Letters: Air show, KID reservior, voting and more | Sept. 11

Drive-in air show was great idea

A drive-in air show. Creative and brilliant in these difficult times!

What a great effort, Water Follies. Many thanks to all those involved! We have attended many air shows over the years, and this one was wonderful. Such a diversification in amazing aircraft and pilots. What a coup to get the F-35.

Thank you, Water Follies, for the great show!

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Mr. Bush: I don’t want your ‘bubble’

Thank you for having Mr. (Barry) Bush as a guest opinion (writer), with his long-winded editorial about making Eastern Washington a Republican state. Does he not read this newspaper and this revered Opinion page? Does he not realize that there may be a few individuals in Eastern Washington who do not have the same mindset that he does about their respective fealty? The Republican Utopia he speaks of, how would that work? As Liberty State governor, does he plan on having all the Republicans on the west side (which are very many) move over here and appropriate the non-Republican properties, and likewise move East to West the non-Republicans? These are a few of the many details that will need to be figured out, but I will leave that up to him, which I am sure he is quite capable of.

Although I for one (along with my dear mother) do not prefer to live in a bubble.

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15 reasons to vote for Republicans

Vote Republican if you believe:

1. Trump knows more about Covid-19 than Drs. Ho, Fauci and the CDC.

2. Hydroxychloroquine and injections of disinfectants/bleach are acceptable for prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

3. It’s okay to open schools because kids cannot contract or transmit COVID-19.

4. It’s unsafe for Republicans to hold their convention in Florida but it’s “safe” to open schools for kids.

5. If we wait long enough and don’t care about the rate of infections or death, Trump’s disease (COVID-19) will “just go away.”

6. Trump did an exemplarily job of leading the nation to fight COVID-19.

7. It’s okay to suppress voting rights for people of color.

8. Write-in ballots should be abandoned because they encourage fraud.

9. It’s okay to close post offices to restrict write-in ballots from being distributed and counted.

10. It’s okay for foreign nations to influence our election process.

11. It’s okay to use Homeland Security troopers to instigate criminal activity in Democrat mayoral cities as an election tactic.

12. Trump’s failures are a result of hoaxes, witch hunts and fake news instigated by others.

13. Trump’s blame game. His failures are always somebody else’s fault.

14. It was okay for Trump to hire someone else to take his SAT tests.

15. Trump is honest, intelligent, trustworthy and emotionally stable.

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Things to consider on water, power

So, KID wants to build another storage reservoir for Yakima River water in Badger Canyon. Now we are going to suck even more water out of an overcommitted watershed to supply Richland and Kennewick homes.

Has anyone noticed that both cities have miles of Columbia River shoreline? Why isn’t all of their water coming from the Columbia, which has plenty? I suppose the infrastructure doesn’t support it.

Someday Richland and Kennewick will have to pony up to expand their Columbia River water delivery and wean themselves off the Yakima. Why don’t we cancel the KID project and put a down payment on that? Yakima River water is needed by the growing upstream communities and the poor fish who live in the river that have no other option. Our current system is ludicrous if you think about it.

About the new proposed wind farms, I think it’s great to build some more green power. But the Tri-City Herald article was comparing wind farm capacity to nuclear plant capacity. You can’t do that. Wind farm production only averages 30% of capacity, while nuclear plants run at 90%. So, the added wind farm capacity is only worth 1/3 of what it appears.

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Scientists: Offer expertise online

Are you a scientist? Like to inspire the next generation of scientists? Did you have or ever wished you had someone to inspire you on the path to science?

The students are going back to school online, but it’s not all bad news. Never before have we had so many of our boys and girls online. Never before has it been so easy for our scientists to meet a whole class of them!

Consider joining “Skype a Scientist.” It’s website that offers scientists of all sorts (nuclear engineers, doctors, researchers, engineers, etc.) chances to connect with classrooms.

Then all you have to do is drop a note to local science teachers to let them know you are available. No travel time. You could possibly even do it from the lab. (In fact, how cool would that be?)

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Why I will vote Frances Chvatal

As a woman, I will vote for Frances Chvatal because she knows what it feels like to have to fight for equal opportunity, for respect and for the right to be who and what she is.

As a person of color, I will vote Frances Chvatal because she has shown compassion for our community. She recognizes that we have different struggles, and that we have the equal right to work towards our American dream.

As a community leader, I will vote for Frances Chvatal because she is the only candidate for state representative who came to me to learn what my community of College Place needs from her, should she be elected.

As a nurse, Frances dedicated her career to caring for people she did not know. Klicker might have name recognition, thanks to the family he was born into, but he has not shown that he wants to represent me.

Your vote is precious; do not waste it on a politician who only cares what you can do for them. No matter who you are, where you came from, or where you want to go, Frances will dedicate her time working for you.

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Dems have picked the wrong path

If you want democracy, don’t vote Democrat. There was a time when Democrats wrapped themselves in the American flag and claimed to defend free speech and a free press. Now, the press has become the PR arm of the Democratic Party. Speech codes are implemented at colleges and universities. If someone expresses a different opinion or holds an opposing political viewpoint, they are canceled, banned from social media or in some cases, physically attacked.

Bernie Sanders recently admitted that socialist ideas considered radical just four years ago are now accepted as mainstream by the Democratic Party. If socialism takes root here, it will benefit only the ruling elites and their allies, and hurt everyone else. Just look at Venezuela. Democrats offer freedom from choice. They believe they know what’s best for our society, that we can’t be trusted to make our own decisions. They will decide where you live, your medical coverage and what schools your children can attend. “We just can’t trust the American people to make those types of choices … Government has to make those choices for people.” – Hillary Clinton, 1993.

Make no mistake, this is a choice election: democracy and freedom, or socialism and obedience.

This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Air show, KID reservior, voting and more | Sept. 11."