Cycling safety
My son (7 years old) and I ride
our bicycles to school almost every day. When I ask him if
he would rather drive or ride, he invariably says “Ride!”
This 1.7-mile ride with my son is
often the best part of my day. I would like to thank all
of the courteous and safe drivers out there that respect
the rules of the road. Most drivers slow down and give us
plenty of room when they pass — often the entire lane! We
know this takes a few extra moments of your time and we
appreciate it.
I teach my son to ride on the
right side of the road and to take as little of the lane
as possible. Sometimes there are obstacles or no shoulder
and it forces us into the lane. I ride to the left and
back of him to protect him from cars and yet no one has
ever come close to hitting me.
Most of the drivers smile and wave
as they pass us; I can only imagine that the sight of us
brings back childhood memories of riding their bicycles.
Thank you for helping us have a safe and wonderful commute
to school and work!
Jeff Blackman
Hood River
School upgrades
In the wake of recent state budget
cuts for our Hood River County Schools and the difficult
decisions the school board members will have to make in
regards to programs and staffing I would like to remind
the community of some good things to come beginning this
summer.
The Construction Bond levy monies
available will bring exciting changes to virtually all of
the Hood River County Schools in terms of much needed
safety upgrades, energy efficiencies and new construction
that will enhance the learning environment for our
children. It’s important to know that these funds can only
be used for construction and cannot be used for
operational expenses.
Much information has already been
placed on the Hood River County School District Web site,
www.hoodriver.k12.or.us, with a description of individual
school plans and floor plans.
I encourage everyone to visit the
Web site and see how these exciting changes will affect
your child’s education.
Camille Freeman
Hood River
Thanks to CAT
I want to express my appreciation
for the CAT (Columbia Area Transit) program.
Since my mother stopped driving,
the CAT van has been there. With a little pre-planning,
the van arrives in front of Mom’s home to take her grocery
shopping, banking, and even to social events. She is
consistently greeted with a warm smile from the
ever-courteous and professional drivers.
What a tremendous service! Thank
you, Hood River County and Columbia Area Transit staff!
Sue Hartford
Hood River
Don’t blame Jesus
In last Saturday’s issue (April
18) Mike Farmer brought a few words from Jesus into the
discussion of gun rights.
He wrote, “It’s in the Bible, the
22nd chapter of Luke, verse 36” for his conclusion, “I
also have the blessings of Jesus to protect myself, my
loved ones, and my property.”
This calls for more from the words
and actions of Jesus.
Jesus was sending his 12 Apostles
out on a preaching mission. Luke says his orders included,
“the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy
one.” Two verses later (verse 38) they report that they
have two swords. “He replied, ‘It is enough.’” Two swords
enough among 13 men? That hardly seems adequate to
conclude that all of us have his blessing to defend
ourselves (and our property) with guns that will kill at a
distance as fast as you can pull the trigger.
Sounds more like what is usually
called “proof texting”; that is, taking your idea you want
to defend and going looking in scripture for a verse that
by itself sounds like it fits the way you want it to. This
is widely understood among Bible students to be poor
practice, unfair to the Bible, leading to false
conclusions.
In his day Jesus was quite a
radical in his revelation of the grace of God and the
demand for human kindness even to the point of undeserved
suffering. Leave the modern “love” emphasis on emotions
and sex behind when reading Jesus on “love.“ He said, “In
everything do to others as you would have them do to you,
for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)
He said, “But I say to you that
listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also;
and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold
even your shirt.” (Luke 6:27-29) It gets even more radical
in the verses that follow on these.
It is such talk, which threatens
both religious and political authorities, that got him
killed, in my opinion. When we are not up to it, better we
just admit it than twist a few of his words around to
excuse our dependence on violence.
In a just world, I think it would
be the gun advocates who would suffer the consequences of
bad use of guns. As it is, if you take the news reports as
truly representative, it is mostly innocent family
members, schoolmates, and other non-combatants who die gun
deaths. Let’s not blame Jesus for it.
John Ihle
Hood River
Moving subject
In response to Cliff Mansfield’s
letter (April 22) I completely agree with you on this one,
sometimes sharing means taking turns. It’s kind of hard to
share when one is going 55 and the other is going only 5
to 20.
If I get in your way I will move,
and if you get in my way you move.
Ron Morgan
Hood River
