Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, October 11, 2017

Reindeer tradition should end

Star No. 6 should be the last reindeer living in a fenced backyard in downtown Anchorage. They are not pets and deserve better than occasional walks on a leash in between inhaling exhaust fumes from passing vehicles and consuming whatever junk is heaved into the yard. This "tradition" should have stopped.

When the first Star died, if I recall, special zoning or dispensation was required to keep her and her successors in Anchorage city limits. Let domesticated reindeer remain on a farm, or better yet, keep them in the wild.

— Carol Johnson
Anchorage

Doing it for the shock factor

It might be fun to do something for pure shock effect, such as entering an Alaska gun show asking loudly how long it would take for the background investigation.
Either the place would fall into dead silence or someone would unceremoniously show me the door. Or how about saying something like this: "Semi-automatic and even fully automatic rifles aren't sufficient to fulfill my Second Amendment rights. Do you sell RPGs or surface-to-air missiles?

— Frank Baker
Eagle River

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Only justice will bring peace

We have reached the time in our history when we need to separate politics from sports events. The long history of honoring the country through sports events has done nothing to inspire greater performance by athletes nor improved our appreciation of our national symbols. Even the international link of athletics to national political standing as represented by the Olympic games has not helped to bring about international peace. Only justice will ultimately bring about such peace.

— John Kennish
Anchorage
We need the EPA to protect children, our way of life

The Trump administration has launched an all-out assault on the Environmental Protection Agency by proposing a 31 percent budget cut to the agency and also through the nomination of chemical industry shills such as Michael Dourson to head the nation's toxics program.

Who suffers most from decisions such as this? Our children are the most vulnerable to the harmful effects of pollutants in our homes and communities that are linked with intellectual deficits, learning and developmental disabilities, cancers, heart and lung disease, low birth weight, and premature death. We need the EPA to protect air quality so that our children do not suffer from asthma attacks. The EPA is mandated to keep our water safe for drinking, as well as for subsistence uses, commercial fishing and recreational uses.

Across the country, the Clean Air Act will prevent 230,000 early deaths, 2.4 million asthma attacks, and 5.4 million lost school days. Since the EPA came into existence in the early 1970s, we've seen a near doubling of the U.S. waters that are healthy for fishing and swimming through implementation of the Clean Water Act.

Defending the EPA is especially important in Alaska where we are on the receiving end of persistent chemicals transported on wind and ocean currents and that concentrate in the fish, wildlife and people of the north and Arctic. Please contact Sens. Murkowski and Sullivan and urge them to fight any further reductions in EPA's budget so that the agency can fulfill its mandate to protect the health of Alaska children and our way of life.

— Pamela K. Miller
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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