Community’s generosity helps dozens through holiday season

Dear Editor,

We are overwhelmed with joy at the generosity of the Lake Stevens community in their support for the Li’l Hungry Hearts program again this holiday season. 
We would like to start by thanking all the schools who kicked off the Fall and Winter season with a school-wide food drive.  Thank you to Ms. Arcos, Lake Stevens High School’s new Leadership Teacher, who engaged her students in the project of collecting food for the Lake Stevens Community Food Bank, the Lake Stevens Family Center, and Li’l Hungry Hearts at local grocery stores. 
A shout out goes to Loretta Tavares and Sue Wixon-Phillips for organizing the food drive with Ms. Arcos, and Susan Reick and Kim Gutridge for organizing the food drives for LHH supporters. 
As a result our storage unit is overflowing with food to support families during difficult times.  We are so grateful for all the students and their families who diligently gave of their time to collect food at local stores.
We would like to thank the local stores who participated in the food collection: Lake Stevens Safeway, Lake Stevens Haggen, Lake Stevens Albertsons, Snohomish Fred Meyers, Jay’s Market and Tom Thumb.
Also a huge thank you goes out to our wonderful community that stepped up and donated food at each of these locations! We are also very fortunate to have many incredible volunteers who worked tirelessly to assemble and distribute the Winter Break Boxes to LHH families in need. We could never thank them enough for their support throughout the year!
This year our families received a “Care Bear” with toothbrushes and toothpaste donated by Dr. Tracy DeLorm and Dr. Julia McGary, two local dentists along with an Aéropostale stuffed bear donated from the Premium Outlet Mall and Alderwood Mall.
In addition, Patricia Hansen, of Emerald City Lights Bike, provided holiday baskets that we were able to deliver along with our food boxes.
The Hardie Family generously donated Albertsons gift cards that were included in a few of the holiday baskets. A huge thank you goes out to all of them for providing the added touches to our Winter Break Boxes!
All of this is made possible by the support we have received from the Lake Stevens School District.  Thank you for making a difference in the lives of families right here in our own community! 


Anita Caffee and Tammie Enders
Li’l Hungry Hearts

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Sewer rates too high

 Dear Editor,

January is bad enough but another rate increase from your sewer district for 2013. I am sure another one is in store for us in Jan. 2014. The sewer district needs to post their budget on their website along with salary amounts for each worker type.
It seems to me when I drive by the new sewer building that they spared no expense in lighting. How about turning some of those lights off on the outside of the building to save money?
This paper and the sewer district again need to explain why this new plant was rammed thru?  Cheap money still exists till hyperinflation comes calling soon due to this crushing government debt. The excuse was hurry quick or we won’t get a cheap loan.
Snohomish is saving a ton with county cops and sewer to Everett while Lake Stevens wants to spend, spend, spend with no economy of scale. Retiring in Lake Stevens seems like a pipe dream and I feel sorry for the fixed incomers whom already made that decision.
Also, $100 million dollar plant is 10 percent of a billion for such a small town. Makes me wonder what King 5 would find?

Brad Thayer
Lake Stevens

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Weapons ban won’t stop violence

Dear Editor,

Connecticut reminded us that the world can be a violent place and the violence can have no meaning but we cannot allow this tragedy to cause panic that changes our rights and freedoms.
There are some, especially lawmakers, that want to propose various gun control laws but each them would not have stopped this crime or keep us safer. In the last 20-years violent crime—and violent crime using guns—has dropped by nearly fifty percent.
Mass shootings are not increasing, they actually peaked in 1929. In schools, the rate of theft dropped from 101 per thousand students in 1992 to only 18 in 2010 and violent crime went from 53 per thousand to 14.
An assault weapons ban would also do nothing to change gun violence. If a criminal wants a gun, they will find a way to get one. We cannot stop the illegal shipment of drugs and human beings across the border, what makes us think that illegal weapons could be stopped?
We need not move forward with emotion but with reason, it is hard to do with our 24/7 news cycle and politicians that desire the limelight but we must to ensure our freedoms now and for future generations.                       Todd Welch
Lake Stevens

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The Constitution should be changed to include gun control

 Dear Editor,

In response to Pam Stevens’ Opinion/Editorial on Jan. 2:
To start I think news personnel should not voice their views especially when it is politically slanted.  
Stevens’ opinions clearly show she is Republican minded.  The gun article is a prime example.  She also should do more research on her info sources or maybe she really knows.  
She talked about guns in Britain and the source is the Wall Street Journal.  Look up “conservative publications” on the web, the Wall Street Journal is at the top.  
The second amendment talks about the right to bear arms.  It is an amendment to the Constitution, a change to the Constitution, so change it again!  
We talk about sane people should be able to have guns but not insane people.  I found from personal experience there is a fine line between sane and insane.
Many, many years ago I suspected my wife at the time was having an affair.  I became physically sick and depressed.  I could not eat because of nausea and could only drink milk.  
I had the man I suspected involved, in my gun sights on two separate occasions but did not fire because of my young children.  I took the gun to the police station for fear of what I was so close to doing.  It could happen to you and does.
If you are a gun rights supporter, is your right to own a gun worth 20 children being murdered, if so what are your values?  If one of those children were yours it would still be worth it? Right.  
The IRA says put armed guards everywhere, who do you think a gunman is going to shoot first and who is going to pay for it, the Republicans don’t like taxes? Right.
You can’t be with your loved ones all the time to protect them with your gun.  
Most European countries have strict restrictions on types of guns and their murder rate per capita reflects that.

Ed Buck
Lake Stevens

 

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