Letters: COVID-19, wind farm, coyote bait and more | March 29

Increased taxes ‘flabbergasting’

I agree 100% with Bonnie Jo Burkos’ letter of March 12.

We are in our 80s and have not had a child in school in the past 31 years. Our property value assessment in 2020 increased by 45% and our property tax increased by 56.12%.Taxes related to schools comprised 49.68% of our total tax bill.

Our votes on school levies have always been “Yes,” but our retirement income cannot continue to support this “flabbergasting” taxation and we should not have to move out of our home in Richland to stop it.

Remember to thank those at risk

I hope that when we get through this, and we will, that we take a moment and thank those who put themselves out there and ensured that the rest of us were able to get the food and other items we needed, the medicines we needed, and stepped up to feed those in need, to ensure our garbage was picked up, our lights stayed on and provided the care for our sick. There is not enough space alotted to call out everyone, but we all know who they are. At great risk to themselves, they stepped forward to ensure the rest of us received what we needed to get through this.

I would like to start by telling all of you right now how grateful I am for the courage, the strength, the direction and caring you have shown thus far and continue to show each and every day.

Thank you, thank you, each and every one of you.

Biblical thoughts on ‘pestilence’

We are in the midst of the COVID-19 virus scare. This should be a wake-up call to God’s children. I would not want to imply that God brought this on to punish His people, but we are, however, warned in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14, “When I … send pestilence among My people, if My people will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

So, how about it, will you hear His voice, and heed His command? Is it only through our prayer that we will see an end to this pandemic, or pestilence? I am convinced that the answer to that question is an unequivocal, “Yes.”

Since we are as a result of the uncertainly of the COVID-19 pandemic, living in fear, I am reminded of His word in 1 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.” So, if we submit the pandemic paranoia and our lives to Him, there is no need to fear. So, what will you do?

Make courageous choices in our time

I was inspired to dedicate my life to serving our country and our community by my grandfather who spent his career in the Army. He served in World War II and the Korean War. He and my grandmother are now buried together in Arlington Memorial Cemetery.

Like many of the Greatest Generation, he kept the stories of his wartime experiences close to the vest. When he passed away, we learned that he had earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He took courageous actions and faced tremendous challenges throughout his wartime years, yet we only knew a handful of the terrible situations he faced with incredible bravery.

We are all being asked to make new sacrifices and face new challenges now. The courageous choices we make and the challenges we confront in the days and weeks ahead will not earn us medals. Most people won’t know about the sacrifices we make.

We know that the result of following the guidance of our health care professionals and making sacrifices to protect our vulnerable neighbors and family members will make a difference.

Together we will make a big difference for our families, our community and our country.

Energy Coalition: op-ed not full story

In his recent op-ed opposing a wind power project, Benton PUD Commissioner Barry Bush makes several false assertions. Bush claims Washington’s landmark Initiative 937, which established energy and energy efficiency standards, has not reduced carbon emissions. In fact, a 2015 report to the governor showed that I-937 is Washington’s single most effective state or federal measure for reducing emissions.

Of the NW Energy Coalition, Bush says, “These people are backed by wind manufacturers and are paid handsomely for their services.” He also says the Coalition “will never consider building a wind farm or any other energy project in their own back yard”.

In fact, the Coalition does not provide “services” to any industry. We have no wind manufacturers among our members. We do, however, have utility members, public and investor-owned, including ones that operate hydropower dams. The Coalition has no relationship with the developer of the project Mr. Bush opposes. And the Coalition supports environmentally sound and cost effective clean energy projects east and west of the Cascades.

The Coalition promotes policies we believe will improve Northwest energy system reliability, cost-effectiveness and environmental impact. We do so based on evidence and in a manner that’s respectful of all parties.

Survivors’ plasma might be helpful

A glimmer of hope:

In the 1890s, the use of serum derived from the plasma of disease survivors was discovered to be useful as a “passive antibody” that could help patients recover from viral diseases. It has been used with varying degrees of success since then, and was the reason for the famous dogsled relay to Nome in 1923 that spawned the Iditarod race.

