Our Readers’ Views

Press leaders to support new bridge

Thank you for the Jan. 31 editorial, “Build, baby, build: With president pushing for better bridges, politicians must pick up the pace on CRC,” regarding the Columbia River Crossing. I believe it was right on the mark, and I urge editors to go further. Please continue to press every local/regional civic, business, labor, and political leader on both sides of the river to defend why they can’t (won’t?) get together to come up with an agreeable plan of support for this badly needed project.

We have a $3-4 billion in jobs and economic recovery program sitting right in our backyard, and it seems these leaders cannot realize what a fabulous opportunity that is. They need to band together now to replace this ancient piece of infrastructure, thereby supporting job growth, improving transit and services, and positioning this region for short-, mid-, and long-term prosperity. If the local/regional leaders show solidarity on this project, I’m confident our national representatives will see that it happens.

Press hard, press now, press often.

Michael Roll

Vancouver

Probst gets the job done

Once again state Rep. Tim Probst, D-Vancouver, has taken action to protect our community from sex offenders and other violent felons. As an officer in the Specialized Sex Offender Supervision Unit, I was concerned that the proposed House budget saved money by allowing some of these dangerous offenders to be free and without supervision in our community.

I alerted Probst on a Thursday and he went to work. Within hours, he had met with the chair of the Public Safety Committee, the chair of Ways and Means, and the Speaker of the House. On Monday morning, the House passed an amendment fixing the problem — one of only two amendments that were successfully added to the budget bill. Probst literally protected our kids from sex offenders. He didn’t just talk about it, he got the job done.

I for one am very glad to have Probst representing us in Olympia.

Anthony Shaver

Vancouver

Evaluate impact of Sunday closure

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the city’s recent closing of Sunday hours at the Marshall Community Center. While I recognize that every tax-supported municipal function will take a haircut this year and maybe for years to come, the program at the fitness center is also paid for by my membership fees. Now, what I had been paying buys me less with city services as well.

I believe city government is being shortsighted and looking to the most expedient way to save. While I can understand that, I wish they would consider taking a 10 percent reduction in overall operating hours, and making this proportional to the hours of operation each day. This potentially gives more savings on an immediate basis, and might keep the membership happier.

If the city cannot reconsider, I will be looking for another gym to go to on Sundays. I have enjoyed my membership at Marshall, but the weekends are the most important and easiest time for me to be there. If other people think like me, the city may be getting a wave of resignations.

David Kolberg

Vancouver

Mielke’s actions are inconsistent

In the Jan. 23 Columbian political column, “Start your (election) engines!,” Clark County Commissioner Tom Mielke was reported as saying that his parents took care of him, and he takes care of his family.

Is this the same person who took care of his family by spending his money on remodeling his home instead of paying his property taxes when they were due? Wow! What gratitude and generosity. No wonder we are in economic trouble.

Rebecca Gilman

Vancouver

Holding paper in hands still preferred

I just received a Nook e-reader and, out of curiosity, for 75 cents, downloaded the USA Today newspaper last Friday. (The Columbian was not listed on the download page.) Imagine my surprise when it showed I was on page one — of 718 total pages! There is simply no way I will wade through 718 pages on the e-reader just to read a single day’s newspaper.

I enjoy a slow “romp” through the big wide pages of a “real” newspaper, and have no plans of ever giving that up.

Earl Kolanda

Vancouver

Recognize embryos as human beings

Regarding the March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, I was happy to see the hundreds of thousands of people pack the National Mall in support of the human rights of the unborn.

In recent years the Supreme Court has short-circuited the democratic system by eliminating the most contentious moral issues — like marriage and abortion — from the public square and deciding them unilaterally from the court itself.

In 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” wrote that a just law is a man-made law that comports with the natural law or the law of God. Roe vs. Wade is an example of a man-made law that violates the natural law. Most everyone knows that a human embryo is a human being. That’s why the majority of people use contraceptives. They know exactly what it is that they don’t want — a human being.

For decades slaves were wrongly treated as property and denied liberty in America because they were not considered persons under the Constitution. Today other human beings, the unborn of all races, are wrongly treated as property and denied the right to life for the same reason: because they are not considered persons under the Constitution. We have to work to change this mentality.

Gerry Smith

Vancouver

Vick is not vindicated

I heard a sportscaster comment how great it was that “Michael Vick has been vindicated.” In my dictionary “vindicated” means “exonerated” or “justified” and I don’t believe Vick belongs in either of those categories. He was convicted and spent 21 months in prison for being involved in a dog-fighting business on his property where he allegedly took part in killing dogs with his own hands. He went on television and apologized for his behavior but I wonder if he was remorseful or was only doing what was necessary to regain his high-paying position as a professional football player.

He is being praised as a model of “redemption” as he plays quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously he has a talent for throwing a football, but I would be more likely to believe that Vick truly regrets his past actions if I had heard that he was more active in expressing remorse.

Certainly, Vick knows firsthand about this blood sport and should use his celebrity status to do what he can to put an end to it.

Sheila G. Hudson

Vancouver