Letters Nov. 5

Solution

Reading Mr. Allert’s letter in your newspaper over the weekend, “State neglects rail-to-trail”, was a very educational experience for me. I learned about vocabulary. For example, I learned that he has a completely different definition for the word “compromise” than I do.

According to Mr. Allert, the midnight closing of 135 miles of state public park/trail land, without any public announcement or input from trail users was the “the definition of true compromise”. Usually a compromise involves input from at least two parties. I believe words the author could have better used are “land-grab” or “theft” or “an abuse of democracy”; these are words that much more accurately define the events of the last legislative session.

The “compromise” took care of Mr. Allert and 200 other landowners, to hand over to them at no cost, free of charge, 6,000 acres of state park land. They did it by slipping into the capitol budget a proviso, done behind closed doors and without public notification or hearing, in the final minutes of the last legislative session. When you close a state park/trail without asking or seeking the input of any of the thousands of John Wayne Trail users and go out of your way to keep them in the dark, so they are completely taken by surprise to learn of this, itis not at all a “compromise”.

He also defines the word “beautiful” much differently than I do, and I think it is actually rather sad that he cannot appreciate the trail’s genuine natural magnificence. It is the largest rail to trail in the nation, one of only two cross-state trails in America, more than 280 miles long. It begins in thick wood lands rich with lakes and rivers, then through the dramatic and harsh terrain of the scab lands, ending in some of the most peaceful pastoral settings our state has to offer. Every mile is solemnly tranquil and offers dramatic vistas. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It is also one of the very few places where you can see the scab lands, a terrain so rare geologically it exists only by the John Wayne Trail and on the planet Mars. Young Washington geologists travel to the trail every year for their training. It is also rich with the cultural heritage of our state. Just this past weekend the John Wayne Trail Riders with the Ralston Grange have been restoring an old rail building that is on the trail.

But he does get some words right like “neglect”. The trail has indeed been neglected for 34 years. West of the Columbia River the trail is in pristine condition, trail heads, bathrooms, easy access, finished trestles and ranger patrols. There are no complaints from nearby landowners there. It is only here in Eastern WA that the trail needs to be refurbished. And Mr. Allert is correct with another word, “failure”. The state has failed to solve this problem.

But these words are no reason to close our only state wide the trail forever. They are a reason to seek another word: “solution”.

The Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association has been in conversations with Representative Schmick and together we have found a path to a solution.

Three public meetings have been scheduled for the month of November. These meetings will be listening conversations along the trail scheduled to conclude before the deadline for legislators to submit a proposed bill for the next legislative session. Rep. Schmick has said he will consider introducing a bill at the end of these meetings.

Dates and locations for conversations along the trail:

Tuesday, November 10th, 12 p.m. Rosalia, Community Center (7th St. and Whitman Ave).

Monday, November 16th, 12 p.m. Lind, Union Elevator Conference room 201 S Street.

Monday, November 23rd, 6 p.m. Ellensburg, Hal Holmes Center 209 N Ruby St.

A moderator has yet to be selected, but these meetings are intended to solicit public opinion and all are invited to attend. Those not able to attend may email comments to: [email protected].

At these meetings the TTTA will be advocating for 11 key points being in the basis for a bill to solve the problems of the John Wayne Trail for landowners and trail users alike:

1. improve spraying for noxious weeds

2. reinstate ranger service

3. repair the cow creek trestle

4. remove permit requirements for recreationalists

5. remove fees for farmers moving equipment on the trail

6. restore the Tekoa trestle for pedestrian, horse, and bike access

7. start a citizen litter patrol “adopt the trail program”

8. repair the Columbia River Crossing

9. improve rock slide removal and gravel grading

10. proper fences installed and maintained

11. additional trail heads, water stations and bathrooms installed

Perhaps something good is to come from the acrimony of this situation. Even though the two sides of this issue are so far apart that at times they do not even use the same language, we may still be able to share the definition for the word “solution.”

Ted Blaszak,

president

Tekoa Trail & Trestle Association

No ghosts

I'm glad that you put the piece about ghosts by Dean Ellis in last week's paper. He pretty much got rid of the idea that maybe someone will find a ghost in the old hospital. Also, I hope that folks who don't live here won't think that those Colfax people are on the lookout for ghosts lurking about. I think all know it is all done in fun. I hope all parents make their young children know that Halloween and being scared of spooks and goblins is make believe and fun and not something to give one nightmares. Dean Ellis is a good man and an asset to Colfax and I appreciated his effort to present the Bible's account of the afterlife. That does involve a spirit life.

He did present the same conclusion. I think God did inspire the writers of the Bible, and for some reason He allowed it to be written so that it could be interpreted in different ways. Someday we will know why He did that, but for now it is the heart condition of a person that is the deciding factor in their destination. "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."

I would like to here present a different slant on some interpretations.

I believe that there is a God in heaven and that He created Adam and Eve.

They weren't born to die.

Death was the penalty put on them for the sin of disobedience.

All of us inherited death from Him.

Rom.

5:12.

Mr. Ellis pointed to many scriptures mentioning the leaving of the soul from the body at death.

That is the reason that it has almost become a given to most people that the soul is a living something separate from the person and yet part of a living person, body and soul.

That is an assumption.

Let us go back to Gen.

2:7.

"He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul." It wasn't some living thing of some kind that God put in Adam.

It was the breath of life and it resulted in him becoming a soul.

The word soul here is from the Hebrew word nephesh.

In Gen.

1:24 where it says "Let the earth bring forth the living creatures, cattle, etc.", where the word "creature" is used it is translated from the word nephesh.

It is not talking about a living immortal something.

The NLV translation uses the word "being" instead of creature.

It seems that the word "life" would better describe what leaves the body at death.

We can't change that, but I don't think the way it is written proves that the soul is a separate living thing.

I go into all this to try to make the point that the question that is before us is Life or Death, not Heaven or Hell.

What difference does it make? The main difference is that if death is what common sense would make it appear to be it takes care of that problem of eternal torment in Hell.

One's destination at death is the grave.

It makes no sense that a loving God would design a plan that would result in most of his human beings spending eternity in agony.

The ideas that man is immortal and eternal torment stand and fall together.

If you have people that can't die, what do you do with the bad ones? If death is what it appears to be, then Psalms 145:20 takes care of it.

"The Lord preserves all them that love him, but all the wicked He will destroy".

The idea that Hell is a place of fire and brimstone and writhing people is a product of man's imagination.

Mostly the Bible presents it as the grave.

The hope for an afterlife is the promised resurrection made possible by Jesus' death, The Apostle Paul says it in no uncertain terms in Acts 24:15. "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust".

And so, look as you will in the old hospital, you will find no ghosts.

Jack Ensley,

Colfax