Education funding

Come on,

state legislators

According to our Washington State Constitution, “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children … .”

Please note, the paramount duty of the state is “ … ample provision;” not merely “basic education,” not only “basic education,” and not just “basic education.” In other words, “basic education” is lesser than “ample provision.”

Now, I write because I see two of our 23rd Legislative District legislators, after all their years of experience, education and age, recently wrote, “Teachers paid by the state … are those involved in “basic education,” which the state constitution calls the Legislature’s paramount duty.”

No, Sherry and Phil, it’s not about teachers paid by the state.

No, Sherry and Phil, “basic education” is not what our state constitution calls the Legislature’s paramount duty.

It’s about something much bigger than those topics. It’s about the meaning of our ancestors’ words, those of our Washington State Constitution and ours, “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children … “et cetera. It’s about doing the right thing.

Gene Hart

Bremerton

Kingston Garden Club

Gardeners dig community support

The Kingston Garden Club appreciates the generous support of North Kitsap merchants toward our annual plant sale. This year’s sale netted almost $2,800, which is given back to the community through the Aloha Wright Grant Program. The grant program is used to fund horticultural scholarships and community beautification projects.

Special thanks go to Valley Nursery, Savage Plants, Dragonfly Nursery, Foxglove Nursery, Raven Nursery, Boone Briar Peony Farm, Emu Topsoil, Sacks Feed and Seed, Henery Hardware, Albertsons, Bloedel Reserve, Kingston Revitalization Association, Stillwaters, Sunrise Hill Farm, Kimberly Rose Floral Designs, and the Wild Bird Store in Poulsbo. Garden Club members who contributed their artistic work were Maxine Healey, Bobbi Wodtli, Elaine Jungst, Pam Wilson, Sharon McAvoy and Liz Wilson.

Lastly, the Kingston Garden Club thanks all those in the Kingston community who purchased plants and raffle tickets at the sale. Each year, your support makes for a successful sale.

Linda Morse,

Plant Sale Chairman

Val Torrens

Be careful what

you wish for

You may be familiar with the proverb, “Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.” So it goes with today’s airline industry. The public went for deregulation; the public got it. It was touted as increased competition and lower fares. We got the lower fares alright. What happened to competition? Aha! That’s a whole different ball game.

Once upon a time there was a thing called regulation. Everything was regulated. An airline could not come into existence without government approval. Fares could not be changed without government approval. All fares between A and B were the same.

Where was the competition? All that remained were dependability and service. Dependability came largely through aircraft maintenence and always having sufficient crew people to operate the aircraft. Service came through sufficient people at the ticket counters, sufficient people to answer the telephone and make reservations. Service came with free meals which we came to take for granted, free or cheap booze, free baggage (with weight limits) and the list goes on.

With a stroke of the pen the game changed. Now airlines competed on price and the war began. Bankruptcy became a weapon. You want more of this or shall I spare you the gory details? Competition is now a matter of survival. Throw in the ever increasing cost of fuel and we’re all really in deep doo-doo. You think things are ugly in the passenger cabin now? Just wait until a bunch of those people who used to check their bags try jamming their stuff into overhead bins and under seats and wherever else they think they can hide it. It’s really going to be a zoo.

Be careful what you wish for; you may get it.

Robert Jungst

Kingston

KHS Soccer

Ole to you!

Many thanks to the community of Kingston for their support of the KHS Boys Soccer team this past season. We grew together this season getting to know each other personally and on the pitch learning quickly to work together as a team to build personal and team skills under the guidance of coaches Craig Smith, and Dave Falk. Special thanks to Michael Donne and Tony Smith, our volunteer guest coaches. We are proud of the accomplishments of this team and are pleased to have represented our community.

Special thanks to our KHS Athletic Director Dan Novick for his efforts in the immediate coordination of staff, students and community members especially the Kingston Rotary who managed the concessions. Our winning team was able to compete in the state playoff games on our home field thanks to all of you. This effort was tremendous and much appreciated. Initially the idea of playing at home was not even on our radar given the short time frame and the effort required. The memories of this winning season will last a lifetime.

KHS Boys Soccer