Inbox

[June 11th, 2008]

TRUST BEGETS HOPE
When I read the “Thugs Gone Green” article [WW, May 28, 2008], the cast of characters felt more than a little familiar. My husband and I live by Madison High School and our house was burglarized on October 25th, 2006.  One of the thieves carved the initials “FDP” into our bookshelf. I didn’t know what the initials meant until I read Ms. Hogan’s article and that’s when the light bulb came on. Knowing who these boys are didn’t make me angry and vengeful. I felt more empathy than anything.

The funny thing about reading the Q&A with the group online was seeing my husband in the words of these young men. My husband was in a very similar place when he was 14 yrs old. Failing out of high school, child of divorce, bad home life and drugs? He was fortunate enough to have his mother step in before things were beyond repair.  He graduated a year ahead of his class at a Eugene community college.

I would like to say to the FDP group as a whole, consider yourselves lucky Jill and Gerrit took the time to offer you the gift of trust.  I’m sure you know how difficult it is to regain trust once it’s been broken.

It’s satisfying to see trust blossoming into a benefit for the environment and the families offering another chance.

M. Marie Blomberg
Northeast 77th Place

THINK CONSTRUCTIVELY
The Interstate Bridge is a commercial thoroughfare that’s critical to keeping our Pacific Northwest economy running. No matter how “green” we want to be or think we are, products and workers need to be transported. This is as true for Wal-Mart as it is for Whole Foods as for your favorite local farm. The CRC (“Bridge Over the River Why,” WW, May 21, 2008) affects truck traffic north and south as well as river traffic to and from both of our cities’ ports. Further, although Washington’s freeway system is generally pretty efficient, it’s been repeatedly shown that Oregon’s is a mess. One backup anywhere in the network creates stoppage everywhere else. A “do-nothing” solution is no solution at all, and rather than squeeze our eyes shut and hope the problem will go away, we need to do what we can to accommodate responsible, reasonable growth.

I’m not arguing that global climate change isn’t a major concern, and one that we all need to address in our personal, professional and civic lives. But it’s preposterous to think that this seismically unsound bridge isn’t a major safety concern, that Vancouver commuters are the root of all evil, or even that failing to plan for future congestion means that future congestion won’t come. What we need right now are constructive solutions to local and global problems—not hack journalism that skews the facts and claims to be progressive when it’s advancing only the oldest and most clichéd class judgments.

Temple Lentz
Vancouver, Wash.