Bus stop shelter on highway would make students safer

As the days get shorter. it is especially dark at 6:40 a.m. on Maple Valley Highway/State Route 169. Our junior-high school students wait in the dark and rain for the bus. There is no actual bus stop there, just children standing by the highway. I think in a terrific little community like ours, we ought to be able to find a carpenter or someone who could throw a little bus stop together. Or maybe there is one already built. Surely there is a reader out there who knows where there is a bus stop no longer in use. Or maybe someone has the lumber just lying around?

Not all of us live on the highway, but we all use it, and I’m sure we all want our children to be safe on their way to school.

Punishment should accompany bailout of financial industry

Open letter to U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert:

My family, friends and I are deeply concerned that Congress may actually allow Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson far too much discretion and power for an unelected official and that the American people, who he ostensibly serves, have too little say and no time to discuss the matter of a mammoth “government bailout” – which is (and never before as) truly a euphemism for a taxpayer bailout.

Time may be of the essence, but for taxpayers, this is yet another “fast-track” we don’t need and can’t possibly afford. Worse, it sets a shameless precedent we deplore. The public has asked for years, “When will it end?” Bailing out bad loans now will surely signal that Congress has no intention of ending it until America and her citizens are sold out and cease to exist.

A culture built on borrowing and debt is too fragile to long stand, and it needs to decide whether it will capitulate or change directions and climb out of its hole. Obviously now, the decision is in front of you since, unfortunately, in this question government has indicated its voice supercedes the authority of the people. It is clear now: Either there has been enough existing regulation and regulators were simply not doing their job, or plain, common sense and courage, which should have been enough in the first place, has been almost completely swept off Capitol Hill.

How can the public or Congress possibly presume that high crimes haven’t been committed? Anyone knows a loan must be decided on actual risk, not on hope or good intentions. Look to your colleagues who pressured institutions to waive their criteria.

Before this episode passes, we absolutely expect indictments, stern fines and incarceration. If not, justice will be pointless, Congress will become moot, and the next administration will be a de facto monarchy.

Simpson has a proven track record

I encourage voters to re-elect Geoff Simpson as our state representative in the 47th District. Geoff was rated “very good” by the Municipal League of King County. He has also been endorsed by the Washington State Association of Police and Sheriffs, the King County Labor Council, the Washington Conservation Voters, and the Washington Health Care Association.

Geoff is a loving father and a dedicated firefighter with the Kent Fire Department. He is the only candidate who is going to deliver real results for our district on issues that matter to most of us – the environment, realistic transportation solutions, healthy small businesses, improving education, women’s issues, and value for our taxes. He has a proven track record.