Sharpes Corner roundabout plan makes little sense
Citizens who drive east on State Highway 20, arise! Together we must stop any kind of quick approval of the proposed plan for routing traffic onto, through and around Sharpes (formerly Dean’s) Corner.

Heading east from Anacortes, the plans calls for reforming two-lane traffic to one-lane traffic through an enclosed underpass (or so-called tunnel) to reconnect with the existing two-lane highway.

Leaving the intersection the way it is now is preferable to the misguided plan to channel traffic from Anacortes east into a one-lane “tunnel.”

Think about it.

Does it make sense for the state to finally build four-lane highway access between Anacortes and Burlington/I-5 only to reduce traffic flow to one lane at Sharpes Corner?

Periodically each day, we already have a long line of traffic heading west to Whidbey Island. If the one-lane part of the plan heading east prevails, I’ll predict lines backed up to the “Welcome to Anacortes” sign near the Kiwanis Sunriser Park even during “off hour” traffic times.

As to the overall concept of the roundabout, I wonder what the trucking industry and its drivers are going to think about getting rigs 54 feet to 70 feet or longer (heading to Naval Air Station Whidbey Isalnd) around the roundabout as it is presently designed?

C’mon, state traffic engineers, think about creating a bigger traffic issue than the formation of the corner presents now.
Larry Stevens
Anacortes

Efforts to bring in more good jobs must continue
Just a thank you for the excellent article on the urban renewal. It has been a long slow process that still has a ways to go. It was interesting to be reminded how it happened. I had forgotten a lot of it.

The one thing I remember is that my parents were evicted from their home, and at age 62 my Dad had to go out and look for a job because he now had a house payment.

Theirs was not the best house in town but it was not the worst either. And it was paid for. They were not paid enough to buy an equal piece of property so they had to go in debt.

His generation worked hard to stay out of debt. This was before the “no age discrimination” era so it was even harder than it is now.

So you can see why this is personal to me. It has been a long time ago, but it is nice to know there are lots of jobs there and hopefully, more on the way.

Where I grew up, just a couple blocks from the old Nelson School, there is now a big warehouse and North Harbor Yacht Sales.

I know everything has to change, so for all the people whose lives were turned upside down, let’s continue to bring in more jobs (good-paying jobs) and then it might all be worth it.

By the way, what’s wrong with getting a supermarket on the south end of town so we don’t have to go halfway through town for groceries?
Gloria Nystrom
Anacortes

Market had a good year that’s not quite over
The Anacortes Farmers Market would like to extend its gratitude to Anacortes and surrounding communities for a great 2008 season.

We are blessed to live in such an abundant area of the world. Thanks to all who support us each week.

If you missed out on the market this season, it is not too late to gather your harvest.

We still have two upcoming Harvest/Holiday Farmers Markets, Nov. 8 and 22. Thanks, Anacortes, for the opportunity to provide you with so many fresh local options. 
Keri Knapp
Anacortes Farmers Market

Forest education benefit successful thanks to many
The Friends of the Forest Education Benefit Event on Oct. 11 at Fidalgo Bay Resort was once again a very fun and successful party. Thank you to everyone involved for helping to raise $27,000 to support our Forest Education programs.

Thank you to the Fidalgo Bay Resort and Samish Nation for providing a beautiful and accommodating space for all of our needs. Gere-a-Deli Catering satisfied everyone with a truly delicious dinner and dessert provided with lovely table service.

Fine spirits were provided by Beam Global Spirits and Wine, beer by Anacortes Brewery, and wine by Compass Wines. Food Pavilion, Avenue Catering, and Deception Café, and Nerka sea frozen smoked salmon donated hor d’ouevres. Early evening music by Fidalgo Swing and later evening listening with our beloved local Spoonshine made the night complete. 

We offer heartfelt recognition and thanks to all of the individuals and local businesses that contributed art, goods and services for our silent and live auctions. Kevin Paul was our featured artist. His handcarved cedar Raven was a highlight of the live auction, and his gift of song transformed the evening.

Thank you to Bob Vaux for being our live auctioneer. Watermark Book Company provided exclusive ticket sales. The Framemaker and Bayshore donated essential equipment. KP Studios provided the raven carving image. Angie at How It Works created lovely posters, programs, sign displays and table cards.

Sponsors for the event have our deepest gratitude. Essential financial support came from The Samish Indian Nation, Global Diving and Salvage, Tesoro Refining and Marketing, Kristjan Ochs Attorney at Law, Emerald Marine, Penguin Coffee, North Harbor Diesel, What the Heck Fest, and Eccos Designs.

