Halloween is now winding to a close. Tomorrow will be Day of the Dead. Close behind that will be Day of the Dead Part II, also known as Election Day in Clallam County. Which one of those days is the scariest to you?
On Halloween, we all dress up and enjoy a (friendly) scare, and kids get candy.
Day of the Dead is, traditionally, a time to remember and honor those who are gone but not forgotten.
Election day in Clallam County...What is it? A farce? A sick joke? Another note in a long-playing funeral dirge?
I get the point of observing Halloween, and Day of the Dead. But what, really, is the point of election day in Clallam County? Pretending that a sick, sick system is healthy enough to function? Making believe that the voices of the people will be heard? That voters have a real choice?
What is the point?
Dead is, as dead does.
ReplyDeletePort Angeles has been declining and dying for years. Easy to see. Look at the shopping center on the east side of town, where the other Safeway is located. Empty storefronts. Less occupancy than last year. Go in the Safeway, and find empty shelves most of the time. Even the store knows it isn't worth keeping the store fully stocked.
And what does the town spend it's time doing? The former Nippon Mill, once the major industrial employer of the area, sits idle with bumper stickers put up new the "New owners", and our "Economic Development Council" Executive Director is promoting happy talk about "squaring" our children.
The vote coming up? I hope Lindsey gets elected. Hometown guy with a great attitude. Other than that, it is a snore. We sure will not be sitting back, comforted in knowing our elected representatives are competent, and our future is looking bright.
"Port Angeles has been declining and dying for years."
DeleteYou hit the nail - in the coffin - on the head there. I started this blog with the hope - however faint - that it could be part of helping Port Angeles change or grow or survive.
But the patient has died. Hell, the patient was, for all intents and purposes, dead when I started this blog. It just takes a little while for an entire community to rot. And this rot started at the top, and worked its way down. Rotten leaders with rotten ethics touting rotten ideas.
I can see no hope for Port Angeles. None whatsoever. At best, it might maintain its current corpse-like status for another generation, before collapsing completely. But growth? Learning? Success? Meeting the bare minimum for competence? Not gonna happen.
Life is too short to live in Port Angeles. You know it's true. And life is too short for me to continue wasting time flogging this dead horse of a place.
The coming election isn't going to change or save Port Angeles. Composite scraps won't save Port Angeles. Nothing will save Port Angeles. The best you can hope for is to save yourselves - by getting out. Move on and up in the world. That's what I did by leaving, and that's what I'm doing now by leaving this blog. I have better ways to spend my time than to try and save a town that cannot and will not save itself.
Life is too short to live in Port Angeles. Get out. Save yourself.
Best of luck to you all.
Thanks, CK. You tried. PA failed.
DeleteI don't blame you, one bit, for giving up. In fact, I've been amazed you've put so much time in, trying to expose the craziness, hoping Port Angeles would turn around.
DeleteWhen I first came to Port Angeles, I got involved in civic affairs. Went to meetings and joined a group or two. Quickly, it became clear how corrupted the whole place was.
Like you, I tried to work with others to make Port Angeles a better place. And, I gave up trying, quite a while ago.
Thank you for all you have done. Everyone knows this was the "go-to" place to find out what was really going on. That by itself is a commendable accomplishment.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
You certainly will be missed by many.
But, but, but, shit, you're right...
ReplyDelete....and Laurel Black is being touted in the PDN for winning another award. That's apparently as good as it gets around here.
ReplyDeleteIs she still using a 20+ year old photo of herself online?
DeleteYeah....still using the photo. It's almost to the point where she can make it into a mask, and hold it up over her real face.
DeleteNOOOO CK we need you. Don't go. Say it ain't so.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but...It's so. So long. There's no cure for whatever it is that Port Angeles has got.
DeleteWhat it's got is RICO. Written all over it, with political cover / non-prosecution, care of the state, thank you very much.
DeleteDang, what will the good folks here do now for some facts?
but...you are the only source of unadulterated news and information. PLEASE>>>say it is a November Fools Day Hoax
ReplyDeleteAnd, Port Angeles sinks even more into the pit of decline and death with your closing up shop.
ReplyDelete"They" won. They've managed to drive away and shut down virtually all the voices of concern. One way or another.
"They" remain, with their smug smiles. "They" succeeded in waiting out those that wanted change.
Yes, there are places like this.
“Nuke the entire site from orbit--it’s the only way to be sure."- Corporal Dwayne Hicks
ReplyDeleteGoodnight, everyone...
ReplyDeleteCK, may I suggest the following as the final sign off of this blog. It just seems SO appropriate.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agwMwbmMNbk
It is "The End" by the Doors.. set to "Apocalypse Now". So prefect. Capt. Willard sits in astonishment as government funded craziness destroys everything. Grant whores that are destroying Port Angeles. The passive crazies living the the unreal world supported by "government", not lifting a hand to make any changes.
This is the end.
But it'll all be okay. The plan now is to have the harbor cleaned up...by the time we're all dead.
