Oct. 20 Letters Part 4: Our Readers’ Opinions

Appalling policies

Are you fine with other people deciding to ban books from libraries so that you cannot read those books for free? Are you fine with lawmakers who don’t know about medicine deciding what procedures you and your doctor can discuss and choose? Are you fine with lawmakers taking away access to contraception? Are you fine with lawmakers giving rapists the green light to attack, because even if there are abortion exceptions for rape, the procedures repeatedly victimize the victim by questioning her accusation that it was rape, regardless of her age?

Are you a college student who is fine with losing your Pell Grants, because the Department of Education, which oversees those funds, has been abolished? Are you fine with businesses being able to ignore safety regulations and fire workers who strike for better conditions? Are you fine with a government that callously separates children from their parents without due process? Are you fine with leaders who will admittedly propagate any lies, regardless of who is hurt by them, just to get attention?

If you are fine with all of these things, then continue to vote Republicans into office at local, state and national levels. This is what they have started, how they have sold out their integrity and what they promise nationwide. If any or all of these policies appall you, vote for Democrats at all levels who will secure your rights in these areas and many more (clean air, clean water, addressing climate change).

Teri Rust

Clarkston

Idaho makes the news

I’ve been to Idaho only once, stopping in Coeur d’Alene in the middle of the night for probably the best blackberry pastry I’ll ever have, and the most beautiful night skies I’ve seen since my childhood. I wish that was my only impression of the state, but there are some there who have stained it.

It’s rare that Idaho makes the news in New England, but the painfully immature state Sen. Dan Foreman, a legal adult over 70 years old, has ... . He made news here when he threw a tantrum at the county fair in 2017, and only a year later acted out in a way that even the college-aged targets of his misplaced, barely controlled rage found cringeworthy.

You’d think he would learn at some point, but this Illinois-raised man’s recent racist screeching, telling a woman whose family has lived in the region for thousands of years, to “go back where you came from,” painfully proves otherwise.

You’d also think that his constituents would learn better by now, but Foreman’s electoral record suggests otherwise. But Foreman keeps getting elected and, by this point, that says much more about his voters than it does about him.

For those of us from outside the region, the lesson is clear: This area is better avoided, until and unless it sobers up and gets itself together. That will be evidenced in part by the graceful dismissal of Foreman from office. In a few weeks, everyone everywhere will know.

Wesli Dymoke

Brooksvale, Conn.

Community needs info

How many of us are willing to admit that our community, like so many others, is inundated with drug addiction and related “homeless” and crime issues? We can call it “mental health” or behavior problems and avoid acknowledging the drug realities, but actual solutions to the real problems are not addressed.

We are not well informed and need considerably more information than we are currently receiving. Losing a reliable source of local news when KLEW-TV relocated made a huge difference. And, for some reason, our one source of written and e-edition news, the Lewiston Tribune, seems to think that we need guest editorials from The Seattle Times, Spokesman-Review, the Tri-Cities and newspapers from western Washington. So many of us would prefer to have locally written opinions and editorials so that the issues we are facing would be addressed.

We need everyone in our community to be aware and proactive in resolving these threats to our children and families. Some of us have begun to question why we’re not better informed about the safety of our children’s schools, ending “low barrier shelters” and the lack of detox and rehabilitation facilities.

We need to know about much-needed support for our law enforcement, first responders and medical services. They need help and understanding of what they are dealing with every day and the limitations that put addicted people back on our streets, literally. Priorities should be rehabilitation, support groups, housing assistance and employment support.

Pat Worle

Clarkston

Ten election issues

Ten opposing issues which are in stark contrast in this November election:

1. “Sweetheart, put your hand here and feel our wonderful baby move” or “Hey babe, this fetus thing is causing me severe discomfort and mental anguish so let’s go to the clinic tomorrow and have it removed”?

