Letters to the editor: Boise mask mandate, statewide mask mandate, election results
Boise mask mandate
Thank you to our mayor, for issuing a mask mandate for the city of Boise. Now it is time for the governor to step up and do the right thing, by making a mask mandate for the entire state of Idaho. Then he needs to enforce it.
Most businesses are making people wear masks, but some pull the masks down after passing the front door. Or pull below their nose!
It’s not that big of a deal to wear a mask properly and a whole lot easier than being in a hospital or giving someone else the virus who might die from it or be very ill. If we all wear masks and social distance, it will improve our chances of not getting it.
Oh, some have come up with so many excuses not to wear them. No one loves wearing a mask, but responsible ones do it. You could just be a carrier and not get sick, but someone else could. My husband and I have a wonderful family but won’t be having Thanksgiving with any of them. We are willing to make that sacrifice, so we won’t be in a hospital at Christmas.
Becky Ridenour, Boise
Just do it
As I’ve said to my kids (and myself) many, many times during this pandemic, “suck it up, buttercup!” Masking up and keeping our distance — two actions that we are doing that more than ever now says, “I care about the health of Idahoans and the people who go to work every day to care for us.”
Yes, masking up and socially distancing are not the most comfortable and fun things to do, but it’s not very hard to wear one and step back 6 feet from others during this time. My kids wear their masks all day at school and don’t complain — they get it. Grocery workers, teachers, school staff, food service workers, and, of course, health care workers wear a mask every day for eight-plus hours a day to serve us.
Hospitals across the state are filling up and medical staff are working around the clock to care for COVID-19 patients. Idaho is running low on health care workers, medical resources and hospital capacity. For us, wearing a mask and social distancing during this limited time is a small ask that makes a world of difference in fighting this health and economic crisis.
Sarah Harris, Boise
Keep Idaho beautiful
The importance of protecting our environment is critical to our health and well-being. Open space is paramount to prevent pollution from overcrowding.
Debbie Fereday’s editorial in the Statesman reminded me of the beauty of swimming in Payette Lake, particularly a triathlon in McCall years ago. The water was clean and pure, and the bottom of the lake visible nearly the whole time.
Keep Idaho great! Keep Idaho beautiful! Keep Idaho the most livable place to be!
Ralph Butler, Boise
Statewide mandate
Gov. Little, stop playing politics with lives. Idaho could carry on business in almost every way if you would declare a mask mandate. Restaurants and bars (where no masks) would be closed but could receive special government aid to sustain them.
It is just like wearing a seat belt. It is for safety and you get a ticket for not wearing your seat belt. The mandate would only be for a period of time and there should be some consequences for not following it — a warning at first, a fine second.
The things you have been doing are not working. The COVID-19 numbers in Idaho keep rising. In Valley County, there have been only 194 cases and only one death. McCall has a mask mandate. We know masks work. So it has to be that you are playing politics by not issuing a mandate.
Also, you have not tried a different approach to schools. There is a 50/50 plan that would reduce the number of students in half at any one time in the schools and allow students to be in class half the year and online half the year.
Cherry Woodbury, Boise
Transfer of power
To Idaho senators and congressmen,
Please immediately pursue a normal transition to the Biden-Harris presidency. The president’s delay is an immoral breach of democracy by failing to act in the national interest.
Over 150 former national security officials from both parties have warned that refusing to begin the transition is a serious risk to national security. With inexperienced, acting personnel at the Defense Department, denying briefing materials to the incoming administration is unpatriotic. It gives comfort to our enemies; they easily may take advantage in these uncertain times.
This is not how the Bush administration behaved during the economic crisis at the end of 2008. President Bush formed a joint task force with the incoming Obama administration to prevent a complete meltdown.
The man in charge of the Trump administration’s effort to produce a coronavirus vaccine wants to brief President-elect Biden but cannot get permission to do so.
Forty-six people are dying per hour with the 80% COVID-19 nationwide case uptick. It’s urgent that you lean on the Trump administration to start the transition without further delay. Idahoans want to know if you will do the right thing, for our health, our security and our democracy.
Kay Hummel, Boise
Sports photo
I think that the photograph you published by Charlie Riedel on the first page of the Sports Section (Monday, Nov. 16; Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson) should be grounds for awarding him a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize. Sports metaphors in political talk are not a new thing, but this one is the photo of the moment. I picture the exact same image, those exact same smiles, that exact same gesture of grace, the exact same sense of ease between two men — just with different faces and the setting in Washington, D.C. Please go get it, Mr. Riedel.
Susan M. Stacy, Boise