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Opinion Letters and comments for July 8, 2008
Letters and comments for July 8, 2008
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Lacey, Johnson A shameful, hate-filled crime of terror occurred last week in the small town of Joseph. A Nazi swastika and two crosses were burned with gasoline into the lawn in front of Don and Evelyn Swart’s house. I assume the purpose of this attack was to intimidate and terrorize Evelyn because of her involvement in bringing a proposed event ordinance to the Joseph City Council for consideration. It is ironic that Evelyn’s civil rights were violated during the week of Independence Day as we citizens celebrated the freedoms we are supposed to be able to exercise in this country. Attacks motivated by bias are considered hate crimes and can be investigated and prosecuted by the FBI. It is my hope that the terrorist(s) is/are apprehended soon and prosecuted to the full extent of federal law. Mark Lacey Joseph On a trip to Washington, I stopped in La Grande to visit, dine and shop. My friend and I spent a wonderful time walking through downtown and we enjoyed it very much. After a lovely lunch and a couple of drinks we decided to do some shopping. We spent a great deal of money in an antique shop and a darling bead store. When I returned to my car I discovered I had received a parking ticket. Where I come from we do not burden shoppers with parking restrictions and I neglected to look for parking limitation signs. Where I come from we don’t penalize people for spending money in our stores and for eating in our restaurants. We encourage people to boost local sales tax and contribute to our community’s private businesses, especially in a time of economic slump. I felt I wasn’t welcome. I received a punitive fine for spending too much money and time in La Grande’s dwindling downtown. The town may want to think about all those empty buildings and why business appears to be moving to the urban boundaries. What this has taught me is that spending money in La Grande is foolish. La Grande prefers to punish out-of-state people for shopping and eating with unnecessary fines to generate revenue for the city. What? Am I supposed to leave my meal and drinks or stop my shopping to move my car one stall over? I make a trek to Washington yearly. I will stop in Baker City like I have done for years. I’ll stay in their hotels, stroll downtown and eat, drink and shop for hours.
I won’t be back to La Grande, as lovely as it was. Layton, Utah |
