The proposed biomass fa-cilities in Mason County have provided endless dialogue for the busybodies of Shelton. In order to save our local politi-cians and bloggers time and energy we have created a letter to the editor template for all issues pertaining to biomass. Just circle the word(s) of your choosing and mail it back to us during the coming weeks. We will tally the results and print the legally binding opinion of Mason County residents.

Page A-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010

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Published weekly by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc.at 227 West Cota Street, Shelton, WashingtonMailing address: P.O. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584Telephone (360) 426-4412 • www.masoncounty.comPeriodicals postage paid at Shelton, Washington

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Owned and published by Shelton-Mason County Journal, Inc.Rick Kennedy is the publisher.

Newsroom: Jesse Mullen, editor; Kevan Moore, news editor; Mary Duncan, living section editor; Dean Siemon, sports; Arla Shephard, North Mason, environment; Natalie Johnson, reporter;

Gaylene Wiseman, design

Advertising: Dave Pierik, advertising manager; Harvey Morris; Kimberly Janda.

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LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR

Journal Letter PolicyThe Journal welcomes and encourages your letters to the editor. We will print signed, original letters of local interest. We will not publish letters that are libelous or scurrilous in nature. Letters should be under 350 words and provide contact and address information for the Journal.

JOURNALEDITORIAL GUESTCOLUMN

Bogged down in biomass

Editor, the Journal

The biomass (smokestacks/scrubbers/potpourri dispensaries) proposed by (Adage/Simpson/Greedy out-of-staters) will (save/kill) Mason County.

In order to (sustain/destroy) our economy we must (help/stop) these (companies/greedy out-of-staters) building in Mason County.

The (health/tax base) of our community is al-ready in trouble and a small group of people that don’t live here should not decide how we plan the future of our area. Biomass (smokestacks/scrub-bers/potpourri dispensaries) (will/will not) improve the business climate in Mason County. The projects (will/will not) (raise/lower) home values as people move (to/away from) the area.

Our children will (suffer/thrive) while these com-panies (generate tax revenue/pollute our air).

On behalf of the many Mason County residents that (support/are against) biomass – we hope you will research the real information about biomass.

Signed by the committee Citizens* for a (Prosperous/Beautiful) Mason County.

*We don’t necessarily mean citizens of Mason County.

Mason County is ide-ally suited for residential development and appro-priate business ventures. Our abundant forests, wa-terways, mountains and rural back roads provide a Mecca for sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts. The city of Shelton enjoys close proximity to major arteri-als, rail services and wa-terways. We have a work force ready, willing and able, and a downtown area eager to accommodate just about any business need.

So why are our leaders so intent on courting an in-dustry that is so damaging to our health, our environ-ment and our community, the very things that make Mason County a great place to live? Is a biomass incinerator the best they can come up with? I posed that question to Port of Shelton Director, John Dobson. His answer: “Beg-gars can’t be choosers”.

Business is not normally attracted to communities that come- hat in hand- as “beggars” to the market-place, at least not desir-

able businesses. Predatory industries are a different story; they can smell blood in the water from as far away as Europe. But are these the type of business opportunities we should be entertaining?

It’s true Mason County needs jobs and revenue, but at what cost? What other businesses are go-ing to be attracted to the county if biomass incin-eration becomes a reality? I suspect not many we’re going to want. But once the county starts down the road of accepting propos-als from businesses that will degredate our natural resources, there’s no turn-ing back.

What Mason County needs, even more than jobs, are innovative, imag-inative leaders; people capable of distinguish-ing between good and bad business proposals and recognizing the opportuni-ties that are already here.

Case in point: Hall Eq-uities Group, wants to develop 160 acres south of Sanderson Field Air-

port. The project would provide hundreds of local jobs, and long term eco-nomic sustainability for the county. But the port has fought -tooth and nail- to keep the development from happening. Why? According to Dobson, the port may decide to reopen the second runway, some-time in the future, and they don’t want to contend with residents of the new development complaining about airport noise. Does this type of thinking make sense to anyone other than the port?

We have the talent, the will and the means to make our county a real “shining star” during this challenging time. And we don’t need to diminish our-selves to do it.

Other communities have found innovative ways to navigate through tough economic times without tearing them-selves apart. Mason Coun-ty can and must do the same.

