Masks
Dear Editor: I was struck by the irony of the front page edition (Sentinel, Sept. 15) with the photo of mask-deniers at the city Assembly meeting and the article about Alaska hospitals being forced to ration care.
M. Howard, Sitka
Price Carbon
Dear Editor: I committed to a 15-minute morning “bird sit” in early June. The ongoing dance with the pandemic, political strife and aging relatives in three different states were taking a toll on my well-being, and I needed a form of meditation that was anchored to this place. So I went to the woods behind my home, sat and listened. I was not disappointed – along with my regular companions of chickadees, thrushes, wrens and juncos, were warblers – yellow, orange and Townsend’s – kinglets, flycatchers as well as Sharp-shinned hawks, creepers and woodpeckers. Pure messengers of joy that restored and are restoring my weary soul.
Yet, I worry for the birds. Megadroughts and immense wildfires in the West, powerful hurricanes in the South, and unprecedented flooding in the Northeast – all magnified by climate change – are making it especially challenging for birds and threatening their very existence.
“Audubon’s ‘Survival by Degrees’ report, released in October 2019, indicated that future climate change will put two-thirds of birds in North America at risk of extinction due to projected range losses. Of the 604 species analyzed, none was projected to remain untouched by either climate-driven range loss or extreme weather, sea level rise, or other climate change-related threats.’’ (1)
“A June 2021 report from the National Audubon Society showed that habitats that are important for birds now and in the future are also critical to reducing greenhouse emissions given their ability to naturally store and sequester carbon. This means that maintaining and restoring these landscapes through incentives for management and conservation are important strategies in our collective challenge to stabilize climate change.” (1)
“Birds are telling us that both their survival and OURS depend on ecosystems with the ability to filter our air and water in key landscapes around the country,” said Sarah Greenberger, senior vice president for conservation at the National Audubon Society. “The scale of climate change has disrupted these natural processes, but with the right incentives for management, our forests, grasslands, wetlands, and urban green spaces can play a role in reducing harmful emissions while protecting the birds we love.” (1) This is why we need to keep our beloved Tongass National Forest intact.
Additionally, one of the best first steps in addressing climate change is to PLACE A PRICE ON CARBON. The current reconciliation bill under negotiation in the Senate has included language that does just this. The White House and Rep. Don Young also need to clearly hear from us that we want A PRICE ON CARBON, so email the White House and tweet your Alaska delegation #putapriceoncarbon. Our survival and the survival of those winged creatures that bring us joy and a lightness of being depend on it.
On behalf of the birds we love,
Lisa Sadleir-Hart, volunteer with the Sitka Chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby and avid birder
(1). Audubon Report Shows That Important Bird Habitats are Key Natural Solutions to Climate Change; www.audubon.org on Sept. 12, 2021.
Cutting Poverty
Dear Editor: The new Child Tax Credit monthly payments started in July and they already have a profound impact. Researchers at Columbia University estimate that the monthly child poverty dropped by 25 percent after the payments started, lifting three million children above the poverty line. This is an amazing accomplishment that will only improve as more people get signed up.
But these CTC improvements, along with much-needed changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-wage workers, will expire after this year. We do not want this to happen. We can make these provisions permanent now, funded with fairer taxes on the rich and corporations.
If you are not getting the CTC payments, please go to www.GetCTC.org and sign up. Next, contact your members of Congress today telling them to make the new EITC and CTC changes permanent, including full refundability of the CTC for all low-income families, in economic recovery legislation this year.
Sitka RESULTS:
Michele Friedman, Mim McConnell,
Kim Kirkness, Dr. Valerie Edwards,
Toby Campbell, Norm Campbell,
Donna Donohoe, Mary Soltis
Mask Mandate
Dear Editor: I am writing in support of freedom. Freedom to believe the mask will protect one and freedom to believe it does not. Freedom to decide where to shop. Freedom.
I salute Hames Corporation for making the difficult decision that it has made. We now have freedom. Sitka will be in red for a very long time because the case numbers in a percentage of citizens required for that to be the case is 100 out of 100.000. By my calculations, this is .001%. Not a grave statistic. Not a large chance of contraction any germs with or without a mask.
I do not believe Hames Corporation and Mr. Hames are being irresponsible. He is simply offering a choice to the community.
Carin Adickes, Sitka
Whale-Watching Trip
Dear Editor: thank you to Allen Marine and the Sitka Pioneers Home staff or the all-day whale-watching boat trip. I am sure we are the only assisted living facility that offers such an event.
The state of Alaska can be very proud of the Sitka Pioneers Home. We owe a debt of gratitude to the early legislators who had it built in 1934. They had great foresight. The facility is attractive and comfortable. Each staff member is kind, courteous and respectful.
Shirley Anderson, Linda Allard,
Sitka Pioneers Home residents
Assembly Meeting
Dear Editor: Tuesday night I tried to give testimony to the Assembly encouraging them to continue the mask mandate. While I was waiting my turn, I sat quietly and listened to each person’s comments. When it came my turn, the crowd in the room drowned me out. Because of that, I would like to print my comments here because I believe my right to be heard on this issue was denied me. Here are my comments, some of which I cut out when we were asked to limit our time to two minutes.
“I would like to say thank you to the Sitka Assembly for the mask mandate that we currently have in effect. Pediatric groups have announced over 400% increase in children with COVID-19 in the U.S. since the middle of July. According to the Sitka School District website (as of yesterday), we have 10 active COVID cases in the Sitka School District with about four weeks into the year. This is just from the VOLUNTARY testing that people are choosing to do. Just a reminder, when a staff or SSD teacher gets a crossover infection, they then take it home to their children and family.
‘‘Recently some teachers from Homer asked me, ‘How did you get a mask mandate in Sitka?’ I said, ‘Our Sitka Assembly loves our children, our health care workers, our essential workers, and they are taking seriously their responsibility of keeping Sitka citizens safe during a surging pandemic! They are listening to scientists. It is the responsibility of the Sitka Assembly to follow CDC masking guidelines in order to protect our citizens. Gunalcheesh for extending the mask mandate until our children can get their vaccinations.”’
Most of what I said could not be heard from the shouting behind me. When I got to the end, I literally was screaming the last line into the microphone, “Gunalcheesh, Gunalcheesh for ….... The whole time I wanted my two minutes back. Honestly I felt the bus had pulled up and emptied a load of middle school trauma center youths and sat them behind me. I can handle middle-schoolers so I felt not a second of fear, but closed my computer comments and showed everyone who had just shouted me down my fury.
I will stand up and be heard for the children in this town. I will stand up and be heard for every healthcare worker. My children are on the front lines of this pandemic fighting every day to keep this town safe, and I stand with them. I defend my right to say that the Sitka Assembly loves our children because I helped elect them and chose them for that very reason. Gunalcheesh to the Sitka Sentinel for giving me the opportunity to be heard.
Parents please, please sign the form in your school office to have your child tested regularly for COVID until the children’s vaccines arrive. Parents must stand with educators to protect the children’s safety.
Patricia Dick, Sitka
