THANK YOU ...
... to fire and rescue team
We want to thank the Ada County Sheriff's Department and Fire and Rescue for the very professional and timely kayaker rescue from a strainer (tree debris) on the South Channel of the Boise River just upriver from the Pioneer Diversion. If researching a river float anywhere, please remember that Google Earth's images are not “current.” Quite helpful, but conditions change and the paddling-level view may be radically different from expectations even if you are experienced. These fire and rescue personnel did an outstanding job of skilled assistance. Thanks again!
DIANE HULBERT AND TOM BLODGETT, Meridian
... to St. Luke’s for cooperation
As a small local business owner I wanted to extend an extreme amount of gratitude to the great people at Air St. Luke’s, St. Luke’s in Eagle and Barnucopia Natural Food Market in Eagle. Recently I ran into a great deal of corporate bureaucracy while attempting to film locally and ended up between a rock and a hard place. The wonderful administrators at Air St. Luke’s bent over backward to help us out on an hour's notice.
We then were treated with the same warm welcome at St. Luke's in Eagle and the awesome folks at Barnucopia! It was very refreshing to see people excited to help our local videography business succeed and to so graciously open their doors to us. People like these reaffirm why the Treasure Valley is a great place to live. Just wanted to say thanks!
JIM SEANEY, Eagle
... to student volunteers
I would like to say thank you to the Northwest Lineman College students who volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. These men were so respectful, competent and hard-working! I wish them the best with their new careers — any employer would be lucky to have them.
MICHELE GERE, Boise
STATESMAN
Sunday Insight section shows bias against Mitt Romney
Apparently, the Statesman can’t find enough critical opinions about Mitt Romney from the New York Times and Washington Post (their usual suspects). The July 22 “Insight” section featured a one-page (with ads) Romney attack from Slate written by no less than the editor in chief of the Slate Group and titled “Slate: 5 reasons Obama should keep hammering Romney on Bain.”
Well, first, Slate as one the most leftist publications in the country, is rabidly pro-Obama and anti-Romney. Second, the five reasons listed of course didn’t include the main and most obvious reason: President Obama must keep the political discussion away from his abysmal record on the economy, the national debt and wasted millions on “green” programs, etc. He wants the focus on Bain to portray Romney among the disdainfully rich who simply can’t relate to the little guy or the middle class. The article fully supports what has become obvious, in that the national media is prepared to help spread this sort of invective throughout the summer and fall to influence public opinion and help “their” candidate win. Expect the Statesman’s editorial staff to dutifully follow with the same bias.
CHARLIE NATIONS, Eagle
Cartoon presents only one side
Regarding your Mike Luckovich political “cartoon” on July 23, depicting Mitt Romney “editing” Obama's statements to make them say something different, with a speech balloon to Romney saying, “Edited slightly for clarity,” I can only ask, “Really?”
Barack Obama is running ads in “battleground states” with workers blaming Romney for the loss of their jobs in 2001 when Bain Capital put GST Steel into bankruptcy. Yet the guy who was managing director of Bain Capital in 2001 was not Mitt Romney, who had left in 1999 to organize the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, but Jonathan Lavine, a major supporter and cash “bundler” for Barack Obama.
You can't get much more duplicitous than that in a campaign ad, yet your “newspaper” has carried nary a mention of it!
KENNETH HUSTON, Garden City
STATE POLITICS
Idaho legislative cycle includes tax cuts for Republican friends
Everyone knows about the four seasons of the year. But after more than 20 years here, I have noticed there are seasons at our state Legislature, only on a three-year cycle.
There is the season for tax cuts for their friends and associates one year.
That creates a shortage in revenue, so large cuts are in order the next year.
Which then requires a raise in taxes on people (not the ones that got the tax breaks).
Then the next year it starts all over again.
The only way to stop this is to stop blindly electing people just because they belong to one political party and start voting your own interest.
PAUL VALAS, Meridian
