Letters to the Editor April 14, 2010
Published on Mon, Apr 12, 2010Read More Letters to the Editor
Lake Stevens police cars in Snohomish?
Dear Editor,
At 7:20 a.m. on Thursday, April 8, the coffee crowd at Jake’s Café was surprised to see a blue Lake Stevens police car pull up and park across the street.
A couple of questions immediately were asked. Were we to receive help in solving the world’s problems? Had the recent annexation of the city of Lake Stevens extended to Rainier Street in Snohomish?
Apparently not, as a uniformed police officer left the vehicle and dropped an envelope in the PUD’s night deposit box before driving away.
Perhaps the officer had been dispatched to make an emergency payment to keep the lights burning at city hall. Or, maybe his own house lights were dimming and his personal vehicle was low on gas.
Whatever the case, I wonder why an understaffed police department would allow an officer to leave his jurisdiction to pay bills, personal or otherwise, in a city owned vehicle.
It causes me concern after the song and dance we were given as part of the sales pitch to vote for annexation into, “One Community Around the Lake”.
Dave Kosche
Lake Stevens
Drivers need to slow down at crosswalks, schools
Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my concern about the traffic at the intersection of 4th St. SE and 91st Ave. SE near Hillcrest Elementary.
The Lake Stevens Police and Snohomish County Sheriff’s departments have exhibited their concern and increased their presence, which is greatly appreciated.
The Hillcrest parents and employees who serve as crossing guards continue to do a great job protecting our kids and asserting themselves to offenders. But their patrol times are brief compared to the flow of children and families walking to and from Hillcrest and neighboring schools.
This intersection has been a problem for the ten years I’ve lived here, and traffic has increased steadily with land development and our population.This school year has been much worse due in part, I suspect, to the work on Hwy. 9. Many drivers neither observe the speed limit in the school zone nor slow or stop for pedestrians.
Not one week has gone by when I haven’t been challenged by a driver actually accelerating to get through the crosswalk whether I have already entered it or not. And this is with my two-year-old in the stroller in front of me. Anyone old enough to have demonstrated the skills required to earn a driver’s license should have long since achieved basic levels of impulse control, patience, and time management.
Drivers lacking these skills and who don’t have an extra minute or two to spare for the safety of our children should consider alternate routes or rise to the occasion and practice some civility.
Our neighborhood is not a thoroughfare and the safety of our children is worth far more than the temporary inconvenience of having to slow down or stop and wait. A three-way stop at this intersection would improve safety, reduce hostility and regulate traffic flow.
Laurel Sager
Lake Stevens
Gravel trucks are a necessity for roads and new roundabout
Dear Editor,
This is in response to the letter written by Amy Hoffman posted in the March 31 Journal entitled “Gravel trucks should use correct highways.”
Many people look forward to the new roundabout on Lundeen Parkway as a way to better move traffic along.
I do ask, that as you sit in your home office pondering the wonders soon to be unfolded, think about this. The trucks, in fact, are not avoiding the weigh station.
Lake Drive leads the trucks directly in and out of the heart of the roundabout project. The truck drivers you are so quick to detest are moving the excavated dirt away from your beloved project.
They are also bringing in the gravel and rock that will stabilize the roadway for the roundabout.
These projects can’t be built without the gravel and rock, it’s a necessity.
Maybe one’s disdain at being temporarily annoyed is misdirected. Something I’m sure would have been avoided with a drive down the street for a “look-see”.
It may even be possible that the expansion of a gravel pit could be seen in a new light. Not as an evil empire out to make you miserable, but, in fact, is providing a useful and needed commodity to projects all around us.
Lee Langley
Lake Stevens
Secondary offense to primary offense - again
Dear Editor,
When are people going to learn?
When the legislature first passed the seat belt law, they promised us that it would never be a primary offense. They promised that we would only get a ticket for not wearing our seat belts if we did something else wrong while driving.
A few years later, we got “Click it or Ticket”.
An even shorter time has passed between the new cell phone law, which again they promised would never be a primary offense, and the current proposal to make it a primary offense.
The voters fell for it twice.
Does anyone want to lay odds on them trying this trick a third time in the next few years with a law against eating and drinking while driving?
Comparisons to boiled frogs or camel’s noses abound, but the common factor is, we have been lied to in each case.
It doesn’t matter whether you think the particular law is a good one or not, we should have no tolerance for dishonest methods or the politicians that use them.
