Our Voice: Thumbs up, Thumbs down
‘Save the Old Tower’ efforts
The role the Hanford site played in World War II is widely recognized and the efforts of many Tri-Citians to preserve that story for future generations culminated in the establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park this year. It was an effort of many, a movement that made headlines in the Tri-City Herald many times in recent years.
At the same time, a small group of people quietly went about preserving another important piece of our WWII legacy. It was an effort that has received less recognition. But now, construction is beginning on a small museum at the Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco.
Located at the base of an old airport control tower, the museum will tell a story few of us know much about.
The old tower was constructed in 1942 as part of Naval Air Station Pasco. At its peak, it was the third busiest naval air training base in the country. An estimated 1,800 pilots trained on Stearman Kaydet biplanes early in the air station’s operation. Later, it converted to more modern aircraft for training experienced pilots in advanced techniques. Although the Navy still trains P-3 Orion antisubmarine aircraft using the airport’s runways, the Naval Air Station was decommissioned in 1947.
In 2012, the Port of Pasco considered tearing down the old tower. But Malin Bergstrom, a woman who took ground school in the tower and later grew up to be president of Bergstrom Aircraft, felt the tower and the story it represented warranted preserving. She launched the “Save the Old Tower” effort and with others formed the nonprofit Pacific Northwest Aviation Museum foundation, which raised funds and gathered donors to save that piece of history for all of us.
Thank you Malin on behalf of all of us who anxiously await our first visit.
Getting in 9 after work
The days of sneaking out early and getting in nine holes of golf are soon approaching. The spring fever golf season is ushered in each year with the start of Daylight Saving Time, which starts at midnight Saturday.
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead and drag those clubs out of the closet.
Collecting unemployment behind bars
Many people in county jails are receiving unemployment benefits they’re ineligible for, according to a state audit released this week. People in jail or prison aren’t eligible for a number of benefits they otherwise would receive. Unemployment payments are among them.
Washington’s auditor’s office scrutinized eight county jails and identified 1,911 potential over-payments worth about $656,000 from July 2013 to September 2014. There are 57 jails in the state run by counties, cities and Native American tribes. You do the math, but if what they found in eight jails is representative of what’s happening in the system, that’s millions of dollars misappropriated.
It appears the employment division isn’t allowed access to confidential jail information to identify recipients of unemployment benefits who are incarcerated. That leaves it up to the recipients to self-report. The honor system appears to not be the best approach for this particular group.
The auditor’s office wants the Legislature to allow access to the employment division. We think that would be wise.
This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Our Voice: Thumbs up, Thumbs down."