This is the opportunity to see some expertly crafted sand sculptures by Olympia novices and professional sculptures, too.
Sunday is grandparents day and the fun continues from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Friday was the kickoff with local teams packing forms with alternating layers of sand and water then pounding the 240 tons of sand to ensure a solid block ready for sculpting when the forms were removed.
This will be the last year the fundraising event will be held at the Port Plaza. Next year the new Hands On Childrens Museum should be completed so the Sand in the City celebration will be shifted to the new museum off State Avenue.
Take time today or tomorrow to visit this popular community event and stroll through the sculptures, marveling at the craftsmanship.
Thumbs Down:The Cosmopolis City Council passed a law on lawns, limiting the height of the grass to 8 inches. The short-grass ordinance was to take effect last Monday, but Mayor Vickie Raines vowed to veto the ordinance. She says there are times when the city’s own cemetery isn’t mowed and the grass grows tall.
Under the council’s ordinance offenders would have two weeks from receiving notice to mow. Otherwise they could be fined up to $200 a day. If a shaggy lawn was not mowed in 30 days, the city could mow it and put a lien on the home for the cost.
How’s that for unwarranted government intrusion into the lives of its residents? No wonder there was a public backlash in the Grays Harbor City south of Aberdeen.
Raines’ veto was the right decision. Some homeowner associations in South Sound go too far with their covenants. Under some rules, homeowners cannot leave their garage door open during the day? In other subdivisions, home must be painted a certain shade of brown or gray?
Those covenants are over the top, in our opinion. But setting a limit on the height of the grass in the front yard? That’s absurd.
Thumbs Up:A big thumbs up to South Sound law enforcement officers who organized an open house of thousands of items stolen from homeowners but recovered by police and sheriff deputies this summer.
The open house allowed residents to be reunited with long-lost items. Talia Hastie of Tumwater, for example, was the winner of the 1988 Miss Washington pageant. A rhinestone ring that commemorated her participation in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City that year was stolen during a burglary of her Tumwater home in May 2010. Tears filled her eyes at the open house when she found the ring. “To lose mementos like that, it’s very awful,” she said. “I’ve got to tell you, when I saw it on the photo book, I started crying. I’m just so happy.” Her joy was tempered by the fact that $35,000 in stolen jewelry and other household items are still missing despite her review of the items on display.
All of the stolen items on display at the open house were recovered in June from a single home on Rich Road. Detectives said that a number of burglars fenced stolen items at the Rich Road home as far back as 2006 and exchanged the items for drugs or money.
Kudos to Thurston County and Lacey detectives who organized the open house to try to reunite burglary victims with their stolen items and to bolster the criminal case against the individuals who lived at the Rich Road home.
Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said the ring will be given to Hastie after the criminal case against the suspects from the Rich Road residence is complete. Until then, it is considered evidence.
Thumbs Down:A Kennewick City Council candidate is running for election on a platform that includes calling for illegal immigrants to be executed if they refuse to leave town.
What’s amazing is that Loren Nichols collected nearly 400 votes in his ward in this month’s primary election. That’s about 26 percent of the primary vote – enough to place second out of three candidates. Nichols will face incumbent Steve Young, who also serves as mayor, in the citywide general election this fall. Nichols, 56, has said in media interviews that if illegal immigrants are seen entering the country illegally they should be shot on sight, and any who refuse an ultimatum to leave Kennewick should also face the death penalty. It’s outrageous.
Equally troubling is the fact that Nichols collected enough votes to advance to the November election. Let’s hope Kennewick voters come to their senses and send Nichols packing at the general election. There’s no room for such hate-filled rhetoric on any city council.
