Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, Nov. 25, 2014

New players, new challenges

The best governor Alaska has had in over 20 years is defeated for re-election. Dan Sullivan defeats Mark Begich for U.S. Senate. The times they are a-changing.

In Anchorage the voters chose to let the municipal employee unions dictate what their property taxes will be. I hope they remember that when they get the bill. Gov.-elect Bill Walker now has the opportunity to show what he can do for Alaska. It will be a very interesting couple of years until 2016. Sen.-elect Sullivan has the opportunity to show Alaskans what he can do for us. I can only hope that he will represent us in the memory of Sen. Ted Stevens.

Once again Alaska faces a challenging future with unknown results. Welcome to our world.

Bob Lewis

Wasilla

Hope from a young Alaskan

As a young Alaska resident, I am eager to see the future that Bill Walker has in store for us. In a recent article, our new governor-elect said he will be thinking of the future when filling positions for the new administration, focusing on hiring young Alaskans ("In speech to industry groups, Walker says he's not their enemy," ADN, Nov. 20).

I appreciate Walker's eye on the future, and his interest in developing future leaders. While he's at it, I hope he also has his eye on the future of our natural resources, and protecting wild salmon for upcoming generations to enjoy. A good start would be protecting salmon streams from large-scale mining and development. We need to put an end to projects like PacRim Coal's proposal to mine through salmon streams of the Chuitna River watershed. Projects like this are stripping away our natural renewable resources, all to develop coal and ship it directly overseas.

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If we're looking ahead to the future, projects like the Chuitna mine don't seem like a smart investment. Gov. Walker — I hope you keep to your promises of putting Alaska first and always keeping future generations of Alaskans in mind.

Laura Bartholomae

Anchorage

Steer clear of personalized agendas

Here, here for both Marie Bair and Ken Higgins (Letters, Nov. 21). The two of you were spot on and nailed it. Personally, I cannot wait until Lisa Murkowski is up for re-election and I can cast a vote against her. As an independent voter, I thought at the time of her write-in campaign that she got it and she would no longer be just a Republican, but sadly I was wrong. The final betrayal was when she threw Mark Begich under the bus in pursuit of her own ends. I no longer need an individual of her obvious character to represent me in Washington. Hopefully, Begich will go after her seat. He has my vote.

With respect to Bill Walker as he assumes his role of governor of our state, good thoughts go out to him because it is a daunting task to take care of an entire state and do what is proper and correct for the many. I am hopeful that he will keep the good of the state in the forefront and not get caught up in a personalized agenda.

Judie Wolfe

Anchorage

Civil War revisionists ignore the facts

Kudos to everyone writing about the Civil War. Despite the 150th anniversary, there has been little public discourse about it. We are all inheritors of that conflict, and understanding it is key to understanding where our nation came from and where we're going. We may never change the minds of those who believe this war was not about slavery and that Southern states seceded because of "Northern aggression." That this revisionist history is taken seriously is reason enough to address it. The revisionists ignore the fact, yes fact, that the first seven Southern states to secede did so right after Lincoln was elected. The first conventional battle, Fort Sumter, came after secession and the South was the aggressor.

A few claim the war was unnecessary because slavery would have ended soon anyway. Read firsthand accounts. You'll see that most people knew very well how essential slavery was to the Southern economy. Both before and during the war — as late as February 1865 — offers came from Lincoln and others to compensate slave owners when slavery ended. But the Confederate leaders rejected and chose war, jubilantly at first, grimly by the end. Their misunderstanding of our nation's story put them on the wrong side of history, as does that of today's slavery apologists.

Jeff Silverman

Anchorage

Major shortfalls in ASD offerings

There is no surplus in the Anchorage School District budget, only cash as a result of incorrect projections. We have bigger class sizes than we've had in years, classrooms that desperately need aides, art teachers responsible for more than 800 students' art education, and computer labs that don't work, leaving students without access to the online programs the district pays for.

My daughter's school, Rogers Park Elementary, with 550 students, doesn't have a functioning computer lab. How are students and teachers supposed to use Lexia, the district's online on-level reading instruction program that gets such wonderful reviews? The school also shares an art teacher. Really? 550 students and you have to share? The district needs to swiftly come up with a plan to get those computer labs fixed and get our teachers some help.

Megan Richotte

Anchorage

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.

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