Letters to the editor for June 24

No sports? I want a refund

I am 72 years old and the fact is, with the exception of sports, there is no new and entertaining programming directed at my age group and older. The programmers at Comcast are under the impression they can throw old reruns and ancient movies at us over and over, believing we will forget that we just watched them the day or week before. They think we are also happy to watch Joe Namath sell us Medicare supplement plans or that some crazed idiot with an ostrich will entice us to buy his insurance, whatever that company is.

And that brings me back to sports. Eventually, I am going to tire of watching old NFL and college football games, leaving me with only ax throwing or corn hole contests which I refuse to watch. So, to Comcast I ask: Are you going to start issuing thousands of subscribers a discount or refund on our cable bill? With only the news and reruns, I’m left to watch about 240 channels of crap and the cost to do so is both expensive and mind numbing.

I ask those who feel the same to contact their local cable / satellite provider and demand a discount, a hefty one.

Bob Hill, Olympia

Adapting to Chehalis River flooding

The original reason for a Chehalis River study was the extensive flooding along Interstate 5 in Lewis County. The Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority was created under former Gov. Chris Gregoire to come up with suggestions to limit I-5 flooding. The original plan was to keep I-5 open with local improvements.

But the project has morphed into an expensive dam-building project with the rather narrow perspective that a dam on only one tributary of the Chehalis River will be a major component to stop Interstate 5 flooding. But there are many other streams and rivers that pour water into the Chehalis River during seasonal rains.

Local costs from flooding can be severe due to the fact that building and development was allowed in traditional flood plain areas. The committee’s attention has been swayed by a desire to protect floodplain areas that have been developed or might be developed in the future. In other words, the goal to “Stop Mother Nature” is not realistic at all.

Many informed voters are aware of the fact that development in a floodplain should not be allowed and building an expensive dam on one river will not stop the flooding. The sensible solution is to stop floodplain development, preserve natural floodplains, and stop fooling yourselves.

John Newman, Olympia