With gasoline now over $4 a gallon, ethanol losing its appeal as a substitute fuel which would cost more to produce than gas and the ANWR still locked up for the caribou, how about doing what we did when we were crying the blues over gasoline in the 1970s?
Whether it’s carnival games and pie-eating contests or parades and professional displays of fireworks, there’s plenty of ways to celebrate the Fourth of July in Kitsap County, you just need to know where to go.
A couple of months ago, I wrote in this space about the highlights (and a lowlight or two) of the 2008 legislative session. More recently, I put together a brief column designed to shine a bit of light on the legislative process, and to help interested citizens effectively and positively influence it.
With gasoline now more than $4 a gallon, ethanol losing its appeal as a substitute fuel which would cost more to produce than gas, and the ANWR still locked up for the caribou, how about doing what we did when we were crying the blues over gasoline in the 1970s?
Questions crop up regularly about the funding needs and sources of the North Kitsap School District (NKSD). Since the state is the major source for its dollars, I want to add my perspectives on recent efforts and changes that have been made by the state to give our schools the resources and flexibility they need to succeed.
In the case of the recent vandalism of Bainbridge Island’s police cars, the crime itself may have been confined to Bainbridge but the troubling response to it resonates throughout Kitsap County, prompting discussions from the specific (when a prank is no longer a prank) to the general (how a permissive, affluent society can ruin our children).
On June 19, the U.S. Supreme Court (by a 7-2 decision) struck down a California law imposing so-called “union neutrality” requirements on employers in the state.
The law limited what employers could say about union organizing campaigns in the workplace.
The high court’s ruling should be the final stake in the heart of a similar union-backed proposal here in Washington.
TORRENS TALK
All across the state, public school districts are announcing that they’ll have to make major program cuts next year. Nancy Moffat, executive director of finance and operations for North Kitsap Schools, recently told reporters that the state’s funding formula “is way out of date and it is way inadequate.” Is it? North Kitsap Public Schools spent $15,766 per pupil in the just-completed school year.
At its root, the word democracy means “rule by the people.” And as President Abraham Lincoln said, “… government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from this earth.”
Washington State Ferries (WSF) is conducting another set of meetings to get ideas and information from users on how the system should operate. There is no better time to provide input to a government entity than when they ask for public comment. That said, the public needs to do its part.
Have you ever considered a list of topics and free associated about them? Such an activity involves suggesting a word and making note of the first thought that pops into your mind. Most likely it’s your natural inclination or most honest response. Given these parameters, let’s play for a brief moment, beginning with your immediate thoughts surrounding the phrase “God the Father.”
I was stunned. I read it again.
Sure enough, there in the How Your U.S. Lawmaker Voted report put out by Roll Call to the media was a listing of the vote in the third week of May on the 2009 military budget.
Like the rest of you, “sticker shock” at the pump has become a regular reality for me. As I turn over more of my paycheck, I joke with the attendant about whether it will cost me the farm or my firstborn male child, though I’m really not willing to give up either. That being said I’m changing the way I do things and putting considerably more planning into any excursions I do around town. That includes any recreation trips I was considering over the next couple of months.
Those thoughts lead to ways to stay closer to home, which lead to thoughts of shopping local, which always brings up the quandary I feel around supporting small businesses and supporting those larger companies that have chosen our community in which to place their business and provide local jobs.
Patriotism vs. profits? Please everyone, stop and observe what your windfall profits are doing to the people of this great country.
I don’t make a habit of going back through things I’ve written before, but with school finished for the year and the Class of 2008 out the door, I came across something the other day that I wrote for the Class of 2001 and thought its message — with a little updating — was still relevant.
Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman recently provided the members of the Downtown Bremerton Association (DBA) with encouraging words of continued city revitalization.
With rents skyrocketing and small businesses closing up shop left and right, it’s hard for business owners to believe a change will come their way. The revitalization of Bremerton has transformed the city and there have been many positive changes, but will it bring the people?
We hope so.
Sure enough, there in the How Your U.S. Lawmaker Voted report put out by Roll Call to the media was a listing of the vote in the third week of May on the 2009 military budget.
I had quickly scanned the first part. “By a vote of 384-23, the House on Thursday authorized a $601 billion military budget for fiscal 2009, including $70 billion to fund war in Iraq and Afghanistan for part of the year.”
I was stunned. I read it again.
No holiday tantalizes the senses quite like the upcoming Fourth of July. Nothing is better than a day filled with smelling sweet, succulent chicken, hamburgers and hotdogs as they rest on a lit barbecue pit, cooking to perfection. Except, maybe, walking into a kitchen that smells like apple pie, which forces you to check the freezer just to make sure there’s vanilla bean ice cream to dallop atop a slice.
