I SAW YOU
STAR: I saw you twinkling from afar.NEW BAR OWNER: Hey V. How is that new ownership going? Heard your friend tried to sell you a bar she didn't own! Karma.
GIRL IN THE RED FORD: You driving down the Palouse Highway — sweet smile and long blond hair flowing in the wind. I turned and saw you when you honked at me while I was on the tractor. There was no way I could catch you on the tractor, and then you were gone. Please come by again, only this time slow down so we have some time to get to know each other. I wrote you a little poem so maybe you'll honk again... When you drive by, You look pretty classy. Why don't you slow down, I'd like to check your chassis.
COST ANALYSIS: Which is more expensive? Using your vehicle headlights in conditions of poor visibility, like fog? Or doing jail time and being sued for all that you own because you caused a serious accident?
YOU SAW ME
A PIED: To my fellow pedestrians. It is our responsibility to be seen at corners/crosswalks before we cross. Please confirm, visually with the drivers, stopped, that they see you. Be big. Wave your arms, wear reflective, bright colors. Phones away. The green light with the person symbol to go is the deadliest, scariest combination on a signal ever. Make certain you are seen. Don't presume. Drivers: It is your responsibility to see us waiting to cross, crossing, trying to cross, etc. Please acknowledge that you see us. Waiting for the next light, so a pedestrian, bike, stroller, runner, wheelchair or whoever is crossing, is worth the safety it requires. Are we all really in that big of a hurry? Does it really matter whose fault it was when someone is in the street hanging on to life? Wait until it is safe.
CHEERS
GONZAGA BASKETBALL: It's nice to see Zags women's basketball team get some more recognition that they deserve. For years, it's been all about men's basketball, which was nice when they were a Cinderella team but has gotten really old recently. Since the men's team may not even be good enough to make it to the NCAA tournament this year, it will be a great year to follow and support the women's team. Great job, team! Great coaches too!
GREAT PICK, SPOKANE: Spokane, thank you for electing a competent mayor. Mayor Brown is making all the right moves. TV personalities don't really know much about policy, as demonstrated by The Apprentice, but they are good at getting people to dislike each other.
SPOKANE SCHOOL DISTRICT LEADERS: The SPS schools have some great programs, despite always having budget struggles that come with paying for great programs. It's hard to build and manage a huge organization and they're doing well. While I feel that art should get a bit more money and football a bit less, mature adults recognize that we live in a pluralistic society and our taxes sometimes don't always go to exactly what we want. We appreciate what you do. Keep fighting the good fight. Our kids in your programs want you to keep classrooms and libraries from being places of division, suspicion, and closed-mindedness. Spokane is a diverse city and our kids should experience how wonderful the real world is. Keep teaching big ideas and visions for a better future alongside the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, and science literacy. Education is the basis of modern civilization and without generations of school teachers & administrators we wouldn't have the comforts we enjoy today.
SHOPPING CART GARBAGE: To the grocers who employ geo-fenced shopping cart brakes. Sure must make it harder for some people to transport their worldly belongings to eventually be dumped on the hillsides. Now if we could just get the churches, nonprofits and street corner donators from distributing all of that crap to the needy. Perhaps the churches or nonprofits should be required to radio-tag their merchandise so that city fines could be issued when their junk is identified in the wild.
STA: I live across a busy street on a bus route. STA consistently comes by and cleans up the bus stops. Ugh, and some of the messes they have to clean up :/ I feel awful. However, thanks for keeping the street and bus stop looking clean daily!
GOOD NEIGHBOR: Cheers to the person I see walking their dogs near Doomsday Hill and picking up garbage. I've even seen them pick up other people's dog poop! Thank you for making our city cleaner. You are a true dog sh** hero.
KUDOS TO MAYOR BROWN: Kudos to Mayor Brown's enormous transition team for developing a very, very ambitious list of priority recommendations for her first 100 days. However, it seems the Spokane River, the city's crown jewel, has been overlooked. The river is relied upon for safe and healthy recreation, and, for some, sustenance via fishing. It is about time the administration does something about contamination of the river, allowing humans to safely consume the fish from the river once again.