Perhaps the young folks who have been out partying and being generally, apparently, irresponsible have really been preparing to donate plasma to save the rest of us. The fact that they might kill a lot of us before the serum program gets up to speed is kind of unfortunate.

You can search on “https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-blood-from-coronavirus-survivors-might-save-lives” to read more.

Be safe, and good luck!

Trump headline took cheap shot

I read the paper every morning. Yesterday’s headline soured my coffee! “Trump appears to waffle on length of shutdown” — really? Even in a time of national crisis, you can’t give the guy a break from the sniping criticism? There are a dozen other ways you could have made your point about how the dates of the shutdown might be arrived at, without taking a cheap shot on the front page at our president.

It is automatic, I realize, for most reporters to write about President Trump in a caustic tone. But you, as a newspaper, must realize that a good percentage of your readers really do appreciate Trump for his efforts to lead the country through this crisis. So you offend those of us in that camp when you constantly harass him in your articles.

If you don’t have a better idea how to get us through this pandemic, why not try to be a bit more supportive for once, at least for the sake of the community? It sure would be refreshing to read objective journalism.

Sincerely,

Who is at fault for all the shortages?

So I have ask: whose fault is it? The selfish or greedy people or the stores that started to limit purchases after they were out of stock? It’s pretty obvious to me!

Streamline aid bill, stop pork barrel

It is time to get real, forgoing politics!

Congress is attempting to pass a stimulus bill to provide support and additional funding to individuals and businesses to help us and businesses to survive the pandemic. It’s ridiculous to think any potential legislation would include “pork barrel” items beyond the direct scope of the pandemic! I really don’t care what political party an elected official represents if any bill supported by them with “pork” (additional extra items beyond the virus relief) I will aggressively campaign against their future political desires. We are experiencing an event that is worldwide and doesn’t need political issues to muddy relief efforts. Keep relief legislation clean and focused. This is not a time for politics; it’s a time to mitigate and recover.

I believe elected officials who want to make recovery efforts a political platform or expand legislation beyond immediate relief are not representing the people but padding their pockets. Undue inflation of scope and cost should be a criminal offense regardless if you are a person, corporation or elected official.

At this time it is necessary to streamline corrective measures without political interference and do only what is necessary to protect all of the public.

Faith groups play crucial crisis role

Like many of you, I’ve been social distancing with my family in Burbank the past few weeks, but as a researcher at the University of Washington, I’ve continued analyzing COVID-19 messages from faith-based organizations in Seattle. Examining around 100 texts, I’ve found an incredible amount of flexibility, solidarity and resilience.

Let us be clear: There are no easy decisions here. As a nation, we seem to be moving through different stages of grieving at different rates including denial, bargaining, acceptance, etc. Seattle was forced to process this new reality earlier, but everyone is now feeling major changes.

The good news? Acceptance leads to greater outreach. An initial metaphor of natural disaster in wider circulation identifies Seattle as the “leading edge” (storm) or “epicenter” (earthquake) of the outbreak. The war metaphor identifies health workers “on the front lines,” outbreak “escalation,” or “combatting” the virus. One of the novel metaphors that faith leaders have recently introduced to the conversation is “wilderness” to describe a season of uncertainty and the importance of moving forward together from the Torah/Bible in the books of Exodus and Numbers.

Faith groups are serving a crucial role in processing the situation. For more information on the study: https://tinyurl.com/faithhealth.

Cats put on farms are coyote bait

Benton Franklin Human Society claims to be a no kill shelter. Last week I read where they are spay neutering ferrel cats and placing out on farms for mousers. Why pay and put the animal through surgery and recovery? In very short order after they are placed on a farm “for good” life, most are traumatized by becoming coyote food. Save your money and send them to the Rainbow Bridge and save the cost of surgery, etc. Give them a humane send-off instead of coyote bait.

This story was originally published March 29, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: COVID-19, wind farm, coyote bait and more | March 29."