The alarm rang too soon. Fortunately, I’d prepared coffee the night before and sleepily pushed the button. While it perked, I checked Facebook for any messages that for some reason we wouldn’t be rowing this morning. There were none. At exactly 5:30 A.M., having consumed one-and-a-half cups of coffee, we launched. My daughter and I […]
Trucks leaving highway, trains leaving tracks
No Trains Through Tillicum is the featured presentation by Washington State Senator Steve O’Ban at the Tillicum Woodbrook Neighborhood Association (TWNA) meeting August 1, 6:30 P.M., Tillicum Community Center, 14916 Washington Ave. SW. You may have seen that sign along I-5, the one about trucks leaving the highway. Trains likewise should continue to be rerouted […]
Letter: When the treasure finds you
If what you are after is in fact sought after as you would seek hidden treasure, then you’ll find it, loosely translates an ancient proverb. But what if the treasure finds you? On their special day, July 7, a tribute to our son, his wonderful family, his dear sweet wife who found him twelve years […]
Letter: Stay off the tracks
Standing at the site of the macabre scene where once speeding Amtrak passenger cars tilted at contorted angles, the now oversized caskets dangling precariously from the bridge above to Interstate 5 below, Richard Anderson took out his cell phone and texted Ken Hylander with a simple message: ‘We need you.’ Hylander had developed the safety […]
Letter: Glut and greed – Marijuana goes to seed
We told you so. Legalization has led to proliferation which is leading to liberalization. Imagine that. Connect the pot dots. Fourteen months ago, John Arbeeny, former deputy mayor of the City of Lakewood, WA, predicted what was then already happening but a portend of things to come: “a glut of pot in the market from […]
Letter: Keeping out those who don’t belong
Within minutes of my phone call police had arrived. Even though no known guns or drugs were involved. Even though there was no name calling, slamming of doors, or other altercations. After all, the suspects were sleeping. We’ve had hasps and locks ripped from doors; a window broken; full gasoline cans stolen; and the list […]
Letter: A Father's Influence – answering my critics
Among the many examples my dad set for my life – he loved our country (served in the 10th Mountain Division in WWII); he loved my mom (58 years married); he loved our community (instrumental in obtaining the playground equipment) – and the roles my dad played in my life – baseball coach, Soap Box […]
Letter: A quiver full
It’s a great comfort – as much as can be had given the circumstances anyway, those circumstances being conflict – to have, going into battle, your quiver full of arrows. I do. My quiver is full. Of grown children who likewise have children and who work with children and who are instilling in them the […]
Letter: No Amtrak trains until all safety steps are taken
That’s the position of the Lakewood City Council in a resolution (pp.305-318) supporting the safety recommendations approved by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on May 21, 2019. Noble, but inadequate. Even with the replacement “as soon as possible” of current passenger conveyances with more substantially built rail cars, somehow the recommendation to “secure potential […]