Letters to the Editor

Readers write: Letters to the editor, January 18, 2018

Our children and schools need your support!

Sen. Gary Stevens has sponsored a bill to have education funding done separately from other state funding. This would allow schools to have funds earlier and prevent the yearly pink-slipping of teachers at the end of the school year. Please email support for Senate Bill 131 to Sen. Stevens and cc your own senator and representative to show your support.

Additionally please consider reminding your legislators about the importance of education funding. Right now Alaska schools are struggling to provide the quality of education our children deserve. Without adequate funding class sizes will increase, student support positions will not be filled, and the curriculum and technology supplies children require to be well educated will not be updated.

If you have heard the cost of education keeps going up, it's true. In Alaska health care costs are one of the main reasons for that increase. The United States has the most expensive health care in the world and Alaska has the most expensive health care of any state. That means Alaska has the most expensive health care in the world!

Please don't deprive Alaska children of a good education just because our state's health care cost are high. Those are two separate issues. Let's work to find a better solution to our health care problem while funding our kids' education.

— Lisa Sparrow
Anchorage

A few tips for riding the bus

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If you ride the bus, you can save money by buying a bus pass for $660 a year. Figure out how much you would have spent if it cost you $5 a day to get around by bus. Figure five days a week at $5 a day times 52 weeks in a year. That's around $1,300 a year — with a pass you save $640. Even if you ride the bus much less, you can still save.

If you use your Permanent Fund dividend to buy a bus pass, you can use the bus all the time and save money.

One more thing — common courtesy. Why don't people wave the bus on when they don't need it while standing at the bus stop? That only disrupts the driver and causes him or her pain; they are on a tight schedule. Honor them; they are trying to stay on time.

Also, we need heated bus stops like in New York and Chicago. Show that we're all grown up like them (in your dreams). Have a nice day.

— Clifford Farmer
Anchorage

Time to get busy, Legislature

Tammie Wilson, you need to get to work. Priority one is for you to address the state of Alaska budget crisis. Dean Westlake is gone. Parties are trying to come up with a solution for the future so we don't have a repeat. What money we have left should not be spent on an investigation. Sign up for the sexual harassment training and stop your whining.

Someone in District 3, please run for office to replace Ms. Wilson. I will give to your campaign.

— Anita Thorne
Anchorage

Roscoe's food is authentic

Thank you Roscoe for bringing back "The Real Thing."

Last summer we vacationed in New Orleans and enjoyed the food. Some years ago we visited San Antonio, Texas, and enjoyed the cuisine there also.

Last Friday evening we ate at Roscoe's Catfish & Barbecue on Sixth Avenue. Roscoe's gumbo is better than in New Orleans and the ribs are better than in Texas.

— Jeff and Rita Wilson
Anchorage

Drivers, watch for pedestrians

With weather being an unpredictable mix of snow, rain and wind we all need to consider each other as we travel around the city.

We have so many beautiful vehicles in our city, I know, because I am one of the pedestrians who have to walk to get around.

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I can't help but see all the vehicles as they whiz by. The lights don't really give me much time — 21 seconds — AND there are frequently right-turn-on-red lights at the same time the pedestrian is crossing.

To all the drivers out there, please continue to be aware of the fact that the streets are icy. People can fall and you might have to stop suddenly. We might not make it in the short time we have to cross. This may be hard for drivers, but how would you feel if you hit someone? It can happen.

— Spruce Lynch
Anchorage

Climate change is not good

Lavernne Buller (Letters, Jan 15) mentions some shortsighted benefits of climate warming and dismisses permafrost melting with a little humor. It's true the early stages of climate change can seem comfortable to us here in Alaska. Warmer winters, earlier spring thaws — what's not to like? However, the long-term adverse impacts far outweigh any benefits, and they have insurance industry and national security leaders concerned.

The wildfire season in California alone last year cost insurance companies $9.1 billion. We will all pay for that through higher premiums. And, what about the personal loss of those homes? No short-term benefits there. Military experts have published a lengthy report with sobering findings related to climate change. They don't mention any benefits either.

We need to get together on solutions now, and get on board with Citizens' Climate Lobby and many other groups who call for carbon pricing to shift our economy away from fossil fuels. Many seem to politely consider this topic a no-fly zone, but by the time the permafrost melts, we'll be up to our necks in more expensive problems. Melting permafrost is more problematic than warming other soils, as it releases CO2, compounding problems. The time to act is yesterday. Contact our members of Congress, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan and Don Young to let them know we cannot afford to ignore this problem.

— Dennis Ronsse
Anchorage

Keep trash away from bears

Great presentation by Rick Sinnott (Commentary, Jan. 17), retired wildlife biologist, regarding the advisability of intensive bear management in the Anchorage area. A step-by-step approach seems the best idea. Step one is control the availability and attractiveness of our garbage to foraging bears.

— Mike McQueen
Copper Center

The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@adn.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@adn.com.

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