The Friends of the Forest Board and many volunteers gave tremendous energy and time to this event. And last but not least, a grand thank you to all who bought tables, tickets, and auction items. Your spirit of love for our community woods and strong show of financial support for our forest education program has meant a world of difference for our work.

In these challenging financial times, it is inspiring to see our community step up and collectively invest in our island’s natural future. With everyone’s help, we will continue to provide all seventh-grade and third-grade students in Anacortes with forest field trips and classes, forest discovery summer camp for kids, community hikes of all kinds for all ages, and a range of other educational, stewardship, and conservation activities in ongoing service to the Anacortes Community Forest Lands.
Denise Crowe
Friends of the ACFL

Many supported fundraiser for Class of 2011
On behalf of the AHS PTSA Class of 2011 Grad Night Committee, I would like to thank the following businesses for their generous donations to the All You Can Eat Pancake and Sausage Breakfast fundraiser held Oct. 11 at the Anacortes Eagles Hall:  Mount Vernon Haggen, Burlington Haggen, Anacortes Safeway, Brenda and Bob Parmely from Harold’s Market, Bay Shore Office Supply, Burlington Costco, Darigold, KISM 92.9 and Rob Uteda at KWLE 1340 AM.

Thanks also to the many community members who bought tickets or donated to the fundraiser. With the help of donations from supporters such as these we are on our way to a great Class of 2011 Alcohol and Drug Free Grad Night Celebration.

Thanks to the Class of 2011 students and parents who donated their time and talent to this successful fundraiser. Your commitment to helping the Class of 2011 safe, alcohol and drug-free event following graduation is appreciated.
Patty Malcolm
Chair AHS PTSA
Class of 2011

Elementary school students across the Anacortes School District are getting a real-life lesson in social studies. They’re learning about the recent presidential election — and took time to research and write their own letters to the editor expressing their support for a candidate. Below are just a few of their election letters.

Vote for Obama: He has the stronger position on Iraq war
Are you a voter who hasn’t decided yet on a presidential candidate to vote for on Nov. 4? If you are, you should definitely read this. You should read this even if you have chosen a candidate. I might just get you to change your mind.

I believe that Barack Obama has a better position on the Iraq war than John McCain does. Why do we need to let our citizens die over a governmental issue in Iraq? Like Sen. Obama stated in 2004, “We must be as careful leaving, as we were careless coming in.” I believe that is exactly what we should do. Barack Obama is going to bring our troops home.

John McCain is going to do the exact opposite. In 2002, Sen. McCain voted to authorize the use of U.S. forces against Iraq. He wants to continue the war, which means troops will continue dying. John McCain supports President George W. Bush. Sen. Obama clearly disagreed with President Bush when he said, “I am not opposed to all wars, I am opposed to dumb wars.”

The second issue Sen. Obama still has a better position on than Sen. McCain is energy. This is because Barack Obama puts energy on top of his to-do list because of high gas and winter heating prices.

John McCain on the other hand wants to use nuclear power that creates horribly toxic waste which is highly deadly to all living things.

The energy that Barack Obama wants to use is perfectly safe; he wants to use solar, wind, hydro-electricity and biofuel as renewable energy sources. Sen. Obama says his plan will “ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.”

This is why you should vote for Barack Obama. He has a good solution to the Iraq War, the energy crisis, and many other issues. Even though you might think that a sixth-grader wouldn’t care about the current election, you are wrong. Kids should have a say on who will be our next president. In this case, Sen. Barack Obama is the better choice for president.
Ashley Slater
Mount Erie Elementary - Sixth grade

Vote for McCain: He will deliver on education, energy issues
I have the utmost respect for both of the presidential candidates running in the 2008 election. I agree with Sen. John McCain on some issues, and with Sen. Barack Obama on others.

But in my opinion, Sen. John McCain is the better candidate this election because his education and energy plans are superior to Barack Obama’s projected course of action.

He has also earned my respect by risking his life for our country in the war in Vietnam and because he is a very experienced politician with more than 20 years as a state senator.

Lots of issues have been addressed by the candidates, but I think education is the most important issue for me. Education has always been problematic. John McCain plans to fix the problem completely. He is fighting to give all kids the ability to access good schools.

Sen. McCain will also give $250 million to states that promote online learning, which is not included in Sen. Obama’s plan. He will provide funding for needed teacher development, which has not been outlined in Sen. Obama’s education plan. Lastly, John McCain will ensure struggling children meet state education standards, by giving them access to high-quality tutors. All of these add up to John McCain creating a stronger, clearer vision for improving education in America.

