Olympic National Park: Fee Increase

This seems to be a pretty volatile subject, judging by articles and letters in the PDN.

Olympic National Park has proposed increasing the 7-day pass from $15 to $25. The annual pass would increase from $30 to $50. If approved, these increases would take effect in January 2009.

Do you think these increases are necessary? Of course they suck, but federal funding for national parks has been dwindling and dwindling. With the federal government's high emphasis on invading other countries and cutting taxes for billionaires, national forests, state parks and national parks are barely an afterthought.

So these fee increases might be necessary. What do YOU think?

Port Angeles Police Chief

With six possibilities for Port Angeles’ next police chief, there might be some changes in the air.

I don’t have any firm idea of who I want, but Don Lanpher, police chief of Aberdeen, South Dakota, sounds like he would shake things up a little. Aberdeen, SD has less than half the crime rate of Port Angeles. When Lanpher first took over as police chief of Aberdeen, he fired several officers for violating department rules. Several other officers resigned or retired because Lanpher was “difficult” to work for. Sometimes "difficult" is a good thing.

Now I'm not pointing fingers at anybody. I don’t know anything about the Port Angeles Police Department, any of the officers, how they work, etc. But the Aberdeen police chief sure sounds like he's been doing something right.

Port Angeles’ crime rate is way too high. According to this same article, we have roughly the same crime rate as Concord, CA, which is a huge crowded traffic-clogged suburb of San Francisco. Not good.

All six of the police chief candidates seem highly qualified. Whoever gets selected has his work cut out for him.

Shortage of Ammunition for Peninsula Police Departments

I’ve been pretty much avoiding national politics at this site. That’s partly because local issues often cut across the traditional battle lines of Left, Right, Liberal, Conservative; and partly because there are already millions of websites and blogs that deal with politics.

But global/national issues can trickle down to local communities. A perfect example is this story from yesterday’s PDN.

Some Peninsula police departments are reporting a shortage of ammunition. Our military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan are using over a billion bullets a year, and this has led to a severe shortage of bullets (and the price has doubled) here at home.

So far the police departments in Port Angeles and Sequim haven’t had this shortage. But in Forks, Police Chief Mike Powell said, “We have been waiting for months for handgun ammunition. We were told it was due to the war and that the military service personnel get a higher priority than the law enforcement here in the states.”

Crime has been increasing in most of the country lately, including the Olympic Peninsula. It’s time for us to decide — which is more important: Protecting Iraqis who don’t want our “protection” (whatever happened to all that candy and ice cream that grateful Iraqis would be showering onto our soldiers?) or protecting Americans here at home?

Port Angeles: Population 250,000?

In last Wednesday’s Peninsula Daily News there was an article (not available online) about the possible effects of global warming in the Port Angeles-Sequim area. According to Physics Professor Richard Schwartz, the following changes might be coming:

In ten years there might not be any permanent snow fields in the Olympic Mountains.

The glaciers could be gone in thirty years.

Rain will fall harder and harder, causing rivers to overflow in the spring and dry up in the summer and fall.

Schwartz said “if I were a farmer I’d buy land in Northern Alberta.”

He said droughts and water wars in California and Arizona could send a mass exodus to the Northwest. “You — or your successors — are going to be inundated with people looking to get out of the heat.”

He predicted that the Port Angeles-Sequim area could eventually have 250,000 residents. “It could happen in about twenty years if things become sufficiently bad in the Southwest. This is not necessarily a doom and gloom scenario, but one we have to keep in mind as we plan.”

A Threat to the Port Angeles-Victoria Ferry?

Uh oh. That’s a pretty alarming headline in today’s PDN. A Victoria task force has decided that the MV Coho has “outgrown the inner harbor.” Victoria is planning a huge redevelopment project for Victoria Harbor, and the “new improved” version won't have space for the Coho. It would be relegated out to Sydney or Esquimalt.

How’s that for a brilliant idea.

If the Port Angeles-Victoria ferry is jeopardized, Port Angeles isn't the only city that would suffer. Even though Victoria is much larger than P.A. and gets a lot more tourists, Victoria merchants are up in arms over this insane proposal.

