Letter: Bees and neonicotinoids MR Diggens ( Things are not always what they seem Craven Herald letters, January 21), in response to my letter the previous week about the use of neonicotinoids on sugar beet, seems to imply that there is a place for party politics in this debate. The purpose of my letter was to draw attention to the threat to bee populations caused by the government’s authorisation (albeit on a limited scale) for the chemical to be used. As Mr Diggens correctly points out various EU countries have also allowed use of the chemical under ‘emergency authorisation’; but two wrongs don’t make a right and my concern is that it is disappointing that our government should follow the same route of reaching for ‘the chemical gun’ as a first response to the problem.
Martha “Marty” McLaren, a past West Seattle/South Park representative on the
Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, has died. Ms. McLaren, a Puget Ridge resident, was 76 years old. She was a longtime educator and community advocate, but her highest-profile role was that of board member. She won election in 2011 by unseating incumbent
Steve Sundquist and then four years later was unseated herself by current board member
Leslie Harris. We talked with Ms. McLaren after her election in 2011; she spoke of her teaching career following her involvement with advocacy as a PTA leader while her children were in school. More details on her life are in her obituary, which we’ve just received: