FISA

Stand against no-warrant phone taps

The White House is out of control. The various forms of the FISA bill are not great, but will help to stop the trimming of the Constitution by the Bush administration. Congress must oppose retroactive immunity for phone companies that participated in the Bush-Cheney Administration warrantless surveillance program. I hope every American is aware of the consequences of our government granting “immunity” to businesses that participated in illegal spying on the American people. Congress must stand up to scare tactics that suggest congressional Democrats’ efforts to get the FISA bill right this time will invite another terrorist attack.

Please, let the readers know what is happening. If we don’t stop this here and now, we won’t recognize our country in 10 years.

Kerry Robertson,

Poulsbo

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

NK Optimists

School project brings out kids’ best

For six weeks, the North Kitsap Optimist Club has been conducted two after-school classes at Wolfle Elementary, one in “Exploding Boxes” and one in Woodworking. Each class was advertised and the youngsters were able to choose which class they would like to take from a choice of six after-school programs. Each class has had about 10 children in it and we have had such fun.

The Exploding Boxes were the idea of our member Constance Gooding after she herself took a class on how to make them. It involves cutting three paper boxes, each just a little smaller than the previous one, then decorating them, and gluing them in one spot in the middle. Of course there is a lid, also made of heavy color card stock, cut to hold the top of the box together until you decide to open it and explosion! The boxes open revealing all of your decorations, pictures and creative ideas. The children had a blast making them. At their last class on March 10, they finished their boxes or make a bookmark for reading their favorite book. Helping Constance from the club were Elizabeth Haney and Adele Heinrich.

The Woodworking Class made two projects with the assistance of Casey and Sandy Cutlip and Bob Heinrich. The adult guys made patterns in wood of ferryboats and then an A-Framed Birdhouse. The ferryboats were lots of fun and the painting was very colorful. The birdhouse project will be completed Monday at the last class meeting when the birdhouses go home with the youngsters. Surprisingly this woodworking class was made up mostly of girls from first to third grade and they loved doing things with their hands.

All the children will go home with a certificate of completion for their efforts and hopefully some great memories of the fun they had. The adults had a great time also and I think it is safe to say that we would all love to do another after-school class at Wolfle anytime.

Adele Heinrich,

Poulsbo

The Sport Haus

Your kindness

is appreciated

It is with warmest regards that we would like to acknowledge and express thanks to our valued customers and friends.

So many people helped move inventory, clean carpets, brought goodies and stopped by with kind and friendly words when our business flooded in early December.

And if that wasn’t enough, you all made sure to support us during the Christmas season. Thanks for your continued support and friendship.

Paulette and Ed Huisingh

The Sport Haus,

Poulsbo