Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 12:00 am
I read in the Corvallis Gazette-Times that the city of Philomath is entering negotiations to buy Willamette River drinking water from the city of Corvallis.
I find it interesting that they want to construct a delivery system to pipe water from the Willamette River rather than use the already-in-place Rock Creek supply of Corvallis water.
Aside from the politics, I have a concern about this issue I would like to share with you: My husband I are fishermen. In my new Oregon Sport Fishing 2006 Regulations, on page 18, it gives health advisories on the consumption of fish in Oregon.
You will notice that there is an advisory regarding fish taken from the Willamette River. There are high mercury levels, PCBs, dioxins and pesticides found in all resident species of fish in that river.
If it is not safe to eat the fish in this river, then why on Earth would Philomath want to pump that quality of water back to its citizens?
As some of you know, my family was poisoned by heavy metals in our drinking water when we lived in Philomath, both from our home and city sources. I can already hear the state health department telling everyone that the levels of contaminates are within known safety limits. I have heard that story before and then later the safety limits changed. A little late for me, but never- theless, they changed.
Sandra Ihrig
The Dalles
Brooklane locals know flooding
Regarding the water on Brooklane Drive, and Dick Powell's Jan. 11 letter, "Many factors affect flooding potential":
He may have lived in Corvalis since 1957, but I have lived since 1959 next to the exact spot that Justin Soares mentioned in his Jan. 4 "As I see it" column, "Tree removal made flood's effects worse." I have seen a lot more rainfall in a given time, and all the floods - large and small - since that time. I believe that Mr. Soares was talking about the water, not the floods, and he is correct about the surface water.
Since the removal of more than 100 trees (roots and all), and the brush on the hillside across from his property, the surface water has increased substantially. The water is running down the hill and into the ditches.
The ditch across from Mr. Soares on Brooklane Drive was filled with lots of rocks, as was the road under the surface. The water is running into the rocks, under the road and onto his property.
Mr. Soares had to use a sump pump to keep it out of one building. That building has gone through many good-sized floods and never has this happened before. This area badly needs storm drains.
Anyone who has lived here since the 1950s knows what we just experienced wasn't much of a flood. Those of us who have actually lived on this street since the '50s know a lot more about the water on Brooklane Drive than those who just "drive by."
Lois Lacy
Corvallis
Kitzhaber 'radical' reforms needed
The debate about health care access and financing has returned to center stage through the efforts of former Gov. John Kitzhaber. His proposals may seem radical and unrealistic to many people who advocate incremental reforms. We will consider various proposals to address the current problems of runaway costs, poor outcomes and uncertain access to health care.
In this process, we must remember that programs that have attempted to incrementally expand access and coverage are one of the major reasons for the current bureaucratic mess.
Only by including everyone in a unified system of health care access will we stop the continued cost shifting that eventually results in shifting more and more sick patients to public programs where we then simply end their coverage, as we have seen with the Oregon Health Plan. Until we take bold steps in the reform of health care, access and financing costs will continue to escalate for all of us.
Rich Lague
Corvallis
Iraqis voted in their democracy
Democracy was not imposed upon Iraq, as Phillip Hays insisted in his Jan. 13 letter, "GOP got us into this mess." It was voted upon by the people of Iraq enthusiastically.
But I can understand why liberals think democracy is an imposition, not being able to win national elections here at home. The imposition was the forced rule of the minority Sunni Arabs over the Shiite majority, who also similarly populate most of Saddam Hussein's mass graves.
Since Shiite Arabs compose the majority of the Iraqi population, that they have come out ahead in their elections could only come as a mystery to liberals.
I also wish to inform Phillip Hays that we haven't sent any children off to fight this war, and referring to our soldiers as "children" for the emotional impact degrades his argument.
I'm not understanding why liberal Democrats would stand by and allow ancient animosities to degrade into a bloody civil war. Would it really be better that we just pack up and leave?
That doesn't sound like the enlightened, concerned stance for human life and liberty that liberals profess to have. I guess we conservative Republicans are wrong again.
Harry Mallory
Corvallis
Corruption in D.C. another big threat
By giving lobbyist Jack Abramoff's money back, what politicians are really hoping for is that the public is as gullible as they themselves claim to be. I find it duplicitous, at best, for the Republicans (You know - the "law and order" party), to try to make it all better by returning bribes and initiating legislation in hopes that they will not be brought down by the current Abramoff scandal. To me, this is the same as a bank robber who gets caught, and then offers to return the money he stole in hopes that no one will accuse him of a crime.
The corruption is there; it was committed against America. As big as any terrorist threat, we as citizens of this country have to face the facts that our best interests are not on the minds of our lawmakers. They are the self-righteous criminals who seem to ask God for forgiveness only after they are caught
Granted, there are Democrats that were caught up in this bribery, theft of trust and theft of tax payer money. And they, too, should be brought down, the same as any corrupt politician. But by far the most money went to folks from the GOP. Not only have these folks bent over backwards for corporate welfare and lucrative employment with those same corporations after they get out of office, but they continue to tell the public that they were sheep, led around by the wolf Abramoff.
Mark Beckwith
Corvallis
Alito sounds like an 'activist judge'
I strongly hope our senators will not vote to confirm judge Alito to the Supreme Court. To me the issue is not how he would vote on abortion matters. I am concerned about his record of support of big business over the individual.
But what scares the hell out of me is his support of the "unitary presidency." I believe he is an "activist" judge who would give far more power to the president than our Founding Fathers ever intended. There needs to be oversight. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."
In this time, when we see our freedoms slipping away, we need a Supreme Court that will protect those freedoms. I don't believe that Judge Alito will.
Karl Smiley
Blodgett
Alito threatens women's rights
Yet another step in President George Bush's campaign against reproductive freedom is the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. Alito is openly against abortion rights, and he has proposed ideas that could undermine the Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade. I urge our senators to oppose Alito's nomination and to stand up for women's rights.
Daron Jackson
Corvallis
Wildcat closure response puzzling
I guess I am quite surprised and dismayed by the initial response to the closing of Wildcat Park. Where are all the people who helped build it? Where are the parents who raised a generation of children on that wonderful place? Why hasn't the response been "OK; the support posts are potentially bad. Let's just replace the posts and carry on"?
Perhaps I am a bit uninformed as to just how bad the situation is there (seems like information from those that did know was late in coming and short on details), but we have the design and wood is being milled all the time in the needed types. We ought to make repairs so our grandkids can enjoy this park, too.
It's a sad commentary on the way our visualization of schools has changed over the past few decades that the most proactive mentality working now is the "Well, if it's gotta go, it's gotta go, and I'm mad/sad/frustrated", instead of "If that's what it takes to make it happen, then let's do it!"
Richard Halter
Corvallis