Letters

Misleading & costly

I am encouraging everyone to vote “No” on Initiative 522 in Washington State, the food labeling initiative. While we do not grow any GMO crops on our farm, and I encourage everyone to know where their food comes from and what is in it. I-522 does not do this.

If you want to make sure there is not any GMO ingredients in the food you buy, there are already two federal labels in place. You can buy those labeled “organic” or “Non-GMO” and be assured that no GMO products are in those foods. A willy-nilly, state-by-state labeling measure is the wrong approach. I-522 is misleading and costly. It exempts some foods from labeling, while requiring it on others. There is no consistency to its requirements. It may require the state to hire an additional 200 new government employees just to monitor and regulate the wording on labels. Just who do you think is going to pay for that?

It would also give trial lawyers a new avenue to sue family farmers, food producers and store owners over the wording on the labels. We definitely don’t need more frivolous lawsuits. I would support a federal label process if it applied equally across the country, but not one that would set our state apart with its’ own program.

Art Schultheis

Colton

Apology plus

I hope you’ll find room in your newspaper to allow me to first apologize and then commend many of the wonderful people of Colfax. On Friday, through a scheduling error, no officials were assigned to the LRS vs. Colfax football game resulting in a cancellation of the game. This error was heart wrenching for me as I wanted this game to be perfect for the 11 seniors we were honoring.

Of course, many other folks were let down by this occurrence including the Colfax players, coaches and fans. If there was anything lucky that occurred on this night it was that our opponent was Colfax. Mike Morgan, a great friend of mine and one of the finest men I know is to be commended as he helped me make some tough decisions Friday night and eased my anxiety. He along with his assistant coaches run one of the classiest programs anywhere in the state and beyond.

The Colfax players also showed tremendous grace in light of the circumstances as I know they were let down as well. As the two teams shook hands and I apologized to them, each one said “that’s okay, Coach.” Not to be outdone, the Colfax parents and fans, although disappointed, were just as gracious and classy as the Bulldog team.

There are lots of people in Colfax that I call friends and I have always felt that your community sets the gold standard in what rural America should be like. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience that was caused and thank you for your consideration. I look forward to many more competitions with and trips to one of my favorite places, Colfax.

Greg Whitmore, athletic director/ coach

Lind-Ritzville High School