Press Editorial
March 9, 2010
No Saturday mail beats another price increase
The United States Postal Service is projecting a $7 billion loss this year, and the picture looks even more bleak over the course of the next decade. Saturday delivery is on the chopping block, but is controversial among many. It shouldn’t be. Read more
To The Editor
March 9, 2010
Speed cameras
Three tickets within a week suggests new system is a little unfair
I just sent $160 to the Issaquah Municipal Court for fines I got on Second Street by Issaquah High School. The fine was originally $375, but was reduced after I threw myself at the mercy of the court.
It was mid-morning; there were no children. I never glanced at my speedometer, because I felt I was doing a safe speed — 27 mph I later found out — given conditions and no pedestrians being present. Read more
Off The Press
March 9, 2010
Being an educated owner helps with dogs’ training
David Hayes Press reporter
The conventional wisdom says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. My wife and I are literally trying to prove that wrong by enrolling our two pugs into a training class, years after we all should have received professional guidance.
If you’re going to enroll your dog in obedience class, I highly recommend not waiting as long as we did — Wonton is 3 years old, and Mai Tai is approaching 2.
Our head trainer at the new Issaquah business Blue Dog, Isis Caney, suggests the best time is right around 9 weeks — when all the shots are taken care of and the puppy is still pliable and will take in the training.
“Wait too long, and you can end up with a defiant teen,” she said.
Dogs can become a creature of habit and it’s harder to break them of bad conditioning.
Hmm. I guess that explains why when Wonton has the ball and I say, “drop,” he interprets the command as “place ball in master’s hand, hold on tightly and start growling.”
I guess one of the biggest reasons we sought professional help was we were tired of our pugs taking us on a walk, rather than the other way around.
The odd thing about seeking professional help is the state of Washington does not require certification to become a dog trainer. So, unless the trainer has a certification or a degree, say from Penn Foster of Animal Behavioral College, you can’t be sure of what you’ll get.
But even that official piece of paper framed nicely on the wall may not be enough.
“I have a degree and can tell you what the book says to do,” said Ben Scougale, Caney’s assistant. “But Isis has so much experience, she can tell you five other ways to do something.”
With off-leash dog parks (Issaquah has two — one at Beaver Lake and the other in the Issaquah Highlands), you want to be sure your canine is properly socialized, so everyone gets along. Wonton started out just fine. But over the years, he’s developed a true hatred for boxers and wants to exceed the boundaries for rough housing when he meets one. (Mai Tai is a princess in public. She only beats up on Won Ton when we’re at home.)
There are several approved methods to train your dog, from pack training to clicker. Caney said in her seven years as a trainer, she’s incorporated the best of each method to develop her own style that can be tailored for each pooch.
She does warn, if you go it alone, not to model your efforts after the famous trainers on TV, such as Cesar Millan, of “The Dog Whisperer,” and Victoria Stillwell, of “It’s Me or The Dog.”
“Cesar truly has a gift,” she said. “But if you were to try what he does, you could end up getting your face bit off.”
Caney does recommend trainers from smaller businesses, as it comes down to the level of experience and personal attention. She also highly recommends two trainers over at the Humane Society, Ali Johnson and Amanda Brothers.
Once a dog is trained, Caney says to keep in mind it’s not a fashion accessory (thanks, Paris Hilton). There are boutiques with excessive doggy fashion dotting the landscape — Caney had a client who bought her “baby” a diamond collar, a crystal dish and silk beds. You can also pamper the pooch with strollers and clothing.
“The whole dog world has gone to the dogs,” Caney deadpanned.
Luckily, my guys are grounded in reality (we’re too poor to get too extravagant with them).
While Won Ton and Mai Tai already know advanced tricks, like “high five” and “spin,” we’re going back to the basics to ensure they know the most important lessons they should have known from the get go. Like “come back!”
David Hayes: 392-6434, ext. 237, dhayes@isspress.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.
To The Editor
March 2, 2010
Trash collection
Cutting the service in half will probably create twice the problems
In reading last weeks article, “Trash changes could extend landfill’s life,” regarding the proposed new every-other-week-collection schedule; my initial reaction was I could live with twice-a-month collections if they would still provide weekly yard waste pickups.
