Kids at camp preserve dying art
Penmanship, letter writing talk about old school. Does anybody still practice these ancient art forms?
Besides those folks in the county jail or the convalescent center, I have only been able to come up with one small sliver of society that persists in this archaic form of communication: kids at summer camp.
Hands off the merchandise at the dump
Been to the dump lately?
It's absolutely amazing to see what people throw away. Golf clubs, lawn furniture, ice chests and bird cages. Sinks, cabinetry, canoe paddles and giant stuffed animals. While a lot of it is obviously ruined, there is a lot that looks usable or repairable. But people are sometimes too lazy to sort the good stuff from the bad, so it winds up being wasted.
Scouts deserve praise and thanks
Every Monday night when I was growing up, my father would leave our dinner table early to be at the church basement by 7 for his weekly Scout meeting.
He was a Boy Scout troop leader for 24 years, and received the Silver Beaver Award for his service to scouting. Both my brothers are Eagle Scouts and received distinction with Order of the Arrow. The whole family watched my father and brothers march in uniform in Memorial Day parades, and spent many evenings eating lousy spaghetti during interminable award ceremonies. We cheered through years of Pinewood Derbies.
WASL takes hold on Class of 2008
We sat in the crowded Spokane Arena last Sunday, straining to catch a glimpse of our graduate among hundreds of classmates dressed in billowing black gowns and sporting mortarboards.
The Arena is huge, so it was a good choice for accommodating a graduating class of 380 with thousands of friends and family members, but it didn't exactly inspire quiet reverence. It's a more of a venue for air-horns, silly string and squirmy babies.
Assessment variations baffling
This week, 170,000 property owners in Spokane County got nifty little postcards from the Assessor's office. The little card looks a lot like one of those inserts that get stuck between the pages of magazines, and falls out annoyingly when you bring in the mail. But this little piece of paper is significant it's notification that property has been valued for next year's taxes.
A friend who lives on East 19th got a card showing his property went up 24 percent, yet his neighbors on either side said their values remained the same. Comparing notes, they couldn't arrive at any kind of explanation for it, except that he says he takes better care of his yard. He said he's going to quit mowing, if that's what he gets for it.
River gets the attention it deserves
We tend to be a little blasι about the river that runs though the heart of our city. Even the falls, for which the city was originally named, get barely a glance most of the year. No big deal.
The old adage rings true familiarity breeds contempt. We drive back and forth over those falls which most of the time are stumbling quietly over the basalt below, and grouse when we're stuck on the bridge. Oh, look, there's the river down there. How nice.
But not now. It's not nice anymore, it's a spectacle of raw power.
Where to draw the line on teen drinking
Turns out I made a mistake a few weeks ago when I reported in this column that parents could host an underage drinking party as long as they had the consent of the parents of all kids in attendance. Bottom line is, you can't do it. No matter if you take away the car keys, lock the doors, supervise every kid, and stay up all night it's against the law.
The issue ultimately pivoted on the definition of guardianship, as it is legal for minors to drink with their parents present in a private residence. And, even though we thought we had done our due diligence on this matter, having consulted the sheriff's department and prosecutor's office, we were wrong.
Lyons case another blow to police credibility
I don't want to pick on the police department, but they keep painting bullseyes on their backsides.
All we have to do is wait a few months, and here comes another glaring illustration of why the department's credibility is so badly mangled. This most recent fiasco concerns the case of 20-year-old Michael Lyons, the only one of the Fourth of July protesters to go to trial.
Applying the Pinocchio scale locally
There is a big, fat problem with lying in our culture.
The Washington Post sees prevarication as so prevalent, it has devised a scale, or continuum to distinguish its varying degrees. One Pinocchio signifies some shading of the facts, two Pinnochios is selective telling of the truth, and three Pinocchios is characterized by omissions and exaggerations, but no outright falsehoods. Four Pinocchios is the pinnacle the Big Whopper.
Condemn teen drinking? Or control it?
