It’s that time again, time to ask some open-ended questions, raising awareness of issues and causing some of us to think a little harder about topics that may affect us.

The first is the recent incident at Mount Si High School. It’s unfortunate to be in the news so much in a negative way. After listening to local radio stations, reading the daily newspapers online and talking to students, teachers and district staff, it’s apparent to me that Mount Si has gained some bad publicity.

But the whole incident of why the Rev. Ken Hutcherson was invited to Mount Si makes me go hmmm.

It’s a well known fact that Hutcherson is a lightning rod of controversy when it comes to providing benefits to same-sex unions and has been very outspoken on the issue. On the other hand, he does provide some insight into growing up in the South and what Dr. Martin Luther King meant to him.

So on a day meant to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, and with the guidance from the school to stick to the topic at hand, why not let him speak? If the faculty or student body really had a problem with him speaking because of his views regarding homosexuality, they should have raised some questions during the planning stages for the assembly. If the two teachers involved had the opportunity to provide input about the speaker prior to the commitment being made, they should be held accountable now. I would go so far as to suspend the teacher that booed during the assembly for a period of time. The whole thing smells of a setup of Hutcherson and, unfortunately, it gave the entire student body of Mount Si a bad name. If, on the other hand, Hutcherson’s speaking engagement was objected to by the teachers or the school’s “Gay/Straight Alliance” prior to the assembly, the administration of the school should be held accountable. At a time when the district is making another attempt to pass a bond, we don’t need to generate more bad publicity.

On the flip side, there is another topic that makes you go hmmm, but in a very good way. A great young man, Caleb Williams, showed what determination and perseverance can do when he returned to start a Mount Si boys’ basketball game recently.

Caleb is truly an inspiration. From the time the accident happened to his appearance at the grand opening of the Mount Si stadium in a wheel chair, to his return to the hardwood, his friends, family and this community have been behind him. I have never witnessed so much support and emotion as when his name was announced at the game. It’s one of the facets that makes this community better than any other community on the Eastside. I think that anyone who was at the game had to feel a lump in their throat as he worked his way down the court. Caleb, you really make us go hmmm.

Finally comes the hospital and a decision to sell the existing property and move forward. I personally understand the desire to move forward with the hospital location, but there are enough people in the hospital district who don’t want a new hospital to warrant further discussion.

I proposed a ballot measure to one of the commissioners a few months ago to question if the community wanted a new hospital. The commissioner thought it was a good idea based on a lack of information about why people voted the bond down. Did they vote no for no new taxes, or did they vote no because they don’t want a new hospital?

With last week’s announcement that Swedish will be moving forward with a facility in Issaquah, many again are raising concerns about a new hospital and its feasibility. It’s time to put the whole thing to a vote and ask the people if they want a new hospital at a new location. If the answer is no, the commissioners have their marching orders with a direction. Without asking the question the commissioners do not have enough information to make a decision.

I personally believe that a new hospital is a good thing, but I am but one vote. We have been down the road of negative cash-flow for the hospital in the past and can’t afford to open a new facility just to have it close again. Let’s face it, if the hospital was private and had closed as many times as this one has, no business person would touch it with a 10-foot pole. We need to be diligent as a community to proceed with this project, fully informed with strong support from taxpayers.

So why doesn’t the board of commissioners put it to a vote? It makes me go hmmm.