'Come to the Fair, bring your dog'
Sunday, August 17, 2008 1:01 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleAug. 17 Letters to the Editor
‘Come to the Fair, bring your dog’
Now that sounded like a lot of fun, but the part that interested me the most was the “service and therapy” dog part. I have a service dog named “Hoss.” He’s an owner-trained service dog. We’ve been training him since he was a pup; he learns new responsibilities in new atmospheres daily, and we thought that this would be a great venue. We had a lot of fun at Dogapalooza.
Afterwards we went into the fair. After a few minutes I realized that I had locked my keys in my car, so I asked my son to go home to get my spare set. While waiting for him to return, I was approached by a fair official and asked to leave because Hoss isn’t certified. No matter how many times I tried to explain the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to her, she still wanted us to leave. She had a reserve officer from the sheriff’s department come to assist her in escorting us out. I explained the law to him. He said they were following what the county had set forth.
I left and returned minutes later with the ADA, and spoke to Mike Moss, fairgrounds director, to no avail. Since then I’ve found that roughly 20 disabled people with service animals were asked to leave that day.
I promise I’m going to do everything in my power to see that the county knows the ADA, as it pertains to service animals, and hopefully this will never happen again.
Dawn Moran
Longview
Wake up, people
In response to Kim McVey's July 31 letter, Larry Wagle is just a another “average” citizen in this country that has every right to his opinion. If we are tired of listening to his opinions, then exercise. By that, I mean turn around and walk away.
Larry is a man that most times is the only one around that says what most people don’t have the nerve to say. I’m not saying that I agree with him that we need a strip club in this town, but we all have the right to our opinions, and we have the right to voice those opinions.
Ian Wood
Kelso
Excellent coverage
This is a very special thank you to The Daily News for its excellent coverage of the Pacific Northwest 13-year-old Babe Ruth Regional Baseball Tournament that was played July 30 through Aug. 2 at Stan Rister Stadium in Kelso.
Your sports editor, Rick Alvord, and his staff — Ben Zimmerman, Scott Pispla and Janine Manny — went above and beyond in their coverage of every game played. Many of these 13-year-old players have never had their games reported in the newspaper, let alone seen their names in print.
The photos by Bill Wagner, Greg Ebersole and Scot Heisel were excellent. Again, what a thrill for some 13-year-olds.
Last, but not least, the front-page lead story on July 30, “Playing the game they love,” by Thacher Schmid, was the mustard on the hot dog.
Jim Thomas, Commissioner in charge
PNW 13-year-old Babe Ruth Tournament
Centralia
Leadership brilliance
With 75 percent of the citizens in the country in favor of drilling for more oil and gaining energy independence, one would think Nancy Pelosi would be on the same page. Considering her promise in June of 2006 when she took office as Speaker of the House, “I’ll introduce a common sense plan to lower fuel prices,” one would expect to see this plan soon.
To date, her efforts have been noted in two areas: 1) File a lawsuit against OPEC. 2) A windfall profits tax on oil company profits. Both of these moves would obviously result in higher fuel prices.
Pelosi has also made some startling announcements on the same subject. On CNN recently she warns that any bill that attempts to open the drilling efforts will never make it to the floor for a vote. This looks more like a dictatorship than a representative government.
Judi Schwindt
Silver Lake
Criticism is off the mark
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees a citizen’s right to free speech. Opponents of Congressman Brian Baird should be able to exercise this right, as long as what they are saying is true. But, Cheryl Crist and her supporters continually speak falsehoods about his record. They are going against the intent of the authors of the U.S. Constitution. The facts need to be set straight.
Baird is not a politician who gives in to special interests. He really cares about the American people and that’s why he’s been working with Sen. Ron Wyden on a bill known as the Healthy Americans Act to ensure that every American is insured and that their health care is affordable. For years Baird has said we need to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil. Baird supports the Apollo Energy Act, which is about creating alternative energy. His work on the Science Committee has focused on climate change so he will be able to help educate people and pass laws that will achieve the greatest results, when combating climate change. No one in America wants to see our soldiers die and that is why, for the record, Baird voted against going to war with Iraq.
When opponents say Baird is not dealing with pressing issues at home, they are wrong. Because, as you can see, Baird has actually been doing work, not just at the Capitol but all around the world, in an attempt not just to better America, but to better the world.
Susan Lee Schwartz
Longview
Owner responsibility
I have two dogs, both licensed females and “fixed.” As per law, they are up to date on all required shots. They are house dogs and only allowed out in the fenced back yard.
They have all kinds of “laws” relating to dogs, but none for cats. They say cats are feral and can roam at will “wherever.” News for your readers: cats are not “wild.” If you have multiple cats and let them run loose to damage your neighbor’s property and landscape, you are a bad neighbor.
The fact that cats run loose at will in my neighborhood is evident; late last week a cat was killed by a car in front of my house and two kittens were found in the street.
If you love having five or six cats and letting them run loose, don’t cry when they disappear. If you had the same restrictions as a dog owner, you would have a re-think of your cats.
Please keep your cats at home.
M.L. Colburn
Longview
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