Ryan Burles, from the Victoria office of Black Ball Transport, Inc., said “We're a bit in shock. We know we're the number one carrier of ferry travelers to this city. We bring in 60 percent of the ferry travelers, and we do it more reliably and more affordably than anyone else.”

He also said “The whole idea of the task force was to create a premier gateway, so why would you take away your number one transportation provider? We need to voice our concerns and tell them what we provide and how well we provide.”

Black Ball Transport has taken an average of 131,000 vehicles and 511,000 passengers from Port Angeles to Victoria each year for the past fifteen years.

This redevelopment proposal is still in the preliminary stages; no action will be taken any time soon. As the plan gets worked out, hopefully cooler heads — ones with brains inside — will prevail.

UPDATE:

Here is the link to a Victoria online forum regarding the Victoria Harbor "improvements." I think Port Angeles residents should register with this forum and express their views, since this issue will have a major impact on residents of Port Angeles and Victoria.

Olympic: A Trademark Violation?

As you probably read in today’s Peninsula Daily News, the U.S. Olympic Committee is claiming a trademark on the word “Olympic.” (Here is a link to the story; the PDN article isn't available online.)

They're actually threatening to sue the author of a guidebook titled “Best of Olympic Peninsula” for using the word “Olympic.”

WTF???

What other title should the author (Jason Bausher) be using for a guidebook to the Olympic Peninsula?? If he called it “Best of Brand X Peninsula” nobody would know what he was talking about.

Is the USOC going to make us change the name of our peninsula, mountain range and national park?

This is beyond ridiculous.

Growth in Clallam County

As you’ve probably read in the PDN (the articles aren't available online), there's been a showdown over growth between Clallam County and the City of Port Angeles.

Clallam County Commissioner Mike Chapman is in favor of rural growth zones known as Limited Areas of More Intensive Rural Development (LAMIRDs). Some of these rural growth zones include Deer Park Road at Rt. 101; Bell Hill near Sequim; and the Hungry Bear Café in Beaver.

Port Angeles City Planner Nathan West and City Manager Mark Madsen are opposed to any new urban development outside of incorporated cities. Mayor Karen Rogers is in favor of preserving the current LAMIRDs but is against enlarging them (according to what Mike Chapman said.)

To make everything even more complicated, a Seattle-based environmental group called Futurewise is suing Clallam County for failing to comply with Washington’s Growth Management Act.

Where is all this going? What do YOU think?

Wal-Mart Grants Stay of Execution for Local Businesses

OK, Port Angeles merchants — you have about 2-½ to 3 years to keep doing business before you'll start hearing that giant sucking sound pulling all of your customers away. The new Wal-Mart Supercenter is expected to be up and running sometime in 2010. Two years ago they were expecting to be open by 2007, so we’re getting a brief stay of execution.

Local merchants, environmentalists and a group called Wake Up Port Angeles are opposed to the new Wal-Mart Supercenter because of:

• The danger to salmon runs in Morse Creek;
  
  Well-paid jobs disappearing and being replaced by Wal-Mart jobs;
  
  Increased costs to taxpayers;
  
  Increased traffic on 101.

When/if the supercenter gets completed, there's a chance the City of Port Angeles might purchase the present Wal-Mart location and use it for an indoor soccer center or a swimming pool.

No Money For Local Infrastructure

The Elwha River Bridge has been permanently closed in the wake of the Minnesota tragedy. This bridge would have been closed in two weeks anyway for demolition, but they’ve decided to play it safe and close it early.

A total of eleven bridges — two in Jefferson County, nine in Clallam County — are “structurally deficient” according to the Federal Highway Administration. This includes the two Eighth Street bridges in Port Angeles.

So, how high a priority should our infrastructure be? Are there any other government expenditures — local, state, national — that you think are getting too much taxpayer money while our infrastructure crumbles? What government undertakings would you reduce or eliminate in order to free up funding to fix our collapsing bridges and highways?