Tom Davis Shelton, WA

We need jobs - at what cost

Selective presentation of the news?Editor, the Journal

It seems odd to me that the Olympic Regional Clean Air Agency (ORCAA) demon-stration on October 6, orga-nized here in Shelton to spe-cifically address the Adage ORCAA permit application, got no mention whatsoever, in our local paper (The Jour-nal).

I personally sent a press release to the Journal, along with a copy of the letter to ORCAA that was to be pre-sented to ORCAA during the demonstration.

This was also followed up with a phone call to the Journal, at which time I was told, that Tuesday was the Journal submission day, and since that was the day of the demonstration, no one would be able to cover it, or write up something in time for publi-cation on Thursday.

John Dodge, the envi-ronmental reporter for the Olympian, was sent the same press release and letter to ORCAA, and personally covered the demonstration, which made the front page of the Olympian the very next day.

In his article, Mr. Dodge made brief mention of the glued door incident, that also occurred the night previous to the demonstration on Oc-tober 6, along with quoting me as saying that “... The Adage project opponents are not law-breakers. We’re mostly families, children and gray-haired people.” No con-nections between the dem-onstration and the vandal-ism were made in his article, either directly or indirectly. Excerpts from the letter pre-sented to ORCAA were also quoted in the Olympian cov-erage.

However, there was never any mention of the demon-stration, or the letter to OR-CAA in the Journal, our lo-cal paper. I didn’t give this much thought until I saw last week’s Journal front-page story.

Why is it that this time around, when the ORCAA demonstration on December 7 was organized by a group in Olympia (not in Shelton), and the senseless vandalism the night preceding the event took place in Olympia (not in Shelton), that the event made the front page of the Shelton local paper?

The event not only made the Journal front page, but the article also made un-

scent of money and a federal 30 percent investment tax credit was too much. They’re here to stay. They just have to get through the bureau-cratic hoops, called the per-mitting process.

The process is on hold right now while the Mason County Department of Com-munity Development waits for more information from Adage. The county decided earlier that environmen-tal impact statement (EIS) would be required but at Ad-age’s request, county officials suspended that decision.

In the meantime, the department is taking com-ments from the public. This means that now is the time to write to the Mason County Department of Community Development to advocate get-ting all environmental issues thoroughly discussed in an EIS. If we don’t, we will get only what the proponents of the project want us to know.

None of our suggestions will decide whether the plant gets built or not. Simply put, we the public don’t have the legal authority to decide. We have elected county commis-sioners to do that and they are county staff to advise them. And county staff is asking us to help them do it right. We won’t get to vote; we know that, but we can ad-vise.

Remember, we can rage on blogs and rant at meet-ings, pass along rumors, and put up signs in our yards, but none of it will affect the outcome. The best we can do now is let the decision mak-ers know what needs to be discussed in an EIS, and let them know in writing.

By the way, wouldn’t it be nice if the Journal began a series of stories about where the permitting process is each week and who’s doing what? I think interview with county staff and commission-ers about the process might go a long ways to us under-standing what’s coming, and save me having to write these letters.

Bill YoungShelton

substantiated connections between the vandalism, the demonstration and no-bio-mass incinerator activists in general. Not to mention, that coincidentally, in this same edition, the newly formed “Citizens for a Prosperous Mason County” (promoting biomass incinerating) was given a quarter page guest editorial slot.

Both the October 6 and December 7 events were pre-ceded by acts of vandalism. Why was a demonstration organized in Olympia (to par-ticipate in the 1000 Cancun’s International Day of Action for climate change) given front page coverage in our local newspaper, but a dem-onstration organize by local people to specifically address a local issue, was not even given a few words of mention in that same local paper?

Is this selective presenta-tion of the news intentional? It seems to have been orches-trated. The question is, by whom and why? Who ben-efits?

Surely not we, the local citizens, who are concerned about biomass incinerators negatively impacting our en-vironment, health, and the future of our community.

Christine J. ArmondShelton

Spirit of kindness in SheltonEditor, the Journal

The spirit of kindness was afoot in downtown Shelton on the evening of Friday, Dec. 3. I was crossing Rail-road Ave. when I tripped and fell, hitting my head on the street. Within seconds I heard running feet and voices asking me if I was all right. Four or five wonder-ful people helped me up and over to the bench by the park-ing lot and brought me my bags. A man called the fire aide truck. These truly kind people stayed with me till the fire truck arrived. One young man was especially comfort-ing and talked me through my tears of embarrassment.

