I met Chris Reykdal in January 2016, when he and five other candidates running for the Superintendent of Public Instruction spoke to a cohort of WSU grad students. I could see then that Chris, hands down, was the front-runner of all the candidates. In May, I was able to witness Chris captivate a room of over a thousand teachers in Spokane.
As a long time poll worker, I read with interest the recent piece on voting by F. Milene Hanley. Whereas I agree with most of the piece I find a critical piece missing. Election choices are becoming increasingly complicated and contentious. One is met with a dizzying array of candidates and issues. Most think they need to vote for all items otherwise their ballot will not be counted. I advised many people on this while working the polls. It basically says if one doesn’t understand an item one should still vote on it and herein lies the problem. Votes should be made based on knowledge, not a coin toss. A ballot is only invalidated when one votes twice for one item. I will leave a position blank if I do not understand the item. Our system must be about quality of the votes, not quantity. For a democracy to work, a majority of the voters must be literate. Coin toss voting removes that critical piece.
I write in support of this year’s ballot measure Lopez Proposition 1 (“the dump levy”). Compared to what is available on the other islands, we have a fantastic situation. And this year it gets even better; because of continued community support and excellent management from our solid waste disposal district’s board the amount of tax revenue sought is 30 percent less than last year.
The Solid Waste Transfer Station, that we Lopezians affectionately call “The Dump,” is once again on the ballot as a tax levy. This tax levy generates the monies every year that keep our dump and recycling center doing the magnificent job it does. Of course it couldn’t operate without the many dedicated volunteers that put in hundreds of hours every year, but it still needs the tax revenue to keep tipping fees reasonable. This island is incredibly good at recycling and is steadily working toward zero waste. Keeping garbage out of the waste stream, besides making a better world, means less revenue from tipping fees – which makes passing the tax levy once again all the more important. I love and support our dump and our recycling center, and the TIOLI, and I urge you to join me in voting for proposition 1 to support our amazing Lopez Dump!
We would like to urge our fellow San Juan Islanders to support Rick Hughes for the County Council position from Orcas Island. Rick consistently sees the big picture and seeks what is best for our county as a whole.
On the morning of June 18, 2016 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, Local 1849 (San Juan County employee’s union) gathered to meet the San Juan County Council candidates for District 1. The candidates addressed the local and responded directly to questions from the members.
I wanted you to know that I appreciate these stories about what’s going on in our community and I think it’s important for people to know that just like anywhere else, we have crime here. Our islands are not the idyllic utopia that new people often believe it is.
Thank you for being a “news” paper. Serious news should be printed in the proper place including the front page. The paper should be primarily for adults not children.
Domestic violence is one of those uncomfortable, difficult to discuss issues.
I wanted to tell you all how upset our family was at finding such disturbing news on the front cover of our paper. I know it is news but we have reading aged children in the house and would appreciate that kind of sensationalistic journalism being buried in the paper or on the back. This goes for last issue as well as this current issue. This is not the first time we have noticed this kind of reporting being favored over more family oriented stories. Sad to say that if this is the way the paper is going to be run then we will just have to ban it from being placed in our P.O. Box. Thanks for your time.
I am delighted to announce that The Hamlet House fundraiser on Sept. 3 exceeded its goal of raising $50,000, thanks to the generosity of our amazing community and the matching offer. The good will and enthusiasm expressed by those who attended made for an evening long to be remembered. I offer my personal thanks to Becky Smith, Heather Arps, Jim Orcutt and Becky Presley who planned the Gala and to all those who contributed in so many ways to its success.
Congratulations to the primary winners
As the only licensed early learning center on Lopez Island, the Lopez Children’s Center provides a vital resource for parents of young children. Without our facility providing safe, affordable care, many families would not be able to work the two (or more) jobs that enable them to stay here.
