Letters to the Editor
Published 1:30 am Saturday, June 27, 2026
ENVIRONMENT
A Salmon-less Middle Fork Salmon River?
“From 48,000 or so Chinook 65 years ago to 1,368 in 2025, 675 in 2024, and 468 in 2023. Middle Fork salmon, and steelhead, annually return at 2% or less of their abundance one lifetime ago.”
-Pat Ford, Idaho Capital Sun; 6/16/26
This is one of many startling statements made by Pat Ford, a veteran environmentalist, in his analysis on the catastrophic declines of salmon and steelhead in the Middle Fork Salmon River.
Ford provides a plethora of incontrovertible facts. From 2023-2025, “an average of 811 Chinook returned. They came 700 to 900 miles in, and 4,000 to 6,800 feet up, from the sea.” This survival instinct is astounding; yet “In 15 to 20 years, within our life times, before your children reach your age now, the Middle Fork Salmon could be salmon-less.”
Further, “To reproduce in 2025 one Middle Fork female Chinook had to encounter one of 163 males, in 570 total miles of salmon spawning habitat. That is one female salmon per every .85 miles of habitat… . One steelhead female had to encounter one of 163 males in 929 miles of habitat. One female steelhead per every six miles of habitat needs little explanation as an extinction indicator.”
Ford includes a chart of salmon populations that shows a 98% decline of salmon since the 1960s that coincides with the doubling of downstream dams. His irrefutable conclusion: to save these fish, and their river, the Snake River dams must be removed.
Michael W. Shurgot
Seattle
WORLD CUP
Commercials DURING play in the World Cup?
I love soccer (known as football to the other 7.5 billion people on the planet). One of the many things I like is its simplicity. They play for 45 minutes, take a break then play for another 45 minutes. They introduced a “hydration break” a few years ago that lasted 2 minutes max. I’m good with that; I get thirsty. That break gave the commentators a little time to pontificate on the game so far and you got to see the coaches having a little pow-wow with their team.
BUT NOW? The hydration break is 3 minutes long and they’re cutting to commercials! They’re also showing a large graphic of the score during each half sponsored by some company. Hey Fox!, I know the score it’s in the upper left corner!
Is this a test to see how they can wring a few more advertising bucks out of each game? Are they monitoring fans’ response?
My fear is this going to show up in MLS and NWMLS games going forward. Will this metastasize world wide? As fans we need to let the broadcast companies know this isn’t OK. They’re ruining “The beautiful game”.
PS – Hey Donald; can you spare a few minutes and cut an executive order to stop these shenanigans?
Eric Beardsley
Lake Stevens
SHORELINE COLLEGE
Flouted 2020 disclosure law?!
Talk about a loaded headline.
The Herald, in all my years living in this media’s territory reporting on Shoreline Community College has been rare, but, this one takes the cake! “College flouted…” is a statement of fact? Or, is it an allegation? Has the Herald staff ever sat on a collegiate recruitment council for a new President, or to evaluate potential candidates for staff positions? If so, then the knowledge of community College hiring protocols is guided by the agency’s Director of Human Resources. Not the College nor its President, nor its board.
No identification of the Director of Human Resources on the date of hire is revealed, let alone its President. Why fault the college specifically?
When either President, or staff, are hired, the Director is the lead whose office follows all legislated protocols. Why condemn the barrell for one bad apple? The disclosure form, filed by the applicant is not a public record so, how did Herald staff get a copy of the application?
Was there a leak in the Shoreline CC HR dept.? The Herald needs to be sure that when they pin a tail, publicly announcing having done so, they need to document how they identified the donkey.
Samuel Bess
Stanwood
EPSTEIN FILES
Where has justice gone in our country?
What do you hear about Trumps’ involvement with Jeffrey Epstein these days folks? Nothing you say? Imagine that. All of Trump’s efforts to silence the story must have paid off. Money talks, as usual. Of course Trump has been keeping us informed at a distraction a day with his glorious cage fighting match on the White House lawn for his birthday, and building a 600 million (at last count) dollar ballroom, partly financed by taxpayers, planning to build a 550 ft arch, dedicated to whom do you suppose, in Arlington Va, and wait till you hear about Trump’s July 4th celebration, and on and on. And you know folks, it all works. Even the war with Iran could have been a distraction. It solved nothing and cost the lives of 13 Americans and who knows how many Iranians.
If what we suspect and have heard about Trump’s dalliance’s in Epstein’s playhouse is true then why haven’t we been given all the evidence? There’s still millions of pages of Epstein files that haven’t been released by Trump’s minions. The Trump administration has shown us how power corrupts in government and now the government has a chance to show us it works for all of us. I think most of us have figured it out by now that Trump is not about to release anything. So we’re left to wonder, where has justice gone in this country?
Don Curtis
Stanwood
TRUMP
The President has usurped Congress’ powers
President Trump has taken the reins of power not only in the United States, but across the world. Recently he said, “I could run for President in Israel.”
He also said about the proposed Arc de Trump, “We don’t need anything from Congress.” That may aptly be called the motto of the second Trump administration. He has usurped Congress’ legislative power, its revenue raising power, its power to declare war, its power to reorganize the federal government, its power over treaties, its appropriations power, and its oversight power. All of that belongs to the Boss of the World now.
Recently he asserted immunity for himself and his family from IRS audits; set up a $1.8 billion dollar slush fund to provide restitution for aggrieved MAGA supporters; relaxed regulations on “super pollutant” hydrofluorocarbons (HCFs); and paused a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan after his visit to the man he calls the “great leader” of China.
The President is really on a roll, isn’t he?
Kimball Shinkoskey
Woods Cross, Utah
