Sunnyside Council Member-Elect Takes Turn In Pulpit

November 30, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Sunnyside Council Member-Elect Don Vlieger took a turn in the pulpit at First Baptist Church this past Sunday.  Mr. Vlieger is an Elder at the church, and was asked to be the guest preacher during the planned weekend absence of Dr. Michael Hughes, the church’s pastor.

Sunnyside Council Member-Elect Don Vlieger

Mr. Vlieger’s sermon took place on the first Sunday of Advent, when Christians around the world mark the season in preparation for the “coming” of Christ, which is observed during the time leading up to Christmas Day.

His sermon topic was “Grow Up” and focused on scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:11-13:

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)

Mr. Vlieger told the congregation that he was honored and humbled that anyone would want to hear words that he had to speak.  He thanked those in attendance for allowing him to preach.

He is not the only Sunnyside politician to preach in the community; Council Member Nick Paulakis is a church pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Sunnyside.  Mr. Paulakis is a guest speaker at the Union Gospel Mission as well.

Reference:

First Baptist Church, Sunnyside, Washington

Filed under Sunnyside Council, Traditional Values, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Space Shuttle Atlantis Lands Safely In Florida

November 27, 2009 by 1 Comment

The most recent mission of the Space Shuttle ended earlier today when Atlantis landed in Florida.

This is the last Space Shuttle flight for 2009.  The last scheduled flight of a Space Shuttle is scheduled to take place in mid 2010.

The Space Shuttle took parts and supplies to the International Space Station, helping it to be prepared for 5-10 years of continuing operation.  This will ensure the space station stays in operation even after the shuttle fleet is grounded.

When I was a small child, my father allowed me to stay at home and watch the Space Shuttle Columbia take its first flight in 1981.  Afterwards, I received my first “tardy” when I arrived late for my kindergarten class.  My mother was furious at my father for this, but he felt the historical significance of the launch made it worthwhile.  (Plus, as a little boy, watching a shuttle blast off was pretty cool from my point of view!)

I am now watching the end of Space Shuttle flights while remembering the excitement of being able to watch it from its beginnings.

Will space exploration capture the imagination of future generations of Americans?  We shall have to wait and see…

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Carol Stone’s Special World

November 26, 2009 by 1 Comment

Sunnyside Council Member Carol Stone must live in a “special world”, where she does not know anyone who did not vote for her.  She is also emulating tactics from Al Gore’s failed bid for the Presidency in 2000.

She was quoted by the Daily Sun News as saying:

“A lot of the citizens told me they don’t feel it’s possible that my opponent got that many votes,” she said. “They don’t know anyone who voted for him.”

By “him”, she is of course referring to Don Vlieger, who is the certified winner of the election in her district.

Now, Carol Stone has ponied up $344 to have the County Auditor do a hand recount of ballots.  She has inferred that the process of electing Council Members is somehow tainted.

As a candidate during this election cycle, I did not see this.  In fact, we had two incumbents lose, and one that was narrowly re-elected.  Carol Stone just can’t accept the fact that there is a large group of citizens that don’t like the job she has done on the Sunnyside City Council.  (Hundreds of voters cast ballots for her opponent.)

The incumbents did not fair well in any of the contested races.  It is clear there is much discontent with the Council in Sunnyside.  However, in Carol Stone’s special world, she does not seem to know anyone who voted for Don Vlieger.  Her “supporters” do not know anyone who did either.

This reminds me of what a liberal mainstream news reporter said of the 1972 landslide election of Nixon:

“I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know…”

Carol Stone is proving that she is just as out of touch as the infamous reporter who did not know anyone that voted for Nixon.

Yes, it was a close election.  No Carol, you did not get a runaway victory over Don Vlieger.  He beat you, fair and square.  Your failure to recognize this diminishes you.  It also causes voters to doubt the integrity of the process, which saddens me.  Stop your whining, and pardon the pun, Stone-throwing; and deal with it.

The citizens you claim to care about will be better served by having a smooth transition into the next term of the City Council.

Filed under 2009 Election, Sunnyside Council, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , ,

Sunnyside Christian Care Fund Needs Your Help

November 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The Christian Care Fund is administered by the police department, and provides a night of lodging, a meal, or limited fuel for those that are in need.

The fund was started by the Sunnyside Ministerial Association a few years ago.  Due to increasing demand, the fund was depleted during the month of October.  A call has gone out to area churches, and the community at large, requesting prayers and gifts so that assistance can again be provided through this fund.

Tonight, there will be a Community Thanksgiving Service at 7PM in the Sunnyside High School Auditorium.  Steve Hansen will be the guest speaker.  Multiple churches are coming together for this service.  One-third of the offering collected tonight will be dedicated to the Christian Care Fund.

