The Editor:
With just over a year under my belt in 1994, as a police officer in St. Louis with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, I remember receiving the information I never wanted to hear: One of our officers was killed. On September 11, 1994, police officer Todd Meriwether was shot and killed during a robbery attempt in front of his home while putting an anti-theft device on his vehicle. The news was jarring and shocking. I reflected on the numerous times I had placed my anti-theft device on my vehicle. Something so normal, so routine. The robber was also killed as he and officer Meriwether exchanged gunfire.
Regrettably, Todd’s funeral at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery was not the first and would not be the last law enforcement officer funeral. During my 21-year career in St. Louis, we lost an additional 10 officers: Five to gunfire, three in vehicle pursuits, one by a heart attack and one in a vehicle collision.
National Police Week was established in 1962, and former president John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation that designated May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day. National Police Week honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty; provides peer support and support to the families of those fallen. At home in Washington state, we have lost over 300 law enforcement officers in the line of duty. On September 4, 1978, in Blaine, we lost assistant chief of police Larry Dean Duronso and reserve officer Douglas Orville Krenz to an aircraft accident while searching for the body of a murder victim. There are two memorial plaques inside our police lobby to remind us of their sacrifice.
As you go about your week, please take a moment to remember those guardians that have given their lives for the safety of our communities.
Donnell “Tank” Tanksley
Blaine police chief
Blaine
The Editor:
Thank you to the Washington state legislature for the military-grade weapon ban. Our communities, neighborhoods, schools, kids and stores will be safer.
According to the New England Journal of Medicine, youth deaths by weapon are the number one cause of death for American youth. The use of military-grade weapons rendered the students at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas only recognizable by their clothing.
Soldiers know that these weapons are used to provide extensive damage, not just a wound. They are not practical for hunting because they render a carcass inedible. The only use for a military-grade weapon is intimidation, slaughter and warfare. Many veterans suffer from PTSD even seeing or hearing these weapons fired. Many witnesses and bystanders to recent slaughters also suffer from trauma.
Keep the weapons you have locked away please, and thank goodness we will not see any more military-grade weapons for sale in stores in our state.
Donna Starr
Blaine
The Editor:
The Blaine Food Bank has a big day coming up this weekend. Yes, of course; Mother’s Day is this weekend, we all know that. But, the Saturday before Mother’s Day is also a big day for food banks across the country.
Saturday, May 13, is the annual Postal Carriers’ 2023 Annual “Stamp Out Hunger” Food Drive. It is the largest food drive in the U.S., historically held the second Saturday in May, but due to Covid-19 it has been canceled the last three years. Every food bank in the country depends on it, and is so grateful that it has returned.
Please put your donation of nonperishable, in-date food in a bag by your mailbox or mail slot, before your mail arrives on Saturday. Your postal carrier will pick up the donation, and food bank volunteers will pick the donations up at the post office.
This is the largest one-day food drive in the U.S., and is vital to the Blaine Food Bank, especially now with severe slashes to government food and funding offered to food banks, as well as skyrocketing requests for help from our community amid raging inflation.
Wishing you all a very happy Mother’s Day, and thank you for caring.
Sally Church
Food bank operations manager
Blaine
The Editor:
I slid up the plastic flap holding back the medium breakfast blend coffee beans. The other hand was preoccupied with holding the paper bag under the spout. The plastic flap picked that moment to depart the scene along with an eager flood of escapee beans. It took me about one and a half cups of beans to assess the problem and take action. Ten seconds later I realized I had a more interesting problem. I looked for help in the aisle marked “Coffee Tinned Fruit Bakery Supplies Soft Drinks.” Not a soul coming or going. The next thought was whether I could somehow remedy the problem by fixing the flap. But the plastic critter was on the floor below the bottom shelf in amongst the cup and a half of beans that spread like errant jelly beans across the floor. I was able to lean over and stretch out my right arm and just touch the flap. I coaxed it into my fingers and placed it over the opening. Ah-hah! There was a screw missing.
Which of those beans was the actual screw? Scouring the floor, it took me a while to realize there was no screw. In the coffee bag? That would have taken two hands.
I looked around. People were crossing my line of vision beyond the aisle heading somewhere else. If I had seen a staff person, I was going to yell for help. One young lady walking past almost made eye contact but must have decided that a male senior looking desperate should be avoided. I looked back at the bin with my hand holding the flap in place.
How long would I be here? The idea occurred to me to just walk away. But even I knew this was a bad idea. The visual was horrific and my conscience would not approve.
I was just realizing I had left my phone in the car when the store manager appeared in the aisle, probably looking for the canned artichokes. Five minutes later I was checking out with my few purchases and he was fixing the problem. It consisted of sticky tape holding the flap in place over the hole and an “Out of Order” sign. Coffee anyone?
Graham Hunter
Blaine
The Editor:
For years Blaine school district has received accolades from locals, as well as state and national school organizations. Teachers sought employment here; locals supported all school levies.
We are now on a path destined to change all that. Due to an apparent mismanagement of funds, a proposal of drastic across-the-board (except management) employee cuts was presented to the school board and was passed in a four pro and one abstained vote. Other schools have been known to hold discussions with teacher groups or send input questionnaires to the community. Such input was not sought here, though proposed staffing reductions will detrimentally impact the education of our children.
We need greater clarity of budgets versus funds spent. We need a school board that understands that they have a duty to work with the superintendent, but their responsibility is to the children and citizens of Blaine school district.
Many of us concerned Blainites have joined together as Blaine Cares for Kids. We are seeking answers to our concerns and solutions to the problems. If you feel the same, and would like to join us, find us on Facebook at Blaine Cares for Kids or call Amee Nelson at 360/319-0269.
Sue St. Clair
Birch Bay
The Editor:
The past two Friday evenings have brought my wife and me two of the most uplifting events that we have recently enjoyed in Blaine. The performance of “Into the Woods” was a testament to the talent and dedication of the students and their teachers. The polish and professionalism of this production reflected the teamwork that the cast, the crew and the faculty members shared with one another.
The “Cinco de Jazz” concert/party last Friday was a joyful, nonstop blend of young school musicians, their teachers and families, and community members, for an evening of fun, dancing and music. Adults and kids joined together simply to celebrate.
I spent 35 years as an educator. During the past 20 years, I have served several local organizations dedicated to the lives of Blaine’s young people. The play and the party both showcased the obvious respect and admiration for one another that that the students and their teachers share. Blaine has managed to successfully master that admirable fusion of students and their teachers.
Thus, it is sad to learn that the school district is contemplating releasing several faculty members in a budget-cutting move. This decision will obviously have a huge impact on the teachers who are being let go. More importantly, every student in our district will be touched in some way by the loss of priceless role models and mentors. Class sizes will grow, some courses and activities will be curtailed or dropped. Remaining teachers will be pushed even harder to serve the growing number of kids in the classes for which they are responsible.
Teacher reductions are always the first suggested solution in budget situations, and that is lamentable. Teaching is a calling and its participants do not expect to get rich. Teachers are also team players. I would like to ask the district administration and the school board to retain all teachers and to impose the same reasonable percentage reduction on the salaries of all employees of the school district. Our remarkable team will remain intact, and the students will be the winners. Let’s all pull together!
Bryan Johnson
Blaine
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