Accepting Canadian Money

This story in today’s PDN is a clear example of one of the Peninsula’s most glaring faults: the refusal of so many local merchants to accept Canadian currency. How difficult can it be?

This story made the news because it almost cost Port Angeles a convention at the Red Lion. But how many hundreds or thousands of other instances have there been? When a Canadian visitor can't get his/her money accepted at a local business, it doesn’t usually make the news. But will this person come back? How often does this happen?

I was in Canada last June for about two weeks. People took American money everywhere we went, even when we were in remote areas hundreds of miles from the U.S. border. Whatever complicated procedures these Canadian merchants had to go through, local businesses should be willing to do the same.

How many merchants are thinking “gee, how can I get more customers?” while saying “Canadian money? No, I'm sorry, we don’t accept that.”

Navy — Increased Sonar Testing in Local Waters

The Navy is planning to increase their testing of underwater weapons — including Sonar — in the Hood Canal, Puget Sound and off the Washington coast. There will be an environmental review process and a public comment period.

For security reasons, the Navy won’t give any detailed information about the tests they plan to conduct. As one person said, “How can the public provide meaningful recommendations if we don't know what they're doing in the first place?”

Some people are afraid that marine life and commercial fishing could be jeopardized by these tests. There was a huge outcry against the Makah for killing a whale. Massive sonar testing could be much more hazardous to whales. Whatever damage is caused by these tests wouldn’t be up close and personal like the Makah hunt was. Will there still be a public outcry?

I’m in favor of national security as much as the next person, but are these additional tests necessary? What do YOU think?

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And in OTHER NEWS: Port Angeles — for at least the second time this year — has had another occurrence of that mysterious weather phenomenon that only happens here. Whatever this exact occurrence is, it’s the opposite of rain. When it rains, the rainfall total goes up. When this mystery phenomenon occurs, the rainfall total goes down. Neat, huh?

P.A.’s total rainfall was 6.80 inches for awhile, up through last Friday’s edition of the PDN. Now, according to yesterday’s and today’s editions, that total has shrunk to 6.57 inches. OOOKAY.

Yes, there's more to life than keeping track of the rainfall totals. It’s just an ingrained habit after years of living in California. With the constant fear of water rationing and fire danger, I always looked at the weather page for forecasts and to see how much precipitation we’d gotten; to see how bad the following summer was going to be.

Port Angeles-Victoria Ferry (Cont’d)

No breaking news here; just a few links regarding the MV Coho and its possible move out of Victoria Harbor. Since most of the people of Port Angeles and Victoria are against this move, hopefully the Coho will remain in the Inner Harbor.

At an earlier post, a commenter left a link for e-mailing the mayor and/or city council of Victoria. You can do that here. The same person also provided a link for writing a letter to the editor of the Victoria Times Colonist.

Here is the main website for the Victoria Times Colonist. And be sure to check out Vibrant Victoria — a forum for Victoria issues. There are quite a few posts and comments there regarding the Coho. The two cities are both affected by a lot of the same issues; hopefully there can be more interaction.

UPDATE: Here is an online petition for keeping the MV Coho in Victoria's Inner Harbour.

Panhandling Musicians on the Port Townsend Ferry

Well, the public has spoken. Contrary to earlier reports, there weren’t just two complaints against David Michael, the Celtic harp player on the Klickitat. There have been SIX complaints against him — over the past nine years. So there.

Whoa! Talk about a groundswell! It’s a good thing that burning issue has finally been resolved.

Seriously though, just how petty can someone get? (This story was in today’s PDN but not the online version.) I’ve ridden that ferry a few times and I don’t remember seeing or hearing a harpist. But how could he not brighten up an already-fun ride between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island?

Some of these complainants even equated busking (playing free music in a public place) with panhandling. WTF?? Get a grip.

One of the complainers said: “Annoyed by harp-playing street musician on board the ferry, begging for money on the state ferry. Street musicians belong on the streets.”

Another one was: “He greets passengers as they get on board from stairways and directs them to his playing area, so many passengers don’t have a chance to see the galley at all. Our food service workers are complaining to us that they are losing business.”

According to the article, the only “panhandling” David Michael does is to have his CDs (for sale) on display. And every time I’ve been on that ferry, the snack bar is closed, and it looks like it’s been closed for a looong time. The only food available is from vending machines and they're mostly empty.

The non-existent food-service workers are “losing business” because of a Celtic harpist playing live music? Go figure. I guess the world would be a better place if we could all be just a little bit more petty and mean-spirited.

Another Pedestrian Fatality in Port Angeles

Another pedestrian was killed in Port Angeles this past Monday at an intersection on East Front Street. Compared to suburban California where I used to live, drivers are generally a lot more courteous and attentive here.

Still, there are plenty of drivers who just go barreling through the crosswalks. I don’t want to comment on this particular tragedy since it’s still under investigation.

There's one particular type of close call that I've seen repeatedly. It always happens on a busy one-way street with two lanes (e.g. First Street and Front Street). A pedestrian is ready to cross, and the traffic in the closest lane stops. Traffic in the further lane keeps moving, for whatever reason. And the pedestrian keeps walking, looking straight ahead; doesn’t look toward the traffic to make sure the cars in the other lane have stopped.

I've lost count of how many times I've seen that exact scenario. Either the driver slams on the bakes at the last second, or goes blitzing through the intersection and barely misses the pedestrian. This is a tragic accident waiting to happen.

Drivers and pedestrians both need to be careful and attentive, especially now with all the construction and traffic tie-ups going on.

The Makah and the Gray Whale

Something’s just about to hit the fan after the killing of a California Gray Whale off the coast of Neah Bay.

It’s one thing to allow tribes to occasionally re-enact their historic rituals by hunting a whale. But this harpooning and shooting of a Gray Whale was NOT sanctioned by the Makah tribal government.

This is being investigated by the Coast Guard and the National Marine Fisheries Service. One possibility is that the whale was killed for humane reasons after it was hopelessly entangled in a fishing net. Let’s hope that’s the case.

This story has made the national news on MSNBC as well as the local news.

New Police Chief for Port Angeles

The decision has been made. Terry Gallagher — already the interim police chief since last May when Tom Riepe retired — is now the Port Angeles Police Chief.

He's been on the force for 22 years and he's the only contender (out of six) who was native to this area.

Last winter there was a rumor that the local Powers That Be wanted to bring in somebody from the Seattle Police Department; this would supposedly bring Port Angeles a big-city sophisticated approach to crime fighting. That may be true, but it might also bring an urban impersonal quality to Port Angeles.

I think we’re better off with somebody who is from this area and “knows the ropes.” Some of the other contenders, who were from other small-town police forces, also seemed highly qualified.

Other Local Online Forums

I first started this blog because I didn’t know of any online forums in this area. All I knew about was the Port Angeles Journal, which seems like it’s been pretty inactive for the past few years. The same author also publishes the Citizen Review Online, but there's no forum there as far as I know.

Two years ago during the Tse Whit Zen/graving yard controversy, there were two websites for people to voice their differences on that issue; but both of those sites have gone belly up.

During various web searches involving Port Angeles, I've found two national forums that each have a brief section on Port Angeles. Some of the comments are from local residents and some are from people who once lived here or visited here a long time ago. Some of the comments about Port Angeles are positive and some aren't. They're here and here, if you want to see what people think of us. (Or in case you want to answer some of the comments).

Victoria has a huge forum here. With all the travel between Port Angeles and Victoria, we’re affected by some of Victoria’s issues, especially their tentative plan to move the MV Coho from Victoria to Sydney or Esquimalt.