Letters to the editor

Do as we say

Let me get this straight. When Bill Clinton and his attorney general fired over 100 federal prosecutors Democrats were fully supportive of that move. Fast forward to President Bush and his attorney general firing ONLY eight federal prosecutors and Democrats are all up in arms and they will no doubt renew their call for his impeachment. Democrats (and one Republican) have been calling for the attorney general to resign. Why? No one called for Janet Reno to resign after she fired 100 plus federal prosecutors. Alas, this seems to be just more of the usual hypocrisy coming from Democrats -- do as we say, not as we do.

Steven Lodahl

2553 Southridge

Good businesses

For a while now, I've wanted to write a letter commending three businesses in Helena for their excellent customer service.

The crew at Crossroads Athletic Club is wonderful. Rhonda, Jeff, the Kims and the rest of the staff keep Crossroads running quite smoothly and are so friendly they even make a curmudgeon like me feel welcome. I really enjoy working out there.

Metropolitan areas might have their Borders and Barnes and Noble bookstores, but Helena is fortunate to have Hastings. Robin and her staff are always available to answer my questions, chase down obscure titles, buy back books I have read, and fill special orders -- and Hastings occasionally has great book sales.

Finally, a couple of years ago I bought four new tires at Les Schwab and although I do not know any of the staff, I want to say that since then they have unquestioningly honored their advertised pledge to fix flat tires for free (although the problem was my rim and not their tire). Aesthetically, it also helps that the back of their store is not an unsightly permanent tire graveyard like another tire business out by the airport.

Other businesses could take a lesson from these three.

W. Craig Heymann

1618 Lyndale

Reloading sequence

Like me, I am sure most rifle and pistol reloaders who read the article by Joe Menden in the Outdoor section of March 15 would disagree with the sequence of steps you showed and described in the reloading processs.

Your article calls for case trimming as step one and resizing as step two. That isn't normal procedure.

I won't go into detail, because there are two types of re-sizing, but suffice to say: The usual procedure is to re-size after case preperation and then case trim, IF NEEDED.

Fact is, one will only need to trim the case, occasionally, and not after each firing. When trimmiing is needed, it is done AFTER re-sizing. Reason being, you don't know if you actually need to trim or not ... until you have resized.

I agree with Rex Seeley. The real first step is to get a good reloading manual.

Terry McArdle

13 East Rose Quartz

Inmates held too long

Overcrowding at the Montana State Prison is currently being addressed for future probation and parole violators but what about those already having been turned down unfairly by the Board of Pardons and Parole. Taxpayers need to know that the BOPP/DOC are robbing them.

My son has been incarcerated since Dec. 18, 2004 on a technical violation of his probation for an underlying DUI. He has been denied parole twice after completing all the BOPP's requirements. The BOPP has now enhanced his sentence with more requirements; this is extremely counter productive and it is a re-sentencing as they have established new rules.

When does the public safety issue cease to be realistic? People who warrant incarceration cannot be admitted currently. Overcrowding is projected to increase by one third or more by 2011. People are sent to prison as punishment; they are not sent to prison to be punished. If you break the law it should be different punishment than for a rule infraction.

The other issue in my son's case is the fact that if an inmate seeks legal remedies during their incarceration, they are treated unfairly. It appears that retribution and retaliation against inmates are unfortunate results of such activity.

Carolyn Reed

2905 Fordham Court SE

Olympia, WA 98503

Rimini project

When the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reports that Rimini Road is 10 times more hazardous than Rimini's yards, and when EPA claims to prioritize cleanups from most hazardous to least, one would expect a Superfund site to be managed accordingly.

Instead, local site manager Mike Bishop has scheduled the Tenmile cleanup in reverse, and after seven years still has not addressed the component ATSDR labeled most hazardous. And while county commissioners voice concern over progress in Rimini, county road crews are bulldozing "contaminated" roadfill onto EPA-remediated land.

Is the county now an EPA "Potentially Responsible Party"?

If I moved contaminated soil EPA would be knocking at my door. In fact, Mr. Bishop warned that if I declined yard remediation and allowed "hazardous" material to migrate, a lien could be placed against my home for damages!

ATSDR says Rimini's yards pose a 4:10,000 risk of cancer, with 5:10,000 for mine tailings and 4:1,000 for the road. ATSDR also said in 2000 that EPA would clean the road and yards in 2001!

Could Mr. Bishop's motive for stalling be the hope that as long as the worst hazard remains in place, he can claim a reason for still being in Rimini?

Cathy Eakin

3440 Rimini Road

Ideologues amok

I'm worried about our education system. I'm worried that the will of a few Republican ideologues, and that misguided Rep. Rick Jore, our one Constitution Party member, are going to run the Legislature's budget planning.

I'm worried that social services will get drastically cut. It's easy for the well off, or the well-enough off, to cut social services for the poor. They don't feel the effects of those cuts.

I'm worried that these few ideologues are going to sabotage our children's education. And let me tell you: That makes me angry. Very angry.

I complain often about how Spanish isn't taught until the 8th grade in Helena, and yet that's the least of our problems. We need full-day kindergarten and we need to fully fund our education system.

I wish our state legislators would put aside their silly, selfish agendas and do the right thing: Fund education not just a little, but fund it well, so our kids stand a chance in this world. We owe them this!

Perhaps it's best just to offer up a prayer: Save us from the ideologues and deliver unto us a few practical lawmakers who want to make government work for us.

Jennifer Forker

2440 LeGrande Cannon Blvd.

Unfathomable

It is unfathomable and unconscionable that all the members of the Legislature would place the health and welfare of all the citizens of Montana in jeopardy through their puerile activities in this legislative session. If the legislators and the political parties they represent believe this is the type of activity they were elected to do then we surely need some major surgery on the political process.

Perhaps the legislators should pass a budget at last year's level, a mechanism for instituting non-partisan elections rather than party-based elections to take place within six months, and all resign and leave the Capitol.

This session is simply a waste of time, money and citizen approbation.

Paul C. Dunham

465 Vigiante Drive