Opinion

Kent-Meridian family has lost a member, memorial service planned for student — Commentary

To All Students, Parents, Guardians and Staff: I regret to inform you of very sad news regarding members of our K-M family. Early Sunday morning, four of our students were involved in a single-car accident.

  • Jan 5, 2010
  • BY Wire Service

Editor’s Note: Attack on Kent-Meridian student by partially nude man should be a wake-up call

It’s good news that an arrest has been made in the trail attack on a Kent-Meridian student. It’s every parents’ nightmare that their child could be attacked while walking to school, out of reach for help, far from their parents and family.

Commentary — Seattle drivers: A mystery to me

Ask anyone who moved to the Seattle area from elsewhere and they will all tell you the same thing: “I really like living here, but man, you people are the worst drivers in the country.”

State budget: Gov. Christine Gregoire has hard choices to make

In our state, the governor must submit a balanced budget to the Legislature. That means government spending must equal tax collections. Unlike Congress, we cannot borrow or print money. Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) has to rebalance the two-year budget passed by the Legislature last spring because revenue is $2.6 billion short of what lawmakers appropriated.

Editor’s Note: Our women veterans deserve better than this

I normally don't quote other news articles if I can help it, but a recent Associated Press story caught my eye. It was about women war veterans, and the battles they face when they come home. Like their male counterparts, they should be getting a hero’s welcome. Quite often, they are not.

Opinion: Don’t blame Huckabee for deaths of four Lakewood officers

This is not Huck’s fault. I know he is a popular scapegoat right now in the murders of four Lakewood police officers, but blaming Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for any part of this mess is a real stretch, especially for a guy who did exactly what you want a governor to do.

Patty Murray: Lakewood police shootings reverberate through nation; video of Kent vigil

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray delivered this message to Congress and the president Monday. One of the officers killed in the Nov. 29 attack was Greg Richards, who began his career with the Kent Police.

  • Dec 8, 2009
  • BY Wire Service
An epitaph to four who served.

Editor’s note: Lives of four Lakewood officers touched many; how you can help

By now the news has been out several days: four police officers sitting quietly in a Lakewood coffee shop, gunned down in cold blood. Officers Greg Richards, 42, Tina Griswold, 40, Ronald Owen, 37, and Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, died Sunday morning in an utterly senseless way, for reasons a sane person may never understand.

An epitaph to four who served.

It’s time to raise our revenues, not our taxes

Now that voters have rejected I-1033, the sending limit initiative, the talk in Olympia has turned to raising taxes.

Nuttman: So much to be thankful for

As Thanksgiving approaches it’s clear to me that finding things to be thankful for can be difficult. With flood concerns, flu season, wars, and civil unrest, it’s harder these days to stop and think “What can I be thankful for?”

Editor’s Note: Thanksgiving is for families

Well, the holidays are nearly upon us. I don’t know about you, but back when I was a kid, it was less about giblets and more about family ties.

Julia Patterson Column: Elections bring about major changes

Over the past year local governments faced some of the biggest challenges of our lifetime – the recession, pandemic flu, preparing for a potential flood, and devastating budget shortfalls.

You can’t fake a sense of direction – beware of this lost newspaper editor

It’s my personal conviction that some people are born with a sense of direction. Put them anywhere - a forest or some baffling street corner - and these people manage to find their way home. They’ll even remember where they were, so they can come back for a visit some time. I am not cut of that cloth.

A Veterans Day observance from Congressman Dave Reichert

Today we honor all those men and women who serve and have served to protect and defend freedom, security and our great nation.

  • Nov 11, 2009
  • BY Wire Service

Veterans deserve our thanks and support

Today we gather to celebrate and honor the great courage and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans. It is because of their sacrifice that we can safely enjoy the freedoms our great country offers.

  • Nov 10, 2009
  • BY Wire Service

Thank you, readers, for an amazing election season

A tumultuous election season is nearly over. Not unlike the circus coming to town and leaving a trail of confetti to clean up, the only thing left to tie up now are the straggling ballots bearing Nov. 4 postmarks.

The Evil (Yankee) Empire strikes again

Last year at this time I was in Philadelphia celebrating a World Series Championship with 2 million of my closest friends. I had high hopes (high, apple pie-in-the-sky hopes) of doing it again this year, but, unfortunately, the New York Yankees were working from a different script.

Why is he quitting? Big Tobacco doesn’t deserve columnist’s money

I have been on a self-improvement kick lately. As some of you may know I recently lost 95 pounds of biscuits-and-gravy fat due to a flu bug about five years ago. That and a continued determination to not die while tying my shoes.

Be prepared, not panicked

The economy, H1N1 flu, reduced government and family budgets … the news just keeps getting a little more stressful and a little more urgent as… Continue reading

  • Oct 16, 2009
  • BY Wire Service
A picture of a turn-of-the-century

Kent man shares memories of past Green River floods

In the late ‘40s I remember the Green River would break over its bank just south of 259th east of where the Aukeen Court is today. It would head north past the pickle factory, heading north on State Street (now South Central), toward town, flooding Central and Meeker streets.

  • Oct 13, 2009
  • BY Wire Service
A picture of a turn-of-the-century