Friday, January 20, 2006
LOTS OF LINKS
As I started writing segments for this issue, I realized that what I really wanted to share this time were a series of other Web pages. So this newsletter became a list of links. I hope you don’t mind; most of these should be of interest to people who follow public policy in Lakewood.
NEW LEADERSHIP: I buried this link in the middle of a long email last time, and statistics say not many of you read it. Now, if you decided not to read it because I wrote it, that’s one thing. I can’t hardly blame you. But if you simply drowned in my long email last time, feel free to give this a look. Where else will you find the real link between little devils, Amelia Earhart, sewer treatment and the City Council? http://walterneary.net/columns/newleaders.html
COUNCIL RETREAT: More seriously, the Lakewood City Council has a retreat this week to discuss plans for the coming year, and beyond. You can see the agenda at http://www.ci.lakewood.wa.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=601&Itemid=147 Typically, even the few folks who regularly come to evening council meetings do not show up for retreats. That’s a shame – a lot can get done at these. But of course it is a long time commitment – anyway, you are certainly welcome.
CITY ACTIVITIES: In the meantime, the staff prepared what I think is the first ‘annual report’ of city department activity. It struck me as a really good snapshot of what’s going on in the city, with a lot of useful information. If your computer can read PDF files, you can see a copy at http://walterneary.net/documents/2005YearEndReport2.pdf
HISTORIC TALKS: Steve Dunkelberger and I will be discussing Lakewood history on May 21, but that’s only one in a series of talks planned for Fort Steilacoom Museum this year. Check out the full list at this link: http://www.thesubtimes.com/2006/01/fort_steilacoom.html
Another of the speakers, Joan Curtis, is the author of Town on the Sound, which is a great book about local history. You can find the book in many places in Steilacoom. The account of an attempted lynching between Gravelly and Steilacoom lakes is an amusing account of frontier justice, if also quite sad.
CLOVER PARK PRIDE: One of the best parts of writing a local history book is that people send you lots of information. Check out this incredible link that John Vosburgh wants to share with us. At first blush, it’s a class reunion web site, but as you poke around you will see that this site really captures and interprets what was going on around 1965. Check it out: http://www.cloverpark65.com/
John says there are more than 600 pages on the site, which is an incredible effort. Be sure to check out the elementary school photos. See, we all know that people in Lakewood care about history, we just need to share these stories so we know about each other.
(PS – I think you would make John and the class very happy if you sign their Web page’s guest book, which is a link on the lower right of the first screen)
A COMPELLING STORY: For something 100 percent different, here’s a link to a story about someone related to Western State Hospital. I’ve given tours at a museum on the grounds, and have had the chance to meet many counselors, clients and other folks associated with WSH. I have said many times that the people who work at WSH are doing God’s work. This story is intriguing because it provides a rare and brutally candid look into that world:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/255320_insane12.html?source=mypi
I think the story also provides an insight into what having WSH here brings to Lakewood, and why it is important for us to fight the insane idea – pun intended - of putting a prison on the grounds. We have enough challenges in this community without bringing an open-door prison onto the grounds to harass the vulnerable mentally ill and their families.
And as I remind you every issue … Don't forget you can get more news about Lakewood by bookmarking these links: http://www.thesubtimes.com/thesubtimes/lakewood/index.html and http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/lakewood/
This issue, I will add our city manager’s weekly report. It’s not really a newspaper, but if you want to get up to speed with what’s going on with the city, the city web site is a good resource:
http://www.ci.lakewood.wa.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=380&Itemid=267
Forward this post
As I started writing segments for this issue, I realized that what I really wanted to share this time were a series of other Web pages. So this newsletter became a list of links. I hope you don’t mind; most of these should be of interest to people who follow public policy in Lakewood.
NEW LEADERSHIP: I buried this link in the middle of a long email last time, and statistics say not many of you read it. Now, if you decided not to read it because I wrote it, that’s one thing. I can’t hardly blame you. But if you simply drowned in my long email last time, feel free to give this a look. Where else will you find the real link between little devils, Amelia Earhart, sewer treatment and the City Council? http://walterneary.net/columns/newleaders.html
COUNCIL RETREAT: More seriously, the Lakewood City Council has a retreat this week to discuss plans for the coming year, and beyond. You can see the agenda at http://www.ci.lakewood.wa.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=601&Itemid=147 Typically, even the few folks who regularly come to evening council meetings do not show up for retreats. That’s a shame – a lot can get done at these. But of course it is a long time commitment – anyway, you are certainly welcome.
CITY ACTIVITIES: In the meantime, the staff prepared what I think is the first ‘annual report’ of city department activity. It struck me as a really good snapshot of what’s going on in the city, with a lot of useful information. If your computer can read PDF files, you can see a copy at http://walterneary.net/documents/2005YearEndReport2.pdf
HISTORIC TALKS: Steve Dunkelberger and I will be discussing Lakewood history on May 21, but that’s only one in a series of talks planned for Fort Steilacoom Museum this year. Check out the full list at this link: http://www.thesubtimes.com/2006/01/fort_steilacoom.html
Another of the speakers, Joan Curtis, is the author of Town on the Sound, which is a great book about local history. You can find the book in many places in Steilacoom. The account of an attempted lynching between Gravelly and Steilacoom lakes is an amusing account of frontier justice, if also quite sad.
CLOVER PARK PRIDE: One of the best parts of writing a local history book is that people send you lots of information. Check out this incredible link that John Vosburgh wants to share with us. At first blush, it’s a class reunion web site, but as you poke around you will see that this site really captures and interprets what was going on around 1965. Check it out: http://www.cloverpark65.com/
John says there are more than 600 pages on the site, which is an incredible effort. Be sure to check out the elementary school photos. See, we all know that people in Lakewood care about history, we just need to share these stories so we know about each other.
(PS – I think you would make John and the class very happy if you sign their Web page’s guest book, which is a link on the lower right of the first screen)
A COMPELLING STORY: For something 100 percent different, here’s a link to a story about someone related to Western State Hospital. I’ve given tours at a museum on the grounds, and have had the chance to meet many counselors, clients and other folks associated with WSH. I have said many times that the people who work at WSH are doing God’s work. This story is intriguing because it provides a rare and brutally candid look into that world:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/255320_insane12.html?source=mypi
I think the story also provides an insight into what having WSH here brings to Lakewood, and why it is important for us to fight the insane idea – pun intended - of putting a prison on the grounds. We have enough challenges in this community without bringing an open-door prison onto the grounds to harass the vulnerable mentally ill and their families.
And as I remind you every issue … Don't forget you can get more news about Lakewood by bookmarking these links: http://www.thesubtimes.com/thesubtimes/lakewood/index.html and http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/lakewood/
This issue, I will add our city manager’s weekly report. It’s not really a newspaper, but if you want to get up to speed with what’s going on with the city, the city web site is a good resource:
http://www.ci.lakewood.wa.us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=380&Itemid=267
