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Posts Tagged ‘levies’

Vote yes for local library!

Posted in Levies, tagged , , , , on July 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Artwork by Lori Angdahl.

I grew up in the book stacks.

My mom was a children’s librarian in Kelso when my sister and I were younger, and we haunted the two-story building many days.

We also got to see a side of things few other kids did, as my dad was a window washer/carpet cleaner and was contracted to clean the library from top to bottom each year over a holiday break.

When that happened, the four of us stayed there overnight, eating in the librarian’s kitchen, otherwise off limits to young ruffians, and listening to the haunting strains of passing trains in the night on nearby tracks.

I was expected to help my dad from time to time, mainly when it was time to drain the carpet cleaning machine, but otherwise I could devote my hours to reading anything and everything I could get my hands on, regardless of which section the books and magazines were stored in.

There has hardly been a moment of my life when I didn’t have a library card, and my sister has kept that tradition alive with all three of her sons.

The past 20 years or so, I’ve lived less than a mile from the library in Coupeville, making the trip easy, even during times when I’ve been without a working vehicle.

While I might not get to hang out there reading Mad Magazine at 2:00 AM like in my younger days (and why not??), the Sno-Isle system has been invaluable.

Now, with one simple vote, you can help repay all that our librarians bring to our communities.

Coupeville Sports, and the son of a librarian, fully endorses voting Yes on Proposition 1, a replacement levy which renews and restores funding as the current levy, passed by voters in 2018, expires.

There is much to be said for why this is the right choice, and all the facts and FAQ’s can be found here:

Vote YES for Sno-Isle Libraries!

Do it for my mom’s memory.

But mainly, do it so your own children can have all the same benefits my sister and I were given when a lifetime of library love was nurtured.

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Coupeville Schools election win goes official

Posted in elections, tagged , , , on February 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

It’s done-done.

The Coupeville School District ran two replacement levies this year, and both overwhelmingly passed with voters.

And now that’s official, as the Island County Auditor’s office certified the election Friday morning, announcing final totals.

Proposition 1 – Replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy tallied 2,395 yes votes, or 63.76% percent.

Meanwhile, Proposition 2 – Replacement School District Technology Capital Projects Levy finished at 64.89% with 2,432 positives votes.

The levies, which replaced ones voted into place in 2022, needed 50% + 1 vote to pass.

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Voters show deep support for Coupeville schools

Posted in elections, tagged , , , on February 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The first numbers are in and so far, it’s a blowout win for the Coupeville School District.

Voters are overwhelmingly approving two replacement levies, which would replace ones voted into place in 2022.

While levies require 50% + 1 vote to pass, Coupeville’s have pulled in much more than that through the first counts released Tuesday night by Island County officials.

Proposition 1 – Replacement Educational Programs and Operations Levy has tallied 1,588 yes votes, or 63.67% percent.

Meanwhile, Proposition 2 – Replacement School District Technology Capital Projects Levy is at 64.71% with 1,610 positives votes.

As of Tuesday, Island County states that 6,381 ballots have been counted, with an estimated 1,200 ballots remaining.

That second number can increase if additional ballots with valid postmarks are received.

Officials will issue another count Wednesday night, with the election finalized Feb. 20.

 

For vote totals, pop over to:

https://www.islandcountywa.gov/569/Election-Results

 

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Vote yes, keep the future bright

Posted in Not sports? Tough!, tagged , , , , on January 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

A simple yes vote can help fund the future.

The Coupeville School District has two replacement levies on the Feb. 10 ballot — the EP&O Levy Renewal and the Capital Technology Levy Renewal — and both earn my support.

They’re not new taxes but instead replace levies previously approved by local voters in 2022.

Keep them in place and they help shore the district up against shortfalls created by lawmakers in Olympia who continue to mouth platitudes to education while frequently leaving schools to save themselves.

Levies do NOT build new schools or fund major construction projects — that’s a bond.

