Letters: Arts center, dams, Starbucks protest and more | Feb. 2

Arts center would draw top workers

To Tri City companies having trouble finding qualified professional employees.

These professionals are looking for “quality of life” aspects of the community. Among them is a rich cultural environment. The Performing Arts Center will be a significant asset to the community and a draw to those professionals. It is in your own self-interest to generously support building the Performing Arts Center soon.

Is another site for abused needed?

I am a member of the group that started Safe Harbor Support Services. I am concerned about the news that a new facility for girls who have been molested or abused is being proposed. Safe Harbor operates My Friends Place, a shelter for teens who may be homeless or have other needs. My Friends Place is staffed with well trained professionals who are equipped to provide services for both girls and boys who may need a place to live. The professional staff at Safe Harbor provides counseling onsite and referral to medical or other resources in the community.

Money for these services is difficult to obtain. There are virtually no public funds for these kinds of services. Safe Harbor relies on donations, the earnings from its store, The Sales Outlet for Safe Harbor, a bit of homeless money from the counties and the annual “Beggars Banquet.” I see no reason for another such facility for girls in our community.

‘Comic opera’ reaches Senate

(Rep. Nancy) Pelosi finally delivered the impeachment document to the Senate. Now, they’ll contrive some media amplified drama to assuage the feelings of the left wing, about that “Much Ado about Nothing.” Some of the testimony during Pelosi’s comic opera was interesting because it revealed that the impeachment search was the child of the Deep State. Several of the Civil Service “wild horses” testified that they believed that they, not Trump, were really in charge of managing American policy and affairs, and that Trump should be removed because he was not honoring their self-directed practices.

So, a gang of Civil Service managers used the Pelosi gang as a cats paw, in hopes of preventing or impeding President Trump from doing his constitutional duties. The Pelosi impeachment has really been a civil war initiated by managers of the FBI, State (Department), (and) spy networks probably assisted by other Civil Service rogues. If the left wing wins the presidency in the next election, the Deep State will be happy as they go back to running things self-focused, without much direction. If Trump wins, he will be better abled to corral the Deep State.

Richland has some explaining to do

The (Richland) city management and council have no priorities except to spend money we do not have. Ever since 1994, the City Council thinks we have money, yet they spend money as long as they keep their fingers on someone else’s wallet. This idiotic project that is supposed to make Richland where they can walk to businesses. That is simply not true. KEPR put their camera crew to do some neat shots and what they fail to state is, except for the bar they showed on Lee Boulevard, nearly all businesses close around 5:30 to 6 p.m.

In the norm of the city management and council, they are pounding sand where the sun don’t shine and they are using the media as useful idiots. One thing Mr. Rogolsky needs to answer: How will Comstock — which terminates at Gothels and the Columbia River — (yet) his Power Point (slide) shows Comstock is to intersect with I-182. How will that happen?

The last thing. Has the city manager moved into Richland? We have four lawyers that draw a paycheck from our taxes being paid. When will we have accountability? Never! We have 38,000 voters and none care about the legality of the goings-on in the city.

Coffee protest did make a difference

Tri-City Herald reporter Annette Cary did a great job of covering 16-year-old Waylynn Dunn’s protest at the Gage Avenue coffee shop. Three cheers for Waylynn and her friends for having guts enough to question the extra charge for vegan milks compared with Starbucks not charging for dairy.

Environmentally, vegan milks make a lot fewer carbon footprints than dairy products require. (The cows in a single feedlot in Kansas City produce more methane gas than the whole city of Los Angeles.)

Neither Waylynn nor her friends deserve mean-spirited online comments, especially the one that says, “Wise up, kid. You’ll die at 90 never making a difference in this world.” She’s already made a difference and will continue to do so. Sadly, the naysayer online will make only the saddest forms of difference: i.e., making fun of someone trying to question unfair practices. She should be commended rather than condemned.

More questions on removing dams

Re: Dams

(There’s) Another question that needs answering. The full cost of dam removal and necessary remediation and infrastructure improvements to replace cargo transportation, restore irrigation, and deal with the downstream effect of accumulated silt behind the four dams will be high. Add the cost of reliable replacement of the generated power. I would estimate between $5 and $9 billion.

Would this provide larger, more reliable salmon runs than the same amount spent on other remediation activities, such as culvert replacements, streamside enhancements and upstream pollution elimination. Perhaps part of the money to predator reduction and Puget Sound water quality, maybe even upstream Snake dam fish bypasses (part of the original plan for the high dams).

Whatever Trump touches dies

Nice headline on the front page of your Jan. 23 newspaper: “Trump opens door to cuts in Medicare.”

This orange, fatuous president, according to his words from Davos, talks about reducing the deficit, a disaster made worse in giving away over $1 trillion to the wealthiest 1% of this country and foisted foolish tariffs on Americans. Having cut breakfast for school children, reduced food stamps for the poor, wanting to replace nutritious lunches at school with pizza, he looks for ways to injure the middle and lower classes while making life more comfortable for the grinning elite.

Now this poor excuse for leadership wishes to hack at Medicare in the name of “belt-tightening” the economy. Notice he doesn’t even hint at raising taxes on corporations or rich individuals.

Medicare cuts if he’s given a second term; and watch how he’ll go after Social Security, too.

As Rick Wilson wrote, “Everything Trump Touches Dies.”

SB 5323 cuts plastic pollution

Why are recipients of WIC, TANF, SNAP and FAP exempt from the proposed pass-through charge at retail stores? (”Pass-through charge” means a charge to be collected by retailers from their customers when providing recycled paper carryout bags and reusable carryout bags.)

Why not include seniors over the age of 75?

The purpose of the bill is to reduce pollution, and in doing so would also educate people and our future generations in the practice of using reusable bags. All consumers should be held responsible — regardless of their financial situations. Grocery stores and Dollar Stores have reusable bags available at a very reasonable cost that are affordable to everyone.

Stop singling out the temporary low income – we all have the same responsibility as citizens. This bill does take into consideration and exempts food banks and food handout programs – which is appropriate and understandable.

This story was originally published February 2, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Arts center, dams, Starbucks protest and more | Feb. 2."