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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
September 24, 2020     Shelton Mason County Journal
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September 24, 2020
 
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_...._._.. _._, _ _, ___'A--_.-. a...“ -u..s.. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Questions for the chief Editor, the Journal, . I have a lot of questions about the demonstrations in Shelton. These questions will be asked of the one person who has been the most quiet, police Chief Darrin Moody. Does a demonstration in the streets of Shel- ton need a permit? If yes, who issues it, and who has the final say if OK’d? Can a permit be denied for any rea— son? If yes, what are those reasons? You brought in help from the county sheriff and the Washington State Pa— trol. Does this mean that you thought the demonstrations would overwhelm your police department? If yes, why would you issue a permit for either side if you thought it would be un- safe to the general public? Can you give me any reason that you or your department would call for untrained armed citizens to show up in town to give you backup? Should the citizens of Shelton feel safer with these un- trained armed citizenson business rooftops watching our every move? Do you feel the only way to feel safe in your city is to carry a firearm? Can you describe any and all damage to Shelton that the BLM demonstrators have caused so far? By being silent after the fact, does that not condone the armed untrained citizens being on the streets of your city? Last but not least, since Back the Blue was here to protect your department —— their own words — if you had ap- proached the leaders of this move- ment and asked them to leave their firearms in their vehicles, do you think they would have done it? The old saying, it never hurts to ask? This Blue Dog Democrat owns eight firearms. The least of my worrles is someone coming up my driveway to take them away..Why? Because of the last ruling of the Su- preme Court of America that clarified that. the Second Amendment pertains to every individual American citizen. The only way that can be changed is if we as Americans put it on the ballot and vote to give them up. This Democrat never sees that happening on his watch. Quit being one of those stupid uneducated people Ardean An- vik talks about. Blue Dog Democrat seeking answers today. I remain Bert Mullen. Bert Mullen Shelton Industry ruins our nature Editor, the Journal, , One small step for‘man, one giant leap for mankind: . Let’s face it, the best parts of Ma- son County are those people haven’t screwed up yet. N 0 one moves to a ruralcommu- nity to be closer to dirty air, heavy traffic and polluting industries. They come to get away from those things. The people who benefit our commu- nity are those who add to its quality of life because they value a rural life and a clean environment. But that’s not what’s happening because we keep electing people who seem to care only about attracting in- dustry, even when doing so does more environmental harm than it does eco— nomic good. Where we see shorelines and mountains they see smokestacks and surface mines. Where we see parks and naturally occurring forest, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal — Page A-5 Journal Letter Policy The Journal encourages original letters to the editor of local interest. Diverse and varied opinions are welcomed. We will not publish letters that are deemed libelous or scurrilous in nature. All letters must be signed and include the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number, which will be used for verification purposesonly. All letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and clarity. To submit a letter, email editor@masoncounty.com, drop it off'at 227 W. Cota St., v or mail it to RC. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584. ' '- they see parking lots and tree farms. They think they’re bringing jobs to the county, but all they’re bringing is environmental blight. There’s a responsibility that comes with natural-resource-based econo- mies. It’s to respect and protect the environment from which it draws. Ten years ago, we dodged a bullet, with ADAGE, and it cost a lot of . people a lot of time, effort and money to hold onto what we have. But once again, our local officials have put us on the wrong path by supporting an industry that takes from the natural world and gives back pollution. Right now, Pacific Northwest Re- newable Energy, in cooperation with Mohegan Renewable Energy LLC, is moving forward with plans .to build a monolithic wood pellet manufacturing plant in Mason Cormty for the pur- pose of supplying the Asian market with an endless supply of dirty fuel for their energy-generating incinera- tors. Past examples of such ventures show these companies start out using waste wood biomass to form wood pellets but soon turn to harvesting . whole trees. dogwoodalliénceorg/wp- content/uploads/2012/11/Whole-Tree- Wood-Pellet-Production-Reportpdfi If this wrong-headed plan is a1? lowed to come to fruition, our commu- nity will lose the most valuable natu- ral resource it has to offer: our‘rural character. Without that, our quality of life will be no better than that of people living in Seattle or any other urban municipality. ' While the entire world is looking for clean-energy alternatives, Mason County officials are tumbling us back into the business of dirty fuels. Call 360-427-9670, ext. 419, and tell county commissioners to protect our rural lifestyle by withdrawing , their support for the Mohegan project. And while you’re at it, call Mohegan Renewable Energy at 855-324-9621, and tell them that burning wood pellets on an industrial scale is not cleaner than coal, not sustainable and not carbon neutral. Tom Davis Shelton Protest ugliness disgusts Editor, the Journal, I feel compelled to write this letter after seeing the videos of the BLM demonstration and the Back the