The state Legislature is now considering two bills that would restrict access to records of crimes committed by minors, only allowing disclosure in the case of “serious violent offenses” as defined by law. Lesser violent crimes and property crimes would remain confidential.

The bills are bad ones, and should be stopped.

When a juvenile commits a serious crime, nobody involved takes the matter lightly. From the prosecutors to the courts, to the media that reports on crime, everyone weighs the value of punishing an individual against the needs of society.

The policy at The Issaquah Press is to report the names of juveniles only when they are charged with a felony. We did not arrive at this policy lightly. We’re glad to say it is infrequent that we come across minors charged with felonies. We do understand the implications when we choose to publish the name of a minor. But we stand by the public’s right to know.

If you were the victim of a string of home burglaries or neighborhood arson fires, you’d want to know who did it. We believe you’d want to know regardless of whether it was an adult or a teen — especially if the suspect lived next door.

It is just as important to ensure that the wrong people are not accused of a crime. Too frequently, the school-based gossip mill implicates an innocent person. Reporting in the media can make clear who is actually the suspected criminal.

Juvenile defense attorneys are asking the Legislature to rewrite the law because the publicity can have a negative impact on the lives of children once they reach adulthood.

Certainly, a person should not have to suffer his or her entire life for a crime he or she committed when they were minors. But this proposal (Senate Bill 6292 and House Bill 2542) to restrict access to court records goes too far.

The public needs to understand what is happening in their community and who is doing it. Restricting access to juvenile court records goes too far toward protecting the individual over the community as a whole.

Tom Corrigan Press reporter

OK. This just makes me sad and angry. And frustrated. All at the same time.

Someone I know just received some of the most devastating news you can get, summed up succinctly in one word: cancer. Two ugly, evil, little syllables that can completely change your life and that of those around you.

So how do you react upon finding out those syllables have targeted you? And your family and friends, who are going to be affected by whatever comes next? The first feeling to arrive has to be disbelief, followed quickly by fear. Fear, and then probably anger and hopelessness. I’m sure I don’t need to point out what a joyride this all isn’t.

At some point, of course, you have to sit down with your doctor, a person who literally has taken an oath to help you. Most likely, that doctor is going to urge you to fight, is going to tell you that your very being isn’t something you have to just give away. Words such as “chemo” and “radiation” are likely to come up, just as they did in the case of the person I’m writing about. This person’s particular doctor also suggested a particular medication on top of those other treatments. Probably not that unusual, to be prescribed a simple bottle of pills.

Did I mention this bottle carries a $100,000 price tag?

Let me repeat that for effect: A $100,000 PRICE TAG!

This is not a joke. This is not an exaggeration. It’s an obscenity. This person’s insurance co-pay for one treatment is going to be $20,000. And that’s just for the pills. It doesn’t include the chemo and so forth or any other necessities that are bound to come along.

One more time: $100,000!!! For a bottle of pills!!!!

Are they experimental? No. If they were, the insurance likely wouldn’t cover them at all. So, what kind of pills can cost $100,000? Hopefully, the kind that can save a life. Still, to my knowledge, they don’t exactly come with a money back guarantee.

How does this happen? How did we get stuck with a medical system that actually would dream of charging somebody more money than most of us make in a number of years for pills? One assumes what patients taking this medication ultimately are paying for is the research that went into it. Obviously, research is important and obviously somebody has to pay for it. But why have we chosen, or allowed, the medical system to put the financial burden on people who are fighting for their lives and maybe, just maybe, already have enough on their minds without having to worry about bankruptcy?

Honestly, the questions seem almost endless: How is this in any way fair? How is it that we allow it to continue? How can we seriously think we’ve had health care reform when this kind of idiocy is allowed to go on? How do doctors, who are sworn to protect life, tell people who can’t afford the bill to just go curl up in a corner and die?

I don’t pretend to have any answers. Somebody does indeed need to pay for medical treatments and research. But it says here the current health system is unacceptable and morally wrong. If that sounds preachy or melodramatic, so be it.

