Ban books?
How appropriate it is in these times that the American Library Association’s annual Banned Books Week coincided with two candidates for the Moscow School Board declaring their intent to start restricting what students can find in school libraries.
“Pornography,” candidate Cody Barr calls the books he wants hidden from other people’s children. (His own offspring are home-schooled, he professed at a recent candidate forum.) But the works he cites on his website range from Vladimir Nabokov’s celebrated comic novel “Lolita” to books that might inform and entertain young people curious about sexuality and/or gender, hardly topics of no interest or value to students.
Nevertheless, Many of us would be “appalled” by such material, said candidate Gay Lynn Clyde at the forum. No surprise here. I am appalled by plenty of things I find in libraries. But I know they are there because other people want them there.
I find my choices, they find theirs. It’s called freedom.
And it extends to voters as well as library patrons. Moscowans living in Zone 1 can choose proven incumbent Jim Frenzel over Barr, and those in Zone 3 can pick the also impressive incumbent Dulce Kersting-Lark over Clyde.
Jim Fisher
Moscow
Three deserve board votes
I am pleased that Jim Frenzel, Dawna Fazio and Dulce Kersting-Lark have chosen to run again as Moscow School Board trustees. They have shown an admirable dedication to the Moscow School District and should be reelected. I have had the pleasure of knowing all three incumbents through their involvement with the district and other community organizations.
Jim has volunteered with the Moscow Mentor program run by the district for 13 years and has served on the school board for 12 years. I am impressed that he attends forums with our state legislators where he asks good questions and offers important information to ensure that our legislators know how their laws directly affect our Moscow schools.
I have known Dawna since she began to serve on the board years ago when my own adult children attended the Moscow schools. She provides an important historical perspective on the progress of our school district in serving all students. Her experience is invaluable to our new superintendent.
Dulce has served in various leadership roles in our community through the Latah County Historical Society, League of Women Voters, Moscow Giving Circle, and Latah County Parks Board. She has exhibited her caring concern for all aspects of Moscow life through these organizations and is most recently devoting her time and talents to making our public schools the best they can be.
If you are lucky enough to live in one of the zones they represent, please vote for Jim, Dawna, or Dulce on Nov. 7.
Kathy Dawes
Moscow
Pullman mayor has a role
I’m grateful for Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson for all his efforts to improve every aspect of our Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport. This legacy project put Pullman and Moscow on the nation’s map, making travel much safer, more convenient and friendlier since it’s so close to home. I’ve appreciated that he took time to read to our children at Neill Public Library; the voice of the Cougs reading to our future Cougs. It’s an endearing gesture that made me proud to live in a city where our mayor truly shows how much he cares about the importance of reading to young children.
Before you embark upon a well-deserved retirement, I’d ask you to take a prudent step forward in pausing the design plan. This pause would enable the new mayor and the new composition of city council members to take on full responsibility for the outcome of the project. We had more than 80 folks show up at the Sept. 26 town hall meeting and the majority of us voiced our concerns about Project Downtown Pullman. Residents spoke up about the monuments, bike lanes, bulbouts, lack of ADA parking space on Main Street, business owners’ concern about the construction phase, our beloved trees and more.
In a recent column (Daily News, Oct, 10) Pullman City Council member Becky Dueben wrongly suggests that those in favor of preserving as many trees as possible are the sole source of opposition to the design plan. In fact, Pullman Civic Trust, local business owners and local residents all voiced a wide variety of concerns culminating in the public audience requesting a pause in order for these concerns to be more thoughtfully mulled over and considered before moving forward with the project. We are simply saying that we deserve the best version of downtown Pullman because we are worth it.
Marsha Yim
Pullman
The hit parade
Yikes. Dorothy and the MoonLites’ No. 1 cult classic, “Don’t Think — Just Listen To Me,” has slipped to No. 2 behind Matt Gaetz’s, “McCarthy’s Clown.” Gaetz’s smash hit parodies the Everly Brothers’ classic, “Cathy’s Clown,” and shares the first line, “Don’t want your love anymore.” It’s rumored that Dorothy’s “Think Tank,” the Idaho Freedom Foundation (pronounced IFFy), will help her regain the top spot with a parody of the inspiring song, “The Witch Doctor.” This 1958 hit includes the thoughtful line, “Ooh, E, Ooh, Ah Ah, Ting, Tang, Walla Walla, Bing Bang” that mirrors IFFy’s and Dorothy’s propaganda.
Earl H. Bennett
Genesee
Accuracy Matters
Liz Siler’s letter to the editor on Oct. 7, “Your voice is your vote,” should have included CJ Robert among candidates she supports for Pullman City Council. Robert was omitted because of a Daily News editor’s error. Find the corrected letter at bit.ly/3Qcf12f .