The second most important issue to me is the energy crisis the United States is facing. With the world’s supply of oil rapidly depleting, we are in desperate need for alternative fuels. John McCain will promote alternative fuels significantly.

He supports nuclear power, while Sen. Obama opposes this option. Canada and most of Europe use nuclear power, so why don’t we? Sen. McCain supports “green” cars too. He will give a $5,000 tax credit to each and every customer who buys a zero-carbon emission car, along with proposing a $300 million prize to people who improve the development of “green” cars.

Finally, John McCain supports clean coal technology, which is a phenomenal alternative fuel. He will commit $2 billion annually to advance clean coal technologies. Doing that will create many jobs for American people and help produce less green house pollutants making a safer planet for all. It’s clear to me that John McCain will do more to help with the energy crisis.

Who are you voting for this election? Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain have workable solutions to America’s education and energy dilemmas. Even though I can’t really vote, John McCain would get my vote in this election. He is a more experienced politician than Barack Obama.  Sen. McCain also risked his life for the United States in the Vietnam war and would be a superior commander in chief.

America needs some serious changes, and John McCain is just the “maverick” to change our country. He will put country first!
Matt Irving
Mount Erie Elementary - Sixth grade

Vote for McCain: He’ll win the war and he won’t raise your taxes
Who are you voting for? Well, if you’re not voting for John McCain then you’re making a huge mistake.

John McCain has served in the U.S. Navy for a long period of time. He was a prisoner of war for several years, his captors even gave him a chance to escape, but he remained until all of the other soldiers were safely away.

Sen. John McCain has always put his country first. John McCain has over 20 years of experience in the Senate. Isn’t that the kind of man you want running our country? I sure want him in the office of President of the United States of America.

The war in Iraq has lasted longer than any other war. More than 4,000 American soldiers have died and over 60,000 have been wounded or injured. The United States has already spent over $2.7 trillion on this war.

If we withdraw, then all that will have gone mostly to waste. So why not stay for another year and just finish the fight we got ourselves into? This will be four months shorter than the time Barack Obama wants to spend taking all the troops out.

Barack Obama thinks we never should of started his war in the first place. Barack Obama thinks that the best way to help Iraq is to withdraw all our troops. He opposed the war from the beginning and has opposed the war ever since.

He introduced a plan to bring one to two combat brigades home every month. But this will take up to 16 months. I think the war could be over by then.

Barack Obama says to let Iraq deal with their own problems. Barack Obama plans to give $2 billion to the Iraqi government to rebuild their towns and cities. But they will probably not use all the money on rebuilding, and what will the rest go to? Well, probably to weapons and expanding their military power.

Even if we withdraw all our troops, then what about the insurgents and terrorists still hiding in Iraq? They will still be there to cause trouble in Iraq.

Barack Obama is willing to spend $30 million on withdrawing troops. Sen. McCain has supported this war since it started. He says that until Iraq can safeguard their own country we will keep helping them deal with this insurgent threat. John McCain believes that we must help the Iraqi government battle those who might eventually start a civil war in the Middle East.

John McCain says that the best way to serve long-term peace and security is to establish a stable, prosperous, and democratic state in Iraq. John McCain thinks that if we follow Sen. Obama’s plan it will just lead us to more costly wars. John McCain strongly disagrees with those who advocate withdrawing. McCain will start to take all troops out by 2010.

I agree with John McCain on the issue in Iraq. I think that we need to help finish this war once and for all. That is where I stand on the war In Iraq.

The real issue with taxes is that everyone thinks they’re paying too much. Sen. Obama is giving workers a $500 tax cut and working families would get a tax cut of $1,000. For seniors making less than $50,000, Sen. Obama will get rid of income taxes for them.

Sen. Obama is making the top 5 percent of earners pay more for their taxes. But if you think about it, you will realize they are working to earn all that money just like everyone else. So why make them pay more just because they earn more? With Sen. Obama the bottom 20 percent of earners would save $567, but hardly anybody earns that much.

Sen. McCain wants to keep tax rates low. He is going to cut corporate tax rates from 35 percent to 25 percent. He is going to allow first-year deduction, or “expensing” of equipment and technology investments.

In the United States the average American family makes from $100,000 to $250,000. So they would save more with Sen. McCain. McCain is going to lower taxes for everyone, not just the poor and middle class people. He will not raise taxes for anyone. I think that McCain would be the very best president because he would lower taxes. Sen. Obama would not lower taxes and he would actually raise some taxes by as much as $500,000.

