Letters for Jan. 26, 2022

Disappointed in Stockton

I was so disappointed to read John Stockton’s statements in Sunday’s Spokesman-Review.

Hearing these wildly incorrect and greatly harmful comments is bad enough, but coming from someone with such a historically important place in the Spokane community is even worse – people who might expect truth and sound information to come from such a figure will be drastically misled, and that will put them at great risk.

It’s interesting that within the same 24-to-48-hour timeframe of Mr. Stockton’s interview, new data from the U.S. (in addition to prior data from Israel) show unvaccinated people between 50-64 are more than 40 times likely to be hospitalized compared to those vaccinated and boosted. Many hospitals report more than 90% of their COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. The risk of death is even greater among the unvaccinated.

The data are clear….there is no rational debate. And as someone who watches sports regularly on major outlets, can you imagine how much we would be hearing if in fact 100-150 athletes had died from the virus after vaccination? Who would hide that…Pulitzer Prize-worthy reporting. We haven’t seen it because it isn’t true. And if it were, how does that stack up against 800,000 deaths from the virus, a huge proportion unvaccinated.

I lived in and around Spokane for years, Mr. Stockton had always been a favorite, but this overrides his many contributions to the community.

Matthew Ames

Bayview, Idaho

Kudos to Gonzaga

Kudos to Gonzaga University for suspending John Stockton’s season tickets for failing to comply with the mask mandate.

Stockton’s expertise in basketball is without doubt, however his research and critical thinking ability leave much to be desired. He is “well over 1,000 hours of watching videos, reading documents and confirming documents” and still doubts the efficacy of vaccines, boosters and masking.

Obviously Stockton learned a lot about basketball while at GU, but perhaps not much else.

Laura Phillips

Sandpoint

Stockton wronged

So Gonzaga University has banned John Stockton from home games for not wearing a mask. Looks like the science-based governor (remember that he saved us by banning fishing) and a host of small-brained acolytes have managed to create a new Imposition. Maybe Stockton needs to wear a red letter so all can beware.

It is really becomes nuts when one realizes that there were 300,000 plus unmasked fans at NFL playoff games in four “free” cities this weekend, along with numerous arenas across the nation filled with the same.

Since January 2020 I have visited 13 states, none as restrictive as Washington; most with little or no masking. It is good to know that there is some common sense in America, while here in Washington we are encouraged to live in fear, take more tests (the positive test counts remind me of the body bag counts in Vietnam) and continue to blame and shame.

Maybe John Stockton can get into an away game.

Jeff Reyburn

Spokane

Stockton’s legacy

From the hall of fame to the hall of shame.

Tim Bolan

Spokane

Madsen’s columns

Another Sue Lani Madsen column, and more letters complaining about her getting the facts wrong or how she misses the obvious point of a subject or twists herself into knots to avoid criticizing conservatives.

In my opinion, it’s actually far worse than that – reading her is like listening to someone narrate a Power Point presentation. She’s boring.

Patrick Conley

Colville

Cargill’s take on schools

The article by Chris Cargill in Friday’s Spokesman-Review left me scratching my head.

It begins with the poor scores shown on the most recent standardized tests of Washington K-12 students in public schools. An objective observer might question who marketed the Smarter Balanced Assessment (and profits from it), to our schools. It is just the current standardized test being used and is done entirely on computer. Obviously a child’s computer/keyboarding skills have an effect on outcomes. This automatically puts schools with high poverty levels at a disadvantage.

Cargill then scoffs at efforts by educators and health boards to keep students safe from COVID-19, but offers no alternatives.

Cargill goes on to state that “lawmakers need to demand schools get back to academic basics.” State lawmakers themselves make the majority of decisions regarding required curriculum. Local districts invite public participation in areas they control. With regard to which public school students attend, again it is state law that defines providing a school in a student’s neighborhood. Local districts provide options as feasible.

The ultimate option is to educate your children privately, as public schools are a choice. Before making that decision I would ask any parent and challenge Chris Cargill to spend at least one full day shadowing and observing a public school teacher and his/her students as they navigate learning during a pandemic.

Barbara Curtis

Spokane