Books and guns
Looking at the headlines below the fold on the Jan. 25 Tribune front page made me want to bang my head on the table and cry. What has become of us?
The Idaho state Legislature wants to pass a law requiring school districts to allow teachers, employees and volunteers to carry guns, without any oversight by the school district, and without any liability for any actions that they might take.
An adjacent article is about how 60% of librarians in Idaho are considering leaving the profession because of the library laws making their way through the Legislature, threatening librarians with civil action if someone doesn’t like the way they do their jobs.
So apparently a significant number of legislators trust teachers and librarians with guns, but not with books. How did it get so crazy?
Constance Brumm
Moscow
Some days are just fun
I was walking through church last Sunday and came across this young man and we stopped to visit. He was saying, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could use telepathic thoughts to communicate like Spock in ‘Star Trek’?”
I laughed and said, “We do that today,” pulled out my cellphone and showed it to him. He looked at me sort of funny with a question in his face. I said, “Whenever you want, you can talk to or text any other person, across town, across the U.S. or around the world. And you can say that you love them. What’s the difference?”
We went on in our conversation: “Prayer is the same. Through Jesus our Lord, you can ask for someone to be healed; the physician does the work, and God our creator does the rest and puts the cells back together to heal them. ... You can send thoughts through prayers for guidance and peace to a friend who is having a bad day, for a person’s heart can hurt as bad if not worse than any physical hurt.
“It is amazing what we can do in both our physical and spiritual world today if you take the time to step back, clear your mind and look at the big picture.”
The young man laughed, said, “That’s pretty cool” and skipped on down the hallway.
Fun to turn over in one’s mind. May your day and year be blessed.
Wayne L. Olson
Moscow
Dams do no flood control
Some Northwest residents mistakenly believe the hydroelectric dams on the Snake River eliminate or at least minimize the risk of flooding to communities and property bordering the reservoirs behind the dams. This is not the case. These dams provide no flood control. They actually increase the risk of flooding.
On the Snake River between Lewiston and the Tri-Cities, significant buildup of silt occurs above the dams, causing the river to rise. Lower Granite Dam alone traps 3 million cubic yards of sediment per year (the equivalent of 200,000 dump-truck loads) and is 55% full of silt. Because of this, downtown Lewiston actually sits lower than the adjacent reservoir. Dredging cannot keep up with the silt, posing risk of severe flooding in the future.
And the cost of this flooding is enormous. Way back in 2002, the Army Corps of Engineers put a valuation of nearly $2 billion on the buildings and infrastructure sitting in the Clarkston-Lewiston area floodplain and facing this growing threat of damage.
Let’s reduce the risk of flooding. Let’s restore the Snake and Clearwater rivers to their natural, free-flowing state. Tell your politicians: Remove Lower Granite Dam and do so soon.
Lori Ode
Boise
A school-voucher letter
I sent a letter to local legislators voicing my concerns about school vouchers in any form, even as tax credits. I got a quick response from Sen. Cindy Carlson, of Riggins, and I’d like to share our correspondence with your readers:
“Hello Mike. Thank you for reaching out and providing your concerns about education in Idaho. I am supportive of passing legislation that allows parents to be eligible for education tax credits. We have many students in Idaho who are being educated at the expense of their parents. I believe these families should be offered some financial relief since their children are not being educated in public schools.”
There is not room for my complete response, but here is most of it: “Dear Senator Carlson: If parents choose to opt out of public schools for their kids, then absolutely it should be at their expense. Why should an opt-out automatically get you opted in to other funding? ... I have seen kids who rejoined the system and did quite well ... . But too often that ‘education’ was more at the expense of the child than anyone else ... . Let private schools find private funding, and not at the expense of public schools which are already underfunded ... . The Idaho Constitution demands our public schools be adequately funded. I would hope as a public servant who has sworn to uphold the Constitution you would spend your energy meeting your constitutional duties rather than trying to undermine them.”
Mike Ruskovich
Grangeville
