Scores of wheelchair riders, bicyclists, skateboarders and others participated in the third annual Sea to Sound multi-modal trek covering portions of 74-miles of the Olympic Discovery Trail.  Also known as Ian’s Ride, organizer and founder of the event Ian Mackay says the idea was created to raise awareness and appreciation of the great outdoors regardless of ability.  

MACKAY:  “We really try to cater to the wheelchair crowd. It’s so infrequent that you can find an event that is for particularly folks with disabilities. And I can find my solace out on the Olympic Discovery Trail. And putting on this event every year is a way I can kind of share that with my other friends and fans.”

Ian has been paralyzed from the neck down following a bicycle accident in 2008.  He says you cannot help but feel elated when you’re out there with nature.  The trek started  west of Lake Crescent and ended on the Larry Scott Trail in Port Townsend.

Hi Ciscoe,

I am not sure if this is even a yucca plant so maybe you can enlighten me as to what it actually is. Whatever it is I am not sure how to care for it, I just cut a lot of dead leafs out so just now has new green ones but hoping for any advice and tips on how to properly care for this gorgeous plant. If you needed to know we are in the Tacoma area. Thank you, Roger

Ciscoe:  These bugs are attacking all the new growth on my rose bush. I have tried diatomaceous earth and Neem oil spray and neither has worked. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank You, Tennelle

HELP... look what the heat did to my rhodies. Do you have any

suggestions?- Barb

Hi Ciscoe, Would you mind taking a look at this photo. This tree is currently in front of our facility and this facility is going to be closing and maybe building torn down. This tree is so unique on how its branches knot back on itself and it grows in an umbrella shape. I have done lots of checking but I do not seem to be able to come up with a name for it. Am I able to start a growth from this tree. I would appreciate any information you might have. –Shirley

Dear Ciscoe, What is this? Growing in my backyard. Thanks, Mary Beth

Ben sez:

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”

Which one did you pick?

(You know, you can do both!)

On July 4th, 1776, (245 years ago),

The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress declaring that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, The United States of America, (and no longer part of the British Empire).

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain actually occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule.

After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author.
Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4th.

John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail:

“…this will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

Coincidentally, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration.

Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but another Founding Father who became a President, James Monroe, died on July 4, 1831, thus becoming the third President in a row who died on the holiday. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872, and, so far, is the only U.S. President to have been born on Independence Day.

Now, go ahead and watch the parade below.

Clallam County’s budget got a significant shot in the arm last week with an infusion of about 7 and a half million dollars in COVID relief dollars from the federal government’s American Recovery Act fund.  Every city and county started receiving those funds last week based on population. 

Appearing on KSQM radio yesterday Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias says commissioners are now beginning a process for developing plans for how to allocate that money. He says the CARES act funds received at the beginning of the pandemic had a very short time line for decision making and expenditure of the funds. The Recovery Act funds are intended to last longer and not be quite so reactionary. Right now, commissioners are starting to talk about how to set priorities for spending those dollars within guidelines provided by the Act.

OZIAS:  “We’ve got a couple of years actually to consider how we will obligate those dollars. We actually can spend through 2026. So I’m hoping that the impact from these recovery act funds will last longer than just the next couple of months.”

Ozias says one beneficiary of the new infusion of money will be the county’s public health department.

“There’s no doubt that a significant portion of that is going to be invested in a more robust public health effort. There are some specifics certainly related to COVID and the continuing work that our public health team is going to have to do for the foreseeable future.”

He says the county is expecting to receive the second half of the 15 million dollar grant next year.

A reminder that we live in an earthquake prone region.  A small 3.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded over the weekend in Grays Harbor County. It was about 26 miles north and northwest of Olympia near Satsop. The US Geological Survey says the trembler, recorded at 4:12 Saturday morning, was about 30 miles deep. There were no immediate reports of damage.

The Satsop area is a relatively remote, sparsely populated region.