ReplyDeleteHere’s a tidbit for y’all from the Port’s incumbent commissioner, Colleen McAleer. This is an excerpt of a text she sent to me when I was working at the Port. Make sure to get your votes in so we can maintain this kind of “integrity” in local government! LOL
ReplyDelete11/14/16, 7:36PM
CM wrote: "Hey is this device for this number and these texts subject to public records requests for port business or is this your private number that you won't be doing Port business on?"
DB wrote: "This is my personal device"...
CM wrote: "Phew. Very good to know. Rest assured if someone's job is in question or lost and they (Holly) think there's something they could get out of it they will ask for all"
She needs to be measured for an orange jumpsuit.
DeleteWell if she did you could claim she is going outside restrictions on nonpublic meetings and have her phone and personel emails subpoenaed for your case.
DeleteOne size fits all!
DeleteIf she is conducting business on her personal phone then it is a public record and discoverable.
DeleteWell rat shit! Reading this blog is one of the very few times I find myself laughing out loud. It aint easy finding something to laugh about when it comes to death. Even the death of this redneck shit hole. Being 60, born, and mostly living here all these years, I still have faint memories of a time when this place had a little something special about it besides the scenery...but that was a long time ago. Anyway for that reason the death of it is somewhat painful to watch. So heres to you, heres to your honest and direct observations and remarks. And thank you for the times I nearly fell out of bed laughing while reading them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bif. I appreciate your kind words, and the input the blog got from you. Take care, and lock your doors, okay? Safety first.
DeleteThis town is so passive aggressive.
ReplyDeleteI’ve followed this blog since day one. The owner is a straight genius. I was once right in the middle of the PA madness. I bounced and it was the best thing I ever did. Like CK has mentioned many times. Life is too short to live in Port Angeles. Get the F out. :D
ReplyDeletehey you little faggot i thought you were going away!
ReplyDeleteWhat's that? You want me to keep this blog going? Is that what I'm hearing? I'm pretty sure that's how I translate your sad, scared little homophobic BS. "Please, CK, keep Unearthed going! We need a forum to discuss the truth about scumbags and thieves like Colleen McAleer! Please"
DeleteNo, really, that's what I hear.
No really go the fuck away you little dicked turd. You got nothing but tired stories of people that don’t matter anymore. Post up some sad pictures of Cherie Kidd so you can materbate. Maybe a Karen Rodgers photo for your Oedepus complex. Hey here is one shit-bag I will see your Patrick Downie and raise you a Spacek
DeleteCriminey CK, do you really get messages like that?
DeleteI have never, ever, in my entire life, materbated. Never. Not even once.
DeleteAnd yes, Anonymous 7:12 PM, as you can see above and below, messages like that are all too common. The intellectual set chiming in and all that. Real 21st century success stories...Kind of like...
But they do make me smile and laugh! I delight in their impotent, ineffectual hissy fits.
DeleteBut again, I have never, ever materbated.
DeleteIn fact, I don't even know what that means.
You don’t even know Colleen douche-bag. Go suck Brad Collins Sissy-boi.
ReplyDeleteIf i ever find out who you are I am going to attack your career and family the way you've attacked mine.
ReplyDeleteAw...
DeleteI'm guessing you are Mr. Kidd?
DeleteWhat a class act, just like your moronic wife.
CK they have been manipulating you with a wicked variety of posts some crazy, some sane and they have posted on both sides of issues.
ReplyDeleteThis is directed from the Republican Party in Clallam County. Mathew Rainwater took over from Dick Piling with a focus to make democrats look bad in the eyes of local retirees affiliated with the military, law enforcement and other first responders.
Another name to know is Kevin Russell. There are others.
Colleen McAleer is the figurehead politician as she appeals to the Women voters in a better way than Cheri or Karen ever could. She will stay unless she makes a big blunder. But know she is only the latest put up by those really running the show in Clallam.
It is probably bigger than you care at this point. Thank you for trying.
I agree, this is a plea to stay the course. We need this forum. Do consider maybe taking a break and returning strong.
ReplyDeleteI agree. We need this blog. All this craziness HAS to be exposed. You're the only one that has succeeded in doing this, this well, for this long.
DeleteHow can we make this work?
Was watching a couple of consultants talk about rural economic development in the US, and Washington, specifically. They did speak of Clallam County, which "had benefited from State assisted development projects in the past, but that has been in the decline".
ReplyDeleteThey said repeatedly that competition for companies to locate new ventures in rural communities was stiff. That communities had to really work on a couple key elements.
Geee. Can we guess which of them was emphasized? Yup. "Quality of Life".
The other? The community's vision of what it is, and where it is headed.
That investing in a rural community is risky, from a business perspective.
So, from the experts in the field, we see why Port Angeles continues in it's decline.
And we all know, Port Angeles has NOAA quality of life.
DeleteI wish I had CK's brains to write a blog like this (and I truly lament that I don't). But if I were the admin, I'd create a special thread to document all the damaged people who submit twisted comments like that. Then NAMI or any similar mental illness org could use it for scientific research on the hypothesis that undiagnosed mental illness is on the increase in Clallam County, and we'd stimulate the economy with all the ensuing grant funds.
ReplyDeleteAll the best to CK, it's been a heckuva ride!