About 20 years ago I heard a superintendent of a large school district in Arizona address a conference of educators. She was insightful, engaging and funny, and her message has stayed with me all these years. She said something that we in Langley can relate to because it involved boats. She said, “If there is a hole in the boat, there is a hole in the whole boat.” Everyone leaned forward to hear the next statement. She went on to say, “When you are on a boat, you can’t say I don’t care if the stern goes down because where I am on the bow is above water right now.”
A bill filed in the state Legislature this week would allow school districts to cease publishing public notices for certain purposes, among them school closures, name changes and sale of surplus property.
The presumption is House Bill 2319 would save districts money, but any supposed savings to local government is, in fact, a false economy. There is a hidden and very dangerous cost. In trying to save resources, school districts would curtail the public’s access to information, ensuring that fewer — rather than more — citizens know what their elected representatives are up to.
It’s no secret that many people in Island County, particularly those with a more conservative bent, are skeptical about the fare-free bus service provided by Island Transit.
Some people see tax dollars being wasted to transport a handful of people up and down the island. The same people are dubious about the new Island Transit facility on State Highway 20, which has been described as needlessly palatial digs.
We asked people in Langley what they thought of the Second Street Project, set to start next week. Here are there responses.
Click, click, click. I hope you said, “cheese” because the pictures I just took will be published in the newspaper and preserved as a piece of history, possibly until the end of time.
Of course neither I nor any other newspaperman or woman would ever say that to the subject of a story. Being interviewed is uncomfortable enough, but having a reporter stick a big camera in your face can be downright nerve rattling.
We asked people around Clinton what they wanted to hear state Rep. Norma Smith discuss during a visit with the Clinton Chamber of Commerce on Thursday and what the state legislature should focus on this upcoming session. Here are there responses.
State lawmakers will retreat to Olympia Monday, Jan. 13, for Washington’s 63rd legislative session.
Today, millions of Americans will hold true to the annual tradition of making, and in many cases breaking, New Year’s resolutions.
Government should not be excluded from this favorite pastime. It does many things well, and Island County is fortunate to have many excellent public servants and elected officials. But no one person or agency is perfect, and this year The Record would like to see strides for improvement in the often foggy realm of transparency.
A camera slung over one shoulder and my trusty old camouflage waders over the other, I took a deep breath and began trudging my way down Double Bluff Road.
By MERRITT CLIFTON
There are very few people, if any, who have written more on behalf of dogs over the past 40-odd years than I have, or spent more time down the back alleys of the developing world observing dogs in the habitats in which they came to co-evolve with humans.