Editor,
Deep in Phil Knight’s 2016 memoir “Shoe Dog” about the rise of Nike through many shoe experiments and financial cliffhangers are these three words: “Grow or die.” In 2019, Greta Thunberg reached New York’s Global Climate Summit by sea without carbon fuelling, and declared to those assembled three different words: “How dare you!” The Summit reconvened last month in petro-state Azerbaijan, with little achieved on the climate transformation front. Now come Donald Trump’s three little words as his version, beyond Knight’s, of high-end, “mature” capitalism: “DRILL BABY DRILL!”
Thunberg in 2019 at age 16 and Trump in 2024 at age 78 were named Time’s Person of the Year. Which views and whose generations will prevail in 2029 and beyond? America, nearing its 250th birthday, has choices and decisions to make between such colliding visions, and so do others globally. Young voters supported Democrats weakly in November: Could their reasons have included the Dem campaign’s muted attention to the climate, gun violence and Gaza’s destruction, issues that many under-30s, like Thunberg, identify with and act passionately about?
By 2029, or not much later, we need to counter what Knight wrote in 2016: “Grow and die” need to replace his three little words, and Trump’s.
Milt Krieger
Bellingham
Editor,
Encouraging the rezoning of Washington state communities for massive multifamily rental developments is good for the building and real estate industries, but does nothing for affordable housing, unless it is stipulated by law that the rezones require developers to sign contractual agreements stating a specific percentage of units will be offered to low-income people at 30% of income — which is the standard for subsidized housing.
Eliminating parking requirements adds to profitability for developers but given the horrendous impact this can have on existing single-family neighborhoods it seems that the least local governments can do to protect the poor from predatory corporate landlords and formerly peaceful neighborhoods from chaos is to insist that those who profit from relaxed zoning laws not make things worse. Without rent control, there is no hope for half our population.
The state of Washington has always succumbed to the undue influence of the building and real estate industries’ lobbyists in Olympia who have always opposed environmental protection, treaty rights and developers having to pay for the impacts of development that can financially devastate municipalities dealing with those impacts. They are more than happy to take advantage of the homelessness catastrophe they helped create through their unceasing avarice.
Jay Taber
Blaine
Editor,
Trump’s plan to “rehabilitate” the federal Department of Education involves the administration of education to be performed by each state.
Should Linda McMahon be confirmed as his pick to head the department, it will be her responsibility to assist our incoming president in this process.
But wait! Before this process begins, I feel that both Trump and McMahon (or whoever is confirmed) should establish two mandates concerning education: The first mandate, national basic education (the 3Rs) must replace woke education throughout the country. Woke education, involving political indoctrination, has no place in any training program (schools, military, employment, other) as it will not prepare the trainees for the mental challenges they will face as they move on in their chosen paths. We will not improve scholastic achievement for the United States unless we adopt basic education standards as a national standard.
The second mandate is national school choice, allowing public schools to compete and improve with other educational programs (private, charter, homeschooling) and to allow parents a choice; some students learn better in other educational environments! Parents should know! Once these mandates are implemented, each state can really “rehabilitate” their state educational programs by assuring parents, taxpayers, students and teachers that achieving excellent scholastic achievement for their students will be a reality and benefit our country’s future while obtaining a good return on their financial investment and efforts toward building the future of our country.
Gerald Hulbert
Sumas
Editor,
Re: Gross Misuse of Public Resources in the case of Adam (Bo) McGinty, in which [Bellingham Police Department] put McGinty on paid administrative leave while investigating his use of $751 worth of drycleaning to which he was, allegedly, not entitled. BPD terminated McGinty, brought criminal charges and pursued it to a trial, in which McGinty was found not guilty (CDN, Nov. 22, 2024).
What did the futile pursuit of $751 cost the tax-paying public?
The City of Bellingham incurred costs for:
- two months of admin leave for Det. McGinty
- initial investigators
- internal affairs investigators
- the Skagit County prosecutor’s office to bring the case
- the court judge, clerk, reporter and facilities
Also consider the intangible costs to our community; in that, investigation of actual crime was put on hold while detectives and investigators pursued drycleaning charges, and the trial created conflict and delay in other trials.
We ask Mayor Lund, in her duty to the City of Bellingham:
Finally, would you consider whether the BPD leadership is truly serving us?
Please consider and address the disparity between a $750 “crime” and the $75,000 (guestimate) cost to pursue said crime?
Please consider whether a thinking person could have anticipated from the outset that the maximum amount of public resources warranted for laundry extends to the amount of time it takes to write an email?
Please look into why this happened? Is there a toxic work environment? Are there unknown powers at play? Why did the City of Bellingham and the Bellingham Police Department spend our money this way?
Jeni Engebretson
Bellingham
Editor,
This year as in years before, the ritual of Christmas gift-giving to local residents in Care Centers has been the highlight of the season for the Assistance League of Bellingham. For each of the 120 residents in the six care centers, we feel a oneness in this rich tapestry of the Christmas Season.
From wish lists for each resident provided by the activity directors, our members carefully select the items that will make their lives more enjoyable and comfortable. The financial support for the Care Center Program is mainly provided by the revenue from our Thrift and Gift Shop.
Preparation for Christmas extends year-round for the Peaceable Quilters from Lynden who tirelessly gather the material and whose talents create artistic and beautiful lap quilts. We celebrate with a great sense of gratitude their donation of 80 lap quilts that carry their love, prayers and support for the Care Center residents.
