Letters: Dec. 26, 2018

Narrower river poses flood threat

I read your article in Sunday's (Dec. 16, 2018) paper about state funding for Yakima river flood control and I thought how ironic it was that the Department of Ecology was involved with this project. The same people I've been in contact with about issuing a permit for this Richland Yakima river bridge project.

If you go out and look at it, they have allowed the work to narrow the river to half of its normal stream bed. They say it's only temporary, but it's going to be that way all winter. All it takes is some cold weather and it will create a bad ice jam there and the river will back up fast. I told them they're rolling the dice on this one. I hope they'll take responsibility on this, should this happen.

Human trafficking remains a concern

Recently, I misdialed a number attempting to call the Benton/Franklin Crisis Response Unit for a client. The person on the other end, not knowing I was a social service provider and instead thinking I was someone experiencing a difficult reality, immediately took the time to provide encouragement and offer a listening ear.

I found the experience impactful. How often do we see or hear situations where a small act like an encouraging word, could be what someone needs to still feel hope amidst times of discouragement, victimization, grief, illness, hardship, loneliness, etc.?

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Like the man in the aforementioned phone call, we at the Support, Advocacy & Resource Center (SARC), want people affected by this type of crime to know we are listening and care about their situations.

This year’s campaign theme is #ShineTheLightOnTrafficking with the goal of not only bringing about local awareness, but also giving community members a way to actively show their support to survivors of human trafficking by participating in our social media campaign and/or awareness walk. For more information, please contact SARC's free and confidential 24-hour crisis line at (509) 374-5391.

Questions to ask in death at border

The sudden death of the little girl in Arizona was, (is) a tragedy. One that can not be imagined unless you have been through the same thing.

I think there are some things that are not being considered in this tragedy. There is more to story than is being told. Such as: What was this child exposed to on her long journey before she even reached the border? They covered untold miles by foot, they went without food or water for days at a time, what was her health before she left her native country, what kind of diseases was she exposed to while on this journey?

And one thing I have heard no one ask. Why would her father expose her to this kind of torture? She had four siblings left at home with the mother. Why would you take one child with you and leave the others? He was coming to America to get a job to have a better life for the family. If that is true, who did he expect to take care of the child while he worked?

The sensible answer to those questions suggests that he was using her as a pawn to put more pressure on the officials to give him a break to get into the country because he had a child with him.

So sad. So sad.

Pro-life is about life, not control

On the contrary, pro-choice is about control and power. What would your thoughts be on your freedom of life if you had been a victim of pro-choice? Never mind.

Pro-life is about life.

This story was originally published December 25, 2018 at 12:02 AM.