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Print publication: Saturday, Feb. 12Pedestrian safety She was asking for it - the way she was dressed, the way she acted. Didn't she recognise the form of people she might run into there? Who could really blame them for what happened to her? I'm not talk about rape. I'm paraphrasing typical comments about people who are only trying to pass down the street (in reply to the Feb. 4 editorial about pedestrian deaths, "Needed: wary walkers"). Imagine if your daughter (or son) were hit while walking to see the bus to school. Maybe she was distracted. Maybe she didn't jump into the roadside mud quite quick enough. Maybe she was polished to delight her friends rather than a safety monitor. Would you want drivers, police, road authorities or even newspaper editors to reason that "she was asking for it"? ANDREW HOLTZ Southwest Portland *****In reply to the editorial "Needed: wary walkers": It is heartening to see that The Oregonian shares the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition's concern about the refuge of walking. We hold that all road users want to part the route and be aware of others. This is why WPC is actively involved in educational outreach programs throughout the area to assist people see their rights and responsibilities on the road. We do take walking seriously, and we need to see more attention brought to the fundamental issues that can make walking dangerous: high vehicular speeds and dangerous intersections. Traffic-safety models about the earth have shown that focus on speed and auto-traffic volumes provides the most demonstrable safety improvements for all modes. Let's learn those hard-won lessons from others and use them in Oregon. This is the sentence to work together to build our roads safer and calmer for all. STEVE BOZZONE Northeast Portland Bozzone is on the table of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition. *****The uptick in Portland's pedestrian fatalities may be significative of many trends, such as drunkenness and dark hours, but it appears me that a disengaged brain should top the list. The parental lesson to children of alerting them to the dangers of intersection the road requires an update. In gain to look both ways before crossing, parents should also learn to stop texting, stop talking on the sound or say your caller to hold, mute the medicine in the earbuds and, most of all, pay attention to your environment as if your life depended on it - because it does. JAMES BENSON Southwest Portland Police shooting Reading "Family faults police in shooting of vet" (Feb. 9) brings to mind other families who get called 9-1-1 for service with a loved one. It seems that if the family member has a weapon of any kind, the law will take and ask questions later. What is it loss to ask for the cops in this commonwealth to get training when it comes to the mentally ill or, in this case, a veteran having a bad day? Maybe it's time to transport some of these police officers into real struggle to let them experience what they should actually be shot at, as our vets have done. When Anthony McDowell held his rifle above his head using both hands, it was a house of surrender. The law officers should have tested to lecture him into dropping the rifle, and I think more than just telling this Iraq vet to drop his gun. It appears they didn't give McDowell time to work what they had asked. I know McDowell felt that people didn't like about vets. Many of us do. My house has served in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War. We donate as often as we can to all vet programs and more so to disabled vets. May this soldier rest in peace. JUDY FRALIA-MANTELLO Beaverton Howling over Ferrioli's words Regarding "Wolf input from EU gets Oregon hackles up" (Feb. 10), which showcases state Sen. Ted Ferrioli's comments about "morons" who offer opinions on the wolf issue: The big ranchers, who hold the political climate in most of eastern Oregon, do not require their livestock threatened by predators. That's understandable. But I observe that the open range belongs to the citizens, not to the ranchers. If ranchers wish to subsidize their operations by grazing sheep and oxen on the open range, then their livestock should suffer the like consequences as do the elk, antelope and deer that also use the open range. If they do not wish their herds exposed to bear, cougar, coyote and wolf attacks, then get them off the range. We, the citizens of Oregon, do accept "a dog in this fight." DAVID M. GREEN Southwest Portland *****Regarding state Sen. Ted Ferrioli and the stimulation from the European Union: Hooray for a politician who has the guts to bear up to the environmentalists. It's time for the lovers of the warm fuzzies to get a few concessions, especially when times are hard, for those who have their living off the land. Why didn't Ted run for governor? He has my vote. STEVE GORDON Beavercreek *****I loved state Sen. Ferrioli's response. It's refreshing. I am so tired of the PC left. There is nothing wrong with telling someone to listen his or her own business. I cracked up. And he's right: He is responsible solely to his voters, not some animal activist in Greece. LLOYD CLARK Hillsboro Sea lions and sturgeon Regarding "Decline of sturgeon drives severe cuts in NW fishery" (Feb. 4): Once again we're ready to pick another predator for a job we have caused. While depleting alternative food sources, we created a seafood buffet below Bonneville Dam. For any prospect of becoming a dad, a male Steller sea lion must fatten up before breeding season. Fighting for and guarding a territory requires going without eating, until his "wives" have all given birth, attended to their pups and mated. These animals are merely doing their best to have their own families. Human beings don't want to plump up on fish to survive, yet after acknowledging that we have inadequate data to properly handle the white sturgeon fishery, we still allocate 17,000 for ourselves. For sea lions, however, 6,680 is too many? JUNE MOHLERTroutdale
Letters: pedestrian safety, Senator Ted Ferrioli, sea lions, police shootingPublished: Friday, February 11, 2011,8:00 PM
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