I would vote for Sen. John McCain because I agree with where he stands on the two most important issues to me. John McCain has served in the Navy for a long period of time and was a P.O.W for several years. He has a ton of experience in the Senate. I think he is the most qualified man to run our country. So you should vote for John McCain.

You should vote for John McCain because he is going to win the war in Iraq and bring all our troops home in 2010. He is not going to raise taxes for anyone. From where he stands on those issues I think you should definitely vote for John McCain.
Frankie Crandall
Mount Erie Elementary - Sixth grade

Vote for Obama: We need change and he will make things happen
There are two well-qualified candidates running for president this year, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama. These candidates, young and old, both have focused on important issues, such as taxes, energy, health care and education that they each believe they have the best answers to.

However, upon closer examination, I believe Barack Obama will make America’s future better for us and the environment. While some issues I don’t quite understand such as taxes, and they may not apply to my lifestyle yet, I have chosen issues I believe are directly relevant to me: energy and education. And on these, Sen. Obama is a better candidate.

Education is very important to me because I’m still in school. Sen. Obama has a plan called “Zero to Five” which will give our youngest children and their parents more early school support.

Sen. McCain believes parents should be able to pick the school they want their child to attend, but this will take public school funds away from our schools. He also supports No Child Left Behind, which has merit pay for teachers. John McCain encourages more competition.

Barack Obama opposes merit pay and more competition in our public school system. He would like to restate the No Child Left Behind policy because Sen. Obama does not believe in punishing schools that don’t meet standards. He plans to help these schools improve and catch up. Barack Obama would also improve assessments and help with college readiness programs. Sen. Obama promotes the kind of education I want to see.

On another issue, energy, I think Sen. Obama also has better ideas. Right now gas prices have a major impact on our everyday lives. Sen. Obama will provide short-term relief for families struggling to keep up with the skyrocketing prices of gas, while strategically investing $150 billion over the next ten years to build a clean energy future.

Sen. McCain plans to expand drilling explorations, which would mean less money spent on overseas oil and less foreign dependency, but drilling still costs money and it takes a couple of years for oil to reach the pump. It could also lead to serious environmental damage in sensitive drilling areas.

Eventually oil will run out, which is why I believe Barack Obama’s plan works better for America, both now and later. His goal is to save more gas over the next 10 years than we currently import from the Middle East and Venezuela combined.

Sen. Obama is also thinking about America’s future by putting $1 million into plug-in hybrid cars. He will ensure 10 percent of America’s energy will be renewable by 2012 and 25 percent by 2025. The environment needs to change its direction, and it can do that with Barack Obama.

Although Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama have their solutions to energy and education, I think Barack Obama has put forward ideas that will help America.

If you want change for our country, then you need to think ahead, like Sen. Obama has done. He has thought about our future and has ideas that will help us later generations. America needs change, and Barack Obama is the one who can do it.
Brenna Ware
Mount Erie Elementary - Sixth grade

Vote for Obama: He’s talking about more than a fake plumber
In my sixth-grade class we have been studying the presidential election. I think all people should vote for Barack Obama.

I think this because Barack plans on only raising taxes for business owners making more than $250,000 a year by 3 percent and my family’s business is not in that group.

Another reason is that he is also making it so everyone can have an affordable health plan for themselves and their children.

My last reason is that Barack believes there should be a better education system.

The reason I think John McCain should not be president is that his whole campaign right now is focused around a fake plumber (Joe the Plumber) and nothing really else.

Again, I believe people should vote for Barack Obama for president.
Sage Baldwin
Fidalgo Elementary - Sixth grade

Vote for McCain: He has experience and better ideas on the big issues
I think everybody should vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin because John McCain has a lot of experience.

He has military experience, he is in the Senate, and is much older than Barack Obama. He has seen more changes of the United States government than Barack Obama has.
John McCain knows when and where the armed forces should attack, defend, and stay away from. He can help the economy get better, and make sure that every student gets a great education, and passes high school.

Barack Obama believes we should stop the war and just give up. He also believes in changing the economy, but the truth is, it will only get worse if he is elected.

Barack Obama does not have very strong feelings on how we should change student education, and his health care plan is against many beliefs.

He thinks that we should pass the death with dignity bill, and thinks abortion is the right solution for those who do not want a child.

John McCain has adopted children. He believes every child has the right to live, and those that are not wanted may be wanted by others.

Sarah Palin many not be the best choice for vice president and her history isn’t that great, but she is governor of Alaska and look how far she has come.

I trust John McCain knew what he was doing when he chose Sarah Palin.

This is why I believe that everybody should vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin as the president and vice president.
Monica Willoughby
Fidalgo Elementary - Sixth grade