To the Editor
May 21, 2013
Firearms
We need to stand up for the Second Amendment
I write this letter to help publicize the effects of the complete lack of understanding and paranoia about weapons and the results it has caused on one local Washington resident. Unfortunately, the media has a significant role to play in this. With only bad news being reported about weapons along with gross misinformation, it has caused the United States to go into complete panic.
I own a small business that I started out of my house in 2012. Due to the restriction from the city of Issaquah, I am unable to conduct “walk-up” business (which is fine) but only helped accelerate the locating of a brick-and-mortar store front. I had located two separate retail storefronts, both located in North Bend. In both instances I notified the realtors of our intentions and the type of merchandise we plan to offer up front.
To the Editor
May 14, 2013
Support your paper
To the good people at The Issaquah Press
My heart was broken when I saw you were leaving Front Street, and again when I read you had been burgled soon after the move. You are and always have been such an amazing resource for this community. Your health and well-being are essential to the vitality of our community.
The Press is no ordinary local newspaper. It “gets” the community, linking local stories with national and international issues, revealing and enhancing their relevance. I find out what our local council and state Legislature are doing and how it might impact me.
To the Editor
May 7, 2013
Recognition deserved
Issaquah High School teacher Jeff Berka deserves gratitude
This is a great community with so many incredible schools and teachers. Certain teachers make our children want to actually talk about school and what they have learned.
A great example of this is one of the most inspirational teachers I have met at Issaquah High School, Jeff Berka. He has quietly and humbly helped and mentored so many other teachers over the years. He is a man who is extremely dedicated to bringing European studies to life.
To the Editor
April 30, 2013
Citywide cleanup
Thanks to Karen Donovan, DIA
I want to send out a great thanks and congratulations to Karen Donovan of the Downtown Issaquah Association for setting up and supervising a great Citywide Cleanup day! Hats off to an unqualified success.
Connie Marsh, president
Issaquah Environmental Council
To the Editor
April 23, 2013
520 bridge pontoons
Leaders need to do, build, fix things
I’m so disgusted I could spit.
Our country used to DO things. We used to build things; we used to invent, innovate and create. We built the Golden Gate bridge, we built the interstate freeway system and we went to the moon. Now, we can’t even build some concrete pontoons for a floating bridge!
To the Editor
April 16, 2013
Plastic bags
Repeal the ban, let citizens decide
Our local businesses are losing money. A television station recently reported the shoplifting rate is eight times higher in cities with p slastic bag bans.
Are our shop owners going to have to be “bag police” and check all bags customers bring to their stores? Isn’t that what the city has compelled them to do?
Our businesses know they have upset customers. It’s embarrassing when visitors to our town are forced to pay for a bag.
To the Editor
April 9, 2013
Firearms ownership
Background checks are not the solution to violence
All three legislators at the Town Meeting referred to by Lois Brandt (3-27 Press) have children. Does Lois really think that because two don’t agree with her they care for their children any less? I doubt it and believe it was more a reflection of her wanting a solution to the violence we see the media sensationalizing every day. To her, removing what she sees as the cause — firearms — makes sense, but violence is a behavioral issue.
FBI statistics in 2011 reveal a rifle was used in 323 murders, but 1,694 were by knives and 726 from beatings. Numbing numbers. Lois mentions Australia’s 1997 gun ban, but government reports show murder rates consistent from 1990 through 2011. Banning guns does not reduce crime. Look at Chicago.
To the Editor
April 2, 2013
Parks survey
Results are vague, don’t represent public desire
The parks bond survey results are going to be discussed soon by the City Council. I’ve had a chance to review the results and they tell more about the survey designers than anything.
The top four funding priorities are based on vague, leading questions that are hard to say no to. “Protecting wildlife habitat” is a top funding priority. What if the survey included questions like “protecting children’s recreational opportunities” or “preserving Issaquah’s natural heritage?”
To the Editor
March 26, 2013
Hunger Action Week
Donate formula to help babies who need it
March 25-30 marks Hunger Action Week, which highlights those who are at risk of hunger, and hunger’s harmful impact on our community.
While the week shines a light on those in our community without enough food to eat, we pose the question, “What about babies without enough to eat?”
Why is formula an important ‘hunger’ problem? Whereas food for hungry families can be economized by purchasing a variety of cheap alternatives, there are no ways to safely economize infant formula. A 12-ounce can of powdered formula that feeds a baby for approximately three days costs $16 a can.
To the Editor
March 19, 2013
Gun laws
Gun rights could use some updated thinking
I can understand how adhering to the laws as they were written hundreds of years ago can provide security and comfort for some as it relates to guns. Those same founders also wrote about slavery and how slaves were not whole people.
Years later, thoughts changed, people evolved and so did our laws. I find no answer as to why anybody of legal age, mentally challenged or not, can buy a machine that is capable, with or without modification, of killing mass numbers of people, and that this is sanctioned by our laws, or that it’s necessary to have an arsenal of military style weapons in the event our government goes berserk, as if their military-style weapons would be no match for ours.
Have we evolved? This is what I don’t understand. Call me crazy for asking.
Bryan Weinstein
Issaquah
