I see a lot of letters in the Chilkat Valley News that seem to be opposed to everything from local natural resource development to increased tourism businesses. After living here for just short of fifty years, I can say with a great deal of certainty, nothing has changed. Such rhetoric has been around all these years I’ve been here. Problem is, people who wish to live here need jobs that pay a living wage on as close to a year round basis as possible. They all want to own homes, raise kids and enjoy all those things most of us have for years. The fact that MORE THAN HALF the kids in our school system are receiving free or reduced rates for breakfast and lunches because their families live at or below the poverty line is not something to be proud of. It’s NOT THEIR FAULT! I’m saying, leave your selfish misplaced value judgements back where many of you ESCAPED from. Let our people live and prosper.
Terrance W. Pardee