http://www.columbian.com/opinion/news/07282007news175166.cfm
QUOTE
In Our View: Cheers and Jeers
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Soccer girl, congressman, traffic backups, ex-county auditor, Bigfoot fans in spotlight
Jeers: Twelve-year-old Megan Alger of Vancouver is good enough at soccer to land a midfielder position on the Blitz, a "select" team of 14-year-old boys in the Evergreen Soccer Club, which does not have an equivalent advanced-level team for girls.
But the league's parent group, the Columbia Youth Soccer Federation, has hung out a "No Girls Allowed" sign. Also getting our jeer is the Washington State Youth Soccer Association, which backs the CYSF. "The boys' game is rougher than the girls' game," Todd McGann of WSYSA told The Columbian. "It's a contact sport."
If Megan's good enough, and wants to take on the physical challenges, they ought to let her. All over the U.S., including Washington, girls sometimes play with boys in an even rougher sport, football ( www.fortunecity.com/wembley/mueller/641/princesses/timeline.html ).
Cheers: U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Bellevue, said this week that the federal government still has "a Cold War mindset" when it comes to classifying documents. "It's a hurdle we have to overcome."
Reichert, a former King County sheriff, told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer he plans to propose legislation to streamline the process for declassifying documents.
Jeers: This jeer is for a circumstance that probably can't be helped, not for the state Department of Transportation that is bringing it on. Seattle-bound motorists be warned: In addition to the usual summer-festival traffic snarls in the Seattle area, including those tonight during the Seafair Torchlight Parade and next weekend near the unlimited hydroplane races on Lake Washington, there's a bigger I-5 mess looming. Two lanes of northbound I-5, approaching downtown Seattle will be closed for construction all day Aug. 10 to Aug. 29. Long backups are certain on I-5 and motorists trying to avoid that backup will create heavier traffic throughout the area.
Cheers: Good for Vancouverite Liz Luce, a former Clark County auditor who has been serving in Gov. Chris Gregoire's administration as head of the Department of Licensing. She is the recipient of the "Hot Potato" Award from the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region for her work with British Columbia to develop an "enhanced driver license" for use instead of a passport to cross the border. The award was presented to Luce by Gordon Campbell, premier of British Columbia. The enhanced licenses will be available in January 2008, Luce's office says.
Jeers: Why do the Sasquatch believers keep on keeping on?
Last week, according to The Associated Press, about 45 members of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization spent two days in the Uinta Mountains of Utah searching for the legendary apelike critter, emphasis on "legendary."
They used sophisticated equipment such as parabolic microphones and night-vision goggles.
Here's a shocker: A Forest Service District Ranger there said he was not aware of any sighting and that campers should be more worried about bears. Nevertheless, there are apparent true believers, including Scott Taylor of Tacoma, who said he saw Bigfoot in 2005 while deer hunting on the Washington coast.
Funny, that despite the occasional "sightings" and despite all the digital and cell-phone cameras everyone seems to carry these days, no one ever gets a bona fide picture or video of Sasquatch.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Soccer girl, congressman, traffic backups, ex-county auditor, Bigfoot fans in spotlight
Jeers: Twelve-year-old Megan Alger of Vancouver is good enough at soccer to land a midfielder position on the Blitz, a "select" team of 14-year-old boys in the Evergreen Soccer Club, which does not have an equivalent advanced-level team for girls.
But the league's parent group, the Columbia Youth Soccer Federation, has hung out a "No Girls Allowed" sign. Also getting our jeer is the Washington State Youth Soccer Association, which backs the CYSF. "The boys' game is rougher than the girls' game," Todd McGann of WSYSA told The Columbian. "It's a contact sport."
If Megan's good enough, and wants to take on the physical challenges, they ought to let her. All over the U.S., including Washington, girls sometimes play with boys in an even rougher sport, football ( www.fortunecity.com/wembley/mueller/641/princesses/timeline.html ).
Cheers: U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Bellevue, said this week that the federal government still has "a Cold War mindset" when it comes to classifying documents. "It's a hurdle we have to overcome."
Reichert, a former King County sheriff, told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer he plans to propose legislation to streamline the process for declassifying documents.
Jeers: This jeer is for a circumstance that probably can't be helped, not for the state Department of Transportation that is bringing it on. Seattle-bound motorists be warned: In addition to the usual summer-festival traffic snarls in the Seattle area, including those tonight during the Seafair Torchlight Parade and next weekend near the unlimited hydroplane races on Lake Washington, there's a bigger I-5 mess looming. Two lanes of northbound I-5, approaching downtown Seattle will be closed for construction all day Aug. 10 to Aug. 29. Long backups are certain on I-5 and motorists trying to avoid that backup will create heavier traffic throughout the area.
Cheers: Good for Vancouverite Liz Luce, a former Clark County auditor who has been serving in Gov. Chris Gregoire's administration as head of the Department of Licensing. She is the recipient of the "Hot Potato" Award from the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region for her work with British Columbia to develop an "enhanced driver license" for use instead of a passport to cross the border. The award was presented to Luce by Gordon Campbell, premier of British Columbia. The enhanced licenses will be available in January 2008, Luce's office says.
Jeers: Why do the Sasquatch believers keep on keeping on?
Last week, according to The Associated Press, about 45 members of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization spent two days in the Uinta Mountains of Utah searching for the legendary apelike critter, emphasis on "legendary."
They used sophisticated equipment such as parabolic microphones and night-vision goggles.
Here's a shocker: A Forest Service District Ranger there said he was not aware of any sighting and that campers should be more worried about bears. Nevertheless, there are apparent true believers, including Scott Taylor of Tacoma, who said he saw Bigfoot in 2005 while deer hunting on the Washington coast.
Funny, that despite the occasional "sightings" and despite all the digital and cell-phone cameras everyone seems to carry these days, no one ever gets a bona fide picture or video of Sasquatch.
