Two Cruise Ships Coming to Port Angeles
Two Holland America cruise ships will be stopping in Port Angeles, on April 18th and May 11th.
At Terminal 1, adjacent to Westport Shipyards, disembarking tourists will be greeted by volunteers, vendors and shuttle buses. Shuttle stops will include the Olympic National Park Visitor Center, the Lower Elwha Klallam Heritage Center and the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.
At Terminal 1, adjacent to Westport Shipyards, disembarking tourists will be greeted by volunteers, vendors and shuttle buses. Shuttle stops will include the Olympic National Park Visitor Center, the Lower Elwha Klallam Heritage Center and the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.
posted by Tom Harper at 4:15 PM
33 Comments:
Oddly, for only a while today, an unnamed local teabag rag, had a poll up and after a good amount of happy hour votes we learn 10% think it's a bad priority for our town. I get it....everything is bad. Especially if it involves feriners walking around spending money. Honestly I'm surprised it was only ten percent. It's the polls that get me. They always seem to have no option for me. They always ask the most devisive questions, in the most stupid, vague way. Some day I'm expecting a poll: "Do you eat your boogars?"
Three excellent places to choose for cruise ship passengers to visit.
Hooray for all three attractions. They are truly "world class".
Compared to the other stops the cruise ships will make, I'm sure the passengers will be SO impressed. Not often they get to see a little half dead lumber town.
Half dead lumber town? that's every stop in Alaska, why not here?
I'll be sure to keep a low profile.
Some day I'm expecting a poll: "Do you eat your boogars?"
Not in this weather, they're too runny.
Is dog red meat?
And, ony a dozen miles away: "2012 will bring 228 cruises ships to the Victoria B.C., area with 500000 passengers just waiting to disembark and sightsee our beautiful city..."
www.businesssellcanada.com/90403003.htm
To see the list of ships, their size, number of passengers, etc : http://www.timescolonist.com/pdf/2012_Cruise_ship_schedule.pdf
Only a dozen or so miles away, and such a different reality.
Remember a few years back, when one of the first cruise ships stopped in Port Angeles? A bunch of the passengers got on the ferries, and went over to Victoria!
This is fact.
They will come. Pat Downie will meet them, and talk too much. They will go. And they will never come back.
Victoria has the Empress Hotel
we have the Red Lion. Victoria has a Museum, we have an underground. Victoria has good restaurants, we have the Corner House. Victoria has real shopping, we have Edna. Victoria has a marina, we have a boat junk yard.
Nuff said
I was one of those thinking this is a bad idea for the town. Why? Here's what normally happens: the tourists disembark at the port. Most of them are immediately taken by bus to Hurricane Ridge or somewhere else they aren't spending money locally.
The few that stay downtown are greeted by huge vacant lots, parking lots, empty buildings and, because they get there early, closed shops. There are a few merchants who are ready for the tourists, but whenever I've asked how business was that day they say "not very good".
Face facts, we don't have much to offer tourists in town. What are they going to do downtown to kill the time? Visit a few shops? Visit our ugly, dilapidated waterfront? Yeah. Until we fix things I'm embarrassed for tourists to see our town...
And let's not forget the "colorful" downtown characters the tourists will meet: the toothless tweaker girl begging for money, the aggressive black woman demanding "food money", and Lars shouting obscenities in their faces.
Oh yes - let's not forget about all the dog poop on the sidewalks that they'll be stepping in.
"Port Angeles? Oh yeah, that place. Some tubby red haired guy shouted "Muthafukkah" at us and I ruined my shoes in a huge pile of dog shite."
Victoria has real shopping, we have Edna.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!
Anyone interested in all that Victoria has to offer can look it up on a Google search, in "Images". I did a minute ago. Wow! Look at the terminal where the cruise ships tie up to. Ogden Point.
Rows of horse drawn carriages, pedi-cabs, big buses and fancy limos and taxis to take people to different areas.
And, look at all the interesting places they can visit.
There is absolutely no comparison.
Clearly, somewhere in their past, they figured out "community planning" in a way that works, and Port Angeles sure did not. Geeez, they're on an island! Everything has to be brought in by boat. And still, they do it better.
Responding to another "anonymous" who described the "colorful" downtown characters in Port Angeles... Please know that comments like these hurt those who care about these people living with mental illness. "But by the grace of God..." etc. Every community has similar souls. Some deal more humanely with them because they allocate resources to do so. In the meantime, can we agree to be more compassionate in the face of an illness that affects behavior? Many thanks.
Are you suggesting that aggressive panhandling, shouting out obscenities at passersby and shoplifting are behaviors to be condoned and are a benefit to the downtown?
Seriously? You're suggesting that?
Anon 12:01
The only illness these folks suffer from is laziness and drug addiction, and maybe a phobea towards bathing.
Get real and call the church not the taxpayer.
Yes, the church. It isn't judgemental, at all! Just be sure you're ready to accept that you're being gay is a "sin", or want birth control, or any of the other things you might need help with.
Hearing voices, or experiencing hallucinations? Yes, skip the Community Mental Health services, and go to the church. Maybe they'll perform an exorcism to get that "satan" out of your head.
I've seen that aggressive panhandling woman at the US Bank on Lincoln cashing her government assistance check.
She has enough of an anddress to get a monthly check sent to her. Obviously, she's in desperate need of that "food money"!
"She has enough of an anddress to get a monthly check sent to her. Obviously, she's in desperate need of that "food money"!"
How dare she need food! Clearly she is a problem the police need to deal with, post haste!
Uh huh.
Tell you what, Bleeding Heart, if she wasn't spending her relief check on drugs and booze she'd have enough money to buy some food.
