The visionary candidate

Marching with 5th District Democrats in the North Bend 2012 Mt. Si Festival Parade, the surprise of the day was gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee showing up to walk with us the entire route. This provided each of us in our small group with an opportunity to participate in conversation with him about the issues. I’ll never forget his brief comments about our part in causing global warming, the science proving it beyond a reasonable doubt, damage already done and his passionate concern for future generations of life on earth if more dramatic steps were not taken soon, nationally and globally, to deal with the situation. He was already a visionary on the subject.

Since then there has been little progress globally taking those steps and nationally our current presidential administration has been systematically dismantling steps taken in the past. And Inslee has continued to be a prophet as the cycle of heat waves, drought, wild fires, flooding and cyclones inches upward in severity — not to mention the unstoppable human migrations of desperate peoples including thousands coming here to escape the impact of climate change on their homelands.

Now Inslee is taking his passion a step further by becoming a candidate for president with climate change as his signature issue. This is giving him a platform to place global warming front and center before our electorate as an existential disaster in the making for life on earth as we experience it now. He and his supporters rightly continue to pursue demands for more attention including debate on the subject as a contribution to reawakening our nation to the dangers we face if we don’t. This cause needs much more than debate — it demands action from each of us.

David Olson

Issaquah

Bring I-1000 to ballots?

My name is Zhan Wang, a volunteer of the Let People Vote campaign. We are working for putting Initiative 1000 to ballot of this November.

You may have the background of I-1000 which was passed by state Legislature in late April. It restores affirmative action in Washington state, which allows using race, sex, sex orientation, etc., as factors for school enrollment, employment and public contracting. Opponents filed Referendum 88 immediately after, claiming I-1000 legalizes racial based discrimination and penalizes hardworking Asians. Also, I-1000 repeals I-200 that bans affirmative action and was passed by public voting. Opponents are collecting voters’ signatures to put it to ballot because government is not supposed to overturn a law decided by votes.

We have seen a lot of resonance from both sides. People are actively signing the petition, and I-1000 backers like former Governor Gary Lock, state Sen. Bob Hasegawa, speak up to hold I-1000 not to be voted. We think this is an important ongoing political topic for our state because this law will have a dramatic impact on many citizens and residents.

Zhan Wang

Newcastle

Kudos to Village Theatre

The city of Issaquah and the Village Theatre can feel tremendous pride in the “Million Dollar Quartet.”

Having attended the June 9 performance, my wife and I agree it ranks with the best shows we have attended — in venues including Issaquah and Seattle, Coos Bay and Ashland, Ore. The performance was high energy, riveting and memorable. The musicians, production team and crew are to be commended on an outstanding production. The entire cast was excellent.

As an Elvis aficionado, I can say that Jason Kappus did an unbelievable job with the movements and mannerisms of a 1956 Elvis Presley. Great show.

Jimmy Kamada and Shirley Miller

Moses Lake