Blue protesters on the streets of Shelton on Sept. 6. The videos _of the ugliness disgusted me, followed up by social media posts and comments, and fi— nally a few of the letters to the editor in the Sept 10 edition of the Shelton- Mason County Journal tipped the scales, I had to write. While I appreciate and support the people who genuinely wanted to protect our town from riot behavior, damage and looting like we’ve seen happen in the big cities, the display by some of the participants was gross, disgusting and in my opinion crimi— nal. If this group truly wanted to “back the blue” as they claim, they would have staged themselves around the town and quietly stood by in case they were needed. Fortunately, they were not needed. I saw many an- tagonizing the BLM demonstrators, telling them to “go home” (uh, they are home), spitting on teenagers and following the BLM marchers in a very intimidating and threatening way. There was much more ugliness that I am describing but I know I am only allowed a certain number of words here. The BLM demonstrators were peaceful, and they were met with hate. Pure, evil hate. Interestingly, these gun-toting bullies (for the most part) are not the people you see around town helping on a regular basis. If fact many of them I did not recognize at all. Were theyfrom out of town? From Face- book posts prior to the event, it was clear the so-called BTB group was hoping for a day of unrest. If you re- ally care about our town, show up when there is not a protest, show up when sporting your weapons is not necessary, show up for fundraisers and civic events. Do not be a poser and only show up when you have your big gun so you can feel like a big man. Here’s the deal people get all mad at BLM demonstrations (antifa, rioters and looters are not the BLM folks I’m talking about) but when the NFL players peacefully demonstrate for racial equality, the same people get all mad at that too. The fact you are mad at these movements means you are racist, and you just want these people of color to sit down and be quiet. Guess what? Protests and demonstrations are not meant to make you feel comfortable, they are meant to bring to light the plight of those demonstrating. What happened to empathy? Why can’t you stop and listen to what they are trying to tell you? Why does an 11-year-old black kid need to carry a sign that says, “When did I go from cute to a threat?” I am sad there are so many people in Mason County have shown their true colors and it is not pretty. Definition of a racist: “a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other rac- es, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.” I realize I’m probably not going to change the mind of a racist, especially the ones who cannot see they are racist but if I don’t speak my mind, I’m complacent, ,if you know me then you know com- placent is not my style. Lisa Brengan Shelton Hello,.Sen. Sheldon? Editor, the Journal, I’ve contacted Sen. Tim Sheldon, who sits on the state’s transportation committee, but still have not heard back, even after last week’s letter to the editor. Sen. Sheldon: many of your con- stituents and citizen groups know that you’ve been blocking a clean fuels bill, so we’d like to hear your plan to address climate change. Please consider the positive impacts to our community of proposed nonpartisan legislation for a Washington “CO2 fee and dividend” bill. Besides the posi— tive income of $543 per year to an av- erage Shelton family of four, because wealthy families use about times more fuel, this bill would help to ad- dress .our upside-down tax structure. According to the Washington Budget and Policy Center, poorer folks pay a higher percentage of their income toward taxes than richer residents. Average citizens in Mason County pay 12.4% of their income toward taxes while a wealthy person, making over $545,900 (the 1%), pays about 3% of their income toward taxes. In last week’s letter to the editor we saw how wealthy folks would pay more under a proposed “CO2 fee and dividend” bill while needier folks would not only- pay less, but actually receive a regular yearly income supplement, similar to Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend. This would help balance our state’s inequitable tax structure. If you won’t agree to this plan, please provide an alternative. Even if your plan doesn’t help us older voters, please consider our kids and grand- kids. Will they look back on our (baby boomer) generation’s legacy as short- sighted, selfish and individualistic, or as selfless patriots like our parents (the silent generation) who fought in World War II to defend democracy? A couple years ago the Republican party attacked my legislative campaign by saying “Daggett wants a $0.50/gallon gas tax,” which was not true, so I’d like to know your solution if you won’t vote for this dividend approach. Dave Daggett Shelton HealthshoUldn’t be a commodity Editor, the Journal, I have seen a number of letters claiming that Democrats want Ven- ezuelan socialism. I am a Democrat .and retired military member. I am for universal health insurance. I am also for policies that rebalance the distri- bution of wealth away from the top. Canada, Germany, Denmark and host of other nations do this. Yet they have capitalist economies. Capitalism has no problem with the idea that some things are utilities, not commod- ities. Health care is one of them. I also submit that concentrations of wealth at the top of your society does not preserve a functioning republic. It creates an aristocracy. That does not favor a stable, democratic society. In fact, it is the best way to get the very thing that the red-baiters fear, a . dictatorship of either the right or left. There is only one way to break up an aristocracy. and maintain a democ— racy. The British figured it out. You tax them. The wealthy will hate it. But they will still be around and they ’ will still be wealthy. Maybe not as wealthy. But they will be just fine. Andrew Makar Hoodsport see LETTERS, page A—B