Editor,
The training flights of the U.S. Navy Growler planes continue to create controversy in our community. There are strong feelings on all sides and yet we need to find common ground to move forward.
Editor,
The training flights of the U.S. Navy Growler planes continue to create controversy in our community. There are strong feelings on all sides and yet we need to find common ground to move forward.
The following items are 9-1-1 calls to the Island County Sheriff’s Office, South Precinct.
Monday, June 16
1:56 p.m. — A caller at a Freeland grocery stores reported three women shoplifting in the personal care aisle. The suspects appear to be in their early 20s, and all were wearing gray hoodies and jeans.
Editor,
We have been riding our bicycles on South Whidbey almost every day since the beginning of April.
We try to obey traffic laws, try not to take the right-of-way when a vehicle has it, stop for pedestrians, etc.
Our experience is that motorists on the island are very considerate of cyclists. Most importantly, they give us plenty of space, often slowing down until it is safe to pass. Frequently drivers who are coming toward us move to their right to give space for vehicles passing us. Motorists often wave us through even when they have the right of way.
Editor,
Just before moving to paradise two years ago, my husband and I stayed in the lovely inn across the street from the Langley Library. I recall being impressed with the library, as I immediately recognized the vibrancy offered there.
Coming from another state, where libraries cut back hours and struggled to meet needs of the growing digital community, I witnessed just the opposite at the Langley Library. Since moving here, my first impression was validated. Vicky Welfare and her staff are available, professional, and ready to serve a full menu to tantalize literacy.
Editor,
This is an open letter to President Obama. Thank you for bringing to an end to a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but please do not repeat the errors of the past by once again bombing Iraq or committing the United States militarily in Iraq. To do so would involve our country in what is a sectarian civil war. Dropping bombs in Iraq will inevitably result in civilian casualties and hatred directed toward the United States, making us less secure, not more secure.
Editor,
All of us here at Enso House want to convey our deepest appreciation to the Rotary Club of Whidbey Westside for their generous gifts of time, talents and resources in the loving construction of new deck railing and multiple beautification projects of the surrounding grounds. With enthusiastic and joyful hearts, they worked as a team and demonstrated just how powerful compassionate service is. They have touched our hearts with their acts and the spirits they shared as they worked. Those who come to Enso House for care in their final days will be blessed by their efforts indeed.
Editor,
Friends of Freeland moved the planters on Main Street to the sheriff’s office where they have promised to keep them looking good.
We will help with additional plants to get them off to a great start and to make this an enjoyable place to drive by.
Editor,
I read the article about South Whidbey Fire/EMS selling some unused land. I have no comment on the price or pending sale of that property, as the fire district is dealing with a very competent real estate agent who is giving competent advice.
However, the last couple paragraphs of the newspaper article stated that Chief Rusty Palmer and the commissioners think that it could take “several more decades” for that land to be worth what the district paid for it in 2001.
Editor,
This is letter is about Mr. Freeman’s gun-inspired anger. Yes, the U.S. “has become even more awash with guns,” especially since the present administration took office, but homicide rates have declined even as the total supply of guns has increased.
Notwithstanding Mr. Freeman’s paranoia about guns, mass shootings contribute a relatively small fraction of gun deaths — and result in massive news coverage. Northeastern criminology professor James Alan Fox: “… there has been no increase in mass shootings and certainly no epidemic.”
Editor,
Regarding Elliott Menashe’s letter published in the June 14 edition of The Record:
I wholeheartedly agree with Elliott that the current WICA [Whidbey Island Center for the Arts] production, “Our Town,” is an excellent rendering of Wilder’s classic and timeless treatment of life and death. Kudos to Mr. Rarick and the entire cast and crew for an excellent show. But wait, that’s just not unusual for WICA productions. Elliott, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but to say that “standards are lax” for WICA productions is ridiculous.
Editor,
I attended the opening night performance of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, or WICA. I went merely as a self-imposed obligation to friends in the cast and because I have great respect for the director, Tim Rarick.
Editor,
The Friends of Friends Medical Support Fund would like to thank everyone who responded to our spring letter. Through the generosity of the people of South Whidbey, the group is able to continue helping South Whidbey neighbors with medically-related expenses who cannot afford to pay.