Off The Press
April 9, 2013
Help honor veterans with photos, donations
It’s that time of year again, when The Press begins work on Lest We Forget, our annual Memorial Day tribute to veterans.
This year’s section, our fourth annual tribute, will be published in the May 22 paper, the weekend before Memorial Day.
Kathleen R. Merrill
Press managing editor
If you didn’t see last year’s section (which you can view at http://bit.ly/Jrjlk9), you missed the nearly 170 photos of this city’s veterans, those living and those no longer with us. We also wrote a handful of stories about local World War II veterans, whose numbers are (sadly) quickly dwindling.
Editorial
April 9, 2013
County should buy south Squak parcel
The clear-cut logging of 95 acres on the steep south slope of Squak Mountain should not be permitted, even after the property owner resubmitted a plan, reduced from the original plan to log 195 acres of the 216-acre parcel.
On the other hand, if the county allows logging there, the new owner of the property that was formerly the Highlands Camping Club has the right to proceed within county guidelines.
The solution is clear. King County needs to tap into its reserve account for the purchase of sensitive areas and buy the property.
Off The Press
April 2, 2013
Robbers can take from us, but can’t break us
Dear thieves who broke into our offices and robbed us,
You came in the night and took most of our computers. You rifled through everyone’s personal belongings and took what you wanted.
Kathleen R. Merrill
Press managing editor
Many people here were already uncomfortable about our move from our longtime home on Front Street to this business park. You made all of that worse.
To the Editor
April 2, 2013
Parks survey
Results are vague, don’t represent public desire
The parks bond survey results are going to be discussed soon by the City Council. I’ve had a chance to review the results and they tell more about the survey designers than anything.
The top four funding priorities are based on vague, leading questions that are hard to say no to. “Protecting wildlife habitat” is a top funding priority. What if the survey included questions like “protecting children’s recreational opportunities” or “preserving Issaquah’s natural heritage?”
Editorial
April 2, 2013
Knives on planes policy is nonsensical
It’s been almost a dozen years since 9/11. Memories of that day have faded, but not if you are an airline traveler in a long security line at the airport, questioning whether the added security actually protects passengers from terrorists.
After all this time, we’ve learned to accept the new norm in airport security. After turning over pocketknives and having the short file on nail clippers removed for all these years, the Transportation Security Administration’s new policy allows small knives back onto planes. We agree with flight attendants: Little knives can be big security risks.
Off The Press
March 26, 2013
More than longevity is needed to be sourdough
Being new to the community, I wonder how to blend in and be thought an old timer or at least a regular. I have discovered that how one does this varies among geographic areas of the country.
In Alaska, you were either a chechako (newcomer) or a sourdough (old timer). How you made the transition depended on who you asked. Most of the explanations are rooted in old Alaska, before the advent of modern roads and air travel. Some say you had to have missed the last boat out at least once, which meant you had been there through at least one winter. Others say you had to have relieved yourself in the Yukon River.
Joe Grove
Press proofreader
To the Editor
March 26, 2013
Hunger Action Week
Donate formula to help babies who need it
March 25-30 marks Hunger Action Week, which highlights those who are at risk of hunger, and hunger’s harmful impact on our community.
While the week shines a light on those in our community without enough food to eat, we pose the question, “What about babies without enough to eat?”
Why is formula an important ‘hunger’ problem? Whereas food for hungry families can be economized by purchasing a variety of cheap alternatives, there are no ways to safely economize infant formula. A 12-ounce can of powdered formula that feeds a baby for approximately three days costs $16 a can.
Editorial
March 26, 2013
Decisions without input are against public values
The Issaquah School District’s plan for handling school boundary changes represents the height of arrogance from the administration, and a dodge by the School Board.
Under the policy re-affirmed by the School Board two weeks ago, boundary changes are entirely in the province of the district administration. Since the School Board isn’t part of the process, any committees studying potential changes aren’t subject to open meetings laws.
Off The Press
March 19, 2013
Memories move with us from Front Street
The boxes are packed, the old files emptied. It’s the last week on Front Street for The Issaquah Press and we’re going to miss it.
Unless you’ve been here for more than a couple decades, you are one of many who think 1) The Issaquah Press Building is very, very old and 2) the building is owned by The Press.
Debbie Berto Press publisher
Neither is true. The building is only 25 years old and the newspaper has never owned it.
To the Editor
March 19, 2013
Gun laws
Gun rights could use some updated thinking
I can understand how adhering to the laws as they were written hundreds of years ago can provide security and comfort for some as it relates to guns. Those same founders also wrote about slavery and how slaves were not whole people.
Years later, thoughts changed, people evolved and so did our laws. I find no answer as to why anybody of legal age, mentally challenged or not, can buy a machine that is capable, with or without modification, of killing mass numbers of people, and that this is sanctioned by our laws, or that it’s necessary to have an arsenal of military style weapons in the event our government goes berserk, as if their military-style weapons would be no match for ours.
Have we evolved? This is what I don’t understand. Call me crazy for asking.
Bryan Weinstein
Issaquah