Story about aerobics instructor Kristina Gravette was long overdue

I was delighted to finally see recognition given to an Issaquah treasure, aerobics instructor Kristina Gravette. I have been a regular participant, more or less, for several years. Not normally an early riser, I’m glad when I’ve made the effort to get to the 8:15 a.m. class.

Bumping and grinding to music, my fellow exercisers and I attempt to shed some calories and inches while also keeping old age at bay. Most of us are no longer spring chickens. The majority are middle-aged women and senior citizens trying to keep our body parts from rusting or shutting down altogether.

Class routines keep our brains agile and our bodies pumped. Poles, chairs, flex bands, weights and step platforms are tools that vary our exercise. Changing things up enhances muscle memory and staves off stagnation. Sit-ups, lunges, crunches, pelvic tilts and squats tweak our body parts. Stretching and yoga gently cool us down.

An added benefit of Kristina’s class is that we’ve all become friends, socializing now and then at local coffee houses. I’m a fervent believer in coffee clutches. Time with lady friends is therapy for my soul.

Caring for mind, body and soul … three for the price of one … exercising with Kristina.

The dancer referred to in the article is my daughter, a professional ballerina with Nashville Ballet. Kristina’s classes, according to my daughter, are on par with those she takes as part of her job.

Millie Vierra

Issaquah

Government

Post office is critical to citizens, and not just for mail delivery

In our recent ice storm here in the Seattle area, it was evident that at least in Issaquah that the only ones on the street during that dangerous time were the police, emergency vehicles and mail carriers. No Fed Ex, no UPS, no Ontrac parcel carriers, no garbage trucks, no local or regional newspapers, no cellphone service, no phone land lines, no power.

I delivered critical medicine, including insulin, to numerous customers who were unable to leave their homes. People regarded me as a source of information as to the scope of power outages and road conditions and other news — there was no one else out there and no other way to receive information, and when asked, I directed people to the location of a warming shelter. To even get to work, I had to put chains on my 4-by-4 Toyota truck (made in the USA).

Our customers need this kind of service always, even on Saturdays. To cut our Saturday delivery, we would lose more money in income than we would save in expenses — this does not make sense.

I propose we expand to Sunday delivery, to deliver seven days a week. The market is wide open and I think wanted by the many 99 percenters out there working all week long to make ends meet.

We are a valuable and necessary part of this nation’s infrastructure and function as a nonprofit, pay-for-service organization. Without the unfair burden placed by Congress during the Bush administration to pre-fund worker’s health and retirement benefits 75 years in advance, which also makes the federal deficit appear smaller, we would have turned a profit in the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Julia Benson

Union city carrier for 32 years

First Amendment

People should be allowed to express all religious beliefs

I would like to echo Ms. Becky Wilder’s defense of Americans’ guaranteed right to freely express their religious beliefs in private or public places. How can anyone misinterpret freedom of religion as the government being responsible for squelching that very freedom? Well, only a spirited activist or PC revisionist could/would do that.

A dear friend once appropriately corrected my claim that it was solely (an omission on my part) Christian values our founders were defending. The reality is, our values are Judeo-Christian or essentially — biblical.

Let us not forget that without the funding by prominent Revolution-era American Jews Haym Solomon and Aaron Levy the United States would not have had a Continental army and we would not have gained our independence. Incidentally, the loans were never fully repaid.

Say “Judeo-Christian” when you speak of American values!

Mark Bowers

Issaquah

King County Fire District 10 commissioners are asking voters to approve a construction bond for the first time in nearly two decades. It’s a reasonable request that voters should consider.

It’s a bit confusing, since both the city of Issaquah and Fire District 10 are served by Eastside Fire & Rescue, a cooperative of multiple jurisdictions. But only Issaquah residents outside the city limits pay taxes for fire protection to District 10. City property owners are paying for the new fire station near the Issaquah Transit Center.

If you got a ballot in the mail last week, you live in District 10.

Commissioners are seeking to retire an aging station on the outskirts of the district and build a new one on Southeast May Valley Road, more centrally located for response times. The $5.5 million bond will also make improvements to the district’s three other fire stations and purchase some new equipment.

