Our nation’s health care system is broken and in urgent need of repair. We need to figure out how to insure the 47 million Americans living without coverage, fix what’s broken with our current system, and rein in the skyrocketing insurance premiums that far outpace our wage growth.
I am responding to Donald Hendrix’s letter written in response to Janet Alderson’s about nearshore buffers and pyrethroids. In work done in Friday Harbor, some of the principles stated by Mr. Hendrix would work in the opposite direction than he suggests. For example, surfactants bind to organic particles in a way similar to that stated by Mr. Hendrix for pyrethroids. But rather than disperse, as he suggests, they settle to the bottom of the harbor and form a concentrated, toxic, mud layer.
I am writing this letter in favor of Proposition 1, which will provide funding for Senior Services at the current pared-down 2009 level. I want to tell you about some of the work that Curt Van Hyning does. Curt is the Senior Services coordinator on San Juan Island. He currently works four days per week, but often puts in more time because there are just not enough hours in the already shortened workweek for him to do all that is requested of him.
Thank you, patrons of the arts — all 225 patrons — who supported and attended the “Outside the Box – Inside the Museum” Exhibition Opening Sept. 25 at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (IMA), 28 First St., Friday Harbor.
Thank you for making the Islanders Bank 2009-10 Gear Up for Our Schools Campaign a huge success. Thank you to everyone who donated supplies and monetary donations for our schools during our first annual campaign. Your support makes a difference not only for our students, but for our teachers too!
It is our impression that most San Juan Island residents (including the owners of commercial whale-watch boats and commercial kayak companies) were jubilant when our Southern Resident killer whales were listed as endangered under the ESA on Nov. 18, 2005. San Juan Island finally had the federal government’s support to help ensure the survival and well-being of this precious resource.
The recent letter from Jill Meyer was outrageous (“Not the kind of ‘Pennywatching’ to brag about,” Sept. 22 SanJuanJournal.com). Do we really need this personal nastiness in Friday Harbor?
Last week’s decision by the County Council to remove shoreline critical areas from updates to county code for another three years is another example of the lethargy in our county offices to update environmental protections for our community.
For starters, I wish my collegue, Kevin Ranker of Anacortes, the best of health and recovery from what ails him. I am very grateful to have met him last year during the 40th District Senate race in the 2008 election of San Juan, Skagit and Whatcom counties. His secretary says that he has some health issues, so I would encourage everyone in our area to contact him at his office in Anacortes and wish him the very best. It’s good karma.
I was there at Carrie Lacher’s presentation to a church pastoral council meeting in 2003. She told us our finances were fine. At the next meeting (under new leadership) she reported that our finances were in terrible shape and we didn’t have enough to meet immediate payroll obligations. It was quite a shock to us all. This is not the kind of “Pennywatching” to brag about.
What I have observed outside my front window in the last month should bust some myths about orca whales, but I doubt that it will. It seems as if nothing can put a dent in the orca orthodoxy. Why don’t facts matter when it comes to our beloved whales?
Three of the Town Council members passed a resolution for $600,000 for a new specialty fire engine (Thursday). They used the emergency funds that the town treasurer has saved for many years for emergencies like a break in the water transmission line or sewer line or some other catastrophic failure of the town infrastructure. And they did it by sneaking it by us. They even caught the treasurer off guard. Council member Noel Monin was the only one to vote against it.
Ferry Advisory Committee members asked that I provide you with a letter for publication that explains the changes in the new fall schedule that is effective Sept. 27. Summer is nearly over, and the new WSF fall schedule will take effect on Sunday, Sept. 27. There are several changes that everyone needs to understand.
