April 15 Letters to the Editor

Land use and regulation

I am a property rights guy. I believe that when someone purchases property they should have the right to use that property as they see fit, as long as it does not affect their neighbors.

If someone has land that floods or slides or is wetland, they should be told the risks, informed completely of the drawbacks and hazards and then be left to their own devices. Government should stop trying to protect us from ourselves, unless it is asked for and wanted. If I choose to knowingly build in a flood plain and it floods, it is my problem.

What happened to personal responsibility? If I had land and was told it could not be used for my own purposes, I would survey it off, stop paying taxes on it and let the county have it. Years ago we had no budget problems and good services. Now it’s problems and poor services or none, and we have many more taxpayers. Has governing grown so fast and so large that it cannot be sustained no matter what the tax?

Government and regulation have grown to the size that now it serves no one but itself and will continue to implode until it realizes it’s we, the people, not you, the overseer. Back off and let us determine our own futures and needs and stop turning our youth into mindless robots that cannot think for themselves nor make good decisions until they check the regulations. Out houses did work didn’t they?

Bill White

Kalama

When in doubt, check with pharmacist

Anyone taking a prescription drug, especially a generic, should examine each refill to make sure that the size and color match the previous prescription’s pills or capsules.

Recently, I picked up a generic at a local pharmacy and noticed that the pills didn’t match the ones I’d been taking. When I called the difference to the clerk’s attention, she said, “Oh, it’s probably made by another company. That happens all the time.”

In a hurry, I accepted that explanation and left. While in Seattle the following night, I took that medication and experienced painful reactions — mental and physical — too numerous to list here.

After a sleepless night, and with slurred speech and unsteady gait, I showed the pills to a Seattle pharmacist. She ascertained that the medication I’d been given was an anti-psychotic drug given to schizophrenics — far from the generic for restless leg syndrome that had been prescribed for me.

So if there’s any change or doubt, insist upon checking with the pharmacist.

John M. McClelland

Longview

Great fishing?

Fascinating reading in the Outdoors section of last Thursday’s Daily News. By all accounts of fishermen who are actually on the Columbia River fishing the “great run of 300,000 chinook,” the run is so poor (or late?) most fishermen have not even seen a fish caught in the local area. The Portland area is a little better, but still far from “great.”

I guess the only thing lower than the fish count is the credibility of our esteemed Department of Fish and Wildlife and its biologists like Robin Ehlke. But what the heck, they got fishermen to buy their licenses and pay their fees before the season started, so the coffer is full and they look good in the eyes of the general public, so their goals have been met.

V.M. Fennelly

Kelso

Rail is best way to travel

Wouldn’t it be nice to take a bus to the train station and then a train to Seattle or Portland or even as far as New York, for example, at a reasonable price? Most of the European countries have us beat on public transportation. If we had a great public transportation system, we would only want to travel in our vehicle for pleasure, if at all, therefore cutting down on gas usage and over crowded highways and streets.

My wife and I have traveled by rail and bus in England from London to Norwich, Paris, Scotland and more. The rail is the best and fastest way to travel long distances in the European countries. There are so many people using this transportation that the cost is fairly reasonable. When we visit relation in England, we sometimes take a bus to town, since there is a bus stop very near within a very shot walk from wherever you are.

The U.S.A. is the most powerful country in the world and yet we are way behind in public transportation. We keep getting more and more people immigrating to this country, adding to congestion problems. You would think our government would work on this problem and build a transportation system second to no other country. For the price of one, two or more vehicles per family, gas, insurance, tires, taxes and maintenance, etc., we could travel anywhere we want and leave the navigation to someone else.

Ernie Gerald

Longview