Yes, civilians are painfully aware of active and retired military families spoiling the rural character of Whidbey Island. Most say go away, let us have our tranquility back. We enjoy driving down the highway without dangerous congestion. Yes, we remember how big Oak Harbor was before the Navy. If you want to live in a big town please move.
One of the coolest products for the Northwest is Rain-X, the magical stuff that knocks water right off your windshield.
If there is any chance of the new Top Two Primary having any impact in Island County, it will likely come in the race for county commissioner from District 1.
One interesting thing about our state’s new Top Two primary system is that two candidates of the same party could advance to the general election.
On the plus side, this means there is finally competition in areas that heavily favor one party or another. On the negative side, the public might have to listen to some very tedious debates.
With the elections coming up you have the resources to get information and to let those running for office know how important funding for education is to you.
Please go to K12.wa.gov to find out further information regarding school funding. Specifically Senate Bill 6673 and Bill 6534. Please carefully read the “No Child Left Behind” bill. You can read articles in our local paper about how many students are now being left behind because of WASL testing. Money does not go directly to the schools for this testing. This is a failing program and the money could be put to much better use elsewhere.
Some of the letters recently published make me wonder if our schools no longer teach political science and civics. From my experience I’ll offer a different perspective.
Much has been made of Mac McDowell asking his assistant to make the arrangements to participate in the Coupeville parade. If you noticed, virtually every parade includes participation by our elected officials, city, couty, state and even federal.
A small sampling of islanders is playing the role of Jack against the giant Puget Sound Energy as they attempt to convince voters to create a Whidbey Island Public Utility District to take over electrical distribution.
One of my childhood baseball heroes was Mickey Mantle, the greatest switch hitter who ever lived. There are a lot of switch batters, but few can hit equally well from both sides of the plate. Mantle was a true switch hitter, meaning he could actually hit from either side. He was a more prolific home run hitter from the left side, thanks in part to the short porch in Yankee Stadium, but he could drive the ball even deeper from the right side.
The original and correct name of the so called “Wonn Road Extension” is Greenbank Road. It is identified as a county owned Public Access, site 28, in the Existing Conditions and Site Inventory, Island County Shoreline Access Study. This study and the accompanying map lists all public accesses and public tidelands in Island County and is supposed to be available to the public at the Department of Planning and Community Development. Guess what? They can’t find it.
To: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Is it time to do away with Ebey’s Landing National Reserve? That was a question I posed at the last Historical Review Committee meeting.
Thirty years ago this year, the Island County community came together to establish the reserve. The purpose was to preserve a way of life, to preserve our history. Not everyone was in favor of a reserve. After a hard-fought battle though, our community came together, formed the reserve, and believed it was protected. Almost immediately we learned it was not.
Mr. Pundit receives more letters than he could ever hope to answer, so we’ll dispose of some of the answer here, free of charge.
We would like to thank all our friends who sent cards or expressed sympathy for the loss of our son-in-law in Iraq. We feel for all the other families who have lost loved ones, as well as for the Iraqis whose lives have been shattered by this senseless war. We can only hope that the American population will gather the courage to stand up for what is right and insist on leaders who will behave like adults, not belligerent children. This war has already cost far more than we can afford.
It’s embarrassing to have an uneducated dog. People come over and want to see the dog do some tricks and it just sits there with a stupid grin on its face hoping for a Milkbone that it hasn’t done anything to earn.
Youth: Hey, old guy, what was it like before global warming? No matter what the weather these days, they blame it on global warming. Has it always been like this?
