Letters to the Editor for March 4

Al Brown 

Hood River

‘Good food for thought’

Will you please stop giving candy to my kid! Call me a downer, a party pooper, an over-reactive parent, call me whatever you want, just please stop giving my kids candy without my permission! Between two and three days a week, my daughter is getting between 10 and 18 grams from sources I don’t approve of at school and at her after school activities. At home, I’m striving to make sure those 25 grams (the upper limit as defined by the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association) come from naturally sweet sources like whole fruits and veggies, the honey on her morning toast, and maybe a touch of juice from time to time.

I might want to treat my child to a girl scout cookie ... but when she arrives home having been given 18-plus grams already — what am I to do? Too bad for the parents who are actually watching sugar intake. And even worse for the parents who aren’t. Don’t forget that the food our children eat affects their behavior and by rewarding with candy, we are supplying students with the wrong nutrition and the wrong message. Stop ingratiating yourself to my child by giving them candy because then she gets mad at mom who takes it away. Stop giving candy for when they behave well, because then she asks me for candy at home when she behaves well. It’s a vicious cycle! I’m tired of asking people to not give my kid candy and then my kid gets left out. Because if she gets a sticker or an extra high five instead of a lollipop, how does that make her feel?

People shouldn’t be distributing candy without permission. Now that is good food for thought! If this “rant” resonates with you, I would encourage you to delicately remind your children’s’ caring coaches, terrific teachers, awesome activity leaders, the very kind bank tellers, etc., to please not offer candy as a reward or a treat. I appreciate every caring adult in my child’s life, and my child loves you with or without candy.

Nicole Goode

Hood River

Wishful thinking

We learned this week that Vice President Pence would be leading the administration’s efforts to address the coronavirus outbreak. What great news — like many of you, I take comfort in knowing that we now have a leadership team at the helm of the ship of state, steering us through the rocky shoals of a potential pandemic. The nation can relax, knowing that the professionals are in charge.

Well, maybe. Don’t plan the parade yet. Because in true Trumpian fashion, news has leaked that more than a dozen federal workers were deployed to greet the first group of Americans evacuated from China, and they were detailed without proper training and personal protective equipment. At the conclusion of their assignment, these workers returned to normal duties, some taking commercial flights in order to return to their homes. It doesn’t take an epidemiologist to figure out that the potential for introducing the virus into the continental U.S. has just increased dramatically.

We know of this because a decorated senior official with the Department of Health and Human Services filed a whistleblower complaint that documented the flaws of the initiative. And she was rewarded for speaking out with demands for her reassignment or possible termination, another victim of Trump’s insistence on absolute loyalty.

I thought that perhaps we had seen the worst of the administration’s behavior. And that maybe this would finally prompt GOP enablers to call out the corruption and incompetence that are the hallmarks of the Trump presidency.

But if it didn’t happen with other instances of ineptitude, it’s probably wishful thinking to believe that this time will be different.

Let’s hope that they get lucky and we dodge the pandemic bullet. Because luck may be the only thing protecting us as long as this team is in charge.

Larry Jacoby

Hood River

Free seeds this weekend

I would like to remind people that we can grow our own food easily with more health benefits and with less cost, in any location that has soil, sun and water — even if it is a small area in your yard.

Free seeds are available this weekend. It says seed swap but really it is free seeds being given to all community members.

From the website:

“Rockford Grangers are gearing up for the seventh Seed Share on March 7, 2-5 p.m., and plan to offer a big selection of seeds once again (all free) with a special focus on locally adapted varieties.”

That’s where you come in! Do you have seeds saved from last year? Or leftover bought seeds you would be willing to share? Perhaps you know other growers with extra seeds?

Or maybe you are making a seed order online or from a catalogue and are in a position to buy some extras to share.

However you can help with our Seed Roundup will be much appreciated. Just bring your seeds on the day, labeled with variety, when gathered, where grown and any other growing info. We will also have extra packets/labels available as usual.

Of course, we hope you’ll come whether or not you have seeds to share.

This year, we are asking for a $5 suggested donation at the door, which will be waived if you have seeds to contribute. (No one turned away for lack of funds of course.)

Thank you for helping build local resilience, and we look forward to seeing you on the day!

Rockford Grange 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, March 7; info@Rockfordgrange.net; 4262 Barrett Drive, Hood River.

Kim Stolte

Hood River

‘No crisis’

In the article in the Hood River News on Feb. 26, 2020, “Earth Day Oregon adds partners,” the founder of this, Bethany Shetterly Thomas, makes a statement. She is quoted as saying, “The climate crisis requires swift and collective action.”

In response to this, I say that there is no crisis and no action is needed to reduce carbon dioxide, since man-caused carbon dioxide is very minimal and has negligible influence on climate. Climate has changed without man’s influence.

Time, energy, recourses, money and freedoms would be wasted on this false premise.

Donald Rose

Hood River

Walkout halts  progress

 Well, state Republicans did it again. All but one Republican legislator each in the House and in the Senate walked out of the legislature because of the revised climate cap-and-trade bill.

In the past, I never saw minority party members regularly pick up their marbles and go home (or in this case, elsewhere) when they didn’t like a particular piece of legislation. Oregon’s Republican legislators’ motto seems to be “It’s our way or the highway.” That’s not the way democracy in this country is supposed to work.

And, amazingly, the absentees will still be paid. Imagine if you decided not to go to work; would you still get paid? Also, thanks to the absentees’ walkout, the Legislature can’t even close the legislative session early to save us taxpayers money because it doesn’t have a quorum to do so.

According to the Oregonian, the upshot of the Republicans’ walkout is to halt progress on a myriad of other bills, including up to $12 million in Umatilla flood recovery funds; funding for homelessness, mental health, foster children, people with disabilities, and wildfire prevention; requiring free school breakfast to be offered to more than 100,000 children; and bonding for building improvements and expansion at all of Oregon’s public universities.

Bills that don’t clear both chambers by March 8 will die and remaining bills will likely be stalled until the 2021 legislative session.

The Republicans who walked out represent 36 percent of Oregon by population, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent estimates, from 2014 to 2019. So, if state Republicans don’t like being in the minority, perhaps they should consider adopting new ideas that a larger percentage of Oregonians can support.

I respect the two Republicans, Rep. Cheri Helt and Sen. Tim Knopp, for staying in Salem to do their job. Even if they don’t support the cap-and-trade legislation they show maturity and leadership by honoring their oath of office. Sadly, you can’t say that for Sen. Chuck Thomsen.

Tracie Hornung 

Parkdale

‘Tails wagging’

I liken the ending of these Democratic debates to the ending of the Little Bo Peep poem; leave them alone and let them come home, wagging their tails behind them.

Alan Winans 

Hood River