2. Drill, baby, drill/$2 gas, or wind, solar and battery?

3. Tight secure borders or open the gates for all?

4. “Grab the AR-15 with attached light because we have multiple home invaders downstairs” or “Grab the baseball bat and hide in the closet”?

5. “Our little son will be a handsome man someday” or “Hey babe, great news; our little Bobby saw a tampon dispenser in the boy’s bathroom so now he wants to be Roberta, use the girl’s dressing room and play sports with them”?

6. Support strong law enforcement or defund police?

7. Promote personal responsibility or pay off all student loan debt and reparations for descendants of slavery?

8. Study, read and enjoy our history or change it by removing statues and renaming military bases?

9. Require voter ID for honest and fair elections or stop voter suppression by allowing illegal immigrants to also vote?

10. Please pray for the safety of President Donald Trump following two assassination attempts or Orange Man is bad and if he survives and still wins we are moving out of this country?

John Webb

Reubens

Feds supported Idaho

I’ve made a career of promoting Idaho farmers and ranchers and helping rural communities as director of the Idaho Department of Agriculture, administrator of the Wheat Commission and state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency. In all of those positions, I’ve never seen as much federal support for Idaho as in the last four years under President Joe Biden.

Recent headlines announced a new $453 million transportation grant from the bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Over five years, under this law, Idaho will receive up to $2.2 billion to repair roads, bridges and railroads.

I now serve as the Idaho state director for USDA Rural Development, and Biden’s legislation ... has allowed us to provide rural Idaho with more than $831 million in grants and loans. These funds have gone to farmers and ranchers for solar panels to produce energy to run pumps, pay small towns to help them construct sewer and water systems, build (rural) health clinics and fire stations ..., provide low-income households with affordable housing and connect fiber for (rural) internet service ... .

Examples include: an $8,789 grant for Augies, a small, veteran-owned deli/restaurant in Orofino for energy efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning; a $1 million grant for an assisted living center for the Nez Perce Tribe; a $1.2 million guaranteed loan for the Palouse Ice Rink in Moscow to remodel a large warehouse into a popular ice rink; a $15,000 grant to Reagan Grabner, a family farmer in Julietta, for a solar electrical system.

Dick Rush

Boise

Vote for Richie Skiles

As the elected sheriff for Nez Perce County for the last four years, I know the trials and tribulations of running a sheriff’s office and detention facility.

Being the sheriff requires a leader who is willing to lead from the front and stand shoulder to shoulder with the men and women who wear the badge. The sheriff needs to balance a budget, handle personnel matters, manage jail liabilities and be the head of an agency.

It’s my honor to pledge my full support and endorsement to Sheriff Richie Skiles for his upcoming election in November. He is an honorable man who upholds his oath of office with the highest integrity. He is willing to put himself on the front line and respond shoulder to shoulder when citizens call for help.

Sheriff Skiles is a community sheriff who wants to make his community a better place. Sheriff Skiles and I have attended many trainings together where we were able to build better departments. When the wildfires started in rural parts of our counties, our offices worked diligently to keep citizens safe on both sides of the county line. Sheriff Skiles always has an open door policy for me to talk about issues and concerns that affect both communities.

Come Election Day in November, please vote Richie Skiles for Latah County sheriff.

Bryce Scrimsher

Culdesac

Vote for Julia Parker

Sen. Dan Foreman, you seem to have anger issues. The way you pretty much explode if a constituent disagrees with you or challenges your agenda is proof that you are not suited for elected positions. I know you know what I am speaking about. Hints: Idaho Statehouse with University of Idaho students, Latah County Fair and more.

And then recently in Kendrick you told a member of the Nez Perce Tribe to “go back to where you came from” and then rushed away from the candidates forum. It’s indicative of your mindset.

Anger and then running away is not what our districts need. We need calm, level-headedness to legislate for now and for our future.

I hope the good voters of Latah, Lewis and parts of Nez Perce counties will vote for Julia Parker for our state Senate.

