Take the flag down
About the fellow driving around with the big “F--- Trump” flag on his truck ...; oh, I mean “F--- Biden.”
The first time I saw such a flag was in the parking lot of Rite-Aid in Lewiston. This is private property and I doubt you had their permission to display it there.
The next time I saw such a flag was in the parking lot of Walmart in Clarkston in a truck bed.
I stopped to take down the license plate. A young man got out. I told him the word he displayed was obscenity. He argued it was free speech. I replied that his “freedom word” was an obscenity and encroached on my right to not have to see it and I would discuss it with the police.
Again, this is private property. Parking lots are privately owned and permission is needed. The young man assured me this wasn’t his truck. I chided him, saying maybe it was his mommy’s. At this point, another younger boy hung out the passenger window and began to yell at me to f--- off several times.
I went to the Lewiston Police Department to discuss and the clerk at the desk told me there was nothing they could or would do.
I’m saying, if you don’t like the person, find a better way to let others know.
Don’t waste our tax dollars pursuing your “right to display obscenity.” Not obscene? The Lewiston Tribune wouldn’t even print it.
Jacqueline Forsmann
Lewiston
A return to farming
One idea I had for the Nimiipuu to return to farming started two decades ago, before the Nez Perce Tribe General Council. The economic development planner made a report that included glowing accounts of her achievements.
She then stated that for any question she was unable to answer, she had a staff who would provide the answer. My question was, “How many head of livestock did the casino kitchen use daily, weekly and monthly?” The question was never answered. It was never answered when I asked it for the next four years. And it still is not answered to this day.
My idea was for tribal family allotment livestock operators by lottery to receive an allocation and delivery date for the casino kitchen. I received two replies. One, about 10 years ago, stated the enterprise economic development planner was preparing a “farm operating plan.” She needed one more consultant to “mop up the weak points.” Five years ago, I was told that “everything was on moratorium until the Columbia River fish processing facility at Spalding was finished.”
Then I was told that the idea was not a Nimiipuu traditional way of business. I disagree. My proof: Check pages 376-377 of Diane Malikan’s book “The Nez Perce Nation Divided.” It’s a telling document containing a roster of Nimiipuu members who each sold one horse to the Army. A quick observation would be that any one of these members could have sold to the Army all they needed.
James Lawyer
Grangeville
No simple solution
The dam-breaching conversation is coming to a boil again. It’s a very complicated issue and therefore doesn’t have a simple solution. However, until some basic questions are answered, no action should be taken at this time.
Some common sense needs to be interjected about the power portion of this issue. The usual response is to “replace” the lost hydropower. Existing infrastructure is struggling right now to keep up with demand and in the meantime, population migration continues to explode in the Northwest.
The grid requires a “core amount” of available power to function at 60 cycles/second. These core power sources are fast shrinking, such as the shutdown of fossil fuel generators at Colstrip, Mont., and Boardman, Ore. Only one lone nuclear plant is currently functioning at Hanford and I know of no new plants coming online at this time.
After studying the Initiative Plan, they admit wind power can’t be stored and solar power is in its “infancy” in Idaho. They also naively state about developing nuclear pods as a new power source. This technology is essentially still on the drawing board.
Now is when it must be pointed out that these groups miss the entire point. It is not about “replacing” the power but replacing its instant response to fill in the gaps when the wind is not blowing. Until these technology questions are answered, it’s rolling blackouts in the region by breaching dams.
Please attend the Northwest Fish Symposium on Aug. 17.
William Samuels
Orofino