Once I had to pass by her while she was standing in front of an empty store front. She was smoking a cigarette and asking "Yo' got any food moneys?" I said "Maybe you shouldn't have bought that pack of smokes." She got real angry, balled up her fists and took a step toward me saying "Don't you give me no lip!" I got out my cell phone and said "I'm dialing 911." and she was off down First Street like a rocket.
But hey! You want to help so much, why don't you take her home and feed her yourself?
"Tell you what, Bleeding Heart, if she wasn't spending her relief check on drugs and booze she'd have enough money to buy some food."
Hmmm. So, Doc Righteous, you figure she should have that relief money taken away? Or, do you think the treatment services are doing a good job in Port Angeles? Or, what, exactly?
Anon 10:31
i think she's a piece of shit and should be treated like a piece of shit
Yo, Bleeding Heart!
Curiously, you avoid addressing the point (although you could say "Hello, point!" in reference to your own pointy head).
If the beggar receives a relief check, why are they out begging for "food money"? Where does the money from the check go (other than for cigarettes)?
And ... why don't you take her home and feed her yourself? I'm sure she'd be happy to sleep on your sofa.
"If the beggar receives a relief check, why are they out begging for "food money"? Where does the money from the check go (other than for cigarettes)?"
Strangely, you don't seem to recognize the signs of severe mental illness: the inability to see how your own behaviours are not advancing your own interests.
Hmmm.
Do you understand or recognize things like "self medication"? These poor sods are lost in their own delusions, and cannot function in society. But, you can't see that.
Hmmm.
You demand that these clearly delusional, non-functional people be "normal", and to act as you want them to. Again, do you think the Port Angeles mental health services are doing an adequate job? Do you know anything about what they do?
What, exactly, are you offering?
Snarky phrases are easy. But, what are you actually going to do to help these people? Or, are they only a source of throw-away comments for you?
the question is "why should we help them at all?"
*yawn* What a tedious post. You refuse to answer any question of mine yet I'm compelled to answer yours.
Oooooooooh-k!
But I'll answer some of your questions:
Q: ... do you think the Port Angeles mental health services are doing an adequate job?
A: Apparently not.
Q: Do you know anything about what they do?
A: I'm guessing that they mostly provide self-esteem therapy. As in "You may be a homeless beggar, but gosh darn it ... you're a great homeless beggar!"
Q: What, exactly, are you offering?
A: Me? Not a damn thing. What am I supposed to do, take them home and feed them?
Q: But, what are you actually going to do to help these people?
A: You've already asked this question (see above). And your sentence is grammatically incorrect. See my answer above.
Now, answer some of my questions:
Q: "Are you suggesting that aggressive panhandling, shouting out obscenities at passersby and shoplifting are behaviors to be condoned and are a benefit to the downtown?"
Q: "If the beggar receives a relief check, why are they out begging for "food money"? Where does the money from the check go (other than for cigarettes)?"
Anonymous said...
the question is "why should we help them at all?"
6:03 AM, March 21, 2012
There you have it.
Faced with people with problems, the question is not what is the best, most beneficial and cost effective way to help, but "Why should we help them at all".
Okay, so, we turn away, and let these people fend for themselves (more so than they already do). How long before they really disintegrate, and engage in even more anti-social actions? How long before they end up in the court system, and prison? How long before they require serious medical services?
You want to guess how much that costs? You want to guess who is going to be paying THAT bill?
Of course, if it were you, or your family members in need of public assistance, you would still be asking "Why should we help them at all"?
anon 9:33am
If this person was my child i would help because it was my choice, these strangers are not my responsibility and I should have the right to choose, just like with my family.
You do know that MOST of these people aren't from here, nor would they have come here on their own. Other police agencies drive them here and DUMP THEM. Its like a busing exchange program for people that no one wants in THEIR community. There ARE ample services in this area, however, most of these "lost souls" are hardened from an urban homeless living, and find that it is much easier to beg and bully than avail themselves of mental health services...why because if you are crazy you won't admit you are (Catch-22). You should see the homeless in Waikiki....hundreds for our one. With this economy it's a plague everywhere.
The homeless need services, but they also need some cause-effect, and rules of conduct. Being a "oh let them be" just makes more and more wild behavior. I somehow doubt that we really want to see public urination, public sex, and strong-arm bullying going on in our dead downtown.
Our "Mental Health" folks want to turn this town into a dumping ground for all these "lost souls". Eight-bed "half-way houses" are springing up all over town, especially on Second and Ninth Streets on Cherry Hill and, of course, the Lee Hotel downtown.
Why? Cos "Mental Health" gets a pile of dough from the Feds and they spread it out thin amongst members of the city government ... including certain city council members who turn a blind eye to citizen complaints. Sissi Bruch is a prominent recipient of this largesse.
And now we have two new members added to the cast of crazies. One guy hurtles down the street shouting out things like "Yeah, bitch, Imma gonna kill you!" and the other, some Native woman, staggers about in booze-induced fog. I've seen the paramedics take her away more than once.
Please tell me how aggressive panhandling, shouting out obscenities and shoplifting is benefit to downtown?
at least someone is moving here...
"Being a "oh let them be" just makes more and more wild behavior. I somehow doubt that we really want to see public urination, public sex, and strong-arm bullying going on in our dead downtown."
And, I agree.
But, I don't think the answer is: "why should we help them at all?"
That does not make the problems, the lives these people are living, go away.
I doubt anyone really thinks these folks are in complete command of their facilities. They have issues that require professional services. It looks like the current level of services are not adequate.
So, what is going to be done about it?
"Sissi Bruch is a prominent recipient of this largesse."
Huh? Sissi is making big bucks off of the homeless by working for the tribe? Please explain. In detail.
"So, what is going to be done about it?"
Um ... put them on a bus and send them to Aberdeen?
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