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MY TURN
A Simple Explanation of I-960
By Tim Eyman |
| We all have the opportunity to vote on I-960, the Taxpayer Protection Initiative, this November thanks to our thousands of supporters throughout the state who donating the dollars and gathered the 314,000+ voter signatures necessary to qualify it for the ballot. We all owe them our appreciation for working so hard to give the average taxpayer an equal voice in the process... (Full Article) |
POLITICS
Referendum 67 — good or bad?
By Adele Ferguson |
| The fate of Referendum 67 on Nov. 6 will depend, I suspect, on whether you have ever been involved in dealings with your insurance company over an accident, an injury, a fire or loss of some kind, and if you came out of it thinking you got a square deal... (Full Article) |
DAVID CLARK
Manny |
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It had been a long day. I was on a pretty good roll with my work, but I didn’t really need extra hands. I was being given a pair anyway... (Full Article)
A week ago I was introduced to Manny. I have no idea why Manny was doing Community Service, but I’m fairly certain it wasn’t because he wanted to. |
Good intentions have created a ‘skills gap’
By Don C. Brunell, President
Association of Washington Business |
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My folks drilled that into our heads, even though both of my parents graduated from technical schools and made a darn good living for our family. They excelled in their vocations, but somehow felt unfulfilled... (Full Article)
How often do you hear parents say, “Get a college diploma, it’s your ticket to the good life!” |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Story of two sisters |
| This is a true story about private property rights, Washington State Growth Management Act (GMA), Kitsap County’s Urban Growth Area (UGA), zoning requirements and development regulations... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
PSRC |
| Conscientious elected representatives of Kitsap’s public tax districts need to check in with the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) and see what PSRC has in mind. They will be surprised to discover an unelected group of regional “vision makers” establishing public policies in their place. School districts, libraries, port districts, sewer and water districts, etc. will no longer be responding to their tax-paying electorate, but to a group outside Kitsap County now establishing regional policy through its pending policy document “VISION 2040... (Full Article) |
MY TURN
Who are these people
making our decisions for us?
By Vivian Henderson |
| “Who are these people?” I was recently asked that question as I was leaving a public meeting held by the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) seeking public comment on their recently completed “Vision 2040 People — Prosperity — Planet... (Full Article) |
POLITICS
Just some random thoughts…
By Adele Fergusen |
| ITEM: A 17-year-old Bremerton man who admitted to slashing 42 government owned tires as a protest of the Iraq war was charged with a class B felony in Kitsap Superior Court. Jason C. Chavez, who told authorities he was a student at a Colorado college, was apprehended after he was seen slashing the tires of 13 vehicles one midnight in front of an Army recruiting center in Silverdale. He said he did it because he hated the military, the government and the war. If sent to Iraq, he said, he would kill everyone fighting on the American side... (Full Article) |
DAVID CLARK
A Little Bit of Rebirth |
| There’s nothing like winning a decisive victory to find out how many friends you have. I witnessed this first-hand in the past week, as a steady stream of people stopped by Campaign Headquarters to tell us how they’d known we’d win and how they’d supported us all along... (Full Article) |
Wisconsin tiff over universal health care
might warm up in 2008
By Don C. Brunell, President
Association of Washington Business |
| In Wisconsin, a legislative brawl over health care has captured national attention. Washingtonians should pay attention too, because we may see a similar slugfest here next year. Yet, while it may be riveting to watch Democrats and Republicans rip each other apart like a couple of worked-up badgers, the political free-for-all is just the sideshow... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Fire department Merger |
| The Feasibility Study recommending the mergers of Central Kitsap, South Kitsap and the Bremerton Fire Departments pose significant financial questions. Assuredly, our fire service heroes deserve the best pay possible for the life-saving work they do. However, financial efficiency and reduction in operating costs must be the priority... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Downtown Port Orchard |
| Have you noticed the freshly painted Morningside Bread & Pastry Company Building on Bay Street? Or the Agape or Crawford Buildings? Property owners are taking pride in their downtown again! How about the hanging flower baskets? Beautiful trees and flowerpots? New trash cans... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Felons |
| Continually, we are treated with the news of a decision by the State Supreme Court, but not how each Justice voted. In the recent past, we learned that a majority of the Court decided that in this state, if you’re a convicted felon who has served his time, but not paid the monetary side of the sentence, you’re denied the vote... (Full Article) |
The Last Word – Elizabeth Anne Gilje
The future of health care is consumer driven
How far into the future is a mini clinic, online medical cost comparisons,
or credit cards containing patient medical and billing information?
