George Le Masurier, Publisher
Jerre Redecker, Senior Editor
John Dodge, Columnist
Mary Gentry, Community Representative
Doug Mah, Community Representative
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Imagine a world without giant gorillas floating above car dealerships or a Goodyear blimp to provide peculiar views of football stadiums and their surrounding parking lots? Imagine a birthday party without balloons?
The Olympian says Clark County is “Looking more like a banana republic than a progressive metropolitan county.” I agree with the sentiment. But Clark County is a banana republic because we elect banana Republicans.
I want to know how we got to the point at which being on the “Do Not Call List” has been redefined to mean “Annoy Me All Day With Your Harrasing Calls.”
Calling Thurston County armchair critics of local government: It’s time to prove you aren’t all talk.
So state Sen. Rodney Tom and others think schools would be improved by assigning them letter grades based on test scores and graduation rates. What a wonderful, simple idea.
As a parent and a taxpayer, I urge the Legislature to look at what is really going to get better results for our students, and to give those programs the funding they deserve. Budget negotiators should prioritize funding for full-day kindergarten, academic acceleration, teacher and principal performance evaluations, implementation of the Common Core State Standards, and a 24-credit high school diploma that will actually provide students with all the credits they need to get into a state college.
YAY: PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
I was disappointed to read the port commissioners’ answer to citizens who are opposing using our port to bring in fracking materials for use in extracting oil in North Dakota. People need jobs, but they should be good jobs; not jobs that pollute water supplies and add to the already overloaded air we breathe. As Bill McKibben says, “If it is wrong to wreck the climate, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage.”
With respect to a recent letter published in The Olympian (Port of Olympia relies on tax levy, April 18, 2013), I would like to note that every tax is a subsidy, but to facilitate communication with taxpayers the port could report their success in terms of “earnings” versus “profit.”
Anna Jarvis, one of two women credited with establishing Mother’s Day in the United States, filed a lawsuit in the early part of the last century to stop the over-commercialization of the holiday. She lost that suit, but Jarvis’ fight for a day of quiet reflection and appreciation for the role that mothers play in everyone’s life should live on.