[6] February 20, 2015 [ LETTERS from page 5 ]
Setting the wrong gold standard On its Feb. 11 newscast, KIRO devoted the first 10 minutes to victimless property crimes. The following evening, KIRO reported five or six businesses burglarized in a small area, an 11-year-old girl terrified in Leavenworth by an apparent thief walking around in the house, and a $6,000 jewelry snatch and dash. It is claimed that minor drug use leads to hard drug use. Is it reasonable to think that lack of consequences for “victimless crime” leads to more serious victim crime? Washington emptied the prisons 10 years ago and has taken
[ AUSTIN from page 5 ] some good. So, with a shrug I said OK and waited for the other students to arrive. As the new moms walked in, they saw me and hesitated for a tick. A look passed over their faces, saying, “Am I in the right class?” Fortunately for me these women were very nice and made me feel welcome. As for the babies, their colorful jumpers didn’t fool me. I could see they were sizing me up. I don’t know exactly how old they were because all kids look the same to me until they are around 20, but they were carried in a gizmo that looked like a picnic basket, so they must have been pretty young. The class itself is a smart idea. Mothers don’t need to worry about child care, and the babies have fun while mom gets a good workout. Yet the real genius is the fact that as each mother’s child grows, the workouts
www.auburn-reporter.com first place in property crime in the U.S. according to the FBI. King County took the state gold medal. Gov. Jay Inslee wants to release more of these criminals. King County Executive Dow Constantine doesn’t even want them occupying jail space at all. In the Auburn Reporter on Feb. 6 (“City’s inmate tally declines at SCORE jail”), Mayor Nancy Backus proudly points to $2 million in cost savings by eliminating municipal court and contracting with King County Superior Court, which uses an alternative “sentencing philosophy.” That philosophy, plus cost savings, smells like more criminals on the street to me. How much do these criminals prowling the city, stealing from us non-victims, cost us when replacing stolen property and in
violated security? How much does it boost our insurance rates? How much do thieves increase sales tax revenues for the City and state when we replace property? Is Auburn going for the gold in the King County property crime competition? – Bob Zimmerman
Reichert and oil Congressman Davie Reichert does not represent me. Why? Let’s take just one topic. The Keystone pipeline. First, Reichert voted to exempt the oil company from paying into a fund that would pay to clean up any spills. That leaves the cost to us. Second, Reichert voted to invoke eminent domain. The oil companies needed that because
become harder, and the more fit the mom becomes. In fact, before she knows it, she’ll be doing squats and calf raises with a 30-year-old on her hip. For me, however, it was not without its weirdness. Since the child itself is an integral part of the workout, I needed to come up with some progeny pronto. I decided on a bouncing baby medicine ball – my mother always wanted a doctor in the family. He looked like a volleyball and weighed a healthy 8 pounds. I named him Wilson. The session was also unusual in the sense that it was the first time I’d ever had a workout where breast feeding was involved. I guess it makes sense though; even babies need to carboload before training. On the good side, I got some insight into my parenting skills. I kept dropping Wilson, which I’ve been
the pipeline will go directly through sacred Indian grounds. Haven’t we taken enough from the Indians? And third, it will only create a handful of permanent good paying jobs, not the thousands they want you to believe. Finally, there are the environmental issues. The oil company has Reichert in its pocket. There is no benefit to me or you from this pipeline, only the oil company benefits and, of course, Reichert benefits. Is that what represents you? It doesn’t represent me. – Patti Larson
A worthy event We recently participated in the Auburn Chocolate Walk orga-
community with a rich experience in diversity and global awareness. Yet very little of this money is used to fund faculty salaries. Instead, it’s often used to fund special projects and new administrative positions and interests not supported by the state. In their article, Ely and Lewis correctly point out that without faculty and staff, the college could not function. And while it’s true that faculty and staff have not received earned salary increases since 2008, they fail to mention that not only has the number of administrative positions increased but many administrators have also received considerable salary increases, much of them funded through local dollars. While some of the special projects funded by local funds are good for the college and the community, we must not ignore faculty salaries in the equation. Faculty and staff salaries have not kept up with the cost of living. Some CTCs elsewhere in our state have
Chris Austin is the circulation manager at The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber, a cyclist and a writer.
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their teachers to use local funds to compensate faculty for additional work and responsibilities directly benefiting students. It’s time that Green River and the state Legislature follow suit. Like Ely and Lewis, the faculty of Green River College urge you to tell your legislators to fully fund the very valuable community resource that our community and technical colleges are. Realizing that the government probably isn’t going to fully fund faculty salaries, tell your legislators and your college’s leadership to support the use of local dollars to help fund faculty compensation. Additionally, tell them to support House Bill 1863, which would allow the use of local dollars to fairly and adequately supplement two-year college teacher salaries when tax dollars can’t.
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[ OUR TURN from page 5 ] successfully worked with
told is not good for newborns, and I tended to sit on him during breaks. On the bad side, there was a lot of crying, all of it from me. Another unusual aspect of this workout was spotting. Spotting at the gym means helping someone get through a particularly strenuous exercise, but when babies are involved, it’s an entirely different thing. After a class full of planks, pushups and bridges, we ended with the challenging baby shot put. OK, I am kidding about the last one, but it was just as well because I was knackered. After cooling off, I put my baby in the corner (with apologies to Patrick Swazye) and was surprised to see the other mothers taking their children home. It is so much easier just to keep them at the gym.
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nized by the Auburn Downtown Association. We followed it with a delicious dinner, then saw an amazing concert at the Auburn Ave Theater with Tayla Lynn, Loretta Lynn’s granddaughter. Our family had a marvelous time, without ever leaving downtown Auburn. Without an hour drive to Seattle – with free parking and a five-minute drive home. To top it off, our son won a drawing from the Chocolate Walk. Thanks for the lovely basket, Rottles. Auburn is becoming a worthy destination for arts and entertainment. We can’t wait until the next event.
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