Submitted by Greg Alderete. The use of biosolids—treated human sewage sludge—as fertilizer is often promoted as an eco-friendly way to recycle waste. However, spreading biosolids in or near residential areas poses serious medical and environmental risks that are too often ignored. Even after treatment, biosolids can contain harmful pathogens like E. coli, Salmonella, and viruses […]
To Ponder
Book Review: Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974–2001) by Don Felder
Submitted by Greg Alderete. After reading Don Felder’s Heaven and Hell, one thing is certain: you will never hear an Eagles song the same way again. This isn’t just another behind-the-scenes rock memoir. It’s a raw, unflinching account of what it was like to be both a central figure in one of America’s most iconic […]
Letter: Government workforce reductions
Submitted by Greg Alderete. I have seen firsthand how organizations expand rapidly in times of crisis, only to face painful reductions once the mission shifts. In the military, this cycle played out after Vietnam and again after Desert Storm. The post-war drawdowns were necessary but often brutal. However, they were not random. The military has […]
Letter: Ignorance Isn’t Always Bliss: What Those Blue Yard Signs Are Trying to Tell You Before It’s Too Late
Most people in Lakewood care about our community. And if not their community, most people care about what happens up and down their street. A city proposal to give developers a tax break to replace small businesses, tree groves and the abandoned library site with box apartments should get everyone’s attention. It has – to […]
Let’s Talk! – Stepping Stones
Are you ready to switch off your screens and ponder or discuss another writing/conversation prompt during dinner tonight? You want to know about my thoughts on it? Here’s my take: Do you like being in nature? Do you prefer smaller paths to those that are paved with asphalt? Then, you – like I – might […]
Letter: What Beauty Springs from Things Seen and Unseen
It was difficult to distinguish between heaven and earth. The fading light in the sky above was softly reflected in the water below. Wispy blue and pink puffy clouds; dark, impassive, forested shorelines; exact color matches from an artist’s brush, all were mirrored on this divine painter’s canvas. Though at first, I couldn’t see them […]
Across the Fence: Kitsch
Have you ever found yourself thinking of something as kitsch (yep, pronounced like you know it in the English language)? It’s a Germanism, and – let’s face it! – it’s a very subjective term. Nobody really knows whence it came; there are assumptions that it first came up in the 1870s in the German art […]
Letter: “Lakes High School Ranked Among Region’s Best Schools”: Really? How So?
Submitted by John Arbeeny. Lakes High School Lakewood CARES is providing an academic-based response to schools covered in past Clover Park School District (CPSD) community relations articles in The Suburban Times. This is data you will not find elsewhere in CPSD community relations pieces, School Board meeting agendas or monthly “Inside Schools”. The CPSD article […]
Letter: Why There Are Tears at Graduation
The sun was setting. Ribbons of red-gold streaked the blue-becoming-orange water with color. A single droplet – like a tear – hung from the rail on the dock, capturing in its shape the beautiful azure sky. There will be a party there. A graduation-from-high-school party. The place where the team had gathered after the game […]