Readers write: Letters to the editor, March 30, 2016

Hurray to Judge Patrick McKay and Jim Gottstein for ending the lease on the Anchorage Legislative Information Office. Now all we have to do is get them out of there.

The willful, woeful, wanton and reckless way those bums got into that building in the first place is such a travesty of justice and huge abuse of public office. Even if somehow they manage to arrange it so the state owns the building they don’t deserve to stay there. They should all be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail and we should all get to watch. And Mike Hawker should lead the parade!

— Vicki Williams

Anchorage

I want to congratulate you and also thank you for publishing Jill Burke’s recent two-part series about biracial families — specifically white families who hold out loving arms to adopt Alaska Native kids, (ADN, March 17, March 24).

In 1971, my husband Fernand and I wanted to adopt an African-American child in Oakland, California, where we lived before moving to Alaska for 33 years. We were told we would need to be “extra special.” (We wound up adopting a newborn from Costa Rica.) When we were adopting an Aleut-Athabascan child in Anchorage, we were told he needed only “consistent parenting.” We were not told he had been abused, battered, starved and attended school for fewer than 30 days during the previous year.

I understand fully Burke’s “mama-bear protectiveness,” and still feel it, although my sons are now in their early 40s. I feel the same thing for my three beautiful, well-mannered granddaughters, whose white schoolmates shun their birthday parties.

Racism is not gone in America. It has a shiny varnish laid over it, but the evil lurks right there at the edge of all social encounters. All. Thank you for letting Burke remind your readers the struggle goes on — and is hard.

— Ann Chandonnet

Lake St. Louis, Mo.

ISIS kills innocent victims throughout the world. No sweat, we’ll just take in a ballgame and go dancing afterward. I guess we showed them!

— Rolf L. Bilet

Anchorage

The article about Richard Mitchell’s climb up Flattop (ADN, March 26) with a large wooden cross truly resonated with me both with regard to depression and suicide, and those who are willing to sacrifice their own lives to save others. Every time I engage in Holy Communion, I raise a prayer of gratitude and grace for all of them. Thank you for a touching, meaningful story.

— Bernadine Raiskums

Anchorage

An oil company exploring in the Inlet receives oil tax credits from our state equivalent to 65 percent of their exploration expenses; currently the state will pay the company through tax credits almost a half billion dollars. Norway is more capitalist with their money, they do something similar but then take half the profits too.

This coming year Alaska oil industry tax credits will be greater than all oil revenues, ADN March 28. So the state will likely be taking back our dividend check to stuff the pockets of the oil industry.

Some say our Legislature is controlled by the oil industry lobbyists. There are 10 Republican legislators who are employed or have direct family income ties to oil. They have always been allowed to vote on oil taxes even with their glaring conflict of interest. Those votes to ensure keeping the oil industry on welfare will remain more important than your family, your dividend, our schools and public safety in Alaska.

— Rod McCoy

Anchorage

Yet another article concerning heroin addiction has appeared in this paper. It is as if writing about the problem will change something. It won’t.

I lived in Fairbanks for 20 winters and observed that every spring as breakup approached, people would continue to drive down Small Tracks Road, past the “thin ice” signs, around the recently installed barricades, and across the Chena River ice road until someone, usually a 20-something male in a pickup, dropped through the ice thereby necessitating a tow and an expensive repair. It happens during the season that the sandhill cranes return to Creamer’s Field. Both events are foreseeable but a Chena River dunking is preventable.

So it is with heroin addiction. That first injection is like crossing rotten ice on a warm spring day. Everyone who is not mentally impaired knows through observation that heroin is addictive and its use will likely lead to a life of misery and despair. Unfortunately, people have been making bad choices since early man cooked the first sandhill crane on an open fire and it is inevitable that they will continue to do so until cranes no longer return to Creamer’s Field. Put up “thin ice” signs and barricades if it makes you feel better, but be certain that some people will always choose to drive around them.

— Paul Richards

Talkeetna

Re: Vote yes on Proposition 8.

Last night, some liberal stole the “Vote Yes on Proposition #8” sign from my front yard, just like the liberals want to steal your money through higher taxes. Protect our tax cap, and keep taxes down! Be sure to vote, and vote yes on Proposition 8. Thank you.

— Ken Jacobus

Anchorage

According to OpenSecrets.org, based on Federal Election Commission data filed March 7, 2016, Lisa Murkowski has raised $5,022,265 so far for the 2016 election cycle. Of that amount only $177,422 is listed as in-state contributions. Assuming these figures are accurate it begs the question: who is Lisa working for?

She has been granted her share of ethical do-overs but it will soon be time again for voters to reconsider their relationship with her spinning moral compass. Is she responding to the needs of her constituents or delivering fealty to those filling her bank accounts?

— Ron Hedge

Anchorage