Halloween

Hope you'll all come to downtown Port Angeles for the Halloween Trick or Treat Parade, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Most downtown merchants take part in the candy giveaway. Even if you don't have kids or aren't interested in trick-or-treating, it's worth checking out just for the people (and costume) watching.

The Halloween event and the Fourth of July Parade are the two times a year that downtown Port Angeles really comes alive. There are plenty of other happenings downtown and at City Pier, but nothing rivals these two events for seeing wall to wall people downtown.

Check it out.

Crime and Dumpsters: A Connection?

According to the Downtown Vancouver (BC) Business Improvement Association, there is a link between crime and a dumpster being located nearby. Their records showed that ninety percent of street "incidents" (aggressive panhandling, drug dealing, altercations) occured within fifty-five yards of a dumpster.

Personally I'm skeptical whether there's a cause and effect relation between the two. But Vancouver will be removing all back-alley dumpsters within a 90-block area downtown. A daily garbage bag removal system will be used instead of the dumpsters. Removing the dumpsters will provide additional space for art projects and pedestrian/cyclist access.

This project will be completed by December 31st, 2007. Would something like this be doable in Port Angeles?

Vandalism and Free Speech

Several days ago some anti-abortion crosses at the Queen of Angels Church were vandalized. This isn't right, of course, but since abortion is a volatile issue, a display like this is bound to ignite tempers.

It's the same phenomenon with those Saturday anti-war demonstrations near Veterans Park. Most of the people who drive by are honking and waving. But some of them are holding up a middle finger, which is their right.

We have a guarantee of free speech, but people who disagree with you have the same guarantee; and they might tell you, quite bluntly, what they think of your speech.

Personally I've never had a political bumper sticker or even a yard sign with a candidate's name. I admire people who do, but I always figure my house or car will be vandalized by somebody who likes the other candidate.

Again, it wasn't right to vandalize that display at Queen of Angels, but the vandalism can't be surprising, given the strong feelings on the abortion issue.

Election Advice

I don’t want to come out for or against any of the candidates or referendums. But please be informed and know what you're voting for. Two examples:

Bob Forde, candidate for Clallam County Commissioner — His statements in the PDN seem pretty tame and understated compared to the Citizen Review Online which is written by Bob and Sue Forde. (In an earlier post I had incorrectly stated that Peter Ripley was the author of this site; it looks similar to his Port Angeles Journal and I couldn’t see any author’s name listed. A commenter informed me that Bob and Sue Forde are the authors.)

If you're planning to vote for Forde, please check out Citizen Review Online first and make sure you agree with his ideas on property rights and zoning/land use laws.

R-67: If you’ve turned on your TV in the past few months, you’ve been bombarded with these folksy ads. Regular folks just like us — a father getting ready to walk his kids to school, a waitress chatting with her customers — are giving us a dire warning about trial lawyers and the evils of R-67. (Here and here are two of the ads, if you can bear to see them again.)

These down-home folksy TV ads have been paid for (almost $10 million so far) by insurance companies; and most of them are from out of state. This is a well-known fact, but nevertheless: almost every time there’s a multi-million dollar ad blitz for or against a referendum, the public gets swayed and ends up voting the way the slick TV ads told them to.

So be informed. The R-67 battle isn't Ward Cleaver and Alice the waitress fighting those greedy trial lawyers. It’s a simple question of whether insurance companies should be penalized (sued for triple damages) for denying a valid claim. Yes on R-67 means you agree that insurance companies should be required to honor all valid claims in a timely manner. A “No” vote means you disagree.

“Don’t believe the hype.”

Closing Off Cherry Street

On October 6th a commenter at this post asked me if I knew anything about closing off a block of Oak Street downtown and turning it into a parking lot. I replied that I hadn’t heard anything about it.

Now it turns out that on October 9th the Planning Commission approved a request from the City of Port Angeles to close off Cherry Street from the alley (near the Peninsula Daily News) north to Front Street. The City Council will be discussing this on Tuesday, October 23rd.

