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| December 10, 2020 Shelton Mason County Journal |  |
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It’s tough to
kill the USA
Editor, the Journal, -
I hope that I am not disappointed
about the final result, but am very
hopeful about the results to date. As I
have watched the results of the elec-
tions on the evening of Nov. 3 and the
following days I was pleased to see
that the citizens of our great country
have rejected both the Trump doc-
trine and the excesses of the defund-
the-police-socialist left. As every futile
effort of the Trumpionian forces have
been rejected by judges (whether ap-
pointed by Republican or Democratic
administrations) and a few Republi-
cans such as the governor of Georgia,
who did not check the spine complete-
ly when Trump took office, have made
sensible decisions, I have become
heartened that that USA electoral
system will survive. I hope no major
political party in the USA ever gets
hijacked by a megalomaniac again.
Philip Arms
Union
Lead overexposure
at firing range
Editor, the Journal,
On Dec. 12, 2019, the Shelton.
School District was informed by the
state Department of Labor and In-
dustries that they were investigating
a whistleblower complaint alleging
a possibility for overexposure to lead
for the adviser and members of the
Shelton High School Rifle Club who
use the Mason County Sportsman’s
Association firing range. The Sports-
man’s Association was not cited'and
were found to be following safety
protocols.
I bring this to our communities’
attention as another example of
Shelton School District leadership’s
lack of transparency and absence
of responsibility. Knowing I would
get the run-around during the Dec.
3 community forum, I cited public
disclosure from L&I that I had previ-
ously requested: https://lni.box.com/s/
twi81fek53jf'7a827iy099t02dtzfyy4.
Superintendent Alex Apostle did not
disappoint. Deflection and the “I will
get back to you on that” mantra and
of course, passing the buck. That’s
intriguing considering during the en-
tire investigation Apostle was aware
of what was transpiring.
On Feb. 5, Labor and Industries
received an email from our school
district informing them that the Rifle
Club had been suspended. My ques-
tion is why this activity was suspend-
ed, yet other programs and activities
were not until the COVID-19 pan-
demic shut everything down? What
was the district’s reason for doing
this? If they felt there was a safety
issue for the adviser, why would the
children not be of concern? Parents
I have spoken to were not aware of
the investigation and were under the
impression that COVID-19 was the
shutdown culprit. Why weren’t the
parents informed that they might
want their children to have their
blood levels monitored? The Sports-
man’s Association does what they can
to minimize exposure. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
cites blood lead testing and followup
remains an essential safety net for
children who might already be ex-
posed to lead. A blood test is the best
readily available way to measure
exposure to lead. The CDC also cites
that there is no safe blood lead level
in children that has been identified.
Even low levels of lead in blood have
Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal — Page A-5
Journal Letter Policy
I"
The Journal encourages original letters to the editor of local interest.
Diverse and varied opinions are welcomed. We will
not publish letters that are deemed libelous or scurrilous in nature. All
letters must be signed and include the writer’s
name, address and daytime phone number, which will be used for verification
purposes only. All'letters are subject to
editing for length, grammar and clarity. To submit a letter, email
editor@masoncounty.com, drop it off at 227 W. Cota St,
or mail it to PO. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.
been shown to affect IQ, the ability to
pay attention, academic achievement,
and other long—term illnesses. As of ,
Dec. 3, the Mason County Depart—
ment of Health had not heard a peep
from the school district in requesting
their assistance to inform parents;
the last communication coming from
the departing director of Safety and
Security in August.
The Labor and Industries inves-
tigation was initiated to protect the
adviser of the Rifle Club because he
was their employee. On May 8, the
school district was cited for four vio-
lations accumulating a $4,800 fine for
not providing a lead compliance pro—
gram for their employee; not provid—
ing information and training on the
hazards of lead; and initial exposure
monitoring and blood monitoring for -
lead not performed. The school dis-
trict did not appeal the Violations and
to my knowledge are not in compli-
ance. As of Dec. 3, the school district
had not paid the citation. As of Nov.
25, it was $5,040.
Kim Goldsby
Shelton
Anti-Trump
campaign is futile
Editor, the Journal,
I would like to address Mr. Earl
W. Burt from Bremerton and his idea
of creating a national day on Dec. 14
to unfriend Donald Trump with the
slogan, “Make America Great Again
Unfriend Trump,” as well as his com-
ments in his letter titled “Unfriend
Trump” in last week’s Journal.
Mr. Burt, your campaign to sway
those who support President Trump
is a futile effort. Those of us who sup-
port him are too loyal to cross over to
the “dark side.” Many, such as I, have
been with President Trump since he
came down the escalator in the sum-
mer of 2015 when he announced his
run for the presidency. The'promises
he made then are the promises he
kept throughout his first presidential
term Such as: Record-setting tax and .
regulation cuts, energy independence,
replaCing NAFTA, foreign relations
and policies putting America first,
$2 trillion investment to rebuild the
military (peace through strength),
obliterated ISIS, peace 'in the Middle
East (received four nominations for
the Nobel Peace Prize), Veteran Af-
fairs reforms, confirmed over 250
federal judges including three Su-
preme, Court Justices, criminal justice
reform, lowered drug prices, protected
Medicare and Social Security, and se-
cured our nation’s borders, moved the
U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, launched
Operation Warp Speed to deliver a
vaccine in record time to defeat the
COVID virus and created the most
advanced testing system in the world,
and many more accomplishments (too
many to list). Many more jumped on
the Trump Train such as Carl Olsen
, who stated so eloquently in his letter
last week, “After four years of made-
up lies, false reasons to impeach,
closing down our country and blaming
COVID on Trump I’ve crossed fam-
ily lines and voted Republican.”
