May 8 Letters to the Editor

Quit complaining

I’ve had the pleasure of substituting at both the Woodland and Kalama school districts for five years, so I was surprised to hear that a substitute teacher for Woodland attended a school board meeting to rant about everything from teachers’ poor lesson plans to microwaves and computers in classrooms. I don’t understand how a sub could complain about teacher dedication or competence in the Woodland district. My experience there has been positive.

I can’t remember a time when a teacher didn’t provide me with a good lesson plan for the day or leave enough work for each period to keep students busy. A few teachers having microwaves and small refrigerators in their classrooms because their lunch room has been turned into a classroom and not having computers in classrooms because some student might play a game on it is a bit much. Tell them to get busy or log off. Administrators in Woodland have backed me the few times I’ve had a behavioral problem with a student in a classroom.

Woodland school’s administrators, teachers and students are second to none in the state, so quit complaining — or better yet quit substituting.

Darrell Grigg

Kalama

Good news!

Kudos to The Daily News and Longview Fibre for thinking outside the (cardboard) box and adding the Regatta to Go 4th.

It was a refreshing change Sunday morning to open the paper to read that and other creative and green ideas by local citizens: biking to work, the city history celebration and especially city editor Andre Stepankowsky’s development of waterfront resources — our Field of Dreams to increasing livability and tourism.

Jane Ditewig

Longview

Local talented woodcarvers

Did you know Longview/Kelso has some renowned woodcarvers with great talent? The Lower Columbia Woodcarvers Club has many very talented woodcarvers. For instance, Duane Van just won two ribbons for his sperm whale carving, with one being the top blue ribbon. Duane is also a renowned fish carver and has some beautiful fish carvings. Larry Gunder, one of the top woodcarvers of Longview, recently made several hiking sticks for the boy scouts. Walking canes have been donated to the Senior Center. There are too many members names to drop here that are very good woodcarvers.

The Columbia Woodcarvers Club will have their 25th annual woodcarving show at the Longview/Kelso Fairgrounds Expo Center on Sept. 25 and 26. The club has a great bunch of people that meet the first Saturday of each month at the Senior Center on Commerce Street. I am in my second year with the club and I enjoy the carving sessions and the people. The woodcarvings consist of almost anything you can think of. It is amazing what you can carve out of a piece of wood.

Come by the Senior Center on a first Saturday of any month and check us out. We also display recently finished carvings at the meeting on a show-and-tell scenario. This is a great hobby and a rewarding pastime, especially for seniors.

Ernie Gerald

Longview

Lost revenue

Do you know how many unregistered RVs there are in Cowlitz County? All those RVs represent lost revenue for the state and county. Just drive through any RV park and count the number of unregistered motor homes and travel trailers that people are living in. Lost revenue, especially those that have out-of-state licenses and live and work in Washington state.

The last time I looked at the license plates of the long-term residents at Mount St. Helens RV Park, I counted 10 that have out-of-state plates.

When registering an RV, you pay by the foot and also by the year model. Now, times that by the number of years out of registration and you could be looking at a lot of revenue the state and counties have lost.

These people don’t own any land in which to tax to help pay for such services, like law enforcement, fire stations or any other state or local emergency services.

What makes these people any better than the manufactured home owners who have to pay tax on their mobile home each year?

Richard Roth

Castle Rock