Letters to the Editor: Aug. 24, 2018

Hoping to save the trees

We all know that change in our lives must be embraced, especially when change is happening in the name of progress and will benefit many people. I have to remind myself of this constantly as I prepare for changes certain to occur shortly in my neighborhood.

I live in one of 27 existing residences in Fircrest Village at Northeast Cumulus Avenue and Fircrest Drive. When fully built out, it will become a three-story, 66-unit apartment complex occupying three acres of an approximately five-acre tract.

This new multi-family complex will provide housing for many people, which is always a good thing. However, combined with Whispering Meadows, a nearby 28-unit development now in progress on Cumulus, it will result in a huge influx of people, inevitably causing traffic and parking problems. It will also make access more difficult for ambulances and delivery trucks serving the Fircrest Memory Care community. 

Another concern is the removal of many mature trees in the natural habitat between Fircrest Village and the Evergreen holdings. As a lover of nature, I am sad to see any tree removed in the name of progress, rather than preserved for human enjoyment and wildlife habitat.

On the other hand, I am always encouraged to see a developer incorporate existing trees into a development. My hope is that in writing this letter, it will raise awareness in the community, thus encouraging residents to stay vigilant and make their voices heard when the need arises, as it most certainly will.

Never assume the goals and visions of those in power will necessarily be consistent with the goals and visions of you and your neighbors.

Victoria Wilbanks

McMinnville

Let the RVs stay

I read with great interest the story of Renee Zipser-Luckart and the three RVs on her property.

My wife and I faced a similar situation in rural Yamhill County, when an elderly disabled relative needed a place to park his RV. We gave him that place of shelter,  and no, we didn’t ask for permission.

Our relative was bipolar and antisocial, which required him to have his own space. We knew without our help, he would probably be living under a bridge, or worse. So he spent the final years of his life sharing our property and home.

Yamhill County’s Mr. Kemper chided Zipser-Luckart for not letting her guest RV dwellers simply move into her house. But I understand everyone needs private space, making that suggestion totally unreasonable.

I realize Mr. Kemper is just doing his assigned job, but I hope the county commissioners will look at this situation as an opportunity to change the laws in order to allow more freedom in housing.

So far in our county, we have chased the homeless out of the McMinnville parking structure, smokers and loiterers out of downtown McMinnville and RVs off McMinnville streets. And we have probably eliminated some trailer courts and other forms of cheap housing.

I see a lot of people who have very limited choices left. As far as the question posed in the headline on the story, Samaritan or scofflaw, I vote Samaritan.

Steve Wozniak

Newberg

Ode to a free press

Applause to the News-Register for joining with more than 300 other newspapers in defense of journalism, truth and a free press — “Trump is fighting reality, not those who report it,” Aug. 17. In this time when journalists are degraded by the fatuous lunatic in the White House, it’s crucial to remind ourselves how important a free press is to an awake society.

Here’s a suggestion for citizens who want to support a free press:

Buy a newspaper, any newspaper. Better yet, buy a subscription and it will be delivered to your door. For the price of a few lattes a month, you can participate in keeping our free press alive.

Read several newspapers  and get lots of viewpoints. Read online or on paper, but put your money where your mouth is and keep reading.

Despite all the assaults on journalism, if we keep reading, we can be assured they will keep “putting out a damn paper.”

Lucinda Huffine

McMinnville

We can do better

Alarmed about the direction our country has taken of late, and wondering what you can do about it?

You are not alone. We’ve watched helplessly as the clock had been turned back on race relations, environmental protection, support for our proud veterans, product safety, Wall Street oversight, civil rights and middle class economics.

But we have the chance to turn this around locally by replacing our District 23 representative, Mike Nearman, with challenger Danny Jaffer. That way, we can return to sensible, moderate, bipartisan governance, which Danny Jaffer represents.

He’s a family man, Naval officer and aviator retiree, and University of Oregon law degree holder. He would restore a common sense approach to the office instead of acting as an obstructionist shill for far right causes.

Danny would work to forge bipartisan solutions to practical problems that affect us all. There would be no more rubber stamp “No” votes posted in our name in Salem.

We are not powerless. We can do this. Let’s elect Danny Jaffer on Nov. 6.

E.J. Farrar

Amity