FAITHFUL LIVING
Local Rotarians and Lions have invested heavily in the city parks bearing their affiliations in Evergreen Rotary Park and Lions Park throughout the years, and today the Kiwanis Club will follow suit as its members gather at Kiwanis Park, located between Fourth and Fifth streets in West Bremerton, for the first step in a long-term overhaul of the park.
As I write this second column for the Patriot, it is spring vacation in the Bremerton schools. As such, it is a relatively quiet time of the year. Our facilities and support staff are busy at work, “spring cleaning” and completing punch list items for the new high school and middle school additions. Nonetheless, without students, the schools are very quiet, indeed.
“If you are an Independent, then I am the Angel Gabriel,” writes Earl P. Otto of Bremerton.
Anger. Disappointment. A tad resentful. Whatever the people involved in the Tibbits and Gaines annexation issues are feeling right now, it’s justified.
The Poulsbo City Council on Wednesday night had the perfect opportunity to show its concern for some future residents. And it failed to do so. On the night in question, the council was met with an unusual standing room only crowd of spectators who were all attracted by one of two agenda items.
As I look back at the 2008 legislative session, I’m proud to have played my part and grateful to have been given that opportunity. Faced with a slowing economy, we invested, but invested wisely. We said “no” to new taxes, but avoided slashing vital public services. We accomplished many things that really matter in people’s lives, and we left a substantial reserve to guard against future problems. As I said, I’m proud of what your Legislature accomplished in this year’s short session. But in the end, of course, you’ll be the judge.
TORRENS TALK
With respect to Erwin Gemmer, his recent letter concerning vaccinations is highly misleading and in some cases completely wrong. Vaccinations have been responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Contrary to his assertion, most of the diseases did not see a drastic decline until after we started vaccinating against those diseases.
“If you are an Independent, then I am the Angel Gabriel,” writes Earl P. Otto of Bremerton.
Like It Is
By State Rep. Sherry Appleton As I look back at the 2008 legislative session, I’m proud to have played my…
Having already expressed the view that Kitsap County’s association with the Puget Sound Regional Council has outlived its usefulness — assuming there ever was any — we feel compelled to congratulate the county commissioners for taking what we hope will be the first step in terminating it once and for all.
The North Kitsap School District is doing an awful lot of belt-tightening lately. State and federal funding is dwindling, and what little money the district does receive comes with so many strings that choice is taken away from the district as to how to use the money.
I confess I was surprised — although pleasantly so — when the state Legislature rejected the idea of naming the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge after the late Sen. Bob Oke.
Washington’s water law is probably the most complicated set of statutes we have. The root is in the state’s water code enacted in 1917; and the fact that the waters of Washington State collectively belong to the public and may not be owned by any individual or organization.
The people who wrote our state constitution were pretty smart. They had watched other western states adopt constitutions — some better than others — and they were very savvy about how to write a constitution that protects the public interest.
Soundoff is a public forum. Articles are selected from letters to the editor or may be written specifically for this feature. Today, Port Orchard resident Anthony Johnston responds to a recent story in the Port Orchard Independent featuring a teen-aged, unwed mother and her belief that others were being unfairly critical of her.
Adults throughout the county are taking impromptu vacations this week. In offices everywhere, phones are going unanswered, plants aren’t getting watered and keyboards are getting treated to a day without being whacked repeatedly by eagerly typing fingers.
