Thank goodness for choices.
At the Northshore School Board meeting April 22, the board decided to cut at least two essential services to students despite a standing-room-only crowd protesting the cuts. The standing-room crowd was not allowed to voice their concerns as the board also decided to limit the speakers to a total of 10 before making its decisions.
The April 16 article written by Joshua Adam Hicks about the Kenmore City Council voting against building a sports field at Wallace Swamp Creek Park (WSCP) is very close and dear to my heart. I have lived in Kenmore since the age of 9. I played Little League ball, soccer, football and tennis as I worked my way through the Northshore School District as a student at Lockwood Elementary, Kenmore Junior High and Inglemoor High. I’m a huge fan of youth athletics and feel that more should be done by rural municipalities to ensure that our youth has places to play sports of all kinds.
Watch out, grown ups — me included, I guess — today’s students are on a writing binge.
Education foundation needs some support
The fire was burning bright for the Northshore Public Education Foundation last Wednesday.
About five years ago, supporters of youth athletics and the city of Kenmore embarked on a journey to locate suitable sites in this community upon which ball fields could be developed. This action was precipitated by the impending loss of the four ball fields that are current leased at Bastyr University. Bastyr has informed representatives of Kenmore Little League and other field users that the fields may not be available after the 2009 season. Bastyr officials are attempting to be as accommodating as they can for youth sports organizations, but it is understood that they have a right to develop their site as they see fit and as is legally feasible.
Think you look so great when you’re at the beach in your bikini after basking in the sun for hours? Think you look hot for the dance after lying in a tanning bed? Think again. In reality, the dark skin you’ve been working so hard to attain is actually doing more harm than good and will eventually lead to wrinkles and serious health problems ... not beauty.
Imagine having your life controlled by a single substance, something that we see daily and something that we call alcohol. Alcohol is the most widely used drug in the world. It is something that we all have, or will encounter at some point in our lives, and the majority of us have probably already had interactions with a person who has an alcohol-related problem. Roughly one-third of the American population is affected by alcoholism, which is nearly 65-70 million people.
Climate change has been a worry of mankind since humans first learned about the ice age. So just how much is global warming impacting our world? Why should we even care about these changes? Imagine a world without rainforests or glaciers, a world of widespread famine and drought. If society doesn’t take action now, this kind of world will become a reality. Our futures are at stake and mankind need to take care of the Earth, before it becomes too late.
The folks over at the Northshore Family Center must be breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Sporting a blue shirt with the BHS insignia, Bothell High School Principal Bob Stewart sits at his desk amidst papers and books in a cramped portable on campus. Bob knows it’s short term and, come November, will move into new digs. Not only will Bob, Co-Principal Heather Miller and the administrative staff move, but also 1,650 students are in for a big treat. How big?
In the last few days, I’ve found myself haunted by an image. It appears to be unforgettable — as it should. Recently, I was shown a picture of a child in Africa. Taken in 1993, the image displays a starving child collapsed on the ground. Those familiar with the area indicate she is struggling toward the direction of a nearby food center. Next to her body, a vulture hovers awaiting her death.
Because I love my prefrontal cortex, because I have an inordinate amount of pride and for this reason don’t like to make a fool of myself in front of other people, and because it’s illegal, I don’t drink.
When “Bud” Ericksen served as Bothell mayor from 1969-1973, the mayor and members of the City Council sat around a huge oak table supported by tree-stump legs and they conducted the city’s business from reasonably uncomfortable chairs.
Friend, Camille, and I meet for breakfast once a month at Steve’s on Main Street, Bothell. We love it there. The booths are comfortable, noise level low, the atmosphere is downright homegrown folksy and waitress, Bobbi Graff, is delightful.
Another tax day in America has come and gone (with the property tax deadline just around the corner). It brought to mind the vast difference in Bothell’s tax base today compared to when Bothell was designated as merely a town in the eyes of state government. That would have been in the late 1950s, when the primary tax dollars were being generated by three car dealerships — Green Ford, HasBrouck Chevrolet and Ericksen Motors.
Nurse: “Doctor! There’s an invisible man in the waiting room!”
Editor’s note: This is a tribute to Dorothy Harshman, who passed away March 31 at the age of 86.