If you would like to make a direct donation,  send it to:

Christian Care Fund

c/o Sunnyside Christian Reformed Church

555 Franklin Court

Sunnyside, WA 98944

Filed under Traditional Values, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , ,

The Rogue Republican

November 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Sarah Palin’s Book “Going Rogue” In Stores Now

In case you haven’t heard, Sarah Palin has a new book out.  In the days leading up to today’s release of “Going Rogue”, she has been on television interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters, among others.  She will be promoting her new book with a tour that reportedly will be visiting small towns more than large ones.

A Democrat friend of mine sent me a message stating that he didn’t know she could write.  This kind of sentiment from the left is most amusing to watch.  There is a parade of lefties going into epileptic-like fits over a woman writing a book.  It is too much fun!

It is amazing to me, that a woman, without office or title, can change the nature of debate on such things as healthcare, by simply making a post on Facebook.  It takes a strong personality to wield that kind of influence.

Some are wondering if Palin, the rogue Republican, will be running for President in 2012.  She herself has dodged answering the question, by stating it is not on her radar.  She will be a force in Republican politics, regardless of what she decides.

In the meantime, she can enjoy having book sales that are seemingly attached by tow-rope to the Space Shuttle Atlantis; since they both seem to be going into orbit this week.

For the life of me, I can not understand why the lefties are so scared of a 44 year-old mother of five.  I wasn’t all ginned up to read her book, but after seeing the petrified Democrats I know, I think I will have to check it out.

While I genuinely like Sarah Palin, I am not completely sold on her being a Presidential candidate.  However, there is time before she and others need to decide if they will be running.

Mostly, I am glad that she has chosen to release her book now, which is reminding the politicians and the media elites, that Conservatism is mainstream in America.

After reading her book, I may make some comments on it.  For the moment, just watching my Democrat friends scream and pull their hair out is an absolute joy.  That alone will justify the purchase price for me.  Merely having it on my coffee table will return on my investment, by providing me entertainment value, while I watch the reactions it gets.

Her book may just be tapping into the inner rogue in all of us. :)

Filed under 2012 Election, Republican Party, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Kirby Wilbur Show Cancelled

November 16, 2009 by 7 Comments

 

Photo From Kirby Wilbur Page On Facebook

 

 

For many years, people in Seattle have been able to listen to a Conservative talk show with a local host: Kirby Wilbur.

His show has now been cancelled by the KVI radio station management, and will apparently be replaced with nationally syndicated Laura Ingraham.

Seattle listeners are losing a local host for another that is broadcasting out of radio nowhere.  Across the state of Washington, Conservatives are upset over the loss, but it unfortunately is part of a nationwide trend in radio.

We have seen a consolidation of  radio stations nationwide, with mega corporation ownership.  Monster companies like Clear Channel, Citadel, and others own 90%+ of the radio stations in many local markets.  In past years, these stations would have their own news departments, but in the bigger cities, they are being combined into just one news department.  They then play the same news on all of the company owned stations.

This means you listen to the same news being broadcast on six or more stations!  Where they used to compete with each other, you now have just one source of news.

In addition, it is generally cheaper for a station to play syndicated content, and not have staff on its payroll.  They don’t have to pay salary and benefits for Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh, and the like, but they do have to pay this expense for someone like Kirby Wilbur.

Since I don’t spend much time in Seattle, I don’t listen to Kirby Wilbur very much.  I have tuned him in over the Internet occasionally, but I feel the loss of his program anyway.  He talked about Washington politics.  We are losing one of the watchdogs that helped keep the folks in Olympia under public scrutiny.  This is not a good thing for the people of Washington.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of attending an event in Yakima where Kirby Wilbur was one of the speakers.  While I don’t agree with him on many issues, I enjoyed listening to his take on things.

It is too early to know what Kirby Wilbur will be doing next, but I wish him the best of luck in whatever it may be!

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Not Understanding Ringtone Craze

November 15, 2009 by 1 Comment

Yes, I am putting myself in the place where people can call me a cranky old man, or a fuddy-duddy, or some other label of choice.  However, I am not understanding why there is a craze for cell-phone ringtones.

To be sure, it is a big revenue enhancer for the cell phone companies.  They are getting $2.50 for thirty seconds of a hit song somebody wants to play on their phone.  Gosh, if only I was cool, then I would understand the attraction.

For about $1.00, you can download the entire song from a number of Internet vendors.  Why pay $2.50 for 30 seconds of it?  Now for the really crazy part (from my point of view): in many cases, the same people downloading the ringtones for $2.50, have already downloaded the songs  on the Internet for $1.  They are paying twice for the same song!

