Comedy Duo Still Going Strong With Stoner-Type Humor Honestly, writing a story about Cheech and Chong without using drug references is not possible. Yes, they are now senior citizens, nearly three decades removed from their last tour together, and Tommy Chong has publicly stated that even though he's now one of pot's biggest advocates, he hasn't touched the stuff since federal agents stormed his home in 2003 and he wound up spending nine months in prison for selling drug paraphernalia (more on that later). [continues 952 words]
Drug-resisting Oahu fifth-graders treated to a star-filled day It wasn't American Idol, but former contestant Jordan Segundo performed for a crowd of 10,000 yesterday. So did singer Jasmin Indica of Kapolei Middle School. And Radford High's state champion cheerleading squad. And Nanaikapono's Step Team dance ensemble. And a bunch of Honolulu police officers. Their audience? Fifth-graders from public and private schools across O'ahu who filled the University of Hawai'i's Stan Sheriff Center for the 24th annual DARE Day celebration. [continues 170 words]
Helping Addicts Lead Clean And Sober Lives As administrator for the Kaua'i Drug Court, Alton Amimoto knows it is difficult for some people to change their habits, but having helped 71 former drug addicts graduate to clean and sober lives since the court's inception in 2003, more than 97 percent of whom have remained free of legal entanglements, he knows it can be done. But modifying long-standing behaviors can be challenging, Amimoto said, drawing comparisons to situations more people are familiar with: trying to lose weight or stop smoking. [continues 471 words]
I find it interesting that some people want to keep the dogs from sniffing anywhere the drugs are apt to be in our schools. Are these parents in denial who don't know how to handle it if their children are found to have drugs at school? Or are they people more interested in "civil rights" than the safety of our children? Are there teachers who bring drugs to school? Please, give me a good (common-sense) reason for not doing everything possible to keep drugs out of our schools. Donna Dettlof, Kailua [end]
WAILUKU -- The Maui Police Department calls state Rep. Joe Bertram III's criticism of its DARE program "offensive." In a letter sent last week to MPD, Bertram suggested that the department eliminate marijuana eradication programs and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, which has police officers teaching an anti-drug and anti-alcohol curriculum in elementary and intermediate schools. Eight Maui police officers, including ones in Hana and on Molokai and Lanai, teach in 26 public and private schools throughout Maui County. The instruction, which includes teaching children to resist peer pressure, occurs for students in kindergarten, third and fifth grades and either seventh or eighth grades. [continues 314 words]
When Joseph Peneueta was gunned down in Chinatown a week ago today, it marked the second time in two years that deadly violence from California's illicit drug trade spilled over onto Honolulu's streets, according to law enforcement officials. Peneueta's shooting was the result of a dispute among business partners, police believe. At the time of the shooting, Peneueta and the two men accused of killing him - Iosefa M. Pasene, 21, and Zorro R. Rye, 24 - were the subject of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into allegations that they smuggled cocaine and crack into Honolulu from the San Francisco Bay Area. All three have prior county and federal drug convictions and hail from San Francisco. [continues 619 words]
I guess it's OK for the governor and some legislators to spend $40 million in taxpayer money and try to circumvent the law for a project like the Superferry, but when school officials try to find ways to reduce illegal substances on public school campuses - at no cost to the taxpayer - the Department of Education's concern over student privacy prevents it. I still have a child enrolled at a public high school, and as far as I'm concerned, he has no right to privacy when it comes to his locker (paid for by taxpayers), or anything he chooses to bring on campus (backpack, etc). [continues 51 words]
Hearings Set On Proposal That Would Clear Way For Use Of Drug-Sniffing Dogs McKinley High School principal Ron Okamura wants to bring drug-sniffing dogs into his school but the state Department of Education's current disciplinary policy and concerns over student privacy have prevented it. But with new amendments to the disciplinary rules - known as Chapter 19 - being considered in public hearings beginning April 6, Okamura believes implementation of a drug-sniffing dog program will soon be easier. The proposed amendments would allow searches of student lockers on public school campuses solely at the discretion of principals and school administrators. The presence of drug-sniffing dogs on campus would also be allowed as a way of detecting and deterring illegal drugs. [continues 776 words]
