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Don’t turn our area into Tahoe

My wife and I are summer residents of Lakeside, having purchased a cabin there in 2006.

In the years since we have enjoyed the quiet times we’ve spent in Lakeside, and as our kids finished growing up and have moved out, have been excited to increase the time spent to about eight weeks a summer, as well as the ability to become a little involved in the local community.

We are writing to oppose the Short-term Rental Housing as an Administrative Conditional Use proposal for several areas, including Lakeside.

My wife’s family homesteaded Lake Tahoe in 1872. She spent childhood summers there with her grandparents, where after 7 p.m., she and her cousins played two-square on Highway 89 since there were so few cars on the road after that time.

Now, at any hour, crossing Highway 89 from her uncle’s cabin to the lakeshore is dangerous, due to the constant stream of cars. The 12-mile drive to Tahoe City is a one-hour trip each way on summer afternoons; 1-2 hours on weekends. Most cars are short-term renters running to the markets or to one of the area attractions, then returning to their rented lodgings.

No single decision by planners in California or Nevada changed Lake Tahoe. Many were made because it would be an economic plus for local businesses. Few “locals” can afford to own homes in the Lake Tahoe area any more, and the daily traffic congestion is a given.

We urge Flathead County Planning and Zoning to learn from what’s happened to one beautiful area along the California-Nevada border, and REJECT the Short-term Rental Housing as an Administrative Conditional Use proposal. Keep the Flathead “The Last Best Place,” instead of “Lake Tahoe Northwest.” —Chuck and Chris Robbins, Lakeside

The rest of the story about the ‘Six-Day War’

Once again Sam Neff (Daily Inter Lake, Dec. 30) attempts to rewrite history in commending the U.N., John Kerry and Barack Obama for allowing a U.N. resolution to pass condemning Israel for its policy of settlements in the “occupied Palestinian territory.”

Neff ignores the historical truth in stating that, “In June of that year Israel initiated a war against Egypt, Jordan and Syria and in six days conquered that land.” What he doesn’t bother to mention is that in the days preceding Israel’s attack thousands of Arab troops were moved to Israels borders following statements from Arab leaders demanding the end of the State of Israel. “Our objective is the freeing of Palestine and the LIQUIDATION (my emphasis) of the Zionist existence,” said the Syrian chief of staff. The Iraqi president declared, “Our goal is clear — to wipe Israel off the face of the map.” And Egyptian leader Nasser, who had just expelled U.N. peacekeepers from the Egypt-Israel border and blockaded Israeli shipping predicted, “total war ... aimed at Israel’s destruction.” The PLO themselves declared, “We shall destroy Israel and prepare boats to deport the survivors if there are any.”

Wisely, facing annihilation, Israel didn’t wait for their total destruction by vastly superior numbers of troops but preemptively destroyed Egypt’s air forces and in six days defeated the armies of Egypt, Syria and Jordan and captured territories four times their pre-1967 size, most of which was returned to the Arabs after they surrendered.

Neff also seems to have forgotten peace offerings by two previous Israeli prime ministers. Ehud Barak in 2000 offered Yasser Arafat — chairman of the Palestinian Authority — 95 percent of their demands. Both Bill Clinton and Dennis Ross agree that Arafat was never going to settle for anything less than the return of all lands to the Palestinians and the end of the Jewish state. Again in 2008 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian Authority President Abbas nearly all of their demands, but this too was rejected.

Apparently Neff believes the Israelis don’t deserve to live in peace on their tiny sliver of land agreed upon by most of the world after 6 million Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany. Perhaps Mr. Neff has forgotten that GENOCIDE. Apparently he believes the Jews should just trust feckless organizations like the U.N. to assure their existence. Not a chance, Mr. Neff. We Jews learned our lesson. The words “Never Again” have real meaning for us. Israel will not sacrifice her security in exchange for promises from the U.N. or so-called statesmen like Barack Obama and John Kerry. Fool us once, shame on you ... —P. David Myerowitz, Columbia Falls

Problems facing Montana

There are two basic problems facing Montana, not counting drinking and driving.

First, Montana legislators must adopt tort laws, like the ones used in Texas. In Texas, you sue, you lose, you pay for all court costs. To find the Texas tort laws, just type in your search engine “Texas Tort Laws.” Remember one thing, logging in Flathead County paid for the schools and roads, and taxes were low. We need tort law reform to stop the environmentalists from suing. It would also lower medical bills, as the cost of malpractice insurance paid by doctors is very high, and they pass that cost over to the patients.

Second, we must change the Montana Constitution on the veto powers of the governor. Article 4, section 10. It takes a two-thirds vote in both houses to overturn a veto. This almost makes the governor a king. A two-thirds vote in both houses is almost impossible, even when the Republicans control both houses. Just maybe this is the reason nothing gets accomplish from our 90-day legislators, except spending more money. —Fred Hammel, Kalispell

This Deplorable says ‘Thank God’

As one of the Deplorables [anointed by Hillary], I say thank God the long eight years of the communist nightmare are over. And to those who went to Washington, D.C., to protest the inauguration, may I suggest that instead of coming back to Montana you should have moved to California or Cuba or some other communist country. You will love it, oh but don’t try to protest. You are beyond Deplorable, just saying ... —William Harrison, Bigfork

Rebuttal

“Are you serious?”

I am certain that my response to Mr. Jack Jones’ letter to the editor, “A touch of class coming to the White House,” that was published on the Jan. 20 Opinion page of the Daily Inter Lake newspaper, is just as worthless and nonsensical as his letter. —Tom Irvine, Columbia Falls

‘Thanks for speaking for us’

Thank you, Mr. Miele, for speaking just what many of us were thinking in the much too long lead up to the momentous Inauguration Day – Jan. 20, 2017. In your “Editor’s 2 Cents” column of Jan. 22 (“Trump’s victory was on shoulders of American people”) you were speaking for many of your readers and (even more importantly) the voters in this land, America’s flyover country. God, did we ever dodge a bullet in not ending up with the other alternative candidate as our new leader and occupier of the White House? Yes, very many of us have already offered up prayers of thanksgiving over that outcome! —Will Elliott, Polson