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Showing posts from July, 2018
Now Showing - Desperation Over Pleasant Harbor [The South Speaks Back: Quick Retort from the Brinnon Group]   by Scott Hogenson One way to gauge desperation is through rhetoric. The more unhinged someone’s language, the more they know they’re losing. Facts are supplanted by accusations. Emotion displaces intelligence. We’ve all been subjected to these shows performed on the national stage and now, that same poorly reviewed production is touring Jefferson County.   The lead player in this Way-Off-Broadway farce is a thing called the Brinnon Group. It has filed a petition in Kitsap County Superior Court to block the Pleasant Harbor Master Planned Resort (MPR) in Brinnon, which was green-lighted by the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners on June 5 .   The curtain rises with a 28-page filing asking the court to invalidate, remand or otherwise rule that two Jefferson County development ordinances connected to the Pleasant Harbor MPR are inadequate. The petition also as
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Discovery 4-H Project Saves Bees Look for Kids with Cameras at Jefferson County Fair      The youth photographers in the Discovery 4-H Club photo project will help “Save the Bees” for this year’s fair theme.   The Jefferson County Fair theme is “Bug Up!!” and many of the exhibits throughout the fairgrounds will emphasize an insect theme. The Discovery 4-H students decided to take things a step further.   Last year the club raised money to help cover their photo booth costs.   This year they will take donations for The Honeybee Conservancy , a non-profit 501c3 organization that works to help the bees, while increasing access to organic, sustainable food in underserved communities. From left: Ruby Groussman (8), Andre Mackey (10), Ike Banks (13), Evan Mackey (12). Saving the bees and protecting the environment is a cause all of the club photographers agree is important. Andre Mackey, age 10, says "We wanted to do something to help the honeybees, because they help
What Trump Should Have Said in Helsinki  by Scott Hogenson I really enjoy writing about politics in Jefferson County. The opportunity to learn and better connect with the people and issues that matter to us is deeply appreciated and I have mostly resisted the urge to write about national politics. But after a quarter century working in Washington, DC, I have failed to fully escape the gravitational pull of the nation’s capital.  President Trump made some ham-fisted remarks during his visit to Helsinki, Finland to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He squandered a valuable opportunity to call Putin to account for myriad provocations in Ukraine, Crimea, Syria, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.  Trump’s handling of the issue of Russian attempts to sway the 2016 election was inexcusable and represents the low point of his administration to date. But the comparisons of his faux pas to Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, and treason are no less a nadir for the
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A Dope Dealer on the County Commission? Greg Brotherton Undermines Youth Prevention Efforts By Jim Scarantino Greg Brotherton wants more people to smoke and eat more marijuana.   Like the tobacco companies, marijuana dealers do not want scientific information about the dangers of their products driving away customers.   They need new generations of consumers to replace dying pot heads and stoners.   Like tobacco companies did before them, marijuana dealers pitch dope as the answer to many emotional and physical problems.   Brotherton’s business even promises a spiritual cure-all: marijuana “brings you closer to God.” Brotherton in his film Verde Noir Greg Brotherton owns Sea Change Cannabis, the first pot shop to open in Jefferson County.   He promotes the expanded use of marijuana through his website and movies he has written and produced.    He puts profits before people by hiding science-based information on the dangers of his inventory, or disseminating misleading
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District 3 Commissioner Race Greg Brotherton on the Issues With this set of answers from Greg Brotherton we complete our Q&A with the candidates running to replace Kathleen Kler as the Jefferson County District 3 Commissioner.   You can read the discussion with the other candidates, Craig Durgan ,, Jon Cooke and RyanMcAllister , by clicking on each of their names. Greg Brotherton is one of three Democrats in the race.  He is the proprietor of Sea Change Cannabis in Discovery Bay, the first pot shop to open in Jefferson County.   He also operates the Disco Bay Detour bar and performance space, the Discovery Bay Village Store and a recording business.    He describes his marijuana business as “ an economic driver for the Discovery Bay Area .”   He is a graduate of Evergreen College and taught English in South Korea.   His website contains more biographical information and further statements on his positions and reasons for running, which he discusses in his answers b
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District 3 Commisioner Race Ryan McAllister on the Issues We put the same questions to all four candidates in the race to replace Kathleen Kler as the Jefferson County District 3 Commissioner.  You can read the answers from Craig Durgan and Jon Cooke by clicking on their names.  Friday we will publish answers from Greg Brotherton.  Now it is Ryan McAllister's turn. Ryan is running as a Democrat.  As I have previously disclosed, long before I started the Free Press, when Ryan was the only candidate in race, I gave him my support.  We met during the campaign to stop Prop 1, a regressive property tax increase  in the name of "affordable housing."  But it would have made housing less affordable with no real prospect of doing anything about the county's housing crunch.  He stuck his neck out for the working poor and low income homeowners in the county and incurred the wrath of the PT political establishment behind that very bad idea imported from Seattle