Letters to the editor 1-1
December 31, 2008
By Administrator
Thankful for efforts
during blizzard
I would like to thank the following for their outstanding service throughout the endless and countless phases of Snowstorm 2008:
The road crews who plowed the streets of North Bend and our own neighborhood worked hard to keep our streets safe and passable. I-90 eastbound and westbound to exit 32 was also passable even during the worst of the blizzard conditions. I’m sure they missed hours and hours of sleep and I am grateful for their devotion to duty.
The U.S. Post Office delivered our mail every day. I don’t know how they did it with nearly two feet of snow between their vehicle and the mail boxes, but every day, the mail was there. They do indeed abide by their creed.
Tanner Electric managed to maintain our electricity throughout the 60 mile-per-hour winds, except for a 13-hour period where we did lose it. We stayed at a hotel and were able to learn of updates from their website. Most importantly, they were accurate updates.They predicted that electricity would be restored by noon and they were absolutely right!
Larkspur Landing in Eastgate/Bellevue was once again gracious and accommodating during what’s become our bi-yearly stay during emergency conditions. They are fabulous!
AAA and Wyrsch Towing rescued us from a minor but frustrating mess. No, we hadn’t slid into a ditch or stalled on I-90; my husband’s car got stuck in our driveway. There were mounds and mounds of snow, ice and mud everywhere and despite two hours of trying everything we could think of, we could not free it. After calling AAA, Wyrsch Towing showed up in 15 minutes and dragged our car out, with nary a snide word about our minor problem. They are our heroes!
Some people may think that these folks were merely doing their job. However, in this day and age, where reaching the pinnacle of mediocrity is the main goal of most businesses, these people have surpassed expectations and have warmed my heart. I thank you and wish you all the best New Year that you deserve.
Kathy Swoyer
North Bend
Support for school bond
Being a student in an overcrowded school is hard, but not being able to vote on the future of that school is even harder. Every day, I walk through hallways full of dozens of students. At times, I am afraid that I might be late to class because I can’t shove my way through the hall fast enough to get to the door. I constantly see students getting pushed, others yelling, and some just standing there, waiting for their path to clear.
If you have ever been to a high school, which I’m sure most have, then you know that it’s not just a place to learn, but a place of gathering and talking to your friends. Students stop in corners to say hello to their girlfriends or boyfriends and others pass by each other to get a heads up on what to expect in their next class. As a freshman last school year, there weren’t enough lockers to go around at the beginning of the year: more had to be installed. This year, it’s not only freshman that don’t have lockers, but sophomores and some upper classmen have lost theirs because their names “got lost in the system” and they didn’t sign up for a new locker quick enough.
Obviously, the Snoqualmie Valley is growing. There are now five elementary schools and three middle schools all flowing into one high school. The school district has been attempting to pass a bond every year for three consecutive years. And every year, more houses are built within the district’s lines and more students welcomed in our schools. The day has come where the high school can’t fit any more students, both in a physical sense and a financial sense. If this coming bond does not pass, the Snoqualmie Valley School District’s excellence will drop and students will not be given the opportunity to learn everything they can.
New portables won’t do the students any good in the long run. What we need is a new school. Whether that means not adding a couple thousand dollar stadium or not updating the sports equipment every year, so be it. Let the new school use Mount Si’s stadiums. I’m sure there is room. We don’t need to buy state of the art sports equipment for every school, or for any school. Isn’t that what fundraising is for?
Please, vote yes on this new bond. Your sons and daughters and the future generations of this Valley need this more than anything. Even though it might affect your tax money now, it will affect their futures later. Picture being shoved into a locker daily and getting yelled at by your teacher for walking in late. Please, think twice before checking no.
Lisa Eytel
Sophomore at Mount Si
Thoughts on Dave Reichert
I guess I can draw some satisfaction believing the letter writer to whom I directed the spirit of my letter joins me in the dock, so to speak, charged with writing “rude and offensive”, “poison letters” referencing Dave Reichert.
This week’s writer, an admitted “registered active (Big D) democrat”, voted for Dave because he frequently crossed the aisle to vote with”Baghdad” Jim McDermott and his ilk.
My dock-mate’s apparent complaint was that Dave didn’t cross the aisle often enough, while my gripe was that he crossed it at all.
Were Dave available for a question, I’d ask him how many times “Baghdad” Jim reached out to join him, Dave, on an issue dear to the heart of conservatives? Zip, zero, nada, I’m confident. In fact, Dave’s record wasn’t a whole lot better.
I can share with this week’s letter writer that I, too, admired Dave for his dedication and determination in tracking down the Green River Killer. I had and still have a problem with the plea bargain thing. I understand the concept wherein the killer was promised no death penalty if he cooperated with Dave and his team … not unlike the killer promising many of his victims he wouldn’t kill them if they cooperated with him and didn’t struggle. Of course, he was just kidding and I think Dave and the prosecuting team should have told the killer that they, too, were just kidding.
Then again, I’m an old Marine Reservist Korean War vet with a different “perspective” about such things.
In any event, this week’s letter writer waxes to a degree on things religious and Constitutional and then, in a typical liberal fashion, urges me, and my dock-mate, to exercise our right to free speech (and religion?), but … without “words of hate and mistrust”. And, she forgives me/us.
Well, I, at least, forgive her typical liberal intolerance.
George Crotts,
North Bend
Sign him up
Muntader Al-Zaidi, no doubt, will soon be in talks with the New York Yankees. If he can throw an awkward-shaped shoe that well, just imagine what he could do with a perfectly round baseball.
I’m proud of my Commander-in-Chief: He dodged those shoes and then joked about it.
Tony Emanuel
Sammamish
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