Wisconsin’s Gov. Walker won the election in November, and now the voters in Wisconsin are having buyers’ remorse. He had a balanced budget until he gave big tax cuts to business, so now he has to find the money by forcing concessions on the public employees of the state. However, that is not enough; he also wants to strip them of their bargaining rights under the pretense of a budget crisis.
$4.7 billion! That figure represents the 2010 earnings of General Motors. American taxpayers, who own one-fourth of those earnings, are now being paid back for the investment President Obama made when he stepped in to rescue America’s automobile industry when it was on the verge of collapse. Remember when Rep. John Boehner and many other Republicans decried how President Obama was wasting billions of dollars by bailing out General Motors two years ago? They stated with absolute certainty that there was no way the company would ever make a profit. Oh, and they also said that President Obama is a “socialist” (oooooh, scary) for taking an ownership interest in General Motors. Soon our “socialist” president will order the divestiture of taxpayers’ interests in that company. They are wrong yet again.
Local citizens are concerned about the negative consequences of recent county budget cuts. I am too. Trash pick up in local parks is a very visible sign of the additional $2 million cut the county took for 2011, but some repercussions are less obvious.
Island Scanner: Oak Harbor Police Department
I started reading the Whidbey News-Times Wednesday edition on my way back from the mailbox. How could I resist? There, on the front page, was a picture of a man writhing in rhetorical pain. Wait, I recognize him, it’s Bill Massey: Purveyor of profit, mouthpiece and icon of the “uber rich” in Oak Harbor. Person to be despised because he wants to build something.
I applaud those Island County commissioners who voted to support the secure medicine take-back program now under consideration in the state Legislature. Thanks should go to our 10th District Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, for co-sponsoring this bill.
Whidbey Island’s Roller Girls competitive roller skating team is off to a good start. Their first home match last month drew a sizable crowd to Oak Harbor’s venerable Roller Barn. The Saturday night event also attracted a crew of Oak Harbor High School video students who filmed the contest for the entire community, and play-by-play broadcaster Jerry Oliver did an admirable job of filling air time with commentary about a little-known sport. Those with access to OHHS Channel 21 have been watching the rolling women elbow and push past their competitors for days. Channel 21 probably doesn’t have ratings, but if it did the Roller Girls might well outdraw the lip sync contests.
Though many students were relishing last week’s snow days, those relaxing weekdays spent at home are quickly causing a problem for Oak Harbor School District.
A jackknifed semi truck blocked both lanes of Highway 20 near Coupeville for about a half hour Wednesday afternoon.
OLYMPIA – Fishing prospects look bright this year for chinook in Washington’s ocean waters and the Columbia River, according to preseason salmon forecasts released today at a public meeting in Olympia.
Hours after high winds and rough seas prompted officials to cancel sailings, the Chetzemoka returned to service Wednesday afternoon.
A proposed change to Oak Harbor’s development rules has a member of the city council and a former state representative crying foul.
Claiming that the proposal is inherently linked to a property dispute that’s raged for nearly 10 years – a squabble in which both are involved as property owners – City Councilman Bob Severns and former state Rep. Sue Karahalios have been outspoken critics of the plan at a series of recent planning commission meetings.
It’s time for boaters to touch up their knowledge and skills for the summer season.