Letters

General hospital

If you should be so fortunate as to run a rusty spike up through your foot and end up with an appendage that looks more like a foot long bright red cucumber than a foot, look no further than the Whitman County Hospital for treatment. I cannot say enough great things about the care I received from the moment I limped through the emergency room door, to the day I limped back out the front door on the original foot I was born with. It could have been a different story if the wonderful doctors, nurses and staff had been less diligent.

They put me on very powerful antibiotics for 4 days, treated me like my wonderful wife does, fed me like a hungry Marine should be fed with their fine chow, and only cuffed me around when I tried to dance on one foot and threatened to pinch them if I didn’t get an extra dessert.

What a blessing our community has over thousands of other large and small communities not only in the USA, but throughout the world. I would be the first to recommend Whitman County Hospital to any of my friends, and if I should be so clumsy to venture into those lovely nurses’ clutches again, I would go with total confidence that I would receive the best care, even as grumpy as I get.

Allen Cochrane,

LaCrosse

Letter to Rep. Susan Fagan

Dear Rep. Fagan

Thank you very much for the weekly updates you provide. I appreciate the time and attention you give to communicating with your constituents. The following is a direct copy/paste from this Friday’s newsletter: “On Tuesday, the Senate released its 2015-17 budget proposal. This budget only uses existing revenues to make investments in and maintain important programs. In other words, this budget would not raise taxes. It would also meet our McCleary education funding obligation. This budget stands as a good example of government’s ability to live within its means and still fund necessary services”.

As a small business owner in a rural community that is constantly looking for ways to increase business traffic, improve sales and bring new businesses to town, I agree completely with your desire to not raise taxes to the already heavily burdened taxpayers.

But, as mayor of this rural community that is always looking for ways to increase business traffic, improve sales and bring new businesses to town, it’s my responsibility to help my council make decisions that provide my community with a safe and healthy economic environment. 600 people (approx. 300 hookups) pay for services through charges and taxes of one kind and another. We count on state and federal dollars to supplement what we are unable to cover for upgrading and rebuilding old infrastructures. I argue the state’s ability to “fund necessary services” when critically needed funds to the cities are being withdrawn and eliminated.

I don’t have any definitive answers, but pulling shared Liquor revenues and less than adequate marijuana proposed revenues and repayments to Public Works Trust Fund from the cities cripples our ability to do mandated upgrades and provide necessary services. It’s “cutting off your nose to spite your face”.

You really must help find realistic ways for cities to save, invest and create revenue in other ways to make up for the withdrawals. It’s time to think outside of the box. Please give cities the tools to create our own healthy economy, and it will be easier for us to help feed yours.

We each need the tools to do our jobs successfully. Please don’t take the ones we were working with, without replacing them with something we can use successfully as well.

Nanette Konishi

Mayor, Town of Rosalia