Roger Hayes

Moscow

Vote for Dawes, Parker

Are you tired of out-of-state donors’ money pushing an extremist agenda? I sure am. Brandon Mitchell seems like a decent guy, but he has marched in lockstep with the extremists, while the ill-tempered Dan Foreman has an agenda even more extreme than the rest of his party.

Their opponents, Kathy Dawes and Julia Parker, have shown themselves to be thoughtful, measured and intelligent. As a teacher and a nurse, respectively, they chose professions that benefit others. They are committed to working across the aisle, and eager to serve their constituents, even the ones they don’t agree with.

Kathy has more experience tracking and understanding legislation than anyone I know. For the past eight years, she’s been keeping a large number of community members informed on a variety of issues via email. She’s been active in the League of Women Voters, and in Braver Angels, which seeks to build relationships across political differences.

Julia, as a member of the Moscow City Council, has proved herself to be both level headed and solution focused. Her campaign is community driven, and her criteria for making decisions seems eminently reasonable. She has pledged to look at who it hurts, who it helps and how the hurt can be mitigated. She’ll also ask if the legislation is necessary, and how much it will cost.

District 6 deserves people to represent us who think independently, listen to actual Idahoans and prioritize basic common sense. Please join me in voting for Kathy Dawes and Julia Parker.

Elizabeth Stevens

Moscow

Send Foreman back

Just when it seems our politics could not get more bizarre, we read in the Lewiston Tribune about Sen. Dan Foreman standing up at a local candidate forum to tell a Nez Perce candidate for the Idaho House, Trish Carter-Goodheart, to “go back to where you come from.” Where exactly does he expect her to go?

Foreman is fixated with culture war issues and speaks with passion about saving the “unborn child.” But once that child comes into the world, Foreman loses interest. He supports bills targeting librarians and transgender youth, but not legislation designed to benefit children and Idaho families.

Foreman’s opponent, Julia Parker, addresses these everyday concerns. She supports adequate funding for both Lewis-Clark State College and the University of Idaho and for K-12 schools. With a background in nursing and a candidate with experience on an elected city council, she is well qualified to identify these critical issues and will work collaboratively to find solutions.

Foreman’s policies have turned Idaho into a reproductive health care desert, with some hospitals closing their maternity wards and some counties with no resident OB-GYN specialist. Airlifting women with a crisis pregnancy out of state is not responsible health care. Julia is committed to overturning draconian laws that, in the name of the pro-life movement, threaten to prosecute doctors who are practicing responsible medicine.

Join us in supporting a commonsense approach to governing by electing Julia Parker to the Idaho Senate and sending her opponent back to where he came from.

Jan and Rich Levengood

Moscow

Systemic racism

To Sen. Dan Foreman: My name is Stephen Schrag and I am not one of your constituents but I consider myself an Idahoan having lived in Coeur d’Alene, graduated from Kellogg High School, worked in Sunshine Mine for four years and graduated from the University of Idaho in 1972. With that background, I feel that I can comment on your statements at a recent townhall meeting.

Your blatantly racist remark to a Nez Perce Tribe member to “go back where you came from” is an example of your lack of knowledge of Native Americans and it is a systemic racism comment. How can you be so naive that you don’t realize the Nez Perce people were in this area for thousands of years and they are in the area from which they came? ... I would expect you would know your history and not speak without thinking. ... You owe an apology not only to whom you addressed the remark but to the Nez Perce people.

... You also owe an apology to women. You stated there is no women’s reproductive rights in the state or federal Constitution. I would venture to guess that you have never been pregnant, raped, have had serious complications with a pregnancy, etc., so where do you get your knowledge of a woman’s reproduction except your idea that they are “to make babies,” no matter what the situation?

I would suggest, Sen. Foreman, you go back where you originally came from and reevaluate your beliefs.

Stephen Schrag

Vancouver, Wash.