Stand off
District did not protect children
My children and grandchildren live at the Hostmark apartments where the standoff took place on March 12. However, I do not believe the schools took appropriate precautions. I talked to my grandson, age 12, who walked home from school and passed 10-15 police officers with their guns raised and hiding in bushes. He was told by one officer to just hurry along. In the meantime, he says school buses across the street from this stand off were loading kids. This all took place right when school was getting out for some. My granddaughter, in elementary school, was in lockdown but the middle school definitely was not. What is wrong with the school system? What is wrong with the police department to schedule this thing right at school closing? I feel my grandchildren are in great danger. The holdout man could have shot any one of them from his window, or the police’s high-powered rifles could have been shot, the bullet penetrating walls, etc., potentially killing an innocent bystander. Please get to the bottom of this so I can sleep at night. This is major!
Donna Cease,
Clarkston
Red light runners
Right turns are not a God-given right
I applaud law enforcement efforts to make county roads safer by catching speeders, so I hope something can be done at the intersection of WA-305 and Bond Road, in Poulsbo, especially at rush-hour.
Over the last two weeks, each time I have waited for the left turn arrow to Bond, at around 4:30-5:30 p.m., I have watched vehicles — usually one, but often two or more — race through red lights in the 305 northbound lanes. Add to this the drivers who turn blindly into those same lanes from Bond Road, exercising their “God-given free-right-turn rights,” and we’re due for some nasty crashes and more fodder for the Jaws of Life.
Doug Kinnaird,
Poulsbo
Sports coverage
Mistakes can’t
be forgiven
The writer of the article seemed to have trouble discerning between the two north Kitsap county teams. The article was supposed to be about the game between the NK Vikings and the BI Spartans, but somehow the Kingston Buccaneers were repeatedly mentioned as one of the teams on the field.
Considering the recent typo/printing errors that went to print omitting the Kingston girls basketball team photo identities and name mispellings, one would think the proof reading department and editor of the Herald would be a little more vigilant. This was bush league reporting. I would expect more from a high school paper.
Jeri Coleman,
Kingston
Editor’s note: A corrected version of that story ran in the March 15 edition of the Herald. We regret the errors and thank our readers for their patience.
Clowns International
A huge thank you for your help
The evening of Feb. 9, Caring Clowns International, held it’s first fund raiser dinner/silent auction at the My Girl 50’s Museum in Kingston.
CCI is an all volunteer charitable non-profit organization whose members clown locally, across the U.S. and internationally, and which provides funds for projects that help needy children.
The event at My Girl was a smashing success! We brought in over $8,200 which will go toward projects to help kids in need. We are grateful to all those who supported and participated in this marvelous evening.
Specifically, we would like to thank the following businesses and individuals for their tremendous support by helping, and donating items for the silent auction. They are:
On Bainbridge Island – Saffronia Baldwin Design, Mari Ellingsen/DC LMP, Embellish, Paper Products Etc, the Traveler
In Edmonds –Claire’s Pantry, Edmonds Theater, Housewares, ManyaVee Selects, Petosa’s Grocer, Red Twig Bakery/Café, Starbucks Store #10764, Treasures and Teas;
In Everett – the Painted Wall;
In Kingston – Apple Tree Cove Animal Hospital, Artful Ewe, Henery Do It Best Hardware, Joyful Noise Choir/North Peninsula Unity Church, Main Street Ale House;
In Port Gamble – Tea Room in Port Gamble;
In Poulsbo – Bad Blanche Collections, Blue Heron Jewelry Company, Coast Do it Best Hardware, Cargo Hold, K&B Cleaning, Suzanne O’Clair, Olympic Outdoor Center, That’s-A-Some Italian Ristorante, Wild Horse BBQ, Wizard of Paws pet grooming, the Zone Sportsplex;
In Silverdale -Costco;
And Dr. Julia Atwood DVM, Brant Butte of Let’s Dance Mobile D.J, Dennis “Buba” Broughton, Tracey Dickerson, Don “Scooter” and Marcia “Missy Kissy” Hill, Sara Foster, Lois “CoCo” and Bob Kerr, Terry Kerr, Cheri “Ya ‘Nuck” and Mike “Commander Zooco” Malcham, Winifred Rich, Sylvia Ross, Darla Selter, Jessie Strauss, Colleen Taylor, Kit Taylor, Bob Thompson and Elizabeth Oliver of My Girl, Ed Weston, and Paul Williams.
We are indebted to all of you. Thank You.
Jed “Duffy” Selter,
President & Executive Director
Child rearing
Brave boy, bad circumstances
Last week at Raab Park in Poulsbo, my wife met a brave 8-year-old boy under difficult circumstances. She was at the dog park; he was at the skateboard facility across the street with his older brother, age 12. Unfortunately, the boy fell and broke his wrist — a nasty, compound fracture — and his older brother was at a loss about what to do other than to yell for help. My wife and other patrons of the dog park tended to his care, keeping him warm and comforted until an ambulance could arrive. He didn’t shed a tear.
Sounds like a heartwarming story, right? Unfortunately, it included several troubling aspects.
First, the boy and his older brother had been dropped off at the skate park by their grandmother, who was nowhere to be found when the accident occurred. I’m not sure what she was thinking, but it seems like a difficult situation in which to leave two underage boys — alone, in a place where injuries are more likely to occur, and with only the watchful eyes of strangers. The older boy did have a cell phone but did not know about dialing 911; he tried to call adult family members who weren’t available. At the least, it seems to me that they should have been supervised. Did the ambulance personnel contact Child Protective Services?
Second, the park — a city-owned park — is a little on the short side when it comes to the safety of unsupervised children. Raab Park has been without a caretaker for several months, and though it appears a new caretaker has moved in, he/she was nowhere to be found on that day. In addition, there are no signs posted at the skate park with regard to supervision or safety. And what if there had been no one at the dog park that day? The frantic older brother would have had to scour the adjacent neighborhood for help, during which time the 8-year-old could have gone into shock.
In my mind, the whole affair could have been less frightening if grandma had simply stayed with the boys. Parents, grandparents, relatives … a big city park is not necessarily a safe place to drop your children off unattended. Thankfully, this young lad handled his setback with grace and courage. Not all children are so steeled. We wish him well on his recovery and hope he has a cast full of friends’ signatures and drawings.
Shannon Fears,
Poulsbo
