More Letters to the Editor Aug. 23

Time to think mass transit

There will always be a parking problem at LCSC.

We do not need anymore parking lots there.

Time to start thinking about mass transit.

Administrators, teachers and students from out of town will park in designated parking lots outside of town, and take the bus to school. Town folks can walk or take the bus also. Problem solved.

John W. Hawkins

Lapwai

Not buying it this time

So we suffered through eight full years of the worst presidential administration in my almost half-a-century lifetime, and now we have a president who can think and actually makes sense when he speaks, who obeys the law, who communicates freely to the press and the citizenry, and is trying to repair a badly broken health care system. The very same people who shoved Bush down our throats twice are now waving guns around in public and talking about the blood of tyrants, half a year into this man's first term?

Publicly funded universal health insurance isn't socialism. It's plain common sense, which is why the rest of the civilized world already operates that way.

This pathetic hijacking and distorting of the First and Second amendments to the Constitution by these sour-grapes "patriots" is a flat-out embarrassment to this nation. But the good news is we aren't buying it this time.

Not sure whether these clowns and bullies currently disrupting town hall meetings with half-cocked talk of guns, tyranny and Nazism are agitators paid by the pharmaceutical and insurance companies or just clueless white supremacists seeking to tear down a non-white but highly competent president.

In either case, these heroes should look in the mirror before spouting off about Nazism and tyranny. As for patriots and brave defenders of freedom, I'd say Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley or Muddy Waters had way bigger stones than some stress case waving a gun around in public and freaking people out with talk about assassinating tyrants.

If I'm going to worship anything, it'll be the U.S. Constitution, not a gun or a flag, and certainly not my own white skin.

Chris Norden

Moscow

Fighting crime

This is an open letter to all law enforcement officers and to everyone who will be visiting Liverpool, England, or who has connections there.

Is the following story true? A psychologist, Dr. Jon Marks, opened a drug clinic in Widnes, a suburb of Liverpool. Those addicts who passed medical and psychological screening could get a prescription for a week's supply of free heroin, amphetamine or cocaine. Over time, they began washing their clothes, going to work and paying rent. For the most part, they stopped stealing. Their pushers went away, looking for a new market. The Cheshire Drug Squad did a two-year study of Marks' clinic. They tracked 112 addicts before and after they entered the program, and found a 96 percent reduction in crimes.

The police were delighted with the results of Marks' program. A department store was so happy about the reduced shoplifting, they financed a conference on harm reduction, which is the policy exemplified by Marks' clinic.

I ask about the accuracy of the above story because it reports the kind of results that I'd like our country to produce. If I were going to jolly old England, I'd chat up the police in Widnes and learn their opinions. I hope one of your readers will do that and report to us. I wrote to the police in Widnes, but they didn't answer. Perhaps they'd respond to a request by a police officer or agency.

Wiley Hollingsworth

Pullman

Stealing at night

This letter is directed at those who came during the wee hours of July 26 and stole my terra cotta "strawberry" pot. This pot was about two feet tall and stunning to look at, being planted with purple lobelia around the sides and pink geraniums on the top. As I live on Fifth Street in the Orchards, many people enjoyed it as they drove by. I have had many comments about it over the years. It is recognizable by neighbors, mail men and the police department.

Did you need it so badly that you had to steal it? If you were that bad off, I would have graciously given it to you. Or did you just covet it so much you had to have it? Remember, death comes like a thief in the night - just like you did! We never know when or where. You can return it no questions asked, or keep it and answer to a higher power.

Ann Smith

Lewiston

Falling short

In the July 25 issue of the Lewiston Tribune, an article appeared concerning CHAMBR, a research center associated with the University of Idaho. The accountability of the center has been under scrutiny for some time, and then Tim White came out with a statement saying that everything was in good shape after an audit of the center.

Now we learn that things were not in good shape. So if you can not trust the president to be honest, who will step up and hold the institution to the standards that the public has the right to expect? the man who has the courage to stand for truth, honesty and integrity. In a time when it seems that many people in positions of responsibility are more interested in their own welfare than the welfare of the public, we are fortunate to have one man who will stand for honesty.

Isabel Bond

Moscow

Drug test deputies

As a rebuttal to Jeremy Nicholson's opinion, this is not a form of freedom. It is bad judgment. To think we live in a world where people follow the rules and do not stray to the "dark side" is, to say the least, a little naive.

From my experience as a military policeman, I am aware law enforcement personnel are held to a higher standard than the average citizen. These men and women are the example for others to emulate. Being in a position of authority makes it even more important for them to respect the laws they have been sworn to uphold.

The only way to do this is by placing them on the same plane as everyone else. By not supporting a random drug testing policy, as far as I am concerned, Sheriff Ken Bancroft is taking responsibility for his deputies possibly doing drugs.

The thought of a law enforcement officer potentially being under the influence of a controlled substance does not sit well with me. The other thought of these people being on the same road as my family makes my skin crawl.

