November 14, 2019
EDITORIAL: Time to opt out of ‘throw-away society’
Anyone who has ever had to make a dollar stretch farther than they thought possible understands the value of a well-made product.
Anyone who has ever had to make a dollar stretch farther than they thought possible understands the value of a well-made product.
Now that the election (which took an unexpectedly heated and divisive turn in Camas) is over, it’s time to concentrate on the things that unite us every November and December — breaking bread together, exchanging gifts, donating to families in need, celebrating holiday traditions with family and friends, feeling grateful for the things that make life worth living and, of course, pie.
Happy Halloween to everyone reading this Cheers & Jeers editorial on the day it publishes. And Happy The-Election-is-Almost-Over to everyone else.
The “Vote No on Camas Pool Bond” folks have been getting their 15 minutes of fame this week, after an impromptu “debate” hosted by a conservative online media group devolved into what could best be described as a bunch of bullies coming after the mayor of Camas — and all because she dared to suggest (along with the Camas City Council) that voters should decide if Camas should build a community center.
In her interview with the Post-Record last week, Camas Mayor Shannon Turk said she was willing to shoulder the bulk of people’s anger over the city’s decision to place a $78 million community-aquatics center bond on the Nov. 5 ballot, but added that she doesn’t fully understand people’s ire over the bond.
As we mark the 79th annual National Newspaper Week this week, many of us who have worked in the newspaper business for a couple decades are feeling more conflicted than ever before.
Community news journalists are well-versed in the issue of safety planning. We talk about it in relation to natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes and floods. We write about it when covering issues related to domestic violence and the hardships people face when confronted with statistics that they are more likely to be murdered by an enraged and unstable romantic partner after they decide to leave. And we talk about it every time there is a mass shooting at a school, movie theater or nightclub.
There’s a lot to celebrate this month, so we’re going to get the bad news out of the way first and then do a deep dive into the good stuff.
Washougal seems to have attracted four very strong candidates in its hunt for the city’s next chief of police.
When we first reported the creation of the Washougal Arts Commission in May 2018, the idea seemed like a no-brainer: the group had $5,000 in seed money, a thriving network of local artists and Joyce Lindsay, a strong arts advocate and member of the Washougal City Council and the Washougal Arts and Culture Alliance, had thrown her weight behind the new commission.