JEERS
J & J: Congratulations on you "J" for cheating on your husband. And, yes, congratulations to you too, cheating husband whose name also begins with "J" for being a crappy liar. You two dumpsters deserve each other.
RE: WHAT'S A CHURCH FOR ANYWAY? So glad you asked. Outside of religious services, churches host weddings, funerals, baptisms, christenings, confessions, book clubs, indoor sports, coming of age celebrations, food banks, marriage counseling, senior services, English classes, children's play groups, addiction recover programs, employment services, youth activities, musical performances, cultural events, Bible study groups, immigration services, socials and more. It may not be practical to turn a church into a volunteer-run homeless shelter, especially on short notice.
RE: HOSPITAL CHEATER: Sounds like that hospital cheater needs a reality check. He needs to stop looking and to be happy in the relationship he's in, and be glad he has someone in his older years. Grass isn't always greener in someone's else's yard.
MY TAXES FOR WAR: Since October 2023 thousands of Palestinian children have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. provides $4 billion per year to Israel in aid. My tax dollars. I think I'm going to puke.
SHAME ON YOU, SPOKANE! I was downtown having lunch. I parked in a handicap spot and hung my placard on the mirror. I returned to find a parking enforcement officer writing a ticket. She said the placard wasn't mine. I said I do have my own, and I can show it to you now. She said here's your $450 ticket. I went to court, and the entire room was filled with elderly disabled people in walkers and wheelchairs all with a placard violation of some sort. There is no judge present. Two young ladies enter and sit in front. We're told they will be calling our names, and they may possibly reduce our fines to a lesser amount. I'm the second person called. She asks how I plan to pay her. I asked her if she was licensed to legally convict me of this offense. She said no. I replied that's what I thought. So take this ticket have it signed by a judge with jurisdiction and have it stamped as dismissed. I took my DISMISSAL and boogied out. Go pick on someone else. Sickening!
SHAME ON YOU, SKI RESORT: Drove over two hours based on your blatantly inaccurate snow reports. Twenty-eight inches reported at the lodge and 40-plus at the summit? Nope, dirt and most trails closed. Not cool and you didn't own up or acknowledge the inaccuracies you are reporting on your website and to the local news. I have seen this happening all season. Bad weather or not, make your reports accurate. Shame on you and buyer beware!
RE: CHURCHES AND THE HOMELESS: So let me get this straight. Your defense of a church who proudly thumps its chest about how its adherents should "love thy neighbor as thyself," "do unto others as you would have done unto you," and "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven" is that it would have possibly cost too much and maybe have damaged your building? It sounds like you value your tax-exempt sanctuary over the lives of your neighbors who were in danger on your doorstep. I agree that taking care of the unhoused is difficult. Our cities, states and nation MUST do more to give people an on ramp to stable and healthy lives because a philosophy of rugged individualism is causing suffering for too many of us. I work toward a whole society that helps everyone, not just the ones a church deigns to help when it's convenient.
POOR TEXAS: They can't defend themselves. The 16,500 National Guardsmen and the 6,000-plus gun stores aren't enough. The governor of Florida is sending troops across three states to bolster them. He has to do something dramatic after being vixen slapped by Mickey Mouse!
DO NOTHING-ERS: To those who do not respond to property crime reports and who now refuse to enforce any traffic laws because they didn't get the raise they requested. In my experience the best way to recieve a raise is to do a good job. That being said, my question is why there are hundreds if not thousands of people driving around with expired or no plates on their uninsured vehicles in Spokane. This leaves the law-abiding taxpaying public to pick up the slack (i.e., all of us have to have insurance against uninsured motorists) to protect ourselves from the law breakers! My advice is if you want more money, start doing the job you are paid for. ♦