Maybe some of the newer neighborhoods that don’t have yards or established trees could get by with twice-a-month yard waste collections, but my neighborhood can’t. Most weeks, my yard waste is full, because it takes regular work to keep nature in check.
However, after thinking about it, I wondered why if we have all done such a great job recycling that the garbage man can come half as often, shouldn’t my bill go down by half as well? They say the potential change is about saving the landfill, but actually the same amount will be going to the landfill every month, just in two loads rather than four.
We are not stupid. What they want is to reduce our service by half, but charge us as close to the same amount as now if they can.
Of course, if pushed, they will say they are doing this for “us,” and rattle off all of the threatened price increases they have planned. Costs are probably going up, but I, for one, would like to know what they really are.
Let the public hear the true plans they have for our garbage money, and involve us in this process. Maybe the problem is too much duplication in city and county staff endlessly noodling over garbage, and it is that redundancy that should be cut in half. Maybe solid waste in government is the problem. Can we please schedule a pick up?
C.A. Christensen
Issaquah
T-shirt fundraiser
Thank you for fine coverage; high fives for service-minded students
The Press gave fine, in-depth coverage with “Changing lives, one T-Shirt at a time” and the student project at Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus, with its project to benefit the schools in the Central Asia Institute. The additional background provided by Chantelle Lusebrink on the work of Greg Mortenson is important.
High fives to the many students at Pacific Cascade for their focus on service and one if not the most important lesson of all, in working with community locally to serve a higher purpose and common good.
Mortenson’s latest book, “Stones Into Schools,” demonstrates the effectiveness of outreach across the world with “Pennies for Peace” and projects such as the T-shirts!
Thanks Issaquah Press, and way to go Pacific Cascade!
Rosemary Fahey
Issaquah
Squak Valley Park
A rock-climbing wall would benefit many
Please consider constructing a rock-climbing structure at the new park on Issaquah-Hobart Road. It’s the perfect place, looking straight at Tiger Mountain, and Issaquah is at the base of the Cascades.
No. 1 — It would honor the rich history of mountaineers from our state — Jim Wickwire, Peter Whittaker, Kit Lewis, John Roskelley — and from Issaquah — Jim Nelson — all have made considerable contributions to world mountains.
No. 2 — It’s great and fun exercise.
No. 3 — It’s something positive for teenagers to do with their time.
No. 4 — It’s something to have parents do while watching their kids.
Marymoor Park has one, as does North Bend.
Mike Preiss
Hobart
Soda tax
Proposal could force 25 percent reduction in nearby bottling workforce
The Coca Cola Bottlers of Washington, which started in 1905, is home to more than 1,050 hard-working employees, many of whom have been with the company for a very long time. But if the governor’s proposed excise tax on carbonated beverages and bottled water becomes law, we may be forced to eliminate as many as 25 percent of those good-paying jobs.
Our nearby facility in Bellevue is the largest bottler and only Coca Cola production facility in the state. Like other companies, however, the recession has not been kind to us. We had to cut our workforce by 10 percent in late 2008. An excise tax will only worsen this situation.
Our company, like many bottlers across Washington, already operates on a razor-thin margin in a highly competitive marketplace and this severely restrains our ability to absorb higher taxes.
Raising our prices to cover these punitive taxes will only further depress our sales, and the effect will be felt throughout the entire local supply chain — grocers, restaurant owners, deliverers, convenience stores. A lot of people right here in Issaquah might soon have some tough choices to make.
Our products are very price sensitive. In general, for every 1 percent the price goes up, we lose 1 percent in sales. The governor’s proposal would increase the retail price of many of our soft drinks by 25 percent to 30 percent and a case of water by more than 100 percent.
The Coca Cola Bottlers of Washington are not alone. It’s the same situation for the other bottlers who collectively employ nearly 3,000 workers statewide in good-paying jobs with generous benefits, and indirectly support another 17,000 workers.
We know these are difficult times. We just hope our legislators consider ways to raise funds that don’t unfairly target individual industries, but rather preserve jobs and promote growth in the private sector.
Bob Slack, vice president
Coca Cola Bottlers of Washington
Pledge of Allegiance
When are protestors going to target reference to God in the Constitution?
