Masks, Richland School Board, Pasco City Council and other Herald letters to the editor
Mask mandate not enforced here
Is a mandate, a mandate, if no one enforces it? Sept. 25 I went to Home Depot, I was only inside the store for less than 10 minutes and observed 11 people not wearing a mask, despite the governor’s mandate.
After leaving the store I called the manager and was told, “We don’t want to be confrontational about this.” Really? You will place your short-term profits ahead of the health of your employees and customers?
Now no one wants to admit it, but we are in real danger, Alaska to our North and Idaho to our east are both in rationed care due to COVID-19 cases, and we have stopped accepting patients from them, due shortages of hospital staff and space.
Washington has suffered 7,494 COVID deaths out of 7.615 million people or a rate of 0.098%. Whereas here, with our 300,000 population has suffered 479 deaths, or 0.16%.
Why is our death rate more than 60% higher than the state’s? It is our cavalier attitude toward mask and vaccinations; locally, we are only 47.2% vaccinated, vs. the state’s rate of 62.7%. It doesn’t take a “rocket surgeon” to see the correlation between higher vaccination rates and fewer deaths.
Michael Lavering, Richland
Ex-board member endorses Garcia
My name is Rick Donahoe and I am recommending Danica Garcia for the Richland School Board. (I served for over 10 years on the board and left one year ago to move to Michigan.) Danica understands that working on a school board is a collaborative effort. Board members should not be pushing their personal agendas. Most importantly, board decisions should be based on what is best for students. And this is Danica’s focus!
Other reasons for voting for Danica include: 1) Danica is not making her campaign into a political statement. School board positions in Washington state are nonpartisan. Danica is running her campaign in accordance with that requirement. 2) Danica is an educator. She has stood up in front of students and taught them, evaluated them and provided help to kids. 3) Danica knows that providing an education to students is a community effort. 4) Danica is focused on all students — yours, hers, those doing well and those who are struggling. Danica cares about every student — and that is the most important perspective for each board member.
For these reasons and Danica’s passion for education, I am recommending Danica Garcia for the Richland School Board.
Rick Donahoe, Petoskey, Mich.
Pedestrians: be mindful of clothing
Do you take walks in the morning? Great. Now the mornings are getting darker. Overcast skies blot out the dawn. Please wear reflective material, a light or even white clothes.
My commute takes me from tree-lined Richland to Pasco. In Richland, do you walk in the street? I get it. The surface is more regular than the sidewalk. However, trees throw long shadows, breaking up your silhouette and making you even harder to recognize. Who, except maybe me, is expecting pedestrians on the street?
In Pasco, the Argent area lighting could use an upgrade; more houses, more traffic and places of no curbs. A flashlight pointed to the ground, unless it has a red “ring” around the light, doesn’t help much, especially when it’s blocked by a dog. Vests work better.
You can never prove a negative. You will never know if a dog’s reflective collar, etc. saved one from a trip to the hospital. I can only share it’s been a stressful, hyper-aware, commute. If this is true for me, it’s true for the other motorists with whom I share the road.
If you (or your loved one) walk in the morning, please consider visibility before heading out the door.
Matthew T. Ruane, Richland
Princess aiming to return to school
Beautiful Alaina is 6 years old and is a real life princess! She lives in Granger and would be in the first grade at Granger Elementary School, but she is currently showing her princess warrior strength at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia just three weeks ago. She is fighting this battle very hard and getting herself ready for her royal entrance into first grade when she finishes her treatment.
Princess Alaina has three bodyguards, AKA big brothers, who protect, love and adore her. They stand outside her window at the hospital with their posters showing their love and support. She has been blessed with two families who love her royally.
Princess Alaina loves dancing, cooking, baking and camping. Her majesty also loves all things sparkly, rainbows, unicorns and princess life. What she loves most is her family. Together they enjoy camping and bonfires, game nights, and now her favorite thing is to stay connected with her brothers by playing Minecraft with them online.
Princess Alaina is an incredible little human. She is full of life and always thinks of others before herself. She loves helping others, is encouraging and uplifting to all those around.
Sara Moon, Prosser
Climate change our first priority
We suffer from a serious lack of leadership, i.e., identifying the key issues facing us, prioritizing, gaining support and attacking these problems using the best science and technology available. Not all problems are addressable this way. But awareness and appreciation for the science reveals that climate change is the existential threat of our time. Our infrastructure is not up to the task of withstanding more frequent and severe climate events. Also, we have no actual plan for mitigation or even adaptation to climate change.
Yet Congress just diddles and argues. This is not to minimize the COVID-19 crisis. But for goodness sakes, take the vaccine and consider others’ personal freedom (right to life) as well as your own. Florida Gov. (Ron) DeSantis rails against vaccination, promoting the Regeneron cocktail instead. Guess what? Those who fear taking the vaccination for whatever reason should have similar or greater reasons to fear the Regeneron cocktail. Scientific evidence says we should take the vaccine. COVID-19 is an important issue—but it shouldn’t be the most critical, and we know how to combat it. Let’s rally together, mask up, get a shot, defeat COVID-19 and show leadership to pursue the right battle — climate change.
David King, Richland
A pleasant place with no mail
Living on the busiest corner intersection in Prosser has always had its perks. Whether it be Thanksgiving or Christmas, our son loved decorating our front porch. The excitement on his face makes it all worth it. Whether it be the fire department or a new school agenda, we always welcomed their signs on our beautiful grass. Then the mail stopped. My wife called down, then went in and was told our porch decorations were in fact a tripping hazard. After showing the powers that be a photo of our front porch, he too agreed there was no hazard and our mail would resume. That did not happen.
So we reached out to the postmaster, and he said he would side with his employee. Our decorations were a hazard. They weren’t a hazard when we left an ice chest full of cold drinks for UPS, FEDEX and USPS in the 110-plus-degree summer we just had. New school, nope. New fire department, nope. Our decorations are seen by every customer entering the Prosser House Restaurant. We have been a pillar of this community, promoting its friendliness — and now with no mail.
Rick Segovia, Prosser
Perales is there to support Pasco
Leo Perales has made his statement as a strong community leader and a person we can trust with honesty, humbleness and (is) home grown. Leo Perales is the right person right now to help run the City of Pasco and will make decisions that are right for the community and not just for popularity.
We in Pasco need Leo Perales in keeping taxes down, supporting small business from all red tape nonsense and finding more housing for more people at affordable prices without raising property taxes. Leo Perales is always working with the people as a Pasco-born resident and making Pasco a better place to live even when he lived in Kennewick. Leo is a supporter of small business and works closely with the business owners, we know him, and he is there all the time, not just during election time.
Leo Perales can get things done and will listen to everyone in Pasco, not just his family and friends. Leo Perales will make us proud and will make the tough decisions look easy. I ask for all my friends and family to vote for Leo Perales.
David Cortinas,
Latin Business Association president, Publisher La Voz Hispanic Newspaper
This story was originally published October 4, 2021 at 6:14 PM.