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| OCTOBER 4, 2017
o u r o p i n i o n
Viewpoint
ThE mineR
l e t t e r s p o l i c y We welcome letters to the editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Letters should be typed and submitted to The Miner office no later than 5 p.m. Friday for publication the following Wednesday. No letter will be published unless it is signed by at least one individual, even if the letter represents the view of a group. The letter must include a telephone number and address for authentication. The Miner reserves the right to edit letters. Political letters will not be published the last issue before an election. Letters will be printed as space allows.
HiTest announcement welcome news
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t’s clearly too early to tell for sure, but from most indications the planned HiTest Silicon plant could be a real boon to the area. The obvious one is jobs, family wage jobs. There are the 150 or so people who will run the smelter. The hourly jobs at HiTest will pay about $70,000 a year. There will be another 400 or so people working on construction of the plant. Then there is the boost to county government, which will benefit from taxes on the $325 million construction. When seen from the glass half full standpoint, there is a lot to gain. People have been nervous about many different impacts of the plant, including environmental concerns about water, air quality and noise. Those concerns are valid but Washington as a state is known internationally as a “Green” state. With the support of Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, a committed environmentalist, it seems unlikely that anything will be permitted that is harmful to the environment. The economic development situation is a doubleedged sword, however. There is a shortage of housing in the Newport area and some have reported being evicted from their long-time, affordable rental homes by landlords who want to move back. The suspicion is that they are moving back to fix the place up and sell it or rent it for more money. The county has started a housing work group under the direction of EDC director Jamie Wyrobek to address the housing situation. There has been interest expressed in building more housing here and maybe even a hotel. Looking back through old editions of The Miner, we can see that there were similar concerns when Ponderay Newsprint Co. was considering locating here. Decades later, the mill has been a good corporate citizen and provided living wage jobs for many people. We think HiTest could do the same thing. -DG
School board should have supported principal on safety
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he West Bonner County School Board of Trustees decided to put students at risk when they voted to allow them to ride on floats during the homecoming parade, overriding the high school principal’s decision to limit the number for safety reasons. Priest River Lamanna High School principal Joe Kren saw students jumping on and off moving floats as they made their way down the three-mile parade route through Priest River during last year’s homecoming parade. He saw that as dangerous. Since some students defied school instructions to either stay on the floats or stay off them but to not jump on and off, Kren decided that only the homecoming royalty, athletes and band members could ride the floats this year. His decision wasn’t well received by parents and students, who attended the Sept. 10 board meeting to let the board know they wanted students to be able to ride. They came up with some things they thought would make it safer – 42-inch railings on the floats and inspections before the parade. The board held a meeting a week later and voted to do as the parents and students wanted. It was the wrong decision and really ignores taxpayer liability in addition to student safety. Kren, named the 2016 Idaho Superintendent of the Year for his work at St. Maries, was presumably hired as principal because of his professional expertise. His opinion shouldn’t be disregarded on a matter of student safety and district liability. Student safety is a paramount obligation of school districts. District liability should be on the minds of trustees, who recently settled the Bobby Clark football injury lawsuit. Clark suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2013 football game and his parents sued the district for Clark’s lifelong medical costs. The board was apparently swayed by arguments of how hard the students work on the floats and the tradition involved, how it fostered student creativity. The board was convinced the students would not jump on and off the floats this year. Even if board disagrees with Kren’s professional evaluation about the danger of having too many students on moving floats, the board of trustees has an obligation to err on the side of student safety, as well as protecting the district and its taxpayers from unnecessary liability. -DG
w e b comm e n t s We welcome comment on select stories on our web site. You may comment anonymously. We will review comments before posting and we reserve the right to omit or edit comments. If you want to comment only to our writers and editors, let us know that you do not want your comment published.
yo u r o p i n i o n Johnson deserves vote for hospital commissioner To the editor, Susan Johnson’s tenure at Newport Hospital began in Long Term Care. After two years she moved to Acute Care and Labor and Delivery where she worked for an additional 16 years. She then transferred to the Emergency Room (E.R.) for her final four years. Susan has always been every patient’s advocate, continuously striving to make patients and their loved ones feel comfortable and well informed under her care. I have personally observed, while shopping locally, her receiving high praise when approached by former patients and loved ones. It is gratifying to hear people thank her personally for being such a caring Nurse, as well as advocating on their behalf. I admit bias, as Susan is a family friend. However, my family and many, many others recognize that she has the unique experience, background and dedication to be the Hospital Commissioner that will always promote the best health care interests of patients and local communities. My family asks you to vote for
Susan Johnson, Health District 1, Position 3 to enable her to represent our communities at Newport Hospital and Health Services. -John Cain Newport
Tweeting away the presidency To the editor, We currently have problems with countries who could threaten our national security. Evidently Russia meddled in our election for President, and continues to hack into U.S. and European government and industry systems. Also, Russia occupies eastern Ukraine. China laid claim to the South China Sea and is constructing bases on islands claimed by other countries. The Chinese military has confronted U.S. naval vessels and aircraft. North Korea tests ballistic missiles, which are capable of reaching the U.S. It is working on developing ballistic missiles outfitted with nuclear warheads by 2018. Iran is involved in the Syrian War and is a backer of Islamic terrorist organizations. It keeps challenging our naval forces in the Persian Gulf and continually threatens to disrupt shipping in
the Strait of Hormuz. A dictatorship in Venezuela is causing instability in the country. Given these situations, what are Trump’s priorities? He is focusing on repealing Obamacare, building a border wall, banning transgender people from our military, worrying about news leaks, undermining the media, replacing White House Staff, pardoning a convicted criminal sheriff, attacking NFL and NBA players, and showering Putin with platitudes. Trump is fraying the fabric of American society, tweeting away the Presidency and jeopardizing our security. Trump is our disastrous President. -Donald Moskowitz Londonderry, N.H.
Trump golfed while Puerto Rico suffered To the editor, When you look at the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria, you want to reach out and assist all those people without adequate shelter, drinking water and food. When you view the response by the President, you See letters, 5A
A few empty seats means someone wasn’t there By Tara Leininger
When we announced the date that the pianist George Winston would be playing at The Cutter Theatre, we started getting reservations immediately. The first question asked was, “Is it ‘the’ George Winston?” Next question: “Tickets are only $20?!” Note: tickets for his concerts in other venues range from $40 to $75, or more. We had a great early response and the theatre was filling up quickly. But most of the callers were not necessarily from the local area. Almost two-thirds of the seats sold were from people who traveled more than 50 miles to hear the world-renowned pianist. We
welcomed concert-goers from Newport, Colville, Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, Sandpoint, Moses Lake, and a couple who flew in from Alaska to have the chance to hear Winston play. We were able to seat 60 people for a game hen dinner, with Liz Ellsworth’s amazing desserts following. As we couldn’t seat any more, The Western Star picked up the opportunity and did a fantastic dinner for concert-goers as well. If you know George Winston’s music, you know that it is something that not only will sooth your soul, but enliven your heart. His own compositions were featured at the concert, but it is his virtuosity as a pianist that kept this audi-
r e ad e r ’ s p o l l Visit The Miner Online to answer our readers’ poll question through Monday afternoon. Find it on the right-hand side of the page at www.PendOreilleRiverValley.com. The results will be printed next week on this page. You need not be a subscriber to participate. If you have any ideas for future readers’ poll questions, submit them at minernews@povn.com.
The mass shooting in Las Vegas makes some people think U.S. gun control laws are too weak. Do you think the country should meaningfully expand gun laws nationally? No, that would clearly be unconstitutional. Americans have the right to possess firearms. Yes, it’s way past time. There have been more than 1,500 mass shootings in the U.S. since Sandy Hook in 2012. You really can’t say its not connected to the amount of guns in the U.S.
ence absolutely silent during both sets. The piano was not the only instrument he played, as several numbers were done on the guitar and the harmonica (George admitted he’s been called the quietest guitarist around, but this audience was held in rapt attention as he played). Musical influence from jazz, ragtime, and classical by other composers were as stirring as I have heard. George’s rendition of a traditional slide piano piece was simply the most exciting music I’ve enjoyed in a long time, and his take on Pachelbel’s “Cannon in D” took an over-familiar piano piece and See Cutter, 5A
r e ad e r ’ s p o l l r e s u lt s Do you think a player who don’t stand for the national anthem should be fired? Yes, these multimillionaires don’t have anything to protest.
43%
34%
23%
It almost doesn’t matter, the president’s tirade against athletes over the weekend while not talking about the devastation of Puerto Rico is shameful and obviously meant as a distraction to his political troubles.
No, pro athletes should use their celebrity to promote social justice.