Let CKCD have Brooks Park
To the Editor:
Brooks Memorial State Park is one of some 120 such entities owned and managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. It is one of 13 their agency has identified for potential closing or transfer to another agency because of budgetary constraints.
The Central Klickitat Conservation District, likewise a government agency, has stepped forward and is developing a proposal to assume ownership and management of Brooks Memorial. In my opinion, their research has been very thorough; and they have been prudent and realistic in their assessment. They will soon send their proposal to the Washington State Parks an Recreation Commission soliciting transfer.
We should all applaud the Central Klickitat Conservation District management for wanting to take this on. Apparently State Parks needs the money for places such as Dalles Mountain Ranch.
If we want to keep Brooks Memorial Park as an accessible public entity, we should stand behind their endeavor and hope they are successful. The alternatives are simply not acceptable. I call it a “no brainer.”
John Miller
Goldendale
The Two Tom Reynolds
To the Editor:
There are currently two unrelated individuals named Tom Reynolds living in the town of Trout Lake. One of these men—Thomas Reynolds—is a prolific writer of letters to editors and an avid forwarder of political email. The other—our father, Klickitat and Skamania County Superior Court Judge E. Thompson Reynolds—is bound by professional ethics to refrain from publicly expressing political views. What began as an amusing coincidence has recently evolved into a source of embarrassment for our family and friends as people have mistakenly attributed the published opinions of Outspoken Tom to Judge Tom.
In the interests of preserving our father’s professional reputation and personal friendships, we want to assure all those who have come to know him over his three decades as an attorney, judge, and public citizen that Judge Reynolds remains the exemplar of moderation, reason, and fairness he has always been. And, as our mother, Bonnie, wants us to add, he is still very reliable about doing the dishes.
Mark Reynolds,
Portland
Ernie Reynolds, Carson
When is it opinion and when is it propaganda?
To the Editor:
We are supposed to take seriously the call for choosing patriotism or socialism. A call to choose between salt water and glass marbles is at least as appropriate.
Tempting as it is to point out the ridiculousness of the choice, I choose instead to call out the newspaper editor for choosing to publish a document whose only purpose is a call to fear.
The truly sad part is that while the writer, in the grip of fear, has no idea what is being done, the newspaper editor does have knowledge of and appreciation for the power of propaganda.
As in Nazi Germany under the cunning of Joseph Goebbels, fear mongering propaganda has the power to indiscriminately place fuel, kindling, and matches in reach of those unable to control the urge for a conflagration.
LeRoy Schoot
Goldendale |
