Letters to the Editor: Aug. 18, 2023

Yes, but …

I wholeheartedly agree with Liesl Forve’s letter of Aug. 4 supporting the physical and mental health benefits of parks. I do have a criticism of her advocacy, however.

Twice she says that data “prove” something. But they do no such thing.

At a minimum, data “suggest.” At best, they “provide evidential support.”

The first rule of advocacy is to state your opponent’s position correctly. The second rule is to avoid overstating your own.

If we violate either of these rules, we give our opponent an easy reason to disregard our position. Thus, proof and its variants are best left to mathematicians.

Robert Mason

McMinnville

Keep it local

I received a nice donation request card for Habitat for Humanity, with a prepaid envelope to make donating easy. How handy.

But then I saw the address on the envelope. It was in Georgia.

Why should my donation to Habitat go to Georgia?

A bit of research revealed the local group raises all of its funds locally. It receives nothing from the national organization.

A donation in the prepaid envelope goes to Georgia and stays in Georgia. To support our own local chapter, you need to donate directly to McMinnville Area Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 301, McMinnville, OR 97128.

It’s worth the cost of a stamp to be sure a donation reaches the local people it’s intended for. And you can save even that if you donate through the local chapter webpage.

Help support our local Habitat for Humanity. It does good work.

Alice Howell

McMinnville

Ecowarriors all

Ever wonder how to keep micro plastic out of the oceans?

This bit of information from The Ocean Conservancy defines the problem: Microplastics are plastic particles that are incredibly dangerous to our ocean. And tiny plastic pellets, also known as “nurdles,” can resemble fish eggs and are often ingested by seabirds, turtles, fish and other marine life. Nurdles have been found around many of the world’s coasts and in our ocean, damaging ecosystems along the way.

No place on Earth is immune from microplastic pollution, and that includes our oceans.

Now comes our part. Quit being lazy!

Those plastic-encased detergent pods for the dish and clothes washer? They “dissolve,” right? Wrong!

Insist on powdered or liquid forms of detergent at the grocery store. Go back to measuring cups.

This isn’t difficult, people.

Instead of millions of loads worth of microplastics going down the drain, you’ve just become an eco-warrior by putting forth a small amount of effort. Congratulations!

Annette Madrid

Carlton

Bought and paid

The bought-and-paid-for Yamhill County commissioners have apparently learned from the wealthy orchardist who bankrolls their campaigns how to cherry-pick.

Case in point, the commissioners’ refusal to allow the Chehalem Park and Recreation District to build a footbridge over Chehalem Creek to access the undeveloped 11-acre portion of Ewing Young Park.

The commissioners acknowledged in their May 4 denial (Board Order 23-168) that the site’s AF-10 zoning (Agriculture/Forestry Small Holding) includes parks as a permitted use. They based their denial on failure of the 14-word definition of “park” in Yamhill County Zoning Ordinance 200 to specifically reference “footbridges” or “transportation facilities.”

In doing so, they choose to ignore their own five-page Yamhill County Zoning Ordinance 405 on parks, recreation and open space, which includes as a permitted use “public bicycle and pedestrian paths or trails systems not within county or public rights-of-way.”

In addition to simply ignoring this more detailed description of what is allowed as a permitted park use, they violated Yamhill County Zoning Ordinance 201, Rules of Construction, which establishes as a guiding principle that “the particular controls the general,” not vice versa.

Ed Fredenburg

Newberg

50 years of rot

We have lost our constitutional republic.

John Adams is quoted as saying, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

But for the past 50-plus years, we’ve witnessed the slow, continuous moral decay of our country. Beginning with abortion in 1973, it’s been a slippery slope to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Prayer was removed from the public schools. The Ten Commandments were removed from the public arena.

We’ve seen same-sex marriage become accepted, transgenderism flourish, crime rage, leaders lie and deceive, race relations descend into total chaos. We have a two-tiered justice system rotting from within.

Multiple agencies are corrupt through and through, including the FBI, DOJ, IRS and CIA. Our southern border is in shambles with drugs and migrants overwhelming the border patrol.

Democrats are guilty of the old adage, “See no evil, hear no evil.” But they are perfectly capable of slandering and ridiculing any opposition to their lawless agenda.

To sum it up, I ask: Have you no shame?

Robert Long

McMinnville