4 • July 31, 2013 • Snoqualmie Valley Record
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SNOQUALMIE Valley
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Disabled parking permits can have many causes
Valley Record SNOQUALMIE
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I’m responding to Sue Mackey’s letter from July 10 in which she advocates confronting and calling attention to people using handicap parking when it appears that they have no physical disability. Ms. Mackey describes an encounter at the Mount Si Golf Course in which a man is parked in a handicap parking spot. She asked the middle-aged man if he was disabled and he replied “yes”, after which he walked unaided (and without apparent disability) into a restaurant. She then explains how she stared at the man throughout his meal to make him feel uncomfortable. I have no personal experience with this encounter, but would like to inform Ms. Mackey that there are some disabilities which cannot always be recognized via casual observation, (two examples include fibromyalgia and arthritis). Light physical activity, like golf, might be beneficial to some with these disabilities. Painful symptoms may not always accompany these disabilities, however if symptoms trigger while at a restaurant, in a movie theater, or on a golf course, then every additional step back to a parking spot could cause pain or discomfort. Never use disabled parking spots if you are not disabled, (not even to wait for someone or to turn your car around). If you personally know someone who is abusing disabled parking privileges, then I encourage you to persuade that person to stop. These actions alone will help ensure all those with disabilities (obvious or not) can find and use disabled parking without any fear of embarrassment or shame.
When do you start getting ready to go ‘back to school’?
Thursday, July 28, 1988
Concerned over candidate’s vote on school’s Pathways
See LETTERS, 5
Past This week in Valley history
Nic Pacholski North Bend
On July 11, the district presented its first phase of implementing the “Curriculum Pathways and Benchmarks Policy 2423” to the school board, and it was greeted with wide applause. It’s an excellent step toward assisting students (and parents) with making informed choices about the ideal course map for students in grades 6 to 12, giving the best chance for achieving post-high school goals. Imagine taking a family road trip from Snoqualmie to Florida. Picture embarking without maps or a GPS. You would probably make some wrong turns, and would need to stop to ask for directions. Your trip may take longer, cost more, and require re-routing—making it impossible to arrive on-time. A map would have made the journey easier and faster than doing it on-thefly, turn-by-turn—resulting in course corrections and false starts. This is precisely what the Snoqualmie Valley School Board’s policy 2423 tackles, stating “the district shall implement curriculum pathways for 6th through 12th grade in, but not limited to, mathematics, science, social studies, English and world languages…”. It goes on to read, “These curriculum pathways shall be widely communicated by the district to staff, parents and students.” We like the clear communication. We like information. We like choices upfront, and early. Thank you to the school board members who brought this policy to the forefront and debated for its approval. The board, however, split with a 4-1 vote in September, while approving this policy. Why would a School Board Director vote against this policy—we wondered? Director Marci Busby, currently up for reelection, was the only dissenting vote. She said, (in September) regarding the process, “I think it’s wrong ...There’s just a lot of questions. There’s just so many things in the air.”
Out of the
“We start getting ready a week before school starts. We want to make summer last as long as possible, so we put it off for until the last day.”
“In early August, I started getting clothes for school from Kmart and whatnot. But I always waited until the last minute to get school supplies.”
Katy Hawley North Bend
Norma Johnson North Bend
• Carrie Pierce, a clerk at the Thriftway grocery store for three years, won $1.5 million in the Washington State Lottery. She bought her usual one ticket, and didn’t find out she won until she went to work on Friday. She is the second Thriftway clerk to win big this year. Lori Brown, now a resident of Redmond, took the $5 million grand prize early last October. •Valley residents were among those testifying at a hearing on solid waste disposal alternatives in Issaquah. The overwhelming message, again, was “No thanks!” to a mass burn facility.
Thursday, Aug. 1, 1963
“We’ve already started getting school supplies. We want to be totally ready.”
“I usually start preparing in early August. That works best for our family.”
Suzanne Perkins North Bend
Nancy Kinsella-Johnson North Bend
• Almost everyone knows a bear is a night feeder, but this habit of Sir Bruin became quite expensive for a number of nocturnal hunters in the past couple of weeks. Local Game Protectors have made eight arrests of night shooters recently. • Wayne and Josie Gaub will open wide the doors of their new Snoqualmie Food Center Thursday for a three-day Grand Opening.