Saturday Thumbs
Saturday, August 9, 2008 6:29 PM PDT
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E-mail this articleAug. 9 Daily News editorial
MM student team excels!
For the second time in three years, Mark Morris has put together a winning team in computer-aided design and computer-aided machining skills. Thumbs up to Stewart Smith , CAD-CAM and metal shop teacher at Mark Morris, and the three-student team that took third place in June’s SkillsUSA competition in Kansas City, Mo. Team members were Harrison Scarborough, a recent MM graduate, and seniors Gavin johnson and Masen Furer.
It’s a tough competition — eight long hours of competition. But Smith’s students have been up to challenge. A 2005 Mark Morris team took second place. “I get some of the smartest kids in the school, and they excel,” Smith told Daily News reporter Carrie Pederson. It would seem so.
Feeding big egos
We learned this month from The Associated Press that the federal government has a fleet of 642,233 vehicles. The cost of keeping these vehicles moving was an eye-popping $3.4 billion last year, alone. Cabinet and other officials insist that this readily available transportation to do their jobs. That may be, but they don’t need overpaid drivers to ferry high-level officials around. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters employs two drivers with salaries totaling more than $128,000. Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt’s driver makes about $90,000 a year.
All these cars and high-priced chauffeurs feed big ambitions and egos — at taxpayers’ expense.
Reaching out to the community
In case you missed our report and haven’t seen the banner hanging on the building at 1351 Hudson St., the Longview Police Department is holding its annual open house today, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Take time to attend. It’s a great opportunity to get to know the people who protect us and how they do the job. Visitors also can learn how they might help police do their job more effectively.
There will be displays of SWAT equipment and confiscated weapons, and demonstrations of the Taser, pepper ball and the bean bag shot gun. Children’s ID fingerprint kits will be handed out to the first 100 kids showing up. It should be interesting and enjoyable. Chief Alex Perez, who has been holding this event for several years now, thinks today’s open house could be the best yet.
What we don’t know can’t hurt EPA
The federal bureaucracy is such an inviting target. We can’t resist another thumbs down — this one to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Associated Press reports that the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance has told its enforcement officials via e-mail not to talk with congressional investigators, reporters and the agency’s own inspector general. When The Associated Press go hold of the e-mail, the EPA explained that the gag order was an attempt to improve communication. Right.
Who do these people think signs their checks? When questioned about their job performance, they have an obligation to respond.
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