Letters to the Editor 12/10/2014

To the Editor:

This is in response to your guest columnist, Terry Weygandt, "Rachel Marsden, please leave," December 13.

What makes us a great country is that we allow opposing views and freedom to express one's opinion.

I congratulate The Nugget for printing both liberal and conservative views. Do I always agree with Robert Reich? No, but I read his column and respect his viewpoint.

Mr. Weygandt's question: What does she mean in regards to the Keystone pipeline? Simple answer: the oil from North Dakota and Canada is now being shipped by rail (Warren Buffet owns the railroads). It is cheaper and safer to ship oil by pipeline versus railcars. Stopping Keystone appears to be old-fashioned political payback.

So I say: "Rachel Marsden, please stay." And thank you, www.nuggetnews.com">Nugget Newspaper, for a little jewel of a paper.

David Grove

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To the Editor:

There are many misconceptions in Mr. Cornelius' editorial on December 2 ("Hard choices for school district," The Nugget, December 2, page 2).

The school budget has $650,000/year for physical plant maintenance. These moneys were foolishly diverted to teacher salaries for five years and should be used for their proper purpose. This would replace two thirds of the failed bond.

Elementary school enrollment has always been highly variable. Sisters is too expensive for families with small children. This is not a reason to dispose of the elementary school and there is no reason to expect that sale to do any better than the sale of the Forest Service property. We need to find a way to restructure the classes every year to deal with the variability.

We already have a blue ribbon commission to deal with these issues, the group that came together to deal with the bond proposal. I see now that I have to get involved with that group. Most of the problems can be addressed for less than a tenth of the cost of the bond.

Bruce Berryhill