Here in Washington, you can legally start working when you're 14, and get a driver's permit at 15. Somewhere between 16 and 18 you can consent to sex, depending on the age difference between you and your partner. With your parents' permission, you can join the Marines at 17, and get shipped off to Iraq. At 18, you can get a tattoo, get married and vote. You can also sign a legally binding contract and be prosecuted as an adult.
However, you have to be 21 to purchase or possess alcohol here, just as in the rest of the country.
People are still arguing over whether it makes any sense to have teenagers die for their country, vote for their leaders, and marry and parent children and not be able to buy a beer. Nevertheless, it is the law.
Will we get the shaft on police oversight?
Once again, the citizens of Spokane are in danger of being bamboozled. A watered-down, gutted version of last year's original police oversight proposal is being forwarded as the panacea to the widely acknowledged rift between police and the policed in our community.
Come on, guys don't piss down my neck and tell me it's raining.
Racetrack deal should be black-flagged
It's mind-boggling.
County officials spend months wringing their hands over proposals to restore basic public safety services, yet they can't whip out the ol' checkbook fast enough to buy a dilapidated, contaminated racetrack. It looks to me like Commissioners Mark Richard and Todd Mielke let their gonads and political ambitions rule the day on this one.
Teen pot use is no relaxed matter
Like a lot of parents in my age group, I was pretty relaxed about marijuana. I went to college in the early '70s, when unprecedented numbers of people discovered and smoked pot. I'll admit to having inhaled. But pot scared me a little, and I had a set of rules for myself. I never kept or bought it, smoked alone or went out in public if I was high. It was illegal, after all, and not something I wanted to be a big part of my life. After college, it faded away completely as a chosen recreational activity.
Some years ago, deep into raising four boys, I became radicalized about pot, particularly teenagers and pot. I no longer have a relaxed attitude about it.
Dog park's popularity not unnoticed
My husband says if he ever opens a tavern, he'll call it the Dog Park, and post the rules of Petiquette right above the bar.
These detailed behavioral guidelines were developed by the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services (SCRAPS) for their wildly successful off-leash dog park out at State Line. Having recently become a big fan of the park, I can attest to how well these rules work. The park's reputation is unblemished after two and a half years of heavy petting.
Just to give you an idea here are the posted rules of Petiquette on Meeting and Greeting:
Encourage dogs to greet slowly.
Side glances are good.
Curving the body away from the other dog is better.
Smelling the rear-end is always best!
In the hot seat at 'Antiques Roadshow'
When I schlepped my goodies to the Convention Center last August, I never imagined I'd end up getting the third degree from all those nice "Antiques Roadshow" people.
But it makes sense. With money and TV involved, unscrupulous types will aim to capitalize. I'm happy to report that I made the cut. I was vetted to the satisfaction of show officials, and will be appearing on the wildly popular PBS program in the next few weeks.
Still seeking explanation for tragedy
The criminal trial of Clifford Helm is over. A jury last Friday acquitted Helm of five counts of vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular assault. I attended several days of the trial, and was not surprised by the decision.
There was no dispute that Helm was traveling northbound in the southbound lane of 395 on November 1, 2005, causing a head-on collision that killed five children. There was plenty of disagreement about why the tragedy occurred, and plenty of reasonable doubt on both sides. At various times in the trial, the arguments of one side or the other were equally persuasive or suspect. It was a very difficult case to prove either way, but the threshold for proof is high and rests with the prosecution.
I don't think the enormous interest in this case had to do with people seeking some sort of revenge or retribution for the deaths of five children. Instead, I believe most people, myself among them, wanted to understand what occurred. I harbor the irrational belief that if I can know and understand the dynamics of a horrible collision such as this, it might inoculate me from being involved in a similar fate. I might be able to take evasive action.
Helm's silence takes a heavy toll
The way I see it, there's not much difference between Fred Russell and Clifford Helm.
