 A Coleman family letter to Goldendale
To the Editor:
I am so sorry this letter has been such a long time coming. This has been such a difficult time for me, I just haven’t had the heart to write before now, but I did want to thank everyone in Goldendale for all their hospitality and patriotism during the funeral for my husband, MSG Mark Coleman.
Also, I wanted to clear up any misconceptions about The Goldendale Sentinel’s coverage of Mark’s death. They did contact me in the first two days, and I was so full of grief and shock I wasn’t able to give an interview. When the Yakima paper called, my family encouraged me to give an interview so people would know what happened. I only did so because we had missed The Sentinel’s deadline and would have had to wait until the next week. However, The Goldendale Sentinel gave the most accurate information and was the most unobtrusive. Thank you for giving me my space during this difficult time.
We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, love, and generosity we received from everyone. Thank you to our funeral director, Derek Krentz, for making everything run as smoothly and as easy as possible. You went above and beyond for us.
Thank you to the Nazarene Church and the Grace Brethren Church for opening your doors to us, for the funeral and the memorial. Thank you to Pastor Fender for giving such an amazing and fitting eulogy on such short notice. Thank you to Martha Quigley for coordinating the funeral dinner. You fed many people. Thank you for the nurseries that were provided for each service. Thank you Glen Humphrey for putting the video to music, running the sound system, and making sure everything ran smoothly. Thank you to Lynn Parrish and family for putting up all the chairs and taking care of all the logistics.
Thank you, Fathers House Fellowship, the American Legion, the Centerville Grange, and all the other people who donated food to the funeral dinner and to my mother’s house. Thank you to the Patriot Guard for such an awesome display of patriotism. We were deeply honored, and Mark would have been as well.
Thank you to the city of Goldendale, from the mayor to the police and Larry Bellamy, for your willingness to help in every area.
Thank you to all the people who held signs and flags and showed support, for not only my husband but for all the troops. Thank you to GHS and all those who would have blocked any protesters should they have had the courage to show up. Thank you to all the people who sent flowers and cards and words of encouragement. It was deeply appreciated. Please forgive me if I have left anyone out.
Goldendale went all out for us and made a difficult time easy to bear. We are truly grateful and will never forget the support our hometown has shown us. You gave Mark a hero’s homecoming and burial.
Barbie, Brett, and Jessica Coleman
Goldendale
Incumbent isn’t telling whole story
To the Editor:
Recently my opponent, Mr. Hastings, has been doing an awful lot of political grandstanding about the trade dispute with Mexico. He isn't proposing solutions, and he isn't telling the whole story.
Mexico is a country with serious problems and their government is all but powerless in the face of drug cartels. As important as it may be that we uphold our treaty obligations, it is vastly more important that we secure our southern border. The Mexican government can hardly secure their own country; can we really trust them to secure the trucks they are sending into ours?
NAFTA might have made sense a decade ago, but it is outdated and we should reevaluate it. The United States should never have to choose between protecting our economy and protecting our national security. Mr. Hastings owes us all an explanation as to why he is so willing to give in to the ultimatum of a foreign country, rather than truly helping our farmers by making sure that banks we bailed out are making loans to farmers, and diversifying our overseas market opportunities to secure long-term financial security, while helping to ensure the safety of our roads for our citizens.
Jay Clough
Finley
Candidate doesn’t explain reasons for running
To the Editor:
I was at the sparsely attended Chamber of Commerce meeting featuring Connie Kayser. She continually cast aspersions on the Auditor’s office management. I neither saw nor heard any proof of what she said. Evidently she could not come up with any other reason to run other than to talk about what a poor job is being done running the Auditor's office.
Elaine Kubler
Goldendale
Gorge Casino is serious mistake
To the Editor:
The final day for comments on the proposed Gorge Casino is Sep. 7. This is the last chance the public will have to provide any input on the casino decision. If you have been holding back, act now. Everyone’s opinion matters.
About 80,000 people live in the Columbia River Gorge, and two million visit every year. A Gorge Casino is projected to import four million gamblers per year. Can you imagine the impact of increased traffic? How about the increased number of people wanting to live in the Gorge? Another negative impact associated with casinos is the increase in social disorders (divorce, bankruptcy, crime) resulting from gambling.
At 60 acres of urban development, the proposed casino is enormous, well beyond the scale of other structures in the Gorge. It is also surrounded by habitat for endangered salmon, spotted owls, bald eagles, and many other species. The casino resort structure alone is 12 times bigger than the Hood River Wal-Mart and five times bigger than The Dalles Home Depot.
This question was raised: “Didn’t the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) say that Cascade Locks was the best site?” Yes, because the 1,500 page study was bought and paid for by tribal casino proponents. The EIS is fatally flawed by failing to adequately analyze the true environmental costs and, instead, being biased in favor of the Cascade Locks site.
Unfortunately we are all gambling here, with our future, on something that will change the Gorge forever. Learn more by Googling: “Gorge Casino” or on Facebook: “No Gorge Casino.” If you want to make comments, you can email them to ScottAikin@bia.gov. For added impact, fax them to the chief decision maker, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at (202) 208-6956. Comments must arrive by Tuesday, Sep. 7.
Peter Cornelison
Hood River, Ore.
|
