National events affect our community
On Friday morning, the day after a dozen Dallas police officers were shot and five were killed, I was at our local police station for a meeting. There, in the place where men and women come to work every day wearing the uniform of the Post Falls Police and head out to protect and serve, it was somber as the flag in front of the building was lowered to half staff.
As a citizen and also in my capacity as a city councilor I've always held our department in high regard. They hold themselves to a high standard. I know them. They are good people who do not take lightly the important role they have in maintaining the safety and order of our community. They are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. They are in the prime of their lives, personally and professionally. They are our neighbors and our friends. This week they are not only grieving for fellow officers but concerned about how every one of these incidents in other states and communities affects their ability to effectively do their jobs ... and return safely home to their families at the end of a shift.
I certainly do not have the answers but I do know that the rush to judgment, the 24/7 media sound bites for officer-involved shootings prompting all of us to make judgments based on mere snippets of information and then to pontificate opinions about who is to blame, do nothing to resolve very real issues. Those who have bully pulpits and do not use them responsibly are dangerous.
In my lifetime I've watched this country go through many upheavals including the assassination of a president, the civil rights movement and assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. The Vietnam War protests, the Kent State shootings, President Nixon's resignation, terrorists attacking America on Sept. 11...
In just 72 hours this week we watched wall-to-wall coverage as the Justice Department declined to prosecute a presidential nominee and a black man in Louisiana and a black man in Minnesota die after being shot during police stops, both real time posted to social media via cellphone video. Then the breaking news in Dallas with a sniper taking aim at police officers during what has been described as a very peaceful demonstration against the shootings.
It would be too easy to say this country is going to hell in a handbasket and it can't get any worse. It may or may not get worse but we will survive it. There are too many people — good people, good people of every color, good people who wear badges and good people who protest — to think we will not overcome.
I will sleep soundly, and safely in my bed tonight in the United States of America. We cannot take the life we have in this community or country for granted. The millions of people, law abiding people of all races, who make up these United States need to stand strong.
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“Battle lines being drawn, nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong ...” Buffalo Springfield, “For What it’s Worth” — 1967
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This week’s highlights: tonight Wine, Women and Shoes at the Coeur d’Alene Resort to benefit Idaho Youth Ranch, 5:30 p.m.; also tonight all alumni of Post Falls High School are invited to a no-host get-together at Rainbow Resort at Hauser Lake, 5-7 p.m.; tomorrow night The Music Man, a production of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre, opens at the Kroc Center at 7:30 p.m. and will run through July 31.
Rathdrum Days community celebration Friday through Sunday, parade Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on Main Street; St. Vinnie’s Party in the Park (formerly the Steak Fry event) at McEuen Park from 5-9 p.m. on Saturday, featuring the Kelly Hughes Band and Colby and Justin, benefits the St. Vincent dePaul homeless warming centers.
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Happy birthday today to Renee Lusby, Ingrid Yates, Mark Daanen, Julia Koontz, Becky Rider, Kris Mans, Brooke Hayden, Shirley Jarrell, Lisa Goodwin (50!) and Karen Applebee.
Blowing out the candles tomorrow are Dee Barnes, Barb Chambers, Kathleen Esquibel, John Lasher, Jim Lyons, Nancy Seright, Jaime Vanderpool and Dawnelle Garvey.
On Friday Barb Deckon, Logan Virgil, Kris Siebers, Katie Mans, Laurel Flerchinger, Loretta Lyon, Angela Olson, Andreas John, Julie Ingram, Marisa Buffaloe, Brian Bunch, Wayne Huckabee and Glen Collins take another trip around the sun.
Sandi Morrison, Yvonne Smith, Marcy Clutter, Rich Doughty, Cindy Wiedmer, Patrick Ryan and Doug Jaworski celebrate on Saturday.
Terry Werner, John Malloy, Erik Nelson, Rick Souza, Janet Brock, Belinda Rowe, Amber Flinn, Lori Larkin and Emily Crawford will blow out the candles on Sunday.
Eric Wurmlinger, Jessica Ohlig, Annette Davis, Kathy LaTourrette, Dustin Peacock, Lori Nelson, Sandie Husby, Joanne Anglin and Cody Jones will put on their party hats to start the week.
July 19 birthdays belong to David Kilmer, Vic Grilli, Bill Noordam, Hillary Main, Sherri Dust and Micheala Cocoran.
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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.