Instead, levies “support the people, programs, and tools that make learning possible every day.”

So, what’s the breakdown on these levies?

 

Proposition 1: Educational Programs and Operations (EP&O) Levy Renewal

Supports day-to-day operations and programs including:

*Additional classroom staff to keep class sizes low
*Programs including advanced classes/Highly Capable, language services, and social-emotional supports
*Athletics, clubs, and extracurriculars
*Career and technical education and hands-on learning opportunities
*Music and performing arts classes

 

Proposition 2: Capital Technology Levy Renewal

Continues funding to ensure students have access to secure facilities and modern learning opportunities, including:

*Repairs and maintenance at every school
*Student, staff, and school technology, including devices, security, software, and accessibility
*Security updates, including cameras and entry access systems

 

Over the past couple of months, I have been part of a group which meets to discuss the facilities in the Coupeville School District.

During that time, I’ve seen some of the behind-the-scenes work, and it’s deepened my appreciation for what district employees, on every level, accomplish each day.

Every school system has its good points and bad points, but Coupeville overwhelmingly remains a positive place for your child to be educated.

Stand with our educators and administrators, with our para’s and our coaches, with the men and women down there in the trenches working their rears off to make sure Coupeville’s kids are successes.

Vote yes when you get your ballot in the mail.

It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s the right thing to do.

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Love libraries? Prove it!!

Posted in Not sports? Tough!, tagged , , , , , on March 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Just one of the countless quality books you can find through your local Sno-Isle library.

I have spent a considerable chunk of my life in libraries.

Growing up in Kelso, my mom was a children’s librarian at the two-story den of books which sat nestled next to the post office, back in a time when books, and not computers, dominated the scene.

Both myself and my sister got our library cards at the earliest age possible, and we grew up emulating my mom, who almost always could be found with her nose in a book.

My dad was a window washer/carpet cleaner, and the one job he had which brought joy to my heart came over the holidays, when the library would shut down, and he would clean the joint from top to bottom.

He brought all of us along, and we got to run wild (relatively speaking) in our own personal library for two or three days.

No one to compete with us for copies of Mad Magazine or Sports Illustrated.

A chance to eat our meals in the librarian’s own personal kitchen, otherwise off limits to the public, staring out the window at 2 AM onto empty streets, except for the rare raccoon which wandered by as a train whistle sounded mournfully in the distance.

While I don’t have a similar free run in any libraries these days, I still use them, especially the Coupeville one, which sits a mile from my house, on a regular basis.

And, not to brag (well, maybe a little bit), copies of my books, “Memoirs of an Idiot” and “Bow Down to Cow Town,” are available through the Sno-Isle library system.

I believe my sister is sitting at like 47 books currently published and available in libraries, so probably shouldn’t toot my own slow-moving horn too much…

Both our parents had passed before our various books were published, but I know they would be pleased that their children added to the library system.

Though they might question whether some day I couldn’t, maybe, write about something a little more reputable.

Anyways.

This is a long way to getting around to throwing my support behind the ongoing levy push by the Sno-Isle Library systems.

And supporting the levy (ballots are due by Apr. 24), which would add a nine-cent increase to the current library operations levy (putting the total rate at 47 cents per $1,000 assessed property value), is the right thing to do.

There are no negative here, only positives.

If you vote YES, you help to:

**Maintain library staffing

**Purchase library materials

**Maintain Bookmobile service for children and seniors

**Help prepare preschoolers and students with early childhood development resources, homework help and after-school STEM classes for K-12 students

Voting no would make it much more difficult for our regional library system to continue the fine work being done, at the level it’s currently being done.

Libraries are the lifeblood of our communities, both here in Coupeville and in every town. Stand with them.

But, certainly, look deeper and see what the library system has to say for itself.

For more info, you can call Jim Hills, Sno-Isle’s Public Information Manager, at 360-651-7050 or pop over to https://www.sno-isle.org/funding/levy.

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