Each killed multiple people after getting behind the wheel of a vehicle a total of eight souls. Then, adding insult to injury, each of these men did their best to thwart justice. The old adage applies: Justice delayed is justice denied.
Ballots put voter diligence at risk
When I flipped through a stack of mail and saw the familiar red-and white envelope marked "Special Election Mail OFFICIAL BALLOT-DO NOT DELAY," I had a sinking feeling. I wondered if my presidential primary ballot had been returned for some reason, or worse, if I'd done exactly what the bold lettering had commanded me not to do I had delayed and my ballot never made it out of the house.
Vote for oversight system long overdue
A critical vote is coming up, one that has the potential to help restore faith and trust in the Spokane Police Department. Spokane's police union membership will be giving thumbs-up or -down to a new oversight system for reviewing citizen complaints about police conduct.
You may be reacting with incredulousness. Why on earth would the police union have a final say in this matter? The sad truth is, it's the law. State labor law.
Ahern's antics deserve another look
I've been a little caught up in the presidential primary, but there's a local politician who has been behaving like such a bonehead, he has managed to score some space in this column.
I'm talking about Spokane Sixth District Representative John Ahern. I've got a big-time bee in my bonnet over this guy, and I don't think his antics have gotten the attention they so richly deserve.
Making sense of the caucus-race
Something monumental happened in the political landscape this past week, and if you missed it, shame on you.
I'm not talking about the Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton stump speeches. Those events attracted a lot of folks, but there was no real action just the usual boiler-plate blah blah blah.
The happening place was the next day, at the local precinct caucuses.
Taking a shot at the written word
Editor's note: Rebecca is easing her way into the blog world. For starters, she'll just be posting her print columns. More will come later...
I lost my voice a couple of months ago, when Mark Fuhrman and I were axed from our 3-hour daily talk radio program.
For more than seven years, we talked about cops and crime, politics and policies, drugs and obesity. We talked about whatever was going on in the news that excited, mystified or infuriated us. We asked questions, invited guests, stirred the pot. We tried to rouse our listeners to be informed, pay attention, and get involved. It was a lot of work, and a lot of fun. I learned something new every day, and I hope our listeners did, too.
And that's a wrap...
As most of you already know, Frank Sennett, author of the Hard 7 column and blog, is on his way to the great Midwest to become the new editor of Time Out Chicago.
Unfortunately, that means the Hard 7 blog is closing up shop.
Frank is no longer posting or moderating, and unattended blogs tend to become magnets for spam, flame wars, and other garbage. So I've had to shut down comments on the blog. This unfortunately means all of the archived comments aren't visible, but we'll see about getting them back online soon.
Mary Verner will become Spokane's first two-term mayor in a generation
That's the final Spokane political prediction in my ultimate 7 column, which also outlines the three biggest improvements I'd like to see in the quality, and justness, of life in this city.
So let's open up this forum to discuss your list of priorities for a more just Spokane. That's a chewy subject to take us into the new year.
Also, thanks very much for checking in with encouraging words in recent days. I'm working in a low-key way on trying to find you all a fresh hangout spot, and will let you know as soon as I hear one way or the other.
And as always, I invite you to sign up for the free Alternative Source podcast. My final show airs tomorrow, but podcast producer Doug Dobbins plans to pick up where I leave off in coming weeks.
The penultimate column
Some of you have been asking for updates on my departure. I appreciate it. This week's column is my second-to-last one for 7, so watch for the final go-round next Friday.
My final Blogspotter runs in Monday's .TXT section.
Yesterday, I recorded my last two episodes of the Alternative Source. One will air this Saturday and the final one will run next Saturday.
The good news there is that podcast producer Doug Dobbins plans to continue the show in the new year and another friend of mine might be working with him to launch an Alternative Source International podcast I did a demo of in January. I'm not sure if the Alternative Source will continue airing on the radio, but it will still be available as a free podcast.
I'll continue blogging here at least until the last column runs and will do a final post to let you know when I'm done.
I'm going to dearly miss hanging out here with you all.