Furthermore, your comment
“Trump Lost America Won” is not a
truthful fact. First, President Trump
did not lose. In fact, President Trump
won the election. This was a desper-
ate attempt to steal this election from
him by any means necessary through:
Ballot harvesting, ballot stuffing, bal—
lot stealing, “dead” people, manipula-
tion of election data of the Dominion
software (both foreign and domestic
interference), intimidation toward
poll watchers on the Republican side
and preventing them from doing
their job, serious accounts of threats
toward the brave whistleblowers
who signed affidavits and attested
to what they witnessed during the
evidentiary hearings (according to '
President Trump’s legal team, there
are now nearly a thousand affidavits),
and countless other treasonous and
illegal acts of election fraud (1 sug—
gest that everyone watch the state
legislative evidentiary hearings in
Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona,
Georgia, Nevada. Search YouTube ——
LIVE: Michigan State Legislature
Holds Public). Secondly, America
did not win. This was not a free and
fair election. 74 million plus people,
including myself, who voted for Presi-
dent Trump are disenfranchised due ,
to an election system rife with fraud.
America will only win if we fight for
President Trump to finish what he
started and serve four more years.
Lesley Robertshaw-Mosley
Shelton
Safeguard health
of inmates ,,
Editor, the Journal,
Last week’s Journal reported on
a very high number of COVID infec-
tions among inmate and staff at the
Washington Corrections Center in
Shelton, which is very sad and must
beviewed with compassion. While
the inmates have been convicted of
crimes, most are not threats to the
community. I have been in the WCC
three times for inmate-run Buddha
Day events. Everytime the inmates
were well-organized and kind. I got to
hear some of their reasons for being
behind bars. N o excuses, but sincere
plans to improve their lives and tak-
ing good steps to do so. Staff was also
professional and helpful.
I think it would be reasonable to
place some prisoners on parole and
released home or to group placement
where they would not be at such risk.
We know tight confined spaces are
likely to increase the chance for CO-
VID’s spread. Since we have custody
of these individuals, it is our respon-
sibility to keep them safe from harm.
I hope the state will take steps to en-
sure their safety and health.
Michael Siptroth
Belfair
Adages to live by
Editor, the Journal,
“Believe only half of what you see
and nothing that you hear.” '
This is a most important quote that
has a great deal of sense. I believe we
all have dealt with something con—
veyed to us by a second or third party
that was totally different than the
original. It seems it is just our nature
for it to happen.
This occurs because anything told
to us and we tell it to someone else,
very often takes on our interpretation
of it. I am sure that this observation
of mine is not overstated, but that is
only my opinion. However, I believe
there is an even more important .
quote that helps clarify what is be-
lievable and what is not, and is a good
rule to follow. “Trust and verify.” This
isn’t always the easiest path to fol- V
low, but if the issue is important, it is
worth the extra effort. This reminds
me of another famous saying. “Take it
with a grain of salt.” To take a state-
ment with a grain of Salt or pinch of
salt means to accept it while main-
taining a degree of skepticism about
its truth. V '
Sometimes it feels we are engulfed
with so much information, from ra-
dio, television news programs and
newspapers that are not always just
reporting but also giving a personal
analysis of an issue that is totally
one-sided. If you agree, it isn’t always
easy to also check a counter explana-
tion, to make a more informed deci-
sion. This is especially important
today because a bad decision could
have lasting, dire consequences for
everyone. It is a dilemma that only
the individual can make, because if
it happens that many changes could
have been made before the current
receptor hears it. And there is one
more intelligent admonition. “Get it
from the horse’s mouth!”
Patricia Vandehey
Shelton
. Applying the ‘
Electoral College
Editor, the Journal,
In the Dec. 3 letter to the editor,
Carl Olson brought up the prospect
of doing an Electoral College to deter-»
mine statewide elections. I thought it
was an intriguing idea and decided to
break down what that would look like.
Iassigned each county electoral votes
based on how they’re currently allo-
cated in the U.S. N o matter the size of
the county they get three as a starting
point and the rest is distributed by
population to attain a total of 538 pos-
sible votes. I also assume each county
would do a winner-take-all, like most
states observe at the moment. Here’s
how it goes for our recent gubernato-
rial race:
For Loren Culp: Adams (3), Asotin
(3), Benton (14), Chelan (5), Clallam
(5), Columbia (3), Cowlitz (7), Douglas
(3), Ferry'(3), Franklin (6), Garfield
(3), Grant (6), Grays Harbor (5),
Kittitas (3), Klickitat (3), Lewis (5),
Lincoln (3), Mason (4), Okanogan (3),
Pend Oreille (3), Skamania (3), Spo-
kane (35), Stevens (3), Wahkiakum
(3), Walla Walla (4), Yakima (17). A
total of 158 electoral votes.
For Jay Inslee: Clark (33), Island
(5), Jefferson (3), King (154), Kitsap
(18), Pierce (61), San Juan (3), Skagit
(8), Snohomish (55), Thurston (20),
Whatcom (15), Whitman (4). A total of
379 electoral votes. -
Under our current system, Inslee
received 56.7% of votes cast compared
to Winning 70.45% of the electoral
college votes if such a system was ad-
opted.
Cody Morris
Hoodsport