It’s cold and windy in the Tri-Cities? Wind opponents told me that never happens. | Opinion

Wait, it’s both cold and windy here?

Today is Jan. 15, it’s been bitter cold for the last four days, and when I go outside the wind cuts right through my clothes. Wait! What? It’s cold and windy? The wind farm opponents told me this doesn’t happen!

Here’s what I know, the wind doesn’t always blow everywhere all the time, but at any given time it’s blowing somewhere. We also have an electric grid that can move electricity around some fairly large distances.

Martin Pace, Richland

Trump uses us, doesn’t help us

Trump is using us, and he’s good at it.

Donald Trump is attempting to stop criminal prosecutions against him by arguing a president has absolute immunity from criminal law, no matter what he does.

The residents of Benton County clearly support law and order and the rule of law. We passed the public safety sales tax to support our values of being good and law-abiding citizens. Trump definitely has a lot of attention; I’ll give him that. But our citizens deserve a working government — for the people.

Sure, the stock market looked good on paper, but who really needs their 401k to look good? We need it to be available and sustainable when we retire. Most people did not feel that bonus with the exception of wealthy leaders who aren’t even supporting affordable housing for the residents working for them.

Big investors saw the rewards. Not you and me. If you were simply wanting a big number on the computer screen, he succeeded. He didn’t do much for you, me or my children’s future living situations.

Trump’s campaign has been about retribution and revenge. He has no plan to make life better for ordinary Americans.

Misty Muchlinski, Richland

Soroptimists set ‘Dream It Be It’

Soroptimist International of Three Rivers (SI3R) and Soroptimist International of Pasco-Kennewick (SIPK) are presenting “Dream It Be It” on March 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Columbia Basin College HUB.

“Dream It Be It” is a free career support event for high school girls in grades 9-12. This fun program provides girls with access to career education, professional role models and the resources to live their dreams. The event includes lunch and snacks for the participants.

SI3R and SIPK are part of Soroptimist International of the Americas. They are nonprofit service organizations of women with a passion for investing in dreams and empowering local women and girls to achieve their goals. Preregistration for this free “Dream It Be It” event is required, and the deadline to register is Feb. 15. To register, request a registration packet at: dibi.tri.cities@gmail.com.

Jann Frye, Soroptimist International of Three Rivers and Soroptimist International of Pasco-Kennewick

Time to invest in Prosser youth

I would like to express my support for the upcoming Prosser school levy. I am optimistic that our district is on an upward trajectory. In the last few years, we have chosen new leaders at many of our schools, in our administration, and on our school board.

While volunteering in classrooms, helping to select our new English Language Arts curriculum, and serving on our local attendance committee, I have observed the determination of our school district to reach its full potential.

Capital levy dollars will build on our momentum as we update our athletic facilities and crucial infrastructure at the middle school.

EP&O levy dollars will support programs such as counseling services, athletics, after-school arts programming, and other ASB activities. These services provide students with healthy social outlets and help our students build self-esteem, healthy relationships with coaches and peers, and pride in their schools and community.

Let’s invest in our Prosser students! After graduation, many of our students choose to return to Prosser and become contributing members of our community. An investment in our youth today is an investment in the future of Prosser.

Jani Andrews, Prosser

Netanyahu made the tragedy worse

Of course, any sensible person would object to the indiscriminate response Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used responding to the horrible actions of Hamas. Hamas not only killed without warning 1,400 Israeli citizens, it put in danger the citizens of Palestine because Netanyahu’s response would be excessive. But that certainly doesn’t give the right to Netanyahu to level houses and send missiles into hospitals and shelters in southern Palestine where the Palestinians have been ordered to go.

If a police officer were to pursue a felon who had stolen a car and kill 20 bystanders along the way in the chase, most people, especially the chief of police, would have a problem with that recklessness. Similarly, to call non-militant citizens “collateral damage” as if they’re not human beings shows a heartless way of thinking, whether that mentality is taken by Hamas or Israeli military.

No kind of nationalism works in the long run, whether it is Zionism or Islamism. We are all exhausted from the inability to find peace in the Middle East. Certainly, more war is not the answer, nor is anti-Semitism nor anti-Arabism, ever.

Michael Kiefel, Walla Walla

Public right to know, or profits of press?

Not to strike a blow against the First Amendment or free letters: but your Jan. 14 editorial decrying HB 1597 might make some presses stop.

First, it should strike an individual that the most dangerous purveyors of unfettered records access is you, the press. Criticizing more rigorous records requests, as you wholeheartedly did, should come with your disclaimer: How does it actually relate to your own business interests?

Instead, you insist it’s a bad bill.

My own cautionary tale to unfettered records includes an experience where a private entity received a portion of its funding from a government source.

A personnel decision that should have been kept secret was unearthed because of this tenuous open public record process. While the press celebrated this blow against “secretive government,” there was no accounting for the very real and private harm it caused an innocent individual.

The moral? When you attack a law that affects your core operating principles, or bottom line, readers need to get a caveat emptor about your ‘right to know’ motives.

Jack Howard, Richland

We used to row in the same direction

Recently I saw two films that showed why we once were proud to be American. “The Boys in the Boat,” in theaters, based on a true story, shows how hard the UW rowing team tried to win the Olympics for their country.

Day’s Pay, shown at the Richland library, with a very informative discussion afterwards, reminded us how committed Americans were during World War II. Hanford workers donated a day’s pay towards the purchase of a bomber to help in the war effort.

People pulled together. Now we can’t even agree that masks should be worn or vaccinations should be necessary to protect ourselves and others against COVID, our former president wants to be a dictator, and a local candidate for office thinks we should not require vaccinations or have gun laws.

Please vote both locally and nationally with our country in mind. Of course, we didn’t agree on everything in the past, but now what? We once were the model of democracy. Can’t we try to get along?

Judith Loomis, Richland