Oh, but the ringtone is on the phone!  That makes it worth two and half times as much, even though the customer only gets a snippet of the entire song.  Please forgive me for my lack of understanding, but I have not yet seen the reason I would want to spend the extra money to buy a ringtone for my phone.

I recently received a promotional mailer from my cellphone company that advertises that you can now buy ringtones as gifts for other people, even making the purchase through your own phone.  They will conveniently add the charge onto the bill at the end of the month.

For those of you that think I am missing the point, please feel free to purchase ringtones for me, and I will try them out at your expense.  However, I still am not that excited by it.  Instead of getting thirty seconds of the latest song from Pitbull, or some other group, I think I would rather listen to the whole thing.

That’s my view anyway.  If you feel passionately that paying for ringtones is worthwhile, I would love to hear from you.  Maybe someone can explain the craze to me.

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with , , , ,

Car Lands In Drain Ditch Following Accident In Sunnyside

November 10, 2009 by 2 Comments

An automotive accident this afternoon in Sunnyside resulted in a car landing in a drain ditch, with its air bags deployed.  The other vehicle involved in the crash was a Ford Ranger which had noticeable damage on its front-end.

20091110_Accident_Photos 001

Camry With Airbags Deployed

The accident occurred at the intersection of East Edison and Highway 241, between the Port of Sunnyside’s business park, and the Sunnyside Municipal Airport.

20091110_Accident_Photos 006

City of Sunnyside Police and Fire Departments were among those responding.

The intersection is the scene of numerous accidents.  Last January, another car ended up in the same drain ditch, just about 100 feet east of this most recent accident.  In the prior crash, two victims were put on a medivac to Harborview.

I spoke with one citizen at the scene of today’s accident, who is also a volunteer emergency responder.  He expressed frustration over the large number of accidents that occur in this area.  In addition, he mentioned the intersections of Factory and Sheller Roads as facing the same issues of a high accident count.

He suggests putting in a four-way stop, or taking some other kind of action to reduce the number of accidents in this stretch of highway.  Despite it running between the airport and the Port’s business park, the speed limit is not reduced in this area.

Although the person I spoke with was not in favor of reducing the speed limit (which I think is warranted in this particular area), he was frustrated that other measures to reduce accidents have not already taken place.

On a positive note, in recent years, rumble strips have been put in on the secondary roads leading up to the intersection with the highway.  In addition, larger, more visible, stop signs have been installed as well.

Despite these measures, serious accidents continue to occur.  In my opinion, this could be alleviated by reducing overall traffic speeds in this area of the City.

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Vlieger Continues To Edge Stone In Sunnyside District 3 Council Race

November 9, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Don Vlieger continues to hold the edge over Carol Stone in the contest for Sunnyside City Council District 3.  He now leads Carol Stone by 10 votes.  Here are today’s updated numbers from the Yakima County Auditor:

  • City of Sunnyside; Council, District 3

Carol Stone 652 48.99%

Donavon (Don) Vlieger 662 49.74%

Write-In 17 1.28%

Filed under 2009 Election, Sunnyside Council Tagged with , , , , , ,

Raines Concedes Sunnyside Council Race To Hancock

November 8, 2009 by 3 Comments

**For Immediate Release**

2009 Sunnyside City Council District 1 Election

The past few months have afforded me the opportunity to meet many of the citizens of Sunnyside, to hear their concerns, and voice them throughout the campaign. For the first time, my opponent in the race, Theresa Hancock, has had competition on the ballot.

The race for office has been a learning experience, and I hope that Ms. Hancock and I are both the better off for having gone through it. As the late returns have come in, it is now clear that Ms. Hancock has been re-elected to office as Council Member for District 1.

Earlier today, I called Ms. Hancock to congratulate her on her victory, and wish her luck in her continuing service to the City as a Council Member. Although there are points about which we have disagreed in the past, there are many things about which we do agree.

Ms. Hancock’s conservative approach in evaluating budget increases will be needed to keep the tax burden on our citizens to a minimum. I am also supportive of her efforts to restore customer service at City Hall five days each week.

The single issue where I think the campaign has had the biggest impact, is on making law enforcement a higher priority for the City Council. Ms. Hancock has assured me that if another budget crunch occurs, the Police Department will be better protected from the layoff of officers.

By this measure, I would consider my campaign to be a success. I am excited about where the City of Sunnyside is currently positioned, and am very optimistic about the future. I wish to thank all of my campaign supporters and volunteers for all of the hard work they contributed during this election cycle. Without your contributions, encouragement, hard work, and activism, the campaign would not have been possible.

Now that the race is over in District 1, we can move on to making good things happen in our City government. Please join me in congratulating Ms. Hancock, and thanking her for being willing to continue to serve.

Filed under 2009 Election, Sunnyside Council, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , ,

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