Council Should Support Centralia Outdoor Pool
To the editor:
I would like to share a few thoughts about the Centralia Pearl Street swimming pool. It was built around 60 years ago.
I was there along with a huge crowd of supportive, eager kids and their parents on that opening day. We were proud to say Centralia finally had a safe place for swimmers to enjoy during the hot summer months. Many years later we were equally proud to say we had a fantastic state of the art indoor pool (actually two pools in the same building).
There was a brief time when some consideration was given by the city to close the Pearl Street Pool. Some folks thought one pool was enough. A very significant community drive was undertaken to keep both the indoor and Pearl Street Pool open. They did both remain open for many years and were supported with city funds.
We must, however, also recognize that use of the Pearl Street Pool has declined in the past few years. Currently, our city fathers are faced with an economy that might lack the funds needed to keep the downtown Pearl Street Pool operating. They cite expenses may be too great to bring the existing equipment up to required safety and operational standards.
Now a group of concerned citizens has organized to seek financial support from the City Council to keep the pool open for future use. This group has asked the city’s proposed 2014 budget include a funding source for the Pearl Street Pool.
The council has yet to decide if it wishes to support this cause. For many years, the city was the only funding source for the pool and now another group has stepped forward to assist in this expense. I personally feel this citizen support group should be recognized as a viable group by the council and the council should reinstate a funding line for operation and expenses to keep the Pearl Street Pool open.
This pool provided many enjoyable hours for me as a child and also for my sons and granddaughters. I would ask the City Council members to give serious consideration to again show the support they had so eagerly given to the pool for more than 50 years. This downtown Pearl Street Pool has been a positive influence in our area and should be supported by our elected officials.
Dan Duffy
Centralia
When Do We Say No to White House Policies?
To the editor:
Our national economy is on the rocks and there don’t appear to be much, if any, administrative attempts in improving it, including cutting back our mounting national deficit spending.
We have had 4½ years now of our current administrative unproductive spend, spend and spend some more programs with absolutely no restraints and no light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s getting worse.
What’s behind all this and how much worse can it get when entire cities are forced to shut down because of more job cutbacks? And the big question, “How much more of this can we put up with?”
Another issue that Democrats have been perusing for several years now that would have a significant impact on all of us and is beginning to surface is “one world government.” Think for a moment here, what does this entail and what are the consequences of our country being involved? Of all the countries in the world, our country would have the most to lose.
Basically, and what it boils down to is, we would be bailing out third world countries. Supposing now, if under this form of government, China, Russia, Japan and Taiwan were to decide what to do with our natural resources, including our timber belt, which, by the way, is the finest on the planet, and they have had their eyes on it for years.
For the most part, Democrats have put a lid on our timber industry by implementing President Bill Clinton’s Endangered Species Act and followed up by his Roadless Rule Act, which has handcuffed our logging and timber industry for the past 25 years or so, creating the largest and most devastating economic disaster in the history the Northwest.
It’s all political folks, and we are not running out of timber by a long shot, which politicians, mostly Democrats, want you to believe. We have more than 400 million acres of mature private, state and federal timber at our disposal in our country. That could make somebody very rich. Will it be us?
Here is an interesting task you might like to try sometime. Pick out a high elevation vantage point overlooking a vast parcel of timber. Notice all the dead-top, brownish colored tree tops. That’s what we call “top rot,” caused by insects, and there’s plenty of it. Top rot causes a tree to deteriorate at the rate of 2 feet per year and more, depending on how many bugs attack a tree. This is only one unhealthy aspect facing our forests today that environmentalists are deliberately overlooking, and there are plenty more.
Environmentalist propaganda is pretty well influencing political decisions here in our country that included “global warming” and have now expanded their efforts in helping form plans of a near future one world government. And what could be interesting is: Who might be the head of it?ww
Art Reynolds
Chehalis
Zimmerman Case Was, in Fact, About Race
To the editor:
Chronicle columnist John McCroskey claims that the response to the verdict in the George Zimmerman case shouldn’t be about race. Well, of course it’s about race. That’s why McCroskey and Faux News and Rush Limbaugh and talk show host John Panesko are wwtripping all over themselves claiming it isn’t about race. Would Zimmerman have pursued a white kid carrying Skittles and iced tea?
