Letters to the editor: Postal Service, sequoia tree, religious exemption laws

Postal Service

The amount of misinformation about the U.S. Postal Service and mail-in ballots is stunning but not surprising. USPS sent letters to state election officials estimating the time it would take to deliver mail-in ballots to election officials. The USPS letters said if ballots are mailed later than the USPS suggested deadlines, they may not reach election officials prior to state-established deadlines.

This certainly seems a wise warning. In New York, as one example, the Board of Elections website says you may request an absentee ballot by mailing in a request postmarked as late as Oct. 27 for the Nov. 3 election. To be counted, such ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 3. This allows eight days for the request to reach election officials, a ballot to be sent, transit time to the voter, actual voting and transit time back to election officials.

We are notified to mail Christmas packages early, but somehow suggesting that ballots be mailed early is portrayed as a dirty trick. It should be taken as wise advice. Space limitations don’t allow comment on USPS’s long-running financial problems and congressional lack of interest (until today).

Steven Kahn, Boise

Sequoia

I am a teacher in the southeast Boise area. I can see the sequoia tree in question from my kitchen window. It is truly magnificent, and in tree years, just an infant.

As a teacher, we are taught to differentiate. Not all students are the same and we must tailor our educational practice to meet the needs of all students. It is not an easy task. I am constantly asking myself, have I done everything I can to accommodate the needs of my students?

I have come to the conclusion the Boise City Council members and mayor have failed to differentiate with the trees on the lot at Londoner and Highland. They are looking at all of the trees the same.

I would challenge all stakeholders of that property from Tim Hachman to his Boise representatives, to the Boise City Council members, and to the mayor who voted to cut the tree down, to reassess and double down on your differentiation efforts to save this rare sequoia.

The truly hard decision is to reverse course and develop a specific accommodation for this tree.

Guy Falconer, Boise

Religious exemption

If not now, when?

Since Idaho’s religious exemption laws were enacted in the 1970s, more than 200 Idaho children have died from faith-based communities that deny their children medical treatment. Experts indicate that most of these children would have had a 90% likelihood of living with proper medical care.

Yes, people have the right to religious freedom and parental rights, but those rights should not allow them to harm others because of their beliefs, and they certainly should not trump the very basic right of children to live. The Sarah Kester case is an example of what can happen when a wife and mother will not call authorities even when she knows her own children are being molested by their father. Her defense, her church taught her to not speak with authorities on family matters. The Daybell case is so bizarre it is hard to even use as another example of religious beliefs harming others.

With Covid-19, we have seen enough deaths. It is time for the Legislature to step up and protect these children who are unable to protect themselves. Put this on the agenda for 2021, eliminate religious exemptions and save these children from needless suffering and death.

Bruce Wingate, Boise, founder, Protect Idaho Kids