DISASTER: Good news, please?

I appreciate that our city/county want to warn people of possible impending danger due to a huge tsunami that MAY occur…sometime. But it seems to me that to fill the front page of the paper day after day is a bit much. Yes, it’s good to be “ready” for a disaster, and that people should be educated and trained in what to do, although this one may or may not happen, at all.

We had a disaster in 1980 that no one knew was coming and we had not “practiced” for…Mt. St. Helens’ eruption. Although it was frightening, and many did not know what to do, there were announcements from the Civil Defense Department and others, on the radio and in the paper about how to handle it all. We learned as we went along. We got through that disaster just fine.

Some people looked at the pictures on the front pages last week, thinking this crisis is already upon us, and their first reaction has been fear and panic…until they read the disclaimer “This story is not real.” We see enough bad news everyday, and I for one would love to see GOOD news on our front page.

JEANNE HELSTROM

Coeur d’Alene