The district complicated things a bit by releasing wrong information on what the cost of the bond would mean to property taxes. Initially it was stated that the cost would be 9 cents per $100,000 of assessed valuation, but oops! — it is really 9 cents per $1,000. If you own a $400,000 home, the bond will cost about $36 per year for 20 years.

The commissioners understand that this is a tough time to ask voters for more money, but the relocated station makes sense for better fire protection and lower operating costs. It makes no sense to put more funds into improvements for the aging station near Renton.

Bob Taylor Press sports editor

My last name might fool you. Actually, I am half Finnish and darn proud of that heritage.

The half comes from my mother’s side of the family, or as she always said “my best half.” Her father, Peter Kopra, came over from Finland in the late 1890s in hopes of striking it rich in the gold fields. Grandpa Peter never found gold, but he did discover the United States was a land of opportunity.

After securing a job down in California, he saved enough money to bring over Grandma and the rest of the family, which at the time included two boys. He also purchased a farm in Southwest Washington.

It was on this farm where my mother was born. It was later on a section of the farm, which my parents purchased from one of my uncles, where I was raised.

In this community, the last name Taylor was unique because most families were Finns, Swedes and Norwegians. However, I grew up proud of most Scandinavian traditions.

But there was one tradition I could never partake in — eating lutefisk.

Dave Niehaus, the late Seattle Mariners’ broadcaster, had the perfect description for lutefisk — “the stank!”

Next to the potent smell of the paper mill down in Camas, which we sometimes got a whiff of when the wind was blowing wrong, nothing else rivaled the pungency of lutefisk (pronounced lewd-uh-fisk). Finns call it livekala.

Lutefisk is dried cod that has been soaked in a lye solution for several days to rehydrate it. According to the Finnish recipe, burnt birch ashes are used in preparation of lutefisk. Since we never had birch trees on our farm, my guess is that mother used an old Norwegian recipe.

After the lutefisk has gone through its bathing period, a layer of salt is spread over the fish an hour before it is cooked. Then, when it is ready for cooking, the salt is rinsed off.

Lutefisk is then boiled or baked, or in today’s modern age, microwaved, and served with butter, salt and pepper. It has the consistency of Jello. However, I would recommend lime or orange Jello over lutefisk. Usually lefse is served with lutefisk. I like lefse. In fact, I like most Scandinavian delicacies. Lutefisk, however, is not a delicacy.

Lutefisk is usually served during the holidays. My mother often cooked up a pot of this stuff even in February. She never had to call her neighbors and friends to let them know about the lutefisk feed. They showed up like bloodhounds tracking down a scent.

Often, she tried to get me to try lutefisk. However, one look at this fish Jello and there was no way it would ever reach my lips.

Over the years, I have talked to numerous second- and third-generation Scandinavians and asked their opinion of lutefisk. To date, the results of my unofficial survey is 98 percent against.

I think Garrison Keillor, in his book Pontoon, probably best describes lutefisk – “it looks like the desiccated cadavers of squirrels run over by trucks.” Keillor also adds that “It can be tasty, but the statistics aren’t on your side.”

Jeffrey Steingarten, author of “The Man Who Ate Everything,” says “Lutefisk is not food, it is a weapon of mass destruction.”

The history of lutefisk apparently dates back to the Vikings — no not the NFL team. According to a legend, the Vikings had burned a village. Returning villagers found wooden racks of drying cod. They poured water on the racks to put out the fire. Then, they buried the fish in the ashes. They later rinsed the fish and boiled it. One brave villager tasted the fish and declared it “not bad.”

Finns, Norwegians and Swedes all brought their favorite recipes for lutefisk to the United States.

Surprisingly, there are people in the nation who love lutefisk. In fact, there is a song dedicated to lutefisk. I have even heard that some grocery stores in the Midwest actually sell lutefisk TV dinners. I will stick to fish sticks.

Bob Taylor: 392-6434, ext. 236, or bobtaylor@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

The aloha spirit thrives in Issaquah

As a native of Maui who has resided on the mainland for 35 years I am never prepared for snow, ice and the accompanying chill. Although I’ve seen more of the white stuff in New York and Connecticut, where my family lived prior to moving to Issaquah, I can’t say that being inundated with less pleases me more.

