Hello family and friends, faculty and community members of Darrington’s class of 2008. Today you are here to celebrate a great achievement of the 50 seniors of the class of 2008 here today. Over the past 13 years, you have been allowed or privileged, if I may say so, to watch each and everyone of us grow up and grow into the adults we have become.
Step by step we are working to restore the health of Puget Sound, the rivers and our Pacific coast. We’re working through the Puget Sound Partnership clean-up effort and also implementing the Tribal/State Ocean Ecosystem Initiative — an ecosystem-based approach to management of our Pacific coastal waters — to make this part of the world a healthier place for all of us to call home.
Marysville’s annual celebration, the Strawberry Festival, which brings out the best in the city and its residents, kicks off this week and culminates June 22 after more than a week filled with a variety of family-oriented fun.
Starting in snowy villages of Iowa and New Hampshire last January, American voters have spent the past five long months picking our presidential contenders. The primary-caucus calendar is almost complete, capped by voting in Montana and the final states on June 3. But before the memories of this marathon endurance contest fades, let’s re-commit to working for reform of the out-of-control presidential primary and find a system that is fairer, shorter and less brutal to the candidates.
Good barbecues always get me thinking of summertime and I had plenty to think about during the hospital expansion’s May 30 groundbreaking celebration. For the unfortunate few who missed it, the mini-festival was quite a first-class affair. While I gobbled up two of the best free hamburgers I’ve ever had (complete with a full condiment bar) my wife and I pondered various options for summertime entertainment. Gas prices, soaring expenses and a shrinking bank account wound up defeating every suggestion; by the time we finished our watermelon, it was decided that we weren’t going anywhere.
This week’s issues of The Arlington Times and Marysville Globe feature a number of changes — some readily apparent, some not — intended to help us better meet the needs of the communities we serve.
Years ago, I forget how many, but at least 20, someone gave me a picture they took of me and I was surprised to notice a brown spot about the size of a quarter on my cheek. It’s not that I hadn’t ever noticed it before but if it was becoming significant enough to catch the eye in a photograph, I figured I should look into it. I delved into the American Medical Association’s Family Medical Guide, where I learned I was sporting what’s called a pre-cancerous skin spot caused by over exposure to the sun many years ago.
This is the season when local newspapers bloom with photos of bright young achievers who won awards for having spent their time well. Valedictorians, scholarship winners, honors for excellence. Stars, all of them. Readers happily devour their stories, grateful for such good young people. The young winners are grateful for the parents, grandmas, grandpas, teachers, mentors, pastors and friends who helped them on their way. And we are thankful for how they shine against a societal background of violence and prejudice. Because of how they stand above rampant wrong-doing and laziness, this new crop of stars restores hope for our future.
Mr. Kundu’s recent article chastising me and other skeptics of the man-made global warming theory couldn’t have been more timely. Just this past week a petition was released signed by 31,000 scientists across the U.S. rejecting said theory. Where’s the consensus now?
On May 19, I became
On Tuesday evening, after The Globe and The Times went to press, the Marysville City Council was slated to deal with the issue of the illegal use of fireworks. The proposal this time was to make the illegal use of fireworks a civil matter, rather than criminal, to make it easier to enforce the law.
To better understand Marysville’s water situation, it helps to know what’s happening elsewhere. Take Arapaho Falls, Colorado, for example. The small town of 9,300 is in shock following raids of local businesses by state police. Records were impounded and both management and employees were questioned. A state police spokesperson said that arrests may be expected.
In the wake of an earlier column about our state rejecting a $13.2 million education grant, people are asking, “What is going wrong in Washington?” Why was Washington the only state of seven to reject funding to improve math and science learning for public school students in advanced placement programs?