Thank you so much you kind and caring people. Then the firemen arrived. Mr. Griffey and his great partner did their usual efficient pro-cedures. Big head bump - big ice bag.

I am so proud of the good people of our area.

Thank you and God bless you all.

Beverly AttmanAllyn

Students need more sleepEditor, the Journal

As a middle school teacher for the past 37 years, I have noticed lately that some of my students come to class in the morning very tired and not very energetic.

Research shows that the amount of sleep you get can affect how well you learn. Students who are well rest-ed tend to have better test scores. Kids who get less sleep have a harder time paying attention in class, which can affect future test performances.

Most adolescents need from 8.4 to 9.2 hours of sleep on average a night.

It is a fact that teenagers are physically programmed to stay up late and sleep lat-er.

Research has also show that up to 20 percent of teen-agers fall asleep during the first two hours of school.

Some high schools in Michigan that moved the start time about an hour later saw a significant reduc-tion in dropout rates and de-pression.

In my opinion, later start times for Junior High and High School students would be beneficial.

I know that the bus situ-ation and sports programs could be affected but if we truly believe that what’s best for our students is to have a later start, then let’s get cre-ative and find a solution.

Dann Gagnon

Clean growth and energyEditor, the Journal

Job creation, growth and development are certainly key elements to surviving community. However, the big question is what kind of development?

These developments should depend on jobs that are non-polluting, clean re-newable energy projects. Even now, we should have companies located in our port facilities producing wind turbines and solar collecting panels.

Once these wind turbines and solar collecting panels are produced, they should be installed on the 87 acres of port land that is being leased. There the installa-tions should be in different plots of both solar and wind turbines wired to the PUD grid. Then we would have a renewable clean energy source for years to come.

Now is the time, and our children and grandchildren will be glad we had the fore-sight to do so.

Donald D. JonesShelton

Thanks for the musicEditor, the Journal

To all who attended the Anna’s Bay production of the Messiah ... many thanks for supporting this very special local group.

The Shelton High School Chamber Singers were a marvelous addition to this performance along with a full orchestra, beautiful set-ting, and absolutely glorious music even the angels would applaud. What a privilege to have such a rich musical weekend right here in Shel-ton to relieve the monotony of our La Nina winter. Noth-ing could have been finer.

If you did by chance miss one of these very-well-at-tended concerts, you’ll have another chance in April when the choirs do Mozart’s Requiem on the 15th and 16th. Mark your calendars.

Also mark your calendars to vote for the levy in Febru-ary to be sure that music ed-ucation will continue in our schools and a fine venue such as the Shelton High School auditorium will remain open.

Gratitude to the direc-tor Matthew Blegen, all the singers, musicians and vol-unteers who worked so very hard to make this very pro-fessional musical experience possible.

Jinny McCarty Union

Vote yes for Shelton schoolsEditor, the Journal

Please support the upcom-ing educational programs and operations levy for Shel-ton Schools.

“Strong schools mean strong communities.” This

phrase should mean a great deal to all of us living in Shel-ton School District. We have great schools and should be proud of what has been accomplished the last few years in this district. State and federal mandates are not adequately funded for schools and therefore lev-ies are required to help with these costs.

Please continue to fund the levy in place, vote yes for Shelton School District and kids.

Jeff McHargueShelton

Disappointed in job creationEditor, the Journal

After reading the article “The time is now” I could not agree more that we need job creation and growth. If we had a responsible proj-ect with wind or solar proj-ects that would not destroy our air and water and cause health problems, I would say great. But we don’t.

The current Adage project will destroy the air and wa-ter in our beautiful Mason County. The only ray of sun-shine we will have is if we get an industry in here that will not pollute.

I must say that it is dis-appointing when commis-sioners of the county, port and other so-called lead-ers ignore when 3,000 plus citizen speaking out. It is as they have their own ideas and could care less what we the citizens have to say even though they are supposed to work for us.

Bob Stone

Write to the county

Editor, the JournalI’m one of those who wish

Adage would pack up and go home. That would suit me fine. I had fantasies that all the public outrage would send them scurrying but the