It seems that every week I sit down to read The Press and discover another installment in the ongoing saga of “Pledge Wars.” I am over 70, learned the pledge before the controversial two words “under God” were added and admit that at first, I sometimes forgot to include the new phrase.
The flag and pledge may have always been more meaningful to me than many, due to the era in which I was raised and the fact that my father was MIA in 1944. In any case, those opposed to its use in present form and citing the Constitution have apparently never read this document in its entirety, as at the very end it is dated along with the words “In the Year of Our Lord.” This phrase, obviously, does not refer to King George or the Emperor of Rome but to Jesus Christ, which is a far more specific reference to a particular religion than “under God.”
So, in the interest of consistency and logic, I will be anxiously awaiting equally enthusiastic protests regarding the posting of the entire Constitution and its reading in any public forum, or maybe it would be much more reasonable to just select another windmill.
Ronald Olson
Issaquah
Off The Press
March 2, 2010
Chantelle Lusebrink (back) and Andrea Collins
With a competitor from Sammamish in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, and it being only five hours from town, who could resist an opportunity to take a road trip to see the games in person?
With a little help and hospitality from a friend of mine, and her family from Issaquah, I got to go and experience the convergence of the world’s cultures onto one city — Whistler, British Columbia.
The games brought more cultures to the alpine town than ever seen there before.
In any given moment, you’d move between a group of people speaking Russian, to one speaking Korean, to one speaking German.
The stereotypes were also there, as they exist for a reason and with some truth, the boisterous Americans and the young Asian teens that idolized the anime look. The stereotypes were embraced and cherished as the differences that make up the world versus being put down.
Understandably, there were long security lines — but nothing beyond what we Americans experience at the airport — and Canadians had a hard time keeping up with the demand for the coveted Canadian maple leaf mittens. Only that nearly made for an international incident when people were told they could only purchase two pairs per person.
Smartly, Whistler officials kept much of the mountain open for tourists, so you could strap on your skis and get close enough to the starting gate to catch a glimpse of the action for the men’s slalom or women’s giant slalom, which to my knowledge doesn’t happen at all winter venues. Read more
Press Editorial
March 2, 2010
Klahanie Park users must share in solution
The decision about the future of Klahanie Park has gone on long enough. Long enough to keep Klahanie residents awake at night, wondering if their central park will become a field of weeds. Read more
Off the press
February 23, 2010
Help to ensure that The Beat goes on
Kathleen R. Merrill Press editor
Darn teenagers nowadays. You never know what they’re up to. That’s the sentiment of a lot of people. You’ll hear them say things like that if you bring up the topic of teens.
Well, I can tell you what some of them are up to. Some of them are doing their best to improve our world, in their own ways, and with their own goals and projects.
In this newspaper on a regular basis, and in our Living magazine this week, you can read about young philanthropists who are gathering books for children who have none; helping fund relief efforts for earthquake victims in Haiti; and walking, jogging and running for any number of causes. They do these things because they care about someone besides themselves, contrary to popular belief. They really want to make the world a better place.
And it isn’t only teens doing such things. Back when I was in grade school, I was playing and doing any number of little kid things. Elementary school kids today are collecting items and funds for people and organizations that need assistance.
But back to those pesky teens. One came to me last year, telling me she had an idea for a teen section in The Issaquah Press. And she had even written a proposal and gotten a grant to help start it.
Tiffany Xu, a Skyline High School junior, said she felt teens weren’t being adequately represented or viewed fairly, and she wanted to do something about it. I agreed with her, but it had taken me more than a year to get a student column started once a week on the Schools page, and I knew that someone had to have a well-above-average commitment to come through with more than that. I took a kind of wait-and-see approach to her idea, while doing some of my own research and watching to see if she could follow through on some starting tasks I gave her. Read more
Press Editorial
February 23, 2010
School tax change bears consideration
A proposal in the state Senate that would shift property taxes from local districts to the state in order to fund education has the seed of good public policy, but must be explored further. Read more
Rapid Response
February 23, 2010
What benefits and problems do you see regarding the coming Swedish Medical Center campus? Read more
To the editor
February 23, 2010
Math curriculum
There is no one-size-fits-all way to teach
While some people might shake their heads at all the controversy over the choice of math textbooks in our schools, the controversy isn’t new, nor is it surprising. Math is and has always been a challenging subject to teach and to learn. In the late 1960s, I chose to teach it.
