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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW New fire east of Canyonville 'exhibiting extreme behavior,' could send smoke into Rogue Valley ... Pursuit on I-5 ends in officer-involved shooting in Siskiyou County ... Medford police arrest second man suspected in boat thefts ... New fire east of Canyonville 'exhibiting extreme behavior,' could send smoke into Rogue Valley ... Pursuit on I-5 ends in officer-involved shooting in Siskiyou County ... Medford police arrest second man suspected in boat thefts ... LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor, March 26 Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 26, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Mar. 26, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Democracy died Democracy and the spirit of community activism died in Phoenix on March 16. By a 5-1 vote, an applicant for a seat on the Phoenix Urban Renewal Board was turned down by the Phoenix City Council. The reason: The applicant supported the slate of candidates that ran in opposition to the incumbents. Political purity was modus operandi in the old Soviet Union, and even today exists in China. In small towns, volunteers are hard to come by. Why turn away someone who's qualified, just because of how they voted in an election? The applicant was told that she wouldn't be a team player. It's a sad day in an already sad town when the council won't just say, "thank you for volunteering." Steven Schulman, Phoenix Congrats to board members Congratulations to the Medford School Board members who took the time to read the U.S. history book that contained the writers' attempts to slide in their own ideas of how the Second Amendment should be interpreted. Arnold Strite, Central Point Logic and Latin, too Your March 8 article reporting on the Medford School Board member's remark about the appropriateness of Dr. Kennedy's 16th edition of "The American Pageant" (sic) brings to mind my gripe with higher education. A board member, who has a degree in political science, apparently said that Kennedy's alleged error in using "i.e." rather than "e.g." in a bracketed reference to the Second Amendment was "egregious." After completing my degree in political science, I decried the dearth of history classes in the program. A class in logic would have been good as well as a little introduction to Latin. Stewart McCollom, Ashland Pass clean energy bill The Coal to Clean Energy bill (SB 477/HB 2729) before Oregon lawmakers ensures that by 2025, Oregon’s electricity comes primarily from affordable, clean, renewable energy like solar and wind, not from out-of-state coal plants. This is good news for Southern Oregon’s ratepayers. Clean, renewable energy eliminates costs of hundreds of millions of dollars in necessary upgrades to aging coal plants that will be passed along to ratepayers. This could be a significant savings to Southern Oregon ratepayers; as Pacific Power customers, two-thirds of our electricity comes from out-of-state coal plants. As costs of fossil fuels rise, we need the affordability and stability we get from clean, renewable energy. A recent banking analysis shows that solar electricity is rapidly becoming cheaper than average costs across the country. The Department of Energy notes that states producing the most wind energy have seen electricity prices fall in the last five years, as ratepayers in other states struggle with price increases near 8 percent. Data from the Department of Energy shows that Oregon’s abundant solar and wind resources could provide electricity to all Oregonians and allow the state to sell excess energy to other states. Urge our state legislators to enact SB 477/HB 2729. Cindy Boersma, Ashland No comments needed The Constitution is the most important document ever in the history of modern civilization. Any textbook that tries to add political content for high school students is unacceptable. Fred Zerull, Jacksonville MailTribune.com Writer Posted Mar. 26, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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