VIENNA -- A group of drug researchers is urging diplomats at a United Nations meeting to drop their prohibition on cannabis and allow the psychoactive substance to be sold and taxed like tobacco. "Our message to politicians is that 'you don't have to worry too much about the effects of cannabis and that the kids aren't listening to you in any case,' " Peter Room, a public health professor at the University of Melbourne, said today at a briefing. He helped chair a scientific committee that produced a report saying that marijuana isn't a public health menace and that half the U.S. population born after 1970 and at least 21 years old has tried the drug. [continues 400 words]
Maui Oral Health Center is now providing dental treatment to Maui/Moloka`i Drug Court clients and their minor children. Lack of access to dental treatment has been identified as a major impediment to the well-being and rehabilitation of Drug Court clients, according to S. Larry Schlesinger, president of the Friends of the Maui Drug Court. The Wailuku-based Maui Oral Health Center is a project of Maui Community College, the County of Maui, the State Department of Health and the Maui County Oral Health Task Force. [continues 64 words]
Man Suspected Of Exceeding Legal Number Of Plants, Selling Drug MAKAWAO, Maui -- A 61-year-old medical marijuana patient was arrested Feb. 11 on several drug charges. Police said the man was in possession of more than the permitted number of marijuana plants and was allegedly selling marijuana for profit. Vice officers discovered an indoor marijuana growing setup on the suspect's Makawao property, along with 12 mature marijuana plants and an ounce of processed marijuana, according to Capt. Gerald Matsunaga, commander of the Maui Police Department's Vice Division. [continues 169 words]
Theresa Koki And Volunteers Carry Out Plan Some 80 to 90 percent of all crimes committed on Kaua'i are drug related. This is according to a Drug Response Plan covering 2008-2013 and generated to serve as a guide for agencies who work with youth and adults, especially those struggling with substance abuse. And who knows those statistics better than mayoral appointee, Anti-Drug Coordinator Theresa Koki? Stepping into her third year as what some jokingly call her anti-drug "Czarina" position, Koki's office faces the same economic gloom as the rest of the nation. [continues 713 words]
TOKYO - Sumo wrestlers with pot bellies, yes. Sumo wrestlers with pot? Now that's harder to grapple with. Advertisement In the past six months, four wrestlers have been kicked out of the ancient sport for allegedly smoking marijuana, creating the biggest drugs-in-sports scandal that Japan has ever seen. Although three of the wrestlers who have been expelled from the sport were from Russia, the arrest last week of a 25-year-old Japanese athlete who goes by the ring name of Wakakirin for possession of marijuana has raised concern that use of the drug may be more widespread than originally thought. [continues 788 words]
The state's slumping economy may be having an effect on drug usage here, with the percentage of people testing positive for drugs falling between the third and fourth quarter, according to a workforce drug testing service. Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc. said drug use showed a decrease in the fourth quarter when compared with the prior three-month period. "All drug classes in the fourth quarter of 2008 show a decrease from the previous quarter, which may be a reflection of people fearing job loss," said Carl Linden, Diagnostic Laboratory scientific director. [continues 199 words]
Dear Annie: My soon-to-be 17-year-old son has been caught smoking pot several times in the past few years. He also recently became very close to a girl we don't care for. She smokes pot as well, and I have reason to believe he may be sexually active with her. We have grounded him, taken away privileges, pushed him into drug counseling and other things, but as soon as he earns his freedom, he goes back to the same poor choices. [continues 235 words]
In District Court There, Judge Brings An End To Random Teacher Testing A U.S. District Court in West Virginia has halted random drug testing of teachers in that state, prompting Hawai'i legal experts to ponder the implications for teacher drug testing here. The head of the Hawaii State Teachers Association, the teachers union, said it would be difficult to speculate what a ruling in another state could mean for Hawai'i's plan to implement random drug testing of teachers here. [continues 519 words]
Friends of the Maui Drug Court has received a $5,000 grant from the Alexander & Baldwin Foundation. The Friends group was founded in 1998 to advocate for creation of a Drug Court in 2nd Circuit Court in Wailuku to provide nonviolent offenders an opportunity to avoid or minimize incarceration upon completion of an intensive, judicially supervised substance abuse treatment program. The nonprofit organization provides support to Drug Court clients, including milestone awards, medical and dental treatment, and child care. Nearly 300 former criminal defendants have graduated from the Maui/Moloka'i Drug Court. It is the fifth grant received by the group from the A&B Foundation. More information on the Friends of the Maui Drug Court and the Maui/Moloka'i Drug Court is available at www.mauidrugcourt.info/ . [end]
The teachers union should abide by its contractual agreement