I’ll never be a snow bunny, not that I’ve tried. I’m an islander through and through. So, I’ll roast marshmallows and sip hot chocolate while warming myself before a blazing fire.

My husband was one of the fortunate few whose Seattle company booked hotel rooms for its employees, ensuring that they’d report for work during the bad weather. Meanwhile, I considered myself lucky to be a retired housewife, safely ensconced in our home for the duration. That is until the power outage engulfed Issaquah.

No heat is like a death knell for a Hawaiian. We might be able to forgo sunshine, balmy breezes and sand beneath our Kanaka feet, but stick us in a freezer and we become totally unglued. All the civility foisted upon us by the missionaries is returned, unceremoniously. No “shaka” sign here.

As I recover from my own time in hell with no heat, I find it necessary to extend a “Mahalo nui loa” to all in our community who involved themselves in helping others. A neighbor who sought to help me start a wood-fire — a first. Successfully so, I might add. Another who left a message inviting me to bask in the warmth of their generator-heated home. Unfortunately, Comcast phone service was also kaput. But my neighbor’s offer still warmed my heart.

The “Neighbor to Neighbor” radio broadcast kept me company through the dark, frosty night. Calls from other listeners told of folks helping folks. Meanwhile power crews, the unsung heroes, were out risking life and limb to return us to comfort. Fire and police department personnel continued to secure our safety and provide other necessary services, alongside generous volunteers.

Where would we be without these guardian angels? I’d be up a creek —without a canoe and paddle.

Millie Vierra

Issaquah

Freedom of religion

It’s a shame so many don’t know the history that led to the First Amendment

I would like to answer this question about the Founding Fathers’ religion for Cheryl Lewis.

I am sad that most Americans do not know their own history, why people from England came to America, which was to avoid religious persecution. Also what the First Amendment is all about.

This country was founded on Christian principles as the signers are Christians of different denominations. What the founders did not want was for the government to choose one religion for all. What the Founding Fathers advocated was tolerance for different religions.

The First Amendment prohibits the government from establishing a religion or prohibiting individuals to practice their religion. Tolerance is the key word.

From Wikipedia:

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

Go to this website for more information www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_ Religion.html.

Becky Wilder

Issaquah

Budget crisis

Let’s define basic education before funding

If you read Article IX, Education, of the State Constitution, the words “basic education” do not appear.

Now with the severe budget crisis that the state faces, I think it is time that “We The People” get together and come up with a definition of “basic education” that “we” can all agree on. The “we” I refer to would include parents, teachers, administrators, taxpayers, etc.

Once having a clear definition of the issue, then perhaps the Legislature can find ways to fund it. This idea may not please some special-interest groups demanding more funding for schools. However, defining the goal is the first step to achieving it.

Don Hindman

Issaquah

Some suggestions to help the governor draft a budget that works for all

Since the governor does not like her options in meeting the next $2 billion hole in the state budget, here are some options that should have been considered at the beginning of the recession:

1. Reduce the size of governmental agencies. Experience has shown that the more tax money we throw at governmental agencies the more inefficient and wasteful they become. The number of cellphones we provide to government employees and the number of unused or phones on high-cost plans is staggering — that is just the tip of the iceberg — good for the state auditor in uncovering this wastefulness. Why should I support more tax money given to bureaucrats who mismanage it?

2. Give the voters a line-item list of annual governmental costs, and we will tell the governor where to cut, and it will not be education, as long as the educators can guide the value of education and not the unions. Politicians scare us with threats of cuts to education, fire, police and the “vulnerable,” but hide or ignore all the wasteful spending. More taxes should not even be considered until we get a chance to vote on individual line items that need to be cut without hurting essential services.

3. Undo the giveaway on taxes that she gave to the gambling industry on the Indian reservations.

4. We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. The governor is not paying for the state’s excessive spending her first four years in office — actually, we, the people, are paying for it.

Larry Brickman

Bellevue

“Support your local business” takes on new meaning when the city becomes a frozen wasteland for three days.

