Have you noticed what’s happening to gas prices? Even with discounts at Costco, Safeway or Freddy’s it’s scary. On Feb. 21 the Fourth Street Shell and Standard posted $3.79 for regular, the same as the Grove Street Union 76. Tulalip’s Chevron megastation was low at $3.66 per gallon.
After being away from Lake Stevens for a few weeks I tuned I tuned my radio to AM 1090 to pick up Thom Hartmann, a favorite talk show host. Alas, no Hartmann, just sports babble. I checked the frequency. Yup, it was 1090. Where had Hartmann gone?
Afew weeks ago, Chief Administrative Officer Gloria Hirashima and I met with a prominent real estate investor who had recently visited to walk around Marysville’s downtown and waterfront district. He is a smart entrepreneur who knows a thing or two about what it takes to help revitalize a downtown, because he has done it before.
Afew years ago the talk of the town was the size of Marysville-Pilchuck High School — about 2,800 students on the only high school campus. Not many were happy with so many students in one school.
Iwant to extend my best wishes to the citizens and families in Marysville for a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.
I came to Marysville nearly nine years ago filled with hopes and dreams as well as fears and apprehensions. I prayed for a home in Marysville, a good leadership team, and thousands of pray-ERs that would support our schools and our community. God delivered even more than I hoped for. Our leadership team works well together. Principals and teachers are making good things happen in our schools. And I love my five-minute commute. I have also discovered that God had people at work praying for Marysville long before I came. I am so appreciative of the Marysville churches and community and staff for the way in which they embrace our schools and our students.
When lawmakers convene Jan. 14 in Olympia for a scheduled 105-day legislative session, the eyes of the state Supreme Court will be focused on how the Legislature will respond to its mandate to fully fund a 21st-century public education system. On Jan. 5, 2012, the court ruled in McCleary v. State of Washington that lawmakers have failed to meet the state’s constitutional and paramount duty to “amply provide for the education of all Washington children as the state’s first and highest priority before any other state programs or operations.”
Merry Christmas, Marysville and Arlington. Each December 25th, much of our world celebrates the long-ago birth of a child who championed a way of life that so inflamed movers and shakers that they had him killed. He had preached a kind of peace that springs from doing simple acts of kindness that have little connection with riches and power. Trouble is, aside from some odd individuals who never fit in with socioeconomic progress, it’s never seriously been tried.
The recent deaths of three Washington teens — a 14-year-old Bellingham girl, a 17-year-old boy in Shoreline, and an 18-year-old Washington State University student — remind us just how dangerous alcohol is for minors. As parents and co-chairs of the Washington State Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking our hearts go out to the families and friends who are suffering these terrible losses.
