Letters to the editor: Dams, climate, pandemic
Spirit of Idaho
I’m entering my freshman year at North Junior High. My parents came to Boise in 2005, and since then we’ve maintained a very close relationship with our extended family in Shanghai, China. My grandpa has taught me about the importance of honor, whether it’s being kind to strangers, or paying respects to higher spirits in new places.
I believe that the spirit of Idaho lies in its wildlife. The salmon and steelhead are crucial to preserve the spirit of the beautiful wildlife in Idaho. If we kill the fish, we kill the precious spirit of our beloved state. We will be dishonoring the generations of salmon that have survived here and the families that have built their bonds through fish-related activities. We will also be dishonoring the treaties that the government has made with Pacific Northwest indigenous communities.
I am asking Sen. Mike Crapo to support Congressman Mike Simpson’s Columbia Basin Initiative. Let’s breach the four Lower Snake River dams and restore the honor of our precious state and the spirit of Idaho. I encourage readers to call Crapo’s office in favor of this proposal.
Yvonne Shen, Boise
Climate crisis
I’m a just-graduated student from Capital High School. A climate-crisis induced heat wave is currently glaring down upon the Pacific Northwest, and a crippling drought is ravaging the West.
As a young person staring at our stark climate crisis reality, I believe the Boise School District needs to commit to 100% clean electricity by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2040.
Some of my best memories are from the soccer fields and classrooms of my high school. Every kid deserves the chance to enjoy those same experiences in a safe, healthy, sustainable world.
Those same schools where kids play sports and learn are the exact places where we can make an impact in taking on the climate crisis. By doing so, we can make sure kids can play sports outdoors, learn within a thriving environment and not have to be worried about what climate crisis-caused disaster will strike their community next.
I’m calling on the Boise School District to make the 2030 and 2040 commitments. I urge readers to email their elected Board of Trustees members in support of a long-term sustainability plan.
Aaron Stigile, Boise
Pandemic damage
My grandmother is a resident of an assisted living center and has been since the beginning of the pandemic. She has been locked away from her family for weeks/months on end. She has been in her room in solitary confinement for much of that time. She has been put on antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications that she has never had to take in all her 94 years. She is suffering at the hands of a system that is giving no consideration for the mental state of the Idaho seniors. Even after vaccination isolation continued, because the Central District Health had not updated their policies in a timely manner. Once the homes were allowed to have visitors again, we started to see the smiles returning to the faces of our seniors.Yesterday an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Per the CDH rules, the residents must go into solitary confinement until three rounds of negative tests. Residents would rather risk the disease than be treated like prisoners in their final years. This treatment of our elderly is deplorable. They will die of depression before COVID ever touches them. Open these homes, Allow the senior citizens of Idaho to live out their remaining days with dignity, respect and freedom.
Alexandra S. Rhody, Meridian