LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Good Samaritans

Editor, the Journal,

Perhaps the city authorities – particularly those who attend church – could speak to their church pastor asking them to accommodate the homeless just like Jesus said to do.

I might surmise that a few church pastors and priests are aware of Shelton’s park “tent city.”

I suspect Shelton pastors have sometime in their long list of religious sermons preached about the good Samaritan story where it’s recommended to stop and help a man in trouble when others wouldn’t. Have not these Shelton pastors read the scripture in Luke 6:30 where Jesus says to “give to any man that asks of you, and if any man take from you don’t ask for it back.” If the homeless would simply ask the preacherman to sleep inside their church for the night, that preacherman who claims to follow the teachings of Jesus would gleefully open up the church doors and help them, too, they would accommodate a portion of their parking lot for them to pitch tents and actually practice what they preach.

Problem solved.

Also, it’s not just the homeless they are dismissing. I find it interesting that when the church has a problem they ask the congregation for money, yet when the congregants have a problem, the preacherman says to pray about it. Thinking: We have two large churches in town competing with each other for who has the bigger building, remodeling and adding on rooms and such. Seemingly, they don’t have time to be a good Samaritan.

Darrell Barker, Shelton

Auditor replies

Editor, the Journal,

Dear Mr. Anderson;

Thank you for your continued interest in our elections system. The Elections Department team works diligently to update voter rolls with information regularly provided from the USPS Change of Address database and the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) system. With that, I spend the better part of my work week resolving specific “voter anomaly” questions brought forward by citizens and formal voter registration challenges. I also look into alleged instances of voters voting in two states in the same election based on information provided by the Secretary of State’s Office. You will find the summary statics for this work on the elections website at http://www.masoncountywaelections.gov/previous-elections-results-data. Copies of the current set of formal voter registration challenges are also posted on the elections website.

Please stop by the Auditor’s Office for a visit, and I will be happy to walk you through how this important work is done. It’s our job, and I think you would agree that it is an example of tax dollars well spent.

Steve Duenkel, Mason County auditor

How the sun works

Editor, the Journal,

The sun, our life-giver and protector. The sun’s relatively tiny core, because of extreme pressure and temperature, is a nuclear furnace that is emitting lethal ultra-high frequency energy. As this extreme energy makes its way to the surface of the sun, it loses much of its frequency and at the surface the energy is radiated away in the form of solar radiation.

Mostly, these waves carry energy with frequencies in the range of radio to infrared through visible to ultraviolet.

The sun also throws off a constant stream of plasma, which is a mixture of electrons, ions, neutral atoms and other traces of matter. The temperature of the upper layers of the sun’s corona is many times hotter than the surface of the sun. The plasma becomes energetic enough to sail away from the sun’s gravitational influence and as the sun rotates, a spiraling curtain of this plasma spins out into space and forms what is known as the solar wind. How is this super-hot plasma able to sail away into super-cold space and stay hot?

The solar wind carries a magnetic field along with it as it spins away from the sun and thus forms a field known as the interplanetary magnetic field. This field balloons out into space and surrounds the entire solar system, even beyond Pluto. The solar wind acts as a shield to help protect the planets from high-energy effects such as cosmic rays and perhaps other unknown effects.

Eventually the interplanetary field begins to lose its velocity and starts to cool down. It reaches the point where it can no longer push back against the electromagnetic field and particle wind pushing in from the deep interstellar space between stars and galaxies and a output/input balance is achieved.

Scott Peterson, Shelton

Political agendas

Editor, the Journal,

A simple signing of a city proclamation for Pride month showed us the content of the character of members and others.

Pioneer Schools, get ready for the board to tell you which books, movies and discussions your kids can have. LBGTQ issues are not just “adult topics.” Kids of all ages live these issues every day. This is their lives and friends’ lives.

The “new religious orthodoxy going around like a virus” is from evangelical Christians who are directing the Republican Party to condemn and eliminate LBGTQ people.

Mr. Boad says he believes in what the proclamation says but does not want to “step outside of my political ideology to get into sexual and gender ideology.” So, he can’t go against his political party (which started this war on LBGTQ people) by signing something he actually agrees with? Politics over people. Would you call heterosexuality an ideology? How is gender an ideology?

And then there are those who think helping everyone feel and actually be safe is not the job of government but think governments should pass laws that deny basic rights to LBGTQ people.

Next, a letter-writer who chose to watch a Pride parade and chose to base his disgust for all LBGTQ people on the outfits of a few people. The “in-your-face political agenda” is coming from Republicans.

Two boycotts. One over a beer label for supporting a transgender woman. All those beer drinkers couldn’t stand that so they “took their ball and cried” to a different beer. Same company, just different label.

And a boycott of a local business because the owner knew the right thing to do but chose to go political.

There are many LBGTQ-welcoming businesses in town. I’ll meet Cathy at any one of them for a Bud Light.

Donna Holliday, Shelton

Fire District 12

Editor, the Journal,

I am asking voters of the Matlock Fire District 12 to become informed about what is happening to your fire district and your tax dollars and to vote accordingly in the Aug. 1 primary election. Our past and present fire commission and paid staff are holding the public hostage so that they can personally benefit from state law that provides little to no accountability for special interest districts. The depth of nepotism, lack of internal policies and procedures, failure to adhere to public disclosure laws, other state laws and state agency recommendations, lack of conscience shown by the misuse of public funds, and plain disrespect for the integrity of the public have all been combined to create a thriving family business called Fire District 12. All three of these commissioners, John Pais, Albert Wilder and Brian Jutson, have now resigned. However, in their place they have appointed family friends and family members in an effort to continue their hold on public money. They will continue thwarting public efforts to obtain information as to how they are spending tax money and it will continue to be misused and misspent.

In 2022, their budget was $308,000, but they spent $495,077 of our money with little to show for it. Our special levy fund and reserve fund are nearly depleted. This is not going to end until certain individuals are removed from the fire department and from maybe from society for their malfeasance and misfeasance.

Local and federal law enforcement needs to take action. Our legislators will be asked to continue working with us to create public accountability for special interest districts above and beyond elections. And the voters need to vote for Nick Jones for the open Fire District 12 Commission seat and just as importantly, to recall the three commissioners even though they have resigned.

Please help us hold them accountable and stop the hemorrhaging of our tax dollars. Please vote.

Trina Young, Elma