My pet traffic-peeves are getting out of Marysville and getting through Seattle. Planners claim that replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct with a tunnel will help relieve the Seattle issue, though at an astronomical cost. Something has to be done, as any traveler of the Viaduct will confirm. We can only hope that with the economy in a slump, the State and Feds will be able to come through with expected support.
Timmy Eyman’s at it again. (I’ll call him Timmy until he shows an adult’s sense of social responsibility.) Each time Timmy backs something, I get such a knee-jerk reaction to lean the opposite way that I have to sit back to inspect my own position. But he did get me to try to reason through the hoopla surrounding Monroe’s attempt to install red-light cameras at two intersections.
After a quick breakfast everyone heads out. Mom and Dad to workplaces, the kids to different schools. Mom and Dad travel in separate cars. The kids mosey down the street to two school bus stops, one for secondary, one for elementary. Maybe a block farther than last year to help cut transportation costs.
How much does it actually cost to keep one’s head above water in this economy? Studies show the cost of living in Marysville to be significantly higher than in Spokane or Walla Walla and planners who determine Washington’s poverty level fail to properly take this into account. This economy can be cruel if you’re not equipped to cope with it.
Time was when a woman’s route to success was strewn with obstacles. It was a man’s world. When I first joined the Marysville schools in 1958, there were two female administrators, Miss Larson who served as head teacher at Getchell Elementary and Liberty’s principal, Maxine Ebert. Aside from them, every top job in Marysville’s eight schools and administrative offices was held by a man.
This isn’t about Eric’s Little Heroes on Channel 4. This is about a stratospheric level of heroism that arises from inspired service on behalf of others. It is heroism typified by selfless acts that ask no reward other than the satisfaction of looking back on good deeds well done. We desperately need heroes of that measure to show us what can and should be done.
In a replay of Marysville’s decision of a few years ago, Monroe’s city council voted 6-1 in favor of a new Walmart. Promises of jobs, low prices and an extensive inventory tipped the balance as at 2,970 other Walmart projects from sea to shining sea. It was no-contest. Sam Walton’s site-securers came armed with sufficient legal precedent to discourage the city’s council from bucking their assault.
Sometimes coffee groups run short of grist for the conversational mill. At least that’s my observation so I lob in a few conversational grenades to pep things up. The effect is the same whether at Haggen’s Café, a table at the YMCA or on the street. Utter “Obama” and certain blood pressures soar. Add Social Security, Medicare, TARP, Tea-Party, Libya, ACORN and Planned Parenthood and I can turn silent assemblies into screaming shout-fests.
What do these addresses have in common? 1530 Grove, and 1206A, 1250B and 1250C in Safeway Plaza. The answer is, they are among a number of nice commercial sites in Marysville that should be occupied and humming with business.
It ’s not news that the economy is in trouble. What is surprising is that financial gurus still look for 1960-type theories to fix things. That world is history. Locally, the financial pinch left Marysville schools with a budget shortfall resulting in termination of a number of young teachers. That’s another 1960s fix that doesn’t work because Math and Science teachers tend to be among the youngest.
It took three light changes for me to get across the 88th and State intersection. I had opted for that route because 4th Street is normally jammed up in the afternoon. Too many people. Too many cars. Not enough arterials. And there will never be enough arterials because population-growth continues to outpace development.
I walked upstairs to stand at the top of the stairway wondering, why did I come up here? Earlier, my wife had said, “What was it you were saying before I interrupted?” I had no answer because the thought was lost. Why is it that plans and purposes drift off course so often?
NASCAR told a whopper. Back when the France family, NASCAR’s owners, were angling to build a race track north of…