It’s not far fetched. In fact, the future is here. |
| The future of health care is consumer driven, convenient, proactive, and transparent. Some of these concepts are derived from government mandates and all are necessary if the health care industry and its patients are to thrive... (Full Article) |
POLITICS
What is “heat stress” anyway?
By Adele Fergusen |
| Would you believe that a state Department of Labor and Industries regulation that took effect June 18 requires that employees who work outside during hot weather be provided with shade canopies or tents that have air conditioners or misting stations... (Full Article) |
Europe’s tax cuts a model
for the United States
By Don C. Brunell, President
Association of Washington Business |
| For decades, European governments raised taxes to fund cradle-to-grave welfare programs for their citizens. Taxes skyrocketed, and Europe’s competitiveness eroded as businesses closed or moved away... (Full Article) |
DAVID CLARK
Results of hard work |
| Anyone who’s ever worked on an election knows about the last three or four days. The main workers talk closely: “Is there anything left to do... (Full Article) |
GUEST EDITORIAL
City planning harms liberties
and livability in Portland, Oregon
Planning regimes are actually harming quality of life, not improving it |
| Portland, Oregon, long touted as the paradigm of modern urban planning, is awash in corruption, government waste and public discontent. In the policy analysis "Debunking Portland: The City That Doesn't Work," Cato Institute senior fellow Randal O'Toole catalogues Portland's failures in city planning and offers suggestions to other cities on how not to repeat its mistakes... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SEED, Fiction and Fact
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| Apollo Creed is a character from Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” movies. A sound-alike, Apollo/SEED, is a horse of a different color — organizations involved in the sustainable energy movement. But a common thread runs through them — the use of fiction to attract a paying audience... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Where’s Josh? |
| We expect our county commissioners who are paid more than $100,000 per year to stay in Kitsap and do their jobs. In his first seven months in office, Commissioner Josh Brown has traveled to Washington, D.C., New York City; San Francisco; Walla Walla; and Richmond, Virginia... (Full Article) |
MY TURN
Thanks for the memories...
By Chris Endresen |
| On June 28, I resigned as Kitsap County Commissioner to start a new chapter of public service the very next day as US Senator Maria Cantwell’s State Director. While this was a very difficult decision, in reality it’s a wonderful opportunity to continue serving Kitsap County in a new and exciting way... (Full Article) |
POLITICS
Defending the right of citizen initiatives
By Adele Fergusen |
| I figured Tim Eyman must have almost had a stroke recently when he found his right to launch initiatives defended by the biggest (and super liberal) newspaper in the state, the Seattle Times... (Full Article) |
DAVID CLARK
A Fanged Citizenry |
| My recent column about National Clowns really touched a nerve with a lot of people in different ways... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Sound Institute rebuttal |
| On behalf of the Board of Directors of Sound Institute of Family & Children’s Services, I would like to correct one of several misrepresentations in a letter (Eickmeyer) that appeared in your April issue. “Eickmeyer was running a Bingo parlor that went broke and closed... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
SEED |
| The Encarta World English Dictionary defines “boondoggle” as... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Immigration |
| The immigration bill currently being discussed is a major disaster for the United States. The pro-bill senators state that we must grant amnesty to illegal aliens because they don’t know what else to do... (Full Article) |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
America bashing |
| There seems to be a lot of America bashing going around these days. You hear it constantly in the live and print media. Celebrities and every day people who feel they speak for the rest of us, berate the freedoms that a little more than two centuries of hard work and sacrifice have given us today. It’s everywhere and it’s becoming louder, and can be heard by the entire world... (Full Article) |
The Last Word by Lary Coppola
Taking a sabbatical |
| It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for me since the last issue, which has included two bouts of minor eye surgery, dealing with two family deaths in three months, as well as embarking on a major political journey. In case you aren’t aware, after a brief flirtation with a legislative run last year, I’ve decided to run for Mayor of Port Orchard... (Full Article) |
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