While homeowners were struggling to stay warm without power, business owners were wringing their hands over the lost business. Restaurants were particularly hard hit as food went to waste without refrigeration. Employees, too, suffered the loss of wages. It was life interrupted, not a fun week.

This week we can try to make it a bit better for each other. Tip your waiter or other service provider just a little extra. Be sure any purchases you make are done locally to help businesses recoup the lost revenue.

Don’t forget to say thank you to those who are helping out. Offer a cup of coffee to the utility workers repairing lines or clearing trees. Let them know they are appreciated.

This is Issaquah, where neighbors help neighbors. With the usual thoughtfulness for the other guy, we’ll be just fine.

Debbie Berto Press publisher

Storm coming, so get prepared. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The weatherman never gets it right.

My husband Tom and I are certified members of a CERT — Citizen Emergency Response Team — here in Issaquah.

Sadly, we found ourselves not so prepared last week.

On Tuesday, Tom suggested he should charge the generator. He didn’t follow through, but it did start when the power/phone/Internet/cable went out Thursday morning.

But we only had two gallons of gas on hand to keep the generator going. Uh oh.

Tom siphoned some gas from the 4-wheeler but learned that our cars have anti-siphon devices. A call to the police department confirmed that The Grange did have gas and a generator to pump it, and about 40 cars in line for it. We decided to wait for city power to return.

With plenty of fireplace wood, a blanket over the stairwell to preserve heat and a couple of hours use of the generator, we were warm for the time being.

On Thursday night, three Four Lakes neighbors let us know that a tree’s root ball had broken the water line and the water would have to be shut off. We had just enough time to fill four cooling pots. No more toilet flushing for us, but we did have our emergency supplies inside a portable toilet/bucket, and we gave the toilet its first try. Now if only we’d stocked some hand sanitizer.

Bored out of our minds with only the evening glow from the fire, we turned to playing cards. Finding those tiny holes on a cribbage board is no fun when the light is dim. Hey, wait, in our CERT backpacks we have headlamps! Sadly, mine had leaking batteries and a burned-out bulb. We shared the light from Tom’s.

Ah, dinnertime. We had stocked hot dogs, our power outage staple — but only had one bun. We have a gas barbecue, but no stove to even heat water. A hot plate is now on the list of future buys. If the generator runs out of gas, we’ll dig out the camp stove — assuming it has fuel that is.

After tequila shots to keep us warm (and they did!), the hot dog on a piece of bread was just fine. And we slept really well.

On Friday morning, the 100-pound, ice-encrusted tree limbs began falling. Tom headed out to get gas for the generator, but had the sense to wear his CERT hard hat. The neighbors who came to borrow a chainsaw to clear a tree thought the hard hat was pretty funny, but he did not want the last laugh and wore it anyway.

With power lines down across the roads, we settled in for the long haul. With power back on in town and the roads clear, we could go to the office, get a hot meal, shower at a friend’s house and refill the gas cans — before returning to turn on the generator again, but with our “emergency prep” supplies in hand.

You just never know when the weatherman will get it right.

Newspaper provides information readers needed in the emergency

Just a grateful thank you for the real-time news updates on your website regarding the opening of emergency shelters this evening in downtown Issaquah and the plateau.

I am a ham radio operator who is rendering communication assistance to an elderly lady, with a medical condition, living in downtown Issaquah. She is being helped by a neighbor, but they have been without power all day (and will continue to be all night). Fortunately, I am located out of the downtown area and didn’t lose my power, so I have been able to monitor your website for your news updates.

The publishing of the emergency shelter openings was a very critical piece of information I was able to relay to the person assisting the elderly lady, as well as to other Seattle area emergency networks throughout the evening.

Everyone was relieved and thankful to know there were local area shelters open in Issaquah and on the plateau.

I can’t thank you enough for making this information available after hours in such a timely manner so it could be passed on to those without power and no access to the Web.

Kevin Millar

We are being held hostage by Puget Sound Energy

My power has been out since the 17th and you may think that this would be my complaint, but you would be wrong.

My issue is Puget Sound Energy’s reluctance to move a downed electrical pole from blocking our road. I live on Tiger Mountain and the public road is the only access my family and neighbors have to the main road below.

