I SAW YOU
MEAD SCHOOL DISTRICT: I see you are not living up to your stated Human Resources department goals as you have not supported a quality, effective, much loved gay teacher to continue teaching at Brentwood Elementary simply because of who he is and who he cares about (students and family). The long time "Mead Myth" of quality education for all (which BTW includes gender orientation, smart, disabled, neurodiverse, different races and economic levels) is being exposed. Please walk your talk Mead Schools.BROWN JACKET: I don't remember the brown jacket I gave you, but I do remember that tiny room we watched "Mozart and the Whale" in. I thought you were really cute and I miss you sending me pictures of your big belly.
CHEERS
HOME: Finally, after 18 YEARS, you can call this place your home. You've worked, by law of your home country, without ceasing. You have raised your children who cannot be dual citizens, as can you not be, and NOW, you are, at last allowed to take a citizenship test. We are astounded at your tenacity, your diligence, your grit. When we asked you why it took this long for your Green Cards, you stated: "We did it legally." Thanks for the clarification. We just needed that affirmation regarding the law. How discriminatory toward you, to have to see the droves arriving, en masse. We hope you find your way to a more citizen friendly State in this great Union. They are out there. Keep working to find that place to plant. Congratulations and welcome here, so very far from your family afar.THANK YOU! Just wanted to say thank you to the Spokane Bicycle Club, Mayor Brown, Councilwoman Klitzke and Colin Quinn-Hurst for hosting/participating in the ride on the 18th. It was a really great time!
THE REAL MAJORITY CLAPS BACK IN KOOTENAI COUNTY: Some under the radar, normally non-controversial races in the Kootenai County primaries may offer a glimmer of hope for the sane people who are sick and tired of MAGA thugs (fresh from California and Texas) who have tried and up to now succeeded in rolling over the Republican Party here. The bottom line is there are more real patriotic people in the county than Trump toadies. Is this a cause for hope that the country can be saved from disaster?
WE ALL SCREAM FOR (THE SCOOP'S) ICE CREAM: CHEERS to Jen at The Scoop, for making the very best ice cream, ever.
JEERS
SHOOTIN' UP: I have been going downtown once or twice a week since 1998 & I have never encountered people actually shooting up in the afternoon on the sidewalk. Today (May 21) I parked my car across from KHQ TV on West 1st. I did not get out since there were 3 people shooting up with syringes 10 feet from my car. I also saw another group of 3 shooting up kittycorner from the TV station on the SE corner of 1st & Jefferson (as I drove by leaving the area with my errands undone). This at almost 4 in the afternoon. What happened to increased police patrols downtown? Or is that only for the east end of town?
GETTING SCRAPS FROM SCRAPS: SCRAPS' mission statement includes enforcing laws and protecting the public, two things it has been failing to do. I am tired of seeing and being approached by off leash dogs everywhere: Comstock Park, the bluff, Riverside Park, running across my private property...The owners are entitled and belligerent, they are breaking the law and the normalization of deviancy has to stop. SCRAPS struggles with funding, but a ticket for an off leash dog is $87, it's time to enforce the laws and that revenue could pay for more officers and help fund more off leash parks. What recourse do average citizens have when others aren't following the laws and it is impacting their safety and rights, yet the agency tasked with enforcing the law is not actively pursuing offenders?
TURNING SCHOOLS INTO DAYCARES: i tend to rant, so I'll try to keep this short. My brother in law works at a local school and has point blank stated that the new policy is that no student is to be given a grade less than a D-. Seriously? WTH!! So they all get to pass even if they just sit there and breath... no grades or tests even matter? Congrats.. our schools are now just daycare for teenagers. If i were a teacher, I'd quit. Teachers didn't sign up to be daycare staff, they signed up to be teachers. If this is true where you teach..i say walk out. Go somewhere where you can actually be able to do the job you want to do.
RE: RE: DEADBEAT CITY: You seem to have a lot of time on your hands if you know for a fact that "apartment complexes along Upriver Drive are filled with cars with expired tabs that drive down city streets every day." Is this because your level of entitlement means you haven't been directly affected by the recent economy just yet? Truthfully if it's the choice between rent & food or paying for tabs, I know what my answer is. Or have you not heard of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
SPOKANE ROAD CONSTRUCTION DESIGN: Now that we're into Spokane road construction, I'd like to offer a suggestion. I know this won't be received well and that some will say "This happens in every city." Actually, having lived in other cities, larger and smaller than Spokane, I can tell you that's not true. Here is a typical detour plan: Road is closed so you can't go straight. Turn right and follow the detour. Once you get to a main road, turn right again. Be careful not to get into a car accident because there is a huge line of cars with more entering from all sides because the detour road is down to one lane due to more construction. Follow the line of cars carefully, trying to avoid an accident until you get to another main road. Turn left. Be careful you don't get into an accident because the lane is down to just one due to another construction project. Be sure you follow the main roads because if you take a side road, those lead to dead ends. Businesses have to follow strict OSHA guidelines to keep employees safe. Why doesn't Spokane follow some sort of similar plan to keep drivers safe? Hoping no one runs into me in one of these convoluted detours before road construction season comes to a close. Drive Safe Spokane because the people who plan the projects don't seem to care.
BELLIGERENT ENTITLEMENT SYNDROME: To the owners of the pawn shop with the sign, "It's An Election Year, Stock Up On Ammo Now!" Way to lean into the fracas. Hilarious. You know, that didn't used to matter. Like five minutes ago. American Politics, while often heated and discordant, has not offered everyday citizens so much fuel for violent hostility since the Civil War. But I guess that's the point. Right? Roughly one third of the electorate has coddled and convinced itself that if it doesn't get what it wants politically/socially that it is entitled to take matters into its own hands. For the past four years, the bulk of American voters have felt threatened, irked, and disgusted by the small but growing populous of Armagedon Advocates who declare proudly that they will take by force what they can't get by consensus. How original, how human, how chauvinistic, how pathetic. Industry and Advertising combine to profit from the mood of the moment. I wonder, do you really believe what you are stating via your signage? Are you really comfortable with saying, 'Well, there's gonna be trouble, come in and get your bullets here!'? Asked and answered, I guess. No legal ramifications for offering to arm those who intend to kill other people. I know better than to ascribe any sense of moral obligation regarding an obvious commercialization of potential travesty.
CAN WE NOT? Can we please refrain from plunking halfway houses in low crime, quiet neighborhoods? I have been wondering where the sudden burst of shootings, meth heads, people roaming down the street yelling nonsense, stolen items, trash thrown in my yard has come from. Until I ran into a friend who announced he was counseling at a halfway house just down the alley from me. Ah, what a great addition! Because I didn't move to this neighborhood from felony flats to escape that fresh hell! Hear me out. I'm no Karen. I don't give the smallest shit what people do if it isn't bothering anyone else. Do your drugs! Be weird! Get your shenanigan on! But kindly do so in such a way that doesn't ruin anyone else's day. I manage to get down with my hooligan festivities quietly, in my own house, bothering nobody. The tweakers down the alley? Wish they'd follow suit, but they won't... they never will. It's not their nature. Please don't mess up the paradise someone worked so hard to build for themselves with this crap. It's insanity. ♦