We must be living in a bizarro world if a state Democrat is complaining about wealth redistribution.
Rep. Reuven Carlyle represents the 36th District in the heart of Seattle, the Northwest’s beacon of liberalism, which regularly makes the Top 20 lists of liberal cities in the nation.
The latest buzz in local news is the new $50 fee put in place by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. Everyone who dies in King County will now have that fee attached to the funeral home bill, which pays for an official review of the cause of death. Nobody dies for free anymore, at least not in King County.
I made it back to the Southcenter Mall again this past weekend (movie theater), and good news; no reported shootings this time. The situation was probably helped by the very visible presence of no fewer than eight Seattle Police Gang Unit officers, who wandered the mall with an eye on deterrence. Instead, the only nearby shooting this week was very close my house.
The week after Christmas is usually one of my favorite weeks of the year. First, it means that Christmas is over, with all of its sometimes-mean, procrastinating customers (I’m a retailer) and meeting the perfect-Christmas expectations of friends and family. Bah humbug is right.
This Christmas Eve, hundreds of people in our towns will put on their Sunday best outfits for one of their twice-a-year visits to church. The other annual visit is for Easter, which led some churchies to invent the slightly derisive term “Chreaster people” to describe these semi-annual migrators.
Get ready for a few more years of uncertainty.
As you probably already know, a federal judge in Virginia was the first to rule that the big health care overhaul bill was overreaching in its authority. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson said that the federal government can’t force individuals to buy a private insurance product, which was one of the main complaints by conservatives and libertarians.
When I heard the latest on the extension of the 2001 income tax cuts, all I could do was shake my head. Despite the alleged voter mandate on lower spending and cutting the deficit, Congress didn’t get the message. Both parties are fighting over how much to add to the deficit, with a bizarre back-and-forth exchange in public over how to do it.
I’ve heard that necessity is the mother of invention, but I’ve always believed that laziness is the mother of efficiency. When things are running smoothly and efficiently, there’s more time to lie around and do nothing. As a result, I am a huge fan of efficiency.
I saw the sign for the Covington tree lighting event next month, and it felt a little sad now that the Mega Tree is gone. I didn’t realize there was a new tree in the middle of that roundabout, since I’m concentrating on not getting killed by the people who haven’t learned how to drive in a roundabout yet.
Just to warn you up front, we’re talking about “change” again this week. Fortunately, it’s not the Obama-hugger kind of change; this time it’s the kind of change that cities struggle with as they grow.
Maple Valley has to make another review of its comprehensive plan, which is sort of like the city’s map of where the houses, parks and strip malls will go over the next 20 years. It has to be updated every 5-7 years, and we’re due for another refresher.
The recession is over! Yay! Well, at least according to economists, it is. If you read the news much, it probably doesn’t seem like it. If you’re still out of work, or you’re using this newspaper to keep warm, it certainly doesn’t seem like it. Maybe if I start off every column with the good news, we can fool ourselves into believing it.
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that this election is over. Patty Murray and Dino Rossi sounded like the two most horrible people in the state (if you believe their commercials). Do we elect a guy who favors Airbus over Boeing, and thinks that military service is meaningless, or the lady who votes yes on every tax she can get her hands on and is solely responsible for bankrupting America?
The trickiest part about hearing our elected officials say “we need new taxes for public safety” is that sometimes it’s said just to cover up mistakes from the past. It’s easier to ask for taxes to pay for more police officers than it is to ask for money to expand the park system or pay for public art displays.
Two weeks ago, I wrote about a possible 3 percent increase in the utility tax for Maple Valley, to pay for five full-time positions in the police department, and for a new emergency operations center. Obviously, I was in favor of it, but I also asked those of you who oppose it to speak up.
Last Monday night a handful of community service groups filed into the Maple Valley City Council meeting for their annual handout from the city. Officially, it carries the title of “community service grant funding,” but we can save seven syllables if we phrase it my way (and syllables aren’t cheap these days).
Consider this your unofficial notice of public hearing.
You might already know that King County Sheriff Sue Rahr had planned to shut down Precinct No. 3 in Maple Valley, which is the main hub for sheriff’s deputies in the area. Earlier this year, we were told that this would happen in 3-5 years. That was shortened to about 1-2 years, and just last month, we learned that it’s going to start closing in January.
“Attend a debate between politicians? Nahhh, they’re all liars and crooks. Besides, William Shatner is in that new show premiering tonight, $#*! My Dad Says, and I don’t wanna miss that.”
I have a sinking feeling that Maple Valley is about to become irrelevant in a few years, except as a provider of customers to Covington and Black Diamond businesses. The former alpha dog of the Valley towns is going to look more like the omega (last to eat) unless something changes drastically, and soon.
A writer recently characterized Rodrigo Yanez, a candidate for 47th District Legislature, as “new to the area”. The implication possibly being he lacked the experience to be our next legislator. Mr. Yanez has lived in the 47th district for nearly 20 years, before Covington was incorporated. He has been a small business owner for that entire time bringing jobs and revenue to the Washington economy.
I just finished watching a political ad on TV from a local winemaker, who claims that they are going to go out of business if Initiative 1100 passes. The commercial shows smiling, hardworking Americans in very clean clothes making your booze on a sunny day in Washington (huh?). Well, this merits a few minutes of my attention.
