, doesn’t how they run the course have value? What are they teaching our children? Laurence R. Morgan Spokane

Dryland farming, gear still vital

In Aug. 17 column, editor Chris Peck, while discussing the new directions being taken by Metaline Industries (formerly Cheney Weeder), offhandedly dismisses “… dryland tillage machinery popular back when everyone farmed.”

Is Peck aware that the $658 million worth of winter wheat reported on the same day’s business page could not have been grown without the very equipment he seems to regard as obsolete?

Most of Washington state’s dryland acreage receives less than 16 inches of rain annually and is seeded with winter wheat in alternate years. The ground is left fallow through the intervening summers to rest the soil and restore moisture levels. Rod weeders not only set a crucial moisture barrier below the soil surface, keeping these fields from baking and drying out during summer, they also pull and kill weeds mechanically, eliminating the heavy use of chemical herbicides. (The latter is a practice that raises several environmental and economic concerns.)

Growers’ tillage and crop rotation practices are certainly going to evolve in the coming years, but let’s not forget that the dry country west and south of Spokane makes possible one of Washington state’s most important export industries. David Coombs and Bill Nelson Coombs Manufacturing Co., Spokane

Freeze wages, prices and be grateful

I can’t go along with the idea that getting a raise in wages from one company is such a big deal for the so-called working class when we all know that the company will not absorb that loss but will raise the price of its product to compensate for the lost revenues, causing a hardship on the rest of us who in fact do not work for that company.

This has been going on roughly since World War II, causing one strike after another, while driving inflation. That causes the loss of jobs to other countries, where products can be made at cheaper rates.

Wages and prices should have been frozen 50 years ago. That would have done away with strikes, wage raises and inflation. How many more years will it take for companies to figure that out?

I worked for a company for 31 years. Because of this, I believe the employees’ attitudes should be to make the company happy and be grateful that it hired us. We should try to do our best to make the company successful, rather than portraying it as some kind of villain. Bert D. Clute Spokane

Teamsters deserve respect of all workers

“Outstanding,” “incredible” and “unbelievable” are only some of the words that come to mind in relation to the intestinal fortitude of the United Parcel Service workers and their union.

They stood together against the corporate management bullies. We in labor should look in the mirror to see if we and our union have that kind of guts against the intimidators.

Again, thank for standing up for your future and ours. Ed Ellenz Spokane

PARTING SHOT

Flag being flown but poorly respected

If times are so good in this country now, why do we not treat our flag with the respect and honor it deserves?

Countless men and women lost their lives defending and protecting that flag.

Others of us came back wounded and crippled. As a disabled veteran myself, it brings tears to my eyes and a lump in my throat to see the conditions that our flag is flown at businesses and private residences.

When did we stop caring about the most noble symbol for our country? Raymond G. Howard Spokane