Richard Chandler
Lake Stevens
Dear Editor,
At 7:20 a.m. on Thursday, April 8, the coffee crowd at Jake’s Café was surprised to see a blue Lake Stevens police car pull up and park across the street.
A couple of questions immediately were asked. Were we to receive help in solving the world’s problems? Had the recent annexation of the city of Lake Stevens extended to Rainier Street in Snohomish?
Apparently not, as a uniformed police officer left the vehicle and dropped an envelope in the PUD’s night deposit box before driving away.
Perhaps the officer had been dispatched to make an emergency payment to keep the lights burning at city hall. Or, maybe his own house lights were dimming and his personal vehicle was low on gas.
Whatever the case, I wonder why an understaffed police department would allow an officer to leave his jurisdiction to pay bills, personal or otherwise, in a city owned vehicle.
It causes me concern after the song and dance we were given as part of the sales pitch to vote for annexation into, “One Community Around the Lake”.
Dave Kosche
Lake Stevens
Drivers need to slow down at crosswalks, schools
Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my concern about the traffic at the intersection of 4th St. SE and 91st Ave. SE near Hillcrest Elementary.
The Lake Stevens Police and Snohomish County Sheriff’s departments have exhibited their concern and increased their presence, which is greatly appreciated.
The Hillcrest parents and employees who serve as crossing guards continue to do a great job protecting our kids and asserting themselves to offenders. But their patrol times are brief compared to the flow of children and families walking to and from Hillcrest and neighboring schools.
This intersection has been a problem for the ten years I’ve lived here, and traffic has increased steadily with land development and our population.This school year has been much worse due in part, I suspect, to the work on Hwy. 9. Many drivers neither observe the speed limit in the school zone nor slow or stop for pedestrians.
Not one week has gone by when I haven’t been challenged by a driver actually accelerating to get through the crosswalk whether I have already entered it or not. And this is with my two-year-old in the stroller in front of me. Anyone old enough to have demonstrated the skills required to earn a driver’s license should have long since achieved basic levels of impulse control, patience, and time management.
Drivers lacking these skills and who don’t have an extra minute or two to spare for the safety of our children should consider alternate routes or rise to the occasion and practice some civility.
Our neighborhood is not a thoroughfare and the safety of our children is worth far more than the temporary inconvenience of having to slow down or stop and wait. A three-way stop at this intersection would improve safety, reduce hostility and regulate traffic flow.
Laurel Sager
Lake Stevens
Gravel trucks are a necessity for roads and new roundabout
Dear Editor,
This is in response to the letter written by Amy Hoffman posted in the March 31 Journal entitled “Gravel trucks should use correct highways.”
Many people look forward to the new roundabout on Lundeen Parkway as a way to better move traffic along.
I do ask, that as you sit in your home office pondering the wonders soon to be unfolded, think about this. The trucks, in fact, are not avoiding the weigh station.
Lake Drive leads the trucks directly in and out of the heart of the roundabout project. The truck drivers you are so quick to detest are moving the excavated dirt away from your beloved project.
They are also bringing in the gravel and rock that will stabilize the roadway for the roundabout.
These projects can’t be built without the gravel and rock, it’s a necessity.
Maybe one’s disdain at being temporarily annoyed is misdirected. Something I’m sure would have been avoided with a drive down the street for a “look-see”.
It may even be possible that the expansion of a gravel pit could be seen in a new light. Not as an evil empire out to make you miserable, but, in fact, is providing a useful and needed commodity to projects all around us.
Lee Langley
Lake Stevens
Secondary offense to primary offense - again
Dear Editor,
When are people going to learn?
When the legislature first passed the seat belt law, they promised us that it would never be a primary offense. They promised that we would only get a ticket for not wearing our seat belts if we did something else wrong while driving.
A few years later, we got “Click it or Ticket”.
An even shorter time has passed between the new cell phone law, which again they promised would never be a primary offense, and the current proposal to make it a primary offense.
The voters fell for it twice.
Does anyone want to lay odds on them trying this trick a third time in the next few years with a law against eating and drinking while driving?
Comparisons to boiled frogs or camel’s noses abound, but the common factor is, we have been lied to in each case.
It doesn’t matter whether you think the particular law is a good one or not, we should have no tolerance for dishonest methods or the politicians that use them.
Richard Chandler
Lake Stevens
blog comments powered by Disqus
