The state’s economy continues to tank, home foreclosures are ongoing and companies are laying off more workers. What should the state do?
In my letter last week, I incorrectly stated that the three PAAs were not contiguous, when in fact, they do connect in a several square block area in the middle. However, it does not change my opinion that incorporation of the PAA will not work. The size is too big, the geographic area’s too spread apart and heavily weighted on East and West, and there is too large of a population to incorporate without the commercial income. It would require burdensome taxes and it would be irresponsible to duplicate services when another city is willing to annex. Kirkland did cherry pick the commercial zones and while it may have been a strategy to build up income in order to move forward with the full annexation, it has proved to be a disastrous decision now.
One would think that with all the miles that Rick Steves has traveled, he would choose to be an ambassador for something more worthwhile than Europe’s permissiveness with pot smoking.
The Highlands had an amazing 2008, and 2009 is shaping up to be a memorable year as well.
I love the Internet. Whatever there is to know about almost any subject, it’s right at our fingertips. I can see a difference in my clients too. They are so much better informed about their aches and pains – even before they come to my practice, and every so often they give me a heads up on the latest news too.
Two strong, capable women picked for our new President’s cabinet promise to deliver a big chunk of the promised change: Immigration reform. I envision a significant impact on our state, our region, and on Kirkland.
Weeks later, Lake Washington still looks murky and unsettled. The air feels arctic and people seem to walk slower along the dock at Marina Park.
To annex, or not to annex: that is the question – the strung-out, interminable, never-ending, Kirkland question. And it’s gotten old to the point of annoying.
Let’s face it: this year is going to suck. People are being warned that the U.S. economy is going to produce a GDP comparable to that of a third-world hillside village. Everyone is afraid of losing his or her job – even Super Bowl-winning NFL coaches. And above all, Costco has stopped selling sugar-free Rockstar energy drinks by the case. Now how am I going to get my heart palpitating?
Unions are lining up to sue Gov. Christine Gregoire because her budget doesn’t include money to pay for a new labor contract.
Early in the morning on Jan. 20, as night approached its zenith across the Pacific Northwest, I was awakened by a melody from my BlackBerry.
A citizen’s initiative to establish a pilot off-leash dog park in Kirkland that will be partly funded by dog owners may get a boost at the next Kirkland Park Board meeting Feb. 11, according to advocates and information provided by the Park Board.
Go ahead. Pick it up.
The following letters to the editor were written in response to the Reporter’s Jan. 14 editorial, “Making History.”
We’ve all heard about “The Zone” right? I’m not talking about a special diet or a municipal district. I’m talking about that elusive state of being that you can create within yourself so that you can achieve your potential in performing anything.
The “Glad You Asked” section by Timi Gustafson R.D. has been added in response to questions by our readers about Health and Lifestyle issues. Her regular monthly column will continue as always.
We’ve always suspected some elected officials of having tunnel vision. How right we were.
This year Kirkland’s adopted budget is 15 percent greater than the last budget. To say the budget went up because of “unanticipated” expenses, revenue declines, and inflation is nonsense. Are we to believe our elected officials and staff do not know what they are doing? It’s time to ask just whom do they serve, themselves or us.
Every homeless person has a mother and a father. They have a story. Friends, siblings, relatives. Successes and losses, joy and suffering, plenty and want, health and sickness. It’s never “what you see is what you get.”
I have had many informal talks with people who have enjoyed winter waterfowl in Juanita Bay Park for years. Many note a decline in the number of diving ducks wintering here, and that previously common ones, such as ruddy and golden-eye, are now quite scarce. Usually we speculate that total numbers may be down, or milder winters enable them to winter further north. However, this year we have had an unusual influx of swans in the Bay. A single bird was here only a few days around Thanksgiving (a scout for a new wintering ground?), but since the Christmas week, up to 20 swans are seen regularly. While reading up on swans, a section on swan feeding behavior unearthed the fact that they are very shallow water feeders, as are the coots, green-wing teal, and gadwalls that are increasing in winter numbers in the Bay. I would be interested in data on siltation into the Bay over the last 10 years, as a possible factor in our changing mix of waterfowl. I did a quick survey of Kirkland’s other waterfront parks New Year’s weekend, finding that the deeper waters off these parks had predominantly diving ducks such as common goldeneye.