Whatever the advantages or disadvantages to this idea, some questions come to mind: something about the Farmers’ Market and how it got run out of town on a rail because they couldn’t close off one block of Laurel Street for three hours just once a week. And yet just two blocks away they can close part of a parallel street and everything will be just hunky dory.

Any theories?

Elk Are Dangerous

That's the title of a letter to the editor in today's Peninsula Daily News. Referring to the horse that got gored by an elk a few days ago, the writer said: "Someday, it may not be this year, but someday, an elk is going to kill a human being. All of the elk in the world are not worth the loss of one human life."

He goes on to say that we need to get the elk herd out of here, "either by moving them or by some other means."

And this person lives in Sequim of all places. He's entitled to his opinion obviously, but why does he live in an area famous for its local elk herd? The elk were in Sequim a long time before it started turning into North Silverdale.

This person could always move to Seattle, or even Port Townsend or downtown Port Angeles, and he'd never have to come into contact with any of those icky animals.

A Chance for the MV Coho?

Civic leaders from Port Angeles and Victoria (including Karen Rogers and Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe) will meet this Friday. They're hoping to save the Coho's landing facilities in Victoria's Inner Harbour. Let's hope they come up with something, since Port Angeles and Victoria are both heavily dependent on ferry traffic between the two cities.

The meeting will take place on the ferry and at the Landing Restaurant.

Karen Rogers said: "Not only is it important to us, it should be very important to them. It puts $500,000 in their town, a tremendous value to Victoria. I'm not sure they understand the economic impact if the Coho moves to Sidney."

The meeting will also include getting maximum tourism out of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and encouraging more tourists to take "two-nation vacations."

Here are some links (already given in an earlier post):

If you want to e-mail the mayor and/or city council of Victoria, you can do that here. And here is 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.

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

Mega-Resort in Brinnon

The population of Brinnon is pretty much divided over the proposed Pleasant Harbor Marina and golf resort. This new complex would have up to 890 hotel and rental units; that’s almost larger than the rest of the town put together.

Some residents think this would be “too much too fast,” and others think it would bring economic benefits to the area.

This project would be on 256 acres. It would include a marina with 290 slips, a resort hotel and condominiums, and a 16,000-square-foot marina village. How is this going to impact a small town like Brinnon?

Some people are concerned that the local elk herd could be jeopardized and/or pushed closer to people's homes. Others are worried about Brinnon turning into another Sequim.

So far 180 people from Brinnon and Quilcene have signed a petition in favor of the resort development. What do YOU think?

Peninsula Economy is Good?

This article by Seattle columnist Ron Judd was in the PDN a few days ago. Apparently the post-summer “shoulder” season is pretty lucrative for motels, inns and campsites on the Olympic Peninsula.

The author says that until around 1990, summer crowds disappeared right after Labor Day. For that brief window between Labor Day and the winter weather, locals could enjoy their favorite beaches, parks and campsites without the summer crowds. And now, according to the author: “Consider it over. The window of bearable weather without unbearable crowds has shrunk to zero.”

“...Subpar motel rooms in Port Angeles, on a Wednesday night? Full. Time-worn accommodations at Lake Crescent Lodge? Ridiculously overpriced cabins at Kalaloch and semi-stately suites at Lake Quinault Lodge? Full, full, full.”

He also says every campsite near Kalaloch was full “on a Thursday afternoon. In the rain.”

Well, this must be good news for the local economy. And yet so many local merchants have complained about how terrible business has been all summer. Lodgings are full on a weeknight in late September/early October, and yet nobody is patronizing the local businesses. What's the story?

Port Angeles Budget Cuts

A “bare bones” budget will be facing the Port Angeles City Council in 2008. Even though the city will have about a quarter of a million dollars more than they did this year, 2008 will be tighter because of cost of living increases and unfunded mandates.

The City Council will decide on October 9th which areas will need to be cut — parks & recreation, roads, personnel, etc.

What do YOU think should be the city’s spending priorities? What should be cut?