Forum

Soon, Lynnwood police officers and the people who run the senior center will have automatic external defibrillators, used to shock cardiac arrest victims and potentially save lives,

The city will distribute them, but they won’t cost taxpayers anything. That’s because the local Elks, Eagles and Kiwanis clubs and the Medic 7 Foundation donated money for the machines.

This should be an example for service and fraternal organizations in other cities.

When Lynnwood officials distribute 15 defibrillators throughout the city, they’ll be setting an example for other cities, particularly for clubs that should take the challenge to help keep their cities safe without touching scarce tax money.

The Lynnwood organizations raised about $9,000 to buy seven machines. Then, the American Heart Association matched the donations, paying for eight additional machines.

Remember to remember

Memorial Day is a day to remember those who went before us by decorating their graves.

I can remember parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles observing what was once called “Decoration Day” by decorating the graves of family members.

But now, in our highly mobile society, many of us can’t get to the cemeteries where our ancestors are buried.

Veterans groups do a wonderful job of decorating the cemeteries, but the rest of us need to take time from our three-day weekends to drop flowers on the graves family members and on those whose families are far away.

Reichert vs. Ross

Voters in the 8th Congressional District, east of Lake Washington, are likely to be choosing this fall between KIRO radio morning host Dave Ross and King County Sheriff Dave Reichert.

I don’t like seeing two popular independent figures become partisan candidates, but, maybe a contest between these two will give us a hard-fought yet civilized contest. Eastside voters will have good reason to vote for either candidate, rather than vote for either in a lesser-of-two-evils election.

Expect the contest to be civil, because, as we can tell from Reichert’s frequent appearances on Ross’ show, the two seem genuinely to like and respect each other.

Evan Smith is the Enterprise Forum editor.