No policy?
Dear Editor:
If Dan Newhouse has a position on Trump’s policy of separating small children from their parents at the border, I can’t find out what it is. I called his Washington, D.C., office today and the woman who answered the phone told me she’s not allowed to tell me if he’s made a statement! Nor could she transfer my call to someone who could.
Does he actually think we won’t notice if he doesn’t ever say anything about this?
Emily Sisson, Winthrop
Never-ending assaults
Dear Editor:
The health care cuts just keep on coming. The latest Trump/Republican attempt will potentially hurt the health of all of us who aren’t rich. He’s trying to eliminate the protections for pre-existing medical conditions.
One of the things that almost all Americans have agreed on is that insurance companies should not be allowed to deny or cancel coverage for you or your child because of a pre-existing condition like asthma, diabetes, or cancer. They cannot limit benefits for that condition either.
During the campaign and after the election, Trump said it many times: “I would absolutely get rid of Obamacare. We’re going to have something much better, but . . . I want to keep preexisting conditions.”
He’s partially succeeded in getting rid of Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act, or ACA). Now he and other Republicans are trying to eliminate the “preexisting conditions” protections. This would mean that if you have or get a serious disease, insurance companies could increase your rates tremendously or refuse you coverage entirely.
After 18 months in office, Trump has not even tried to come up with “something much better.” The problem he and the Republicans have is that the ACA was actually working pretty darn well, if not perfectly. Many more people had coverage, the coverage was getting better, and there was some progress in controlling prices.
The only way to do “much better” would be a single-payer system, a “Medicare for all.” An excellent letter last week from Liberty Bell High School student Maya Sheely explained how we could be covering everyone and still save nearly $600 billion per year in health care costs.
If you aren’t rich, you should try to stay healthy at least until you turn 65. No pre-existing condition rules apply to Medicare. Unlike at private insurance companies, no government employee gets a bonus when they turn down a treatment or coverage under Medicare. Then again, Trump’s tax cuts for the rich are already undermining Medicare and Social Security, and the Republicans are talking about cutting back those programs. The assaults on the millions of Americans who need help in paying for essential medical care never end.
Randy Brook, Twisp
Help with Westernization
Dear Editor:
Help wanted: Winthrop’s Westernization Design Review Board.
• Do you have a strong vision for the future of Winthrop?
• Tired of complaining, arguing, hearing about “things” not working? Ready for action?
• Do you feel Westernization codes are being degraded by planning and development?
• Are you an advocate or opposer of solar power that believes in compromise?
• Do you believe Westernization is the economic driver of Winthrop?
• Are you willing to investigate how to incorporate the future into current codes?
• Will you be OK with your only compensation being contributing to the greater good?
• Do you own a cowboy hat and/or boots?
Then we need you!
The Town of Winthrop carries out a Westernization program to promote the economic and general welfare of the community by enhancing the overall visual attractiveness of the town through a thoughtful and consistent replication of history, design and appearance of an inland Pacific Northwest frontier town as it might have looked in the late nineteenth century. Winthrop’s Westernization standards and criteria promote and preserve attributes of a western town that may have existed between 1850 and 1900.
As explained in the comprehensive plan, structures and building elements consistent with the western theme form a key and indispensable part of the overall visual attractiveness of the town and is an essential component of the community’s economic development effort. Combined with Winthrop’s location in a particularly scenic area attractive for recreation, the Westernization program contributes importantly to the economic well-being of the community and is in the public interest to maintain and improve. The WDRB is authorized to administer the Westernization program.
The Town of Winthrop is looking for six dedicated people to energize our Westernization Design Review Board.
Please contact me at 996-2320 or stop by Town Hall for an application.
Sally Ranzau, Mayor, Town of Winthrop
Doesn’t compute
Dear Editor:
Your issue of June 20 discussed spending $5 million to enclose less than 8 miles of ditch, serving about 600 acres, with the money coming from outside the valley. Another article in the same issue discussed the apple maggot quarantine, and one of the solutions being a compost facility. This facility would cost a mere $1 million, which is deemed too expensive for such a small population.
I have to wonder why the people in the valley are expected to pay for the composting facility, which would service the entire valley, yet outside interests have plenty of cash to pay for the much more expensive ditch which services only a small portion of the population. Something just does not compute here!
William Karro, Winthrop
Losing our water
Dear Editor:
In the My Turn published on June 6, we were alerted that companies are trying to buy our water, strip it from the land and move it out of the valley. Crown Columbia Water Resources is in the process of doing just that. Who are these people and what are they about?