While it is possible to drive over wires (something they say you shouldn’t) and into the opposite lane to squeeze by it, it is not acceptable for others. As we try to clean and rebuild our neighborhood back from the storm, services like King County road maintenance, school buses, garbage trucks, tow trucks and even emergency vehicles will not be able to pass.

I don’t blame them. I do blame PSE, who I have pleaded with to simply move the pole off the road. The pole has sat precariously blocking the road since the 18th and since PSE isn’t listening maybe my local legislators will.

Public roads cannot be left blocked with only a single company in control; we need a better strategy then this.

James C. Papp

Issaquah

Trees are the problem in power outages

I sat by my fireplace burning wood for 33 hours and listening to my battery-powered radio. People that called in to relate their storm experiences seemed to address trees as being 99 percent of the problem for the power loss.

One man was killed by a falling tree in Issaquah. It should be noted that Issaquah city rules tend to discourage tree removal from one’s own property. If that tree had been removed, one life would have been saved. But some believe that saving trees is more important.

In fact, if all trees within 100 feet of power lines were trimmed down enough to miss the power lines if they fall over or were completely removed, three-quarters of a million people would not have been sitting in the dark.

Folks, there are plenty of trees away from the power lines and homes, to allow the tree huggers to do their thing.

Ken Sessler

Issaquah

Christmas

Column should have included more reporting, less opinion

The publishing of David Hayes’ “Off the Press” article was very disappointing to me and clearly demonstrated the difference between ranting and reporting. Mr. Hayes appears to be very upset about the principle regarding the separation of church and state in the United States. Reporting would have required Mr. Hayes to research the holdings of the courts or perhaps examine the impact the separation.

Mr. Hayes is very angry that public schools would not allow the singing of beautiful songs that celebrate the birth of Jesus, the “Newborn King.” He does not consider whether the public schools should equally allow the singing of other songs celebrating other religions.

I am not sure if he is just protective of his own personal religious beliefs or if he thinks that the public schools should support the religions of all its students or perhaps all of the citizens of the United States. Better yet, maybe public schools should sing songs celebrating the more than 9,000 religions on earth. Now that would be one long “holiday concert” and Mr. Hayes, maybe you should bring an extra battery for your recorder.

Mr. Hayes is free to sing his favorite songs in the shower, in his church, on the street and in a park. Mr. Hayes can construct a nativity scene in his yard, in front of his church and wherever else a private entity wants to allow three wise men.

A thoughtful consideration of the issue would have been worth reading. What Mr. Hayes wrote, unfortunately, was just a thoughtless rant and added nothing to the public discourse.

William Roberts

Issaquah

There is nothing wrong with the good people living in Chelan and Wenatchee, but what do they have in common with Issaquah? They grow apples and recreational tourists, we grow lots of kids and IT employees. We do share the Cascades in between us.

Apparently, we will now share a representative who must represent the new 8th Congressional District, after the redistricting committee has drawn new boundaries.

Many would think that redistricting to balance populations would create compact, geographic districts with similar demographics. No. The committee’s real job is to protect incumbents and the two-party system.

By that standard, the committee did quite well. But here in the 8th, Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert has been given a seat that is likely his for as long as he wants. By jettisoning some of the more liberal areas and adding conservative chunks of Eastern Washington, Reichert will likely be forced to be more conservative than moderate to avoid a future primary challenge.

Using the redistricting commission is probably better than letting legislators in Olympia do it, as some states do, but the process is still flawed. A better option is to turn redistricting over to judges. Certainly they have some closet political affiliations, but they are accustomed to setting aside their personal views when ruling. Our state law already mandates that judges will settle the congressional district boundaries if the committee cannot reach a consensus.

Another option is being pioneered by California. That new system invites citizens to volunteer and then the redistricting commission members are chosen at random. Seats are specifically reserved for people who are either not involved in a political party, or are part of a minority party. The commission is also forbidden from considering where incumbents live.

Some are saying that the new 8th Congressional District will be nice bridge between Eastern and Western Washington. We think it will be a difficult district to manage for a congressman and his staff, and even more difficult for an elected official to represent such varied viewpoints when it comes time to vote.