Letters to the editor: Greater Idaho, vaccine, artificial turf, health board
Greater Idaho
I reviewed the Greater Idaho proposal to move the Idaho-Oregon border to capture Oregon rural counties for Idaho. The arguments for moving the boundary are so biased, nonsensical, and in many cases just false that you wonder how they ever expect any rational and sympathetic individual to adopt their cause. Why would I want to support an argument that basically says we are ethical and you are not, we do not accept representative government unless it meets some predetermined, biased system of American values, and we decide what constitutes freedom in a multi-cultural society? However I will for argument’s sake be open minded. The main argument is, some Idaho rural resident’s want to protect conservative rural values. Okay, Let’s make a deal. Oregon will trade you largely rural Malheur, Harney, Lake, Crook and Grant counties, equal to 73930.28 sq. miles for largely urban Boise, Ada, Canyon, Payette, Nez Perce and Latah counties, equal to 6431.03. An 11 times land grab for rural Idaho! Idaho would have an even more imbalanced federal representation (remember democracy by vote, taxation by representation) with its two senate seats. Oregon would gain Idaho’s access to the Columbia River at Lewiston, Idaho’s inland port to the Pacific Ocean, paid for mostly by urban Oregon and Washington ratepayers, but not to beware, Oregon would not charge Idaho a port access fee.
Michael Newsom, Portland
Get the vaccine
Really, get the vaccine, don’t be a non-believer. It works, and if you are hospitalized you can’t work. Maybe think of your family, friends and coworkers. Shut out the noise, quiet the naysayers and move forward with your life before possibly you don’t have one. Come on Idaho!
Mel Morrell, Boise
Artificial turf
Hats off to Fox and Florian who put in artificial turf. With Treasure Valley population growth, our water supply is going to get more sparse as the majority of our water comes from runoff which does not increase with demand.
If more residents were forward thinking and cared about their lawns, we would not have the random dead and weedy lawns that are so prevalent this year. As long as it is well-maintained, let’s have Idaho pass a law and join those states that allow xeriscaping (rock/low water) and artificial turf as acceptable forms of front yard coverage.
Stacie Shappard, Boise
Clear choice for health board
We are in the midst of a deadly pandemic. The clear choice for the current Central District Health Board opening is a specialist in infectious diseases, Dr. Sky Blue. Nothing else makes sense, and it is a breach of ethics for politics to undermine this decision. Bacteria, viruses, germs and human lives are not political, but that is what certain Ada County commissioners are making of this nomination.
I’m an RN in an inpatient unit at Saint Alphonsus. Our hospital is rapidly filling again with COVID-19 patients. Everyone is talking about the delta variant, but there is another factor: Hospitals in the Treasure Valley and nationwide are in the midst of their greatest staffing crisis ever. We are short nurses and CNAs. Every. Single. Day. Grossly short. I truly fear for the future of our communities’ safety come fall. Finally, doesn’t Dr. Ryan Cole have a conflict of interest? He is mocking vaccines while profiting financially from testing for COVID-19 and COVID-19 antibodies at his Cole Diagnostics lab. And people will keep dying.
Gayle Stauffer, Boise