I feel that these expenditures for a simple urinalysis are necessary for peace of mind you can't put a price tag on.

Jerid Hilderbrand

Clarkston

Above the law

This letter is in regards to Jeremy D. Nicholson's letter on Aug. 10, defending Asotin County Sheriff Ken Bancroft's opposition to drug testing of him and his employees. I totally agree we need to defend our amendments to save our freedom. Nobody should be able to take our freedom. Nobody should be able to take our freedom away without a fight.

On another note, would Nicholson be willing to fly in an airplane with a pilot who does not have to take a drug test? I think not! Would he let his children get on a school bus if the driver did not have to take a drug test? I think not!

So why would he be willing to let some drug-crazed person walk and drive around with an assault rifle, shotgun, pistol and Taser?

I am confused on his and Bancroft's ideas that his employees (I will not call them police officers) are above what is the right thing to do.

Protect and serve, that is the motto. I do not feel protected, and the only thing they will serve is a warrant or ticket. What happened to the warning or verbal ticket? Innocent until proven guilty, did I not read that somewhere?

Mike Hartley

Asotin

Backs Fagan

I am voting for Susan Fagan for the 9th Legislative District position. I especially appreciate Fagan's experience in advocating for constituents. She was very effective in dealing with bureaucrats on behalf on farmers and loggers, children with disabilities and challenges, small business owners, veterans, Social Security recipients and many others.

Don McQuary

Clarkston

Begging for health care

Robert G. Schultze wrote an excellent letter (Aug. 9) urging a single-payer health insurance system for the U.S. like the one next door in Canada. And he gave the reasons why.

But reasons and facts are not good enough for an anonymous online scribbler who suggested that Schultze move to Fruitvale, British Columbia, a small town just north of the border with Washington. The nearest small town to the south would be Metaline Falls, Wash.

In Fruitvale, everyone has health insurance. In Metaline Falls, where a third of the residents are below the poverty line, it is likely that very few have health insurance.

B.C. residents have health insurance whether they are employed or not, whether they are rich or poor. B.C. residents carry their single-payer insurance with them wherever they live or work. They can go to any doctor they choose. They are not driven into bankruptcy if they should get a catastrophic illness.

In Washington and Idaho, they lack these freedoms. First, they have to see if a doctor will accept the insurance they have. Then they have to see if their company will pay their claims. If they are poor, they can try begging for help. We read about such cases almost every week.

As a last resort, they can go to the emergency room of a hospital, where the costs are passed on to those who can pay. That is why an ER has to charge $850 for a nosebleed and $1,100 to put one stitch on a cut.

Is this the greatest health care system in the world?

Ralph Nielsen

Moscow

Missing the story

What's sad about this whole affair between Judge John Bradbury and the judicial council and state Supreme Court is that the real story has never been printed. The real dispute started before Bradbury was even a judge. It dates back to a case involving a real estate transaction that turned into a dispute.

Bradbury, who was a retired lawyer at the time and who was representing an elderly Weippe couple in the dispute, had appealed a court decision in Orofino that had favored the real estate agent. The case was appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court.

Justice Linda Trout, who was chief justice at the time, failed to disclose that she had worked with the person who was purchasing the property and who was the brother-in-law of the Realtor. After the court ruled in favor of the Realtor, Bradbury discovered the fact that Trout and the brother-in-law had worked together, and appealed the ruling back to the Supreme Court, stating that she should have recused herself from the case.

Again, Trout refused to recuse herself from the decision. In fact, she had written the opinion for the court that there was no conflict of interest. Bradbury then appealed to the judicial council. Trout, since she was chief justice, was on the judicial council. She again refused to recuse herself from the decision-making and the council ruled against them.

The animosity between Bradbury and the court has continued ever since. The fact is that Bradbury has been unwilling to go along with the status quo and, as such, has posed a challenge to their integrity.

All this stuff about where he sleeps at night is nothing more than a smokescreen to hide the real issue, which is to defame him and remove him from their hair.

Our Founding Fathers installed freedom of speech as a key component to the Constitution so there could be a voice when government became tyrannical. It's obvious in this case that the Lewiston Tribune has failed miserably.

Mark Edelblute

Lewiston

No need to rush

From all that I have read and heard, a lot of which is vague, questionable and bordering on paranoid, and since there are 11 different health care bills currently in Congress, I think it's better to reserve the nitpicking, judgment and hysteria until the final version goes to committee. Only then will we know what we're really dealing with.

There is little doubt, at least in my mind, that health care reform is necessary and long overdue. At the moment, however, my biggest gripe is Barack Obama trying to ram this through the way he has. Nothing this complex, expensive and vital should be rushed! We've waited this long for health care reform, so what if it takes another year to get it right?

We don't need to get this done fast! We need to get it done right!

John (Gunny) Mosher

Kooskia