Two math teaching approaches came into vogue during this post-Sputnik era. One was the new math, which had instructors teach math using an abstract concept called set theory, which many school teachers had trouble understanding themselves. The other was guided discovery, which proposed that students were more likely to remember concepts they discovered on their own instead of memorizing a rule they were likely to forget.
I can still recall the first time I used the discovery method to teach my high school algebra students how to divide fractional expressions. After spending what seemed like an inordinate amount of time guiding the students to the correct solution, I heard a voice from the back of the room shout out, “Tell us the rule. What is the rule?”
That year, I learned that guided discovery worked for some, but not all of my students. Being a pragmatist at heart, I taught using the textbook’s guided discovery approach, but whenever a student in the class didn’t get it, I’d reteach the topic using a traditional approach or whatever else worked.
New math was abandoned by the end of the 1960s, and guided discovery has come in and out of use ever since it was first introduced. Although I don’t know the best way to teach math or whether a single approach would work for all students, I do know that each time a school district changes its math curriculum and math textbooks, it puts an incredible burden on its faculty. The change requires teachers to teach out of new math textbooks using new approaches they have barely mastered themselves. And the students are caught in the middle.
Shelly Hawkins
Issaquah
Pledge of Allegiance
Stating ‘under God’ at government function violates separation clause
Isn’t it ironic a recent letter writer assumes that Michael Barr is an atheist, simply because he believes in the separation of church and state? As someone that has known him for more than 20 years, I can assure you he is not an atheist. He simply doesn’t feel it necessary for anyone to force their religious beliefs on others.
Lynn Stuter completely misses the point of Barr’s letter — that we all have a right to exercise our beliefs as we choose, so long as we don’t impact others who may have different views. The Pledge of Allegiance, with its reference to “under God,” does not show tolerance for the views of all Americans, and when recited at government and school functions, contradicts the notion of separation of church and state.
Like it or not, our country is a collection of many different cultures and religions. If we are truly going to be tolerant and accepting, let’s be tolerant and accepting of all, not just those we understand or agree with.
Darryl S. Hamilton
Sammamish
All religion needs to be out of governing
I am not an atheist, so why then do I support the removal of “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance? Because I do not want my government driven by religious beliefs, especially if it represents the majority of the people (mob rule), and I do not want my religion polluted with the corruption of politics.
We see the results of religious fundamentalism, such as the Taliban, Islamic terrorists, evangelicalism (killing doctors to stop legal medical procedures) and thousands of years of Catholic Church rule as a governing body. While democracy allows all religions to flourish, religions do not allow freedom to flourish. Our founding fathers understood that so clearly, that they rightly put a wall between the two.
Protestant Christianity is losing its place as the majority. Soon, Catholicism will overtake it, and then other religions. Will those in the majority now then be happy to sit by quietly as the good behaving minority as other’s beliefs are forced upon you? I sincerely doubt it.
That is why I support keeping all religion out of government and government out of religions, and so should any other religious person. This approach truly supports free will and freedom at the same time and that is the whole point of our great country’s system.
Michael T. Barr
Sammamish
Triple X car shows
Come support these events that are true, community gatherings
The car show season has started even though the weather isn’t cooperating and the Spring Opener isn’t until Sunday, May 16, 2010. The Triple X Rootbeer Drive-In brings many visitors to Issaquah, and as the weather improves there will be more and more car aficionados showing up for the scheduled Sunday shows.
In addition to the Sunday events, car builders and owners show up on Saturday evenings to eat, visit and display their “works in progress.” It’s a more informal gathering with a wide variety of marquees showing up and quite often a better opportunity for conversations between owners.
The Triple X car shows are truly community events, since the Triple X itself and the neighbors along East Gilman Boulevard support the events, Sunset Highway Cruisers (a local car club) set up and clean up for each event, and the profits from every scheduled event benefit the local charity Life Enrichment Options.
I encourage everyone to support these events. Pick up a schedule (available at the Triple X) and visit a car show of your choice. Show up for the car shows, ogle the beautiful vehicles, do some people watching and enjoy the food.
Lee Woods
Issaquah
