Letters to the editor Aug. 13
The when and how for the start of the 20-21 school year should be the top priority for our nation. Our children are our most valuable natural resource and deserve the best education available. Recommendations from the CDC represent only a small portion of the actions that need to be taken. The issues are far bigger than how any feet between the desks in classrooms and requirements for masks. Schools all over the nation are confronted with distancing, sanitizing, supervision, technological, etc. issues with limited resources and support.
Additionally, more than one-fifth of the school population lives in poverty. Children need to be fed, housed, and cared for in homes with sufficient resources to provide healthcare, daycare, and security. As a nation we possess the knowledge and expertise to develop a plan that will allow our students to return to school safely with the support needed to become the workforce of the future. Our children are the future. It is time for us to acknowledge this with all the assistance we can provide. What we do today impacts our hopes for a civil, productive society in the years to come. Valuing our children is going to require commitment from each one of us in conjunction with leadership from the federal to the local level.
It is not the time for President Trump and Secretary DeVos to threaten to withdraw funding and shirk responsibility. It is the time to act conscientiously on behalf of our children. We have the resources to do what is right if we choose to do so. The health and future of our nation depend on it.
—Connie Gates, Helena
I do not usually rant, but today I feel the need to say this. Does anyone else see the correlation of what is happening to our country or is it just me? In 1861 the states of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas seceded from the U.S. In March 1861, the Confederate forces threatened the federal-held Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC. After the surrender of the fort, four more states joined the Confederate forces, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. Alas, we are now in the midst of a Civil War. This war did not start out of slavery. The war had been in progress for a year before the Proclamation of Emancipation. And even that did not free the slaves of the Confederation.
Has anyone else noticed what offices are being targeted by the BLM and Antifa? Our police stations and our federal building. Sound familiar yet?
To correlate what is happening, during the Civil War, people were turning in their friends, family and neighbors if they harbored any runaway slaves. Funny how we are doing that same thing today over whether you are wearing a mask or not. There is a reason we teach history to our youth. So we do not repeat history! But I can bet you that a large portion of the population in the U.S. has no recollection of learning this. Which is sad since we are now in the era where information is only a second away from our fingertips. I truly fear we are headed to another civil war. Wake up America!
—Lori Riley, Kalispell
Denigration of renowned infectious disease and pandemic expert Dr. Anthony Fauci by President Trump and his followers reveal their profound indifference to the loss of life in America. It exposes a lack of education related to scientific processes.
Dr. Fauci was not in error. His words were taken out of context without his complete statements when he reported detailed information known at the time. We have no immunity to COVID-19 which can result in multisystem failure in all ages and is lethal to many. Following ventilator support to maintain life, many are left with disabling neurological deficits, and some with kidney failure requiring dialysis.
Information about the disease evolved, as did the recommendations from scientists like Dr. Fauci.
With U.S. death tolls and hospitalizations rising, and in Montana positive cases spiking, our future lies in the hands of a president incapable of adequate action. A failure to enact safety measures on a national basis allowed explosive spread and widespread deaths. And while health-care needs skyrocket, we have insufficient personnel with protection equipment and inadequate testing. Sending health-care personnel to frontline jobs without PPE, thus killing hundreds of them, it is like sending our military into battle without Kevlar vests … but then our government has done that, too.
We must follow expert science-based guidelines, provide massive testing with rapid results, expedite free national training for more respiratory therapy technicians and registered critical care nurses to support physicians providing intensive care. These dire circumstances are forcing us toward a public healthcare system as millions are falling ill with no job and no health insurance.
Our country is being plundered by a flailing President when we need leadership. It is time to vote for Joe Biden.
—Betty Kuffel, Whitefish
Folks, we have to get this virus under control by December because Santa Claus has flat out stated that “he ain’t wearin’ no mask” and we don’t want to have to cancel Christmas.
— Jim Cameron, Kalispell
Kudos to the Buffalo Hill staff and volunteers for the remarkable two-day recovery after the devastating storm on May 31. It was truly a remarkable recovery.
Thank you from all Buffalo Hill members.
—Stephen Breeze, Kalispell