Fear is a dragon. For many it takes shape as public speaking, snakes, spiders and mysterious sounds, and for others the imagined actions of gargoyles and dragons. Confronting that dragon takes courage. Dr. Calvin Rooney knew something about this. A fictional character in Clive Cussler’s 1986 best-selling novel, “Cyclops,” the good doctor is on a […]
Lakewood
Across the Fence: A Magic Number
Carnival is over, Lent arrived with Ash Wednesday this week. People are giving up on habits – to probably take them up again after 40 days –, or they take on specific tasks – to give them up again after 40 days. But what is it with these 40 days? Of course, it has to […]
Letter: Bowed, But Not Broken
As the victim read her impact statement in the final stage of a sentencing, a young man in the courtroom bowed his head. His pencil rolled off his notepad and dropped to the floor. As new and inexperienced news reporter, his beat had been to report on crime, cops and courts. But not today; this […]
Letter: The Key To Trust
The case of the Titanic illustrates how often failures result more from a succession of omissions and missteps than one big mess-up. Like the Titanic, the Clover Park School District Board of Directors is navigating treacherous waters and there have been recently what appear to be a succession of omissions and missteps. According to researchers, […]
Lions Crab Feed Date Change
The pending snow storm has caused the Lakewood First Lions Club to postpone it’s drive through crab feed from Sunday, Feb. 14th to Sunday, Feb. 28th. The time and location remains the same; 2-4 p.m. at Fort Steilacoom Park. Questions? Contact Eric Warn at ewarn6234@aol.com.
Letter: Censorship and the CPSDB
Censorship is understood to be the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information, on the basis that such material is considered “inconvenient.” At the February 8, 2021 Clover Park School District Board meeting, Director Paul Wagemann asked his fellow board members to amend the December 21, 2020 meeting minutes to include his comments. In […]
Letter: Silver Dollars, Gum Wrappers And Hard Work
When I was a youngster, occasionally my grandfather would give me a silver dollar. Collectors’ coins today, these silver minted gifts now serve as part of my recollection of lessons he taught me. One of those lessons involved gum wrappers. Growing up poor, many of us in our community wanted to go to a weeklong […]
Across the Fence: Salt On Our Tongues
As a kid, I heard of oversalted soil on which nothing would grow anymore. In ancient times, sometimes, the winners of a battle would salt the earth of their defeated enemy in order to prevent future harvests; Roman general Scipio Aemilianus Africanus did this to Carthage after the third Punic War. You wouldn’t believe, therefore, […]
Westside Story – Governor Welcomes Joe Boyle
In late 2010, I met Ben Sclair for some FREE Starbucks coffee and an exploratory conversation. We agreed to test my writing skills by having me submit a few columns. Ben agreed to publish my test columns in The Suburban Times (TST). Our plan allowed Ben to cease publishing my work if he or our […]