Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, October 5, 2017

Shame on Trump and Congress

We now see what America gets when a radical ideology of anti-government, anti-immigrant controls Congress and the White House. Nine months of the Trump administration and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico have revealed the true character of what MAGA hath wrought: a humanitarian crisis.

Shame on the president and Congress.

— Elstun Lauesen
Anchorage

Get up off your knee if you want
to make a real difference

Let the millionaires that take a knee whilst playing a game continue to do so, by all means.

After all, it has made such a huge difference within our nation, has it not?
That knee means everything to the poor, no matter the pigment, and will lift them up out of poverty, because a millionaire who plays a game to earn their income takes a knee of subjugation, and yes, it is subjugation, unto the flag that represents this nation.

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A kneeler is no hero by any stretch of any imagination, but a coward.
Want to make a difference, cowardly kneelers?

Go into the poorest neighborhoods of your hometown and make a difference there.

Help those poor by giving not only your money, but more especially your time.
Volunteer your time to the programs that support battered women, that support homeless children, that support homeless families.

Volunteer your time to ride along with cops, to see what they honestly go through within those neighborhoods.

You want to make a difference?

Get up off that damn knee and stand up so as to make an actual difference as a man, or woman, rather than a symbolic subjugation action.

— Randy Lee Harkins
Anchorage

Come learn about Alaska's
fiscal situation over a beer

Are you worried about Alaska's fiscal situation? Are you wondering about where we are headed?

I invite you to "Choosing Our Future: Alaska's Fiscal Options," Alaska Common Ground's event Thursday evening, Oct. 5, at the 49th State Brewing Co., 717 W. Third Ave., Anchorage, starting at 7 p.m.

Legislators, community leaders, and experts will grapple with the trade-offs in Alaska's persistent fiscal challenge. The evening will include panelists questioning each other about the values, dollars, options and deals involved in addressing the state of Alaska's fiscal crisis. There will be opportunity for questions.

How can you beat learning the facts and choices regarding our public finances over a craft beer?

Admission is free. I hope to see you there this evening.

— Cliff Groh
chair, Alaska Common Ground
Anchorage

Location of speed bumps
defies common sense

I was so happy after the Dowling Road roundabout was re-paved and those ridiculous speed bumps were nowhere to be found. My happiness didn't last long though! The roundabout was closed this past weekend, unfortunately, to build two new speed bumps that are even more ridiculous, especially their locations. Why put a speed bump right in front of the entrance to the roundabout where you have to stop anyway? It defies common sense.

Well, I'm sure some city engineer has a ridiculous answer but if the roundabout would have been designed right in the first place, there would be no need for ridiculous bumps in the road. And if people are speeding in the roundabout, then hand out speeding tickets. OK, that's my 200 words or less.

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— Bob Manwaring
Anchorage

Layout of Sports & Outdoors
is disconcerting to reader

I like to read my morning paper top to bottom (not every article) and left to right. That's left to right, like a book. Am I the only person who finds it disconcerting to progress in such manner only to come across the backside of Sports & Outdoors wondering how I missed the beginning? That's just weird.

In a world of terrorists, disasters, and a tweeting president, dumb letters like this may seem (duh, are) trivial. But I vote for a little more "normalcy" from my paper.

— Carey Cossaboom
Anchorage

Show your support of Bristol Bay protections before it's too late

You don't know what you've got until it's gone — this old adage is a cautionary tale to remind us to recognize what we have before we let it slip through our fingers and realize our tragic loss. In the case of Bristol Bay, we already know what we've got. We've got five species of Alaska wild salmon, 14,000 American jobs, $1.5 billion in annual economic contributions and the largest remaining sockeye salmon fishery in the world; all of which can benefit Alaska forever if managed properly.

In 2014, tens of thousands of Alaskans, and millions of Americans, asked the EPA to protect the salmon resources of Bristol Bay, and they listened. Recently, new leadership at EPA trashed millions of comments, disregarded science and intends to scrap proposed protections for a world-class resource. Bristol Bay is a salmon powerhouse and the Native cultures and families it dependably supports year after year far outweigh the short-term gains of a foreign mining company.
The EPA public comment period regarding the proposed withdrawal of the July 2014 Clean Water Act Proposed Determination closes on Oct. 17. Visit www.savebristolbay.org to submit your comment in support of protections for Bristol Bay before it's too late!

— Graham Otten
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 under 200 words 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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