May 28 Letters to the Editor

Old fishing line is a hazard

For two days it was sunny and a lot of people had been fishing. I started noticing that people have been leaving their old fishing line on docks.

On May 10, my mom, my brother, and I went to the lake for Mother’s Day. I took my rubber raft out on the lake and, when I went under the bridge, I saw a dead pigeon hanging from a lot of fishing line.

I am concerned about people leaving fishing line on docks and other places. So, please try to remind people to not leave fishing line, hooks, bobbers and any other tackle at the lake for the safety of the wildlife.

Levi Anderson

Longview

Unbelievable!

Finally, finally, someone is paying attention to where permits are given for building new family dwellings. As I write, the Kelso City Council is meeting to discuss the Kelso Planning Commission’s recommendation to deny developer John Strader’s request to build an apartment complex in the area of 2212 Kelso Drive, which is southwest of Haussler road.

There is more than enough evidence to show this is a very bad idea. I understand the fault line that took out all those homes in Aldercrest extends much farther south.

I surely hope the Kelso City Council listens to the Planning Commission. If Strader is allowed to build, he will sell to someone else and they will be the loser, along with putting lives of residents in potential danger. We need to pay attention to the warnings and not push beyond reasonable caution.

I commend the Planning Commission. Will I also commend the Kelso City Council?

Robin Hieb

Kelso

Editor’s Note: The Kelso City Council voted unanimously against the developer’s request to rezone on May 19.

‘Thumbs up’ to Kelso

The next time you wait at the stop light at Fourth and Allen Streets in Kelso, take a minute to look at what Kelso has done with their landscape/streetscape. The new “Red Canoe” bank not only has great landscaping, but has planted attractive “Street Trees,” breaking up the concrete space. The old unattractive buildings across the street on the right have been camouflaged with plantings, creating a park like setting. Then, as always, the Cowlitz County Historical Society continues to plant and maintain attractive plantings each season.

Great “green space’” Kelso. Not a bad wait.

Barbara Donnelly

Longview

It’s not a ‘Christian nation’

So, Tom Carey (letter May 4) says he won’t buy Pepsi products any longer because he “will not financially support same-sex marriage or homosexual lifestyles.” I have a question for him. Has he completed a background check on every product and service he “financially supports” to ensure he is not supporting a homosexual lifestyle?

Does you attend any professional sporting events? Does he know for certain that there aren’t any homosexuals working for any of the organizations he does support? What about fuel for his car? Has he checked to make sure the oil companies don’t have any closet homosexuals? What about our troops? Does he only support those who aren’t gay?

This nation is not a Christian nation. It is a nation where one is free to worship, or not worship any religion of his or her choice. The “under God” portion wasn’t written into the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954. About these words, President Eisenhower stated, “These words (“under God”) will remind Americans that despite our great physical strength we must remain humble. They will help us to keep constantly in our minds and hearts the spiritual and moral principles which alone give dignity to man, and upon which our way of life is founded.” If you notice, there isn’t any mention of Christianity.

Crystal Shellenbarger

Longview

Health-care ‘reform’?

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. Who are those “health industry groups” referred to in your editorial of May 12, that delivered that Trojan horse of a letter to the White House? The letter claims to promote health-care “reform.” But its signatories include the AMA, the AHA, pharmaceutical companies, medical device makers, health insurers and the SEIU, all of which are vested in the current system.

Americans have been deluded into thinking that a “single-payer” plan will limit our freedom to choose or reduce the quality of care. On the contrary, single payer — public funding and private delivery — will allow us to choose our own doctor, and will greatly decrease the cost and increase the quality of care, because it eliminates the 30-40 percent or more of our health-care dollars that go to private insurers and a fragmented system of administration.

Not only is it the only moral, compassionate answer to the crisis, it is the only affordable one. Many doctors, nurses, hospitals, economists and CEO’s, as well as millions of citizens, support it. The current system doesn’t need to be “reformed,” it needs to be scrapped. We can’t allow Congress to compromise on this issue.

Elizabeth Sheppard

Longview