Petrus Partners Ltd. is the parent company of Crown Columbia and Crown West Farm Group. Since its founding, approximately half of Petrus Partners’ investment capital has come from retired partners of Goldman Sachs and Co. Remember them — fined billions for defrauding its customers and bringing on the greatest financial crisis in our country since the Great Depression.
Crown Columbia has already acquired control of 50,000 acre-feet of water in the Columbia-Snake River Basin. Now they want sole control of 33 cubic feet per second and 255.2 acre-feet of water from the Chewuch River. Our water. Water that greens our valley and sustains our agriculture.
They will put cash in a seller’s hand for what they buy and will then donate the water to trust. That sounds innocent enough. But wait. That “trust” is not forever. It is temporary. Meaning they can take that water out of the trust at any time. From that point on they can do with it what they like. You can bet good money that won’t be using the water on farmland here in our valley. They will sell it to others who need water down the Columbia River at a significant profit. Profit on our water, a public resource.
Our water will be even more precious in the future as our valley is predicted to get more rain and less snow with an earlier runoff in the spring. That means less late-season water for irrigation when it is acutely needed. Agriculture is a key to our way of life and our landscape here. Without water all that will change.
We cannot sit by while groups such as Crown Columbia buy our water and send it out of valley forever. Please comment on their application to the county Water Conservancy Board by July 19.
Barbara Waters, Twisp
Questionable policy
Dear Editor:
It is with concern and disheartenment, a quickly implemented “policy” has been adopted by the Town of Twisp censoring what they refer to as “verbally abusive and insulting” comments made to the council.
The article references the example of this alleged abusive behavior by naming and quoting a fellow citizen. The problem is, the quote is devoid of anything that constitutes abuse.
Is it not an equal abuse of power to create, report and print such a slanted article — putting nearly all emphasize as positive on mayor/council and negative on a singled-out citizen?
I do not support such practices regardless of where my opinion lands on any given topic.
The last time I checked all four corners of our nation have free speech.
The terms referenced are far from being abusive.
Now, if the town’s intent is to simply to silence those with opposing views or not sharing the same opinion — then let the article reflect the true and accurate context.
The mayor is quoted as saying “It is within her authority to determine how I accept comment.” That authority comes with accountability. In my opinion, this authority is coming across as overreach.
One need not agree with the citizen the paper chose to write about in a less than flattering way. One simply needs to recognize a potential for our mayor and council to only surround themselves with like thinkers, under-representing diversity in thought and more importantly a collective vision for town policies made in balanced fairness.
The article quotes the mayor’s point being to respect public comment and freedom of speech — yet this act achieves just the opposite.
The declaration seems unnecessary, as it is a given, abusive behavior will not be tolerated. I invite the Mayor and the News writers to examine any biases, known or unknown, creating this climate.
I would like to see any resident that chooses to use their three minutes.
It is a harbinger of things to come if we, the tax base, become complicit in looking the other way. Keep your thinking caps on fellow residents.
Dara Perez, Twisp
Support immigration reform
Dear Editor:
My father’s side of my family arrived in the United States, fleeing starvation during the potato famine in the mid-1800s. They were poor, uneducated, starving, and without any means. They were, without question, at the bottom of society’s pecking order. What they lacked in material wealth they made up for through intelligence, creativity and a drive to live a better life. My grandfather eventually migrated to the Midwest, where, from literally nothing, he founded a company that provided for his family and created hundreds of jobs.
Sadly, Trump wants us to believe that the people at our border today are somehow different than you and me, and our predecessors. He is literally fabricating a crisis where there is none to sow division and fear for the sole purpose of winning votes. He continues to chant or tweet that these people are bad, they are rapists, they won’t contribute, they are “illegal aliens,” they are infesting us.
I implore you to look at the facts and don’t let this man play on your fears: Illegal border crossings are at their lowest in decades, immigrant populations have crime rates below native-born populations, and immigrants pay into social security, which is more and more critical as birth rates fall and our population ages. Importantly, immigrants contribute to our economy, by filling jobs not desired by our native-born population. And, what is too-often overlooked, they create jobs by starting businesses, just like my grandfather.
Please join me in asking Rep. Dan Newhouse to support immigration reform born of reason and compassion, not fear and hatred. We should protect asylum seekers and provide a path to citizenship for law-abiding immigrants. Honor immigrants, don’t push them into the shadows, and they will contribute, just as my grandfather did.
Jeanne White, Winthrop