McCroskey claimed that the jury based its decision upon the facts, but McCroskey didn’t want to talk about the fact that the police dispatcher told Zimmerman to stay in his car and not follow Trayvon Martin. McCroskey conveniently failed to mention that Zimmerman told the police dispatcher, “F------ punks. These a-------. They always get away.” In other words, here we have an armed cop-wannabe looking for a fight with a black kid.
But McCroskey claims he knows that Martin attacked Zimmerman. How does he know that? Couldn’t Zimmerman have attacked a blanking punk who was a blankhole? Sure Martin broke Zimmerman’s nose and had him on the ground pounding him, but who’s to say Martin wasn’t vigorously defending himself from a crazed cop-wannabe who got in his face? Any reasonable person could conclude Martin had a right to defend himself. But when Zimmerman realized he was in over his head, he pulled out his gun and shot Martin.
This shouldn’t be a race issue. It should be about justice. Martin did not receive justice.
The larger issue is, how do McCroskey and Panesko get away with spewing their extremist right-wing, anti-government propaganda? Everybody knows the Lewis County Democratic Party, chaired by Jen Slemp, is dead. Slemp is not only the chair of the Lewis County Democratic Central Committee, but also of the 20th Legislative District Democrats. She is a very ambitious girl.
Last month Panesko banned the last Democrat who had the guts to call into his show and disagree with him. Where is Slemp? Democrats in other states are being arrested for fighting for voters’ rights, workers’ rights and women’s rights, but Slemp wouldn’t even stick up for a Democrat trying to get the Democratic message out on Panesko’s show. You wouldn’t even know we have a Democratic Party in Lewis County under Slemp.
The Lewis County Democratic Central Committee is absolutely worthless. Each and every one of them should be ashamed of themselves. They allow The Chronicle and KELA to tell Lewis County what to think. Don’t give them any of your money or waste any of your time on them until they start acting like a real political organization instead of a social club.
Slemp also wants to run for the state House. But don’t worry. If she ever tries to run for any public office, I will be sitting right next her. If she can’t even use her chairmanships to help bring dignity and respect to Lewis County Democrats, she doesn’t deserve to hold public office. The Republicans cannot beat us on the issues.
Chuck Haunreiter
Chehalis
Drug Policy Should Be the Same for All Sports
To the editor:
Let me state unequivocally that I am against watching records fall to drug-induced athletes instead of talented, hard-working individuals. However, having said that, performance enhancing drugs should be legal or illegal for all sports.
Where are the regulatory bodies for professional wrestlers and bodybuilders? Is anyone delusional enough to believe that results of that degree can be reached naturally? Lance Armstrong said that he took drugs because he wouldn’t be competitive against all the other athletes who are juicing.
The attitude that drugs are OK for some sports and not others is ridiculous. Perhaps some sports would not be as profitable without overdeveloped athletes and money is always the bottom line, isn’t it? Someone once said that “sports scores should be posted in the business section of the paper.”
Ron David
Salkum
Kids’ Museum Thrives on Community Support
To the editor:
Thanks for all your support! You may have seen our note in the results edition of the 2013 Best of Lewis County sponsored by The Chronicle. Those of us at Discover! Children’s Museum were pleased that so many of you acknowledged this effort with your votes in the two categories we were nominated. However, our small “thanks” hardly expresses the enormous gratitude and encouragement we felt.
As you may know, this project is a community-based, non-profit, local volunteer pilot program. We operate as part of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team. From the start, our overall mission was to serve as a source to nurture the learning needs of our community’s children and families.
We want to be known as a fun, friendly, safe, family place to learn and play. Your generous votes have indicated that we have met that expectation.
Every dream of this magnitude requires the creativity and effort of many dozens of individuals. Discover! Museum is no different. Behind the scenes are many talented men and women who have invested their vision, time and energy in making this a reality.
But it is you, the community, who come each day to the museum who bring us the most joy. The happy noise of play, the encouraging conversation between adults and kids, the laughter, the intensity of imagination and learning are what make this a joyful place to be. We are delighted to have you share this mission and vision with us.
Marilynn Chintella
director
Discover! Children’s Museum