Sadly, many residents have no close relatives nor have visitors and spend the holidays alone in their memories. Perhaps this year you might make room in your holiday to call a Care Center and inquire what you may do to bring some goodwill and cheer to a forgotten resident.
Helen Moran
Bellingham
Editor,
Chief Mertzig:
This is a letter of gratitude, anger … and empathy as a parent. Thank you for swift action that minimally prevented a lockdown/shutdown at Kulshan Middle School. We will never know if lives were saved, or how many. (Editor’s note: A student was arrested after allegedly making an online threat regarding a school shooting, CDN, Dec. 19, 2024)).
Is it enough that the judge orders counseling and bars this kid from having an account until 18? Do we also hold these parents responsible under RCW 4.24.190? Their child‘s “cry for help” horrifically redacted to “shouting ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.” And whether the charge is ultimately “felony harassment,” or making “terroristic threats” — say if the presumptive search of the suspect’s home when they were taken into custody turned up unsecured firearms — “All Are Punishéd.”
And even if they did everything right and the child just had a “bad day” (or has “bad wiring”) they must now live with the guilt of, “Where did we go wrong, what did we/the doctors miss?” They will also have to transfer their child to another school, or move to another district, to avoid ostracization, bullying or worse, a “code red.”
They say, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Words, even absent any possibility of action, can be so destructive to the community. I call here and now for you to take point on pushing Washington state to regulate social media. Just as we require a 16-year-old to pass a written test, and demonstrate competency behind the wheel in order to drive, so should a teenager pass a “netiquite” exam, and their parents sign to accept legal responsibility for the consequence of their child’s online activity.
Omar Firestone
Bellingham
Editor,
I thoroughly enjoyed your rant(s) regarding overuse of words. I sometimes wonder if the writers are being paid by the word, or syllable.
High on my list is the use of the word approximately as in, “Approximately 387 people attended the event.” Approximately? Perhaps saying, “Nearly 390 (or even 400)… ” would be sufficient. Or “2 a.m. in the morning.” Are you sure it wasn’t 2 a.m. in the afternoon? So many more but …
I’ll close with a statement I am fond of using: Never use a big word when a diminutive one will do.
Ken Lingbloom
Bellingham
Editor,
There is no shortage of people in this world trying to rip off their fellow man with all manner of scams. Certain modern “conveniences” like Facebook or other social media sites, as well as browsers like Safari, make it easy to send a scam email to some unsuspecting and trusting soul who can then be bilked and robbed at will. Many of these scams, thanks again to browsers like Safari, can arrive from all manner of convenience one may use and frequent like Amazon, UPS, the United States Postal Service, Fed Ex, Fox News, ad nauseum.
“If it seems too good to be true, it isn’t” is still a good rule of thumb, but the sophistication of the technology used by the scammers still allows them to find their prey. You may conduct legitimate business online and then be targeted in minutes or hours in such a way as to make you think it is a follow-up to your legitimate business.
One equally insidious scam was pulling the wool over the eyes of the voters wanting to believe in all the negativity and disinformation put out by the GOP and MAGA. So now we have ended up with a dilettante and a fool for a president who has many of the same billionaires behind high tech using him as their puppet.
As with any scam, the path to success is targeting the gullible, whether it be online or in the political realm.
Michael Waite
Sedro-Woolley
Editor,
When I read about the “scientific blind studies” that [Robert F.] Kennedy Jr. and his attorney are going to push for on vaccines, I thought of the syphilis studies done in Tuskegee for 40 years. Why would anyone want to sentence people to suffer in the name of a “scientific study”? We still suffer from medical distrust in some of our population due to these studies. I was also reminded of the successful Reading Recovery Program for individualized reading instruction based on student response and learning differences. The program was defunded due to “noncompliance with the scientific blind studies requirement.” What reading teacher would deny successful reading intervention in a “blind study” that would result in reading deficiency? A “proven” method from a text does not meet the needs of all students.
The health and well-being of our citizens need every child and adult to NOT carry contagions that will affect everyone else. Sometimes “official studies” sound like a good idea, but actually deny safety. Success for individuals depends on the safety of all. There is a reason that traffic laws are demanded of all drivers, without blind studies first.
Donna Starr
Blaine
Editor,
Have the traffic laws in Bellingham changed?
Is it legal to go through a red stop light? Is it legal to go through stop signs? Do School Zone Speed Limits no longer exist? Is tailgating legal? Has the speed limit on Lakeway now changed to 50 mph?
Bellingham is “totally out of control” with the way people drive. There is no law enforcement anywhere which monitors how bad drivers are in Bellingham.
The unfortunate consequence is that those of us who are attempting to obey the traffic rules are the ones who end up paying the consequences for the inexcusable driving behavior Bellingham has allowed to happen.
Sandi Halgren
Bellingham
Letters to the Editor are published online Wednesdays; a selection is published in print Fridays. Send to letters@cascadiadaily.com by 10 a.m. Tuesdays. Rules: Maximum 250 words, be civil, have a point and make it clearly. Preference is given to letters about local subjects. CDN reserves the right to reject letters or edit for length, clarity, grammar and style, or removal of personal attacks or offensive content. Letters must include an address/phone number to verify the writer's identity (not for publication).
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