Veterans Parade inspirational
I attended our 23rd annual Celebrate Freedom Veterans Parade on Nov. 7. I overheard the organizers state it was the worst weather they had ever experienced. Well, you wouldn’t have known it to look at the parade participants. From the veterans and active military, firefighters and police, to the high school students and numerous scouting organizations, they were walking in the cold downpour. There were even many young children bundled up in wagons being towed by their parents to honor our veterans. It was amazing.
But the sight of our Gold Star families walking with the banners of their loved ones lost was truly inspirational. As a mother of a daughter in the military, my first thought was “Could I do this?” It was hard to imagine. My eyes were glued to the face of a mother as she walked by holding one end of the banner with a picture of her son. My tears started to flow even as they are now as I think back to her face. But I could also see her strength. I applaud and admire all of them; I thank them for the service of their children. And to all who have served our country, “Thank you.”
Jan Asai
Vancouver
Proud to sell healthier items
I am a student manager at Heritage High School’s student-run store. I am writing in regard to the Nov. 5 story “Subway gets a footlong in the door.” Though the article states that the Subway shop at Heritage may not sell sodas (which I’m sure is completely accurate), it also states that soda is “still available at student-run stores” during lunch. My intention in writing this letter is simply to clarify that our student store does not sell soda to students during lunch periods. I wish to make this known because the Heritage High School student store complies with a National School Food Authority policy, which states that we cannot sell beverages of minimal nutritional value, such as soda water and carbonated beverages, during lunch.
For abiding by these policies, Heritage High’s student store has actually won grants and certifications in the past for selling the most nutritional items (such as 1 liter water bottles) in the store, in comparison to the rest of the district’s high schools. We pride ourselves in striving to uphold our sales of healthy lunchtime items.
McKenna Hoecherl
Vancouver
Open civil ceremonies to all adults
Referendum 71 passed and it was never about marriage. It was about equal rights and, once given to the gay community, it will do no harm to marriage or children, which we were repeatedly warned about. Gay marriage was denied in Maine, and this was an unnecessary tragedy bought and paid for by the Catholic Church.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Referendum 71 snowballed across the planet? Then there would be no need for marriage and this silly religious ritual could only be imposed on their own congregational flocks. The federal government must stop religious discrimination by allowing civil ceremonies, which bestow the ingredients of marriage to any two consenting adults.
Larry Little
Vancouver
Name change, restaurants & bikes
Topic 1: Vancouver name change. My wife and I would have to notify more than 60 businesses of our change of address. Multiply that by the number of families and businesses that live and do business here, and you get an idea of the work required — and for what purpose? We would vote “no” on the name change.
Topic 2: Restaurant inspections. We check the inspection rating before we dine in any establishment. We think the inspections are worthwhile, but why aren’t restaurants required to post their rating in plain sight near the entrance? Customers are entitled to know how clean the restaurant is.
Topic 3: Bicycles. Bicycles share the roads with automobiles, so it is our opinion that bicycles should be licensed just as other vehicles are that use our roads.
Bill Linehan
Vancouver
More guns cause more deaths
As family members prepare to bury 13 people shot dead at Fort Hood in Texas, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., is preparing to introduce legislation in Washington, D.C., that will make it easier for mentally incapacitated veterans to regain access to guns. Burr’s bill would be almost funny if it wasn’t so tragic; it’d be pathetic if it didn’t stand a good chance of actually passing (as an amendment to pending VA legislation).
The NRA’s answer to tragedies like the one at Fort Hood is typically to advocate that everyone carry a gun. But when a lone madman can use two handguns to kill 13 people on an army base that’s home to more than 25,000 troops, the reality of that fantasy becomes clear. In truth, more guns simply mean more death. But to Burr and others like him, nothing stops access to guns, even for veterans judged mentally incapacitated or mentally incompetent by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Justice Department. The emotional stability of the Army is remarkable given what it’s going through right now. What I wish for the families and friends affected by the madness at Fort Hood is more emotional stability in the U.S. Senate.
Heidi Yewman
Vancouver
Cell phone chats, driving don’t mix
I heartily agree with Pam Brumfield’s Nov. 2 letter, “Cell phones and driving don’t mix.” How many accidents and deaths will it take before it becomes a primary — and not secondary — offense? Recently, I was driving and saw a young mother in the car next to me holding the cell phone up to her left ear while she sipped a latte with her right hand and drove. In the back of the car was an infant in an infant car seat. If caring about her child’s safety isn’t enough to make this mother stop taking chances, maybe the authorities need to help her.
Nancy White
Vancouver
Consumer beware
The Credit Card Reform Act Of 2009 gave credit card companies a loophole big enough to drive our nation through as they scramble to convert fixed-rate credit cardholders to variable rates because the new rules requiring 45 days notice to raise rates do not apply to variable rate cards. Conversion of existing fixed-rate cardholders to variable-rate cardholders has been swift and merciless, proving once again that politicians write bills that keep lobbyists happy while seemingly acting on behalf of us peons who rarely read the fine print of any legislation and are then shocked by the truth when we receive our bills, whether that is a credit card bill or a tax bill. We personally do not use credit cards but are still negatively affected as credit card companies pass losses from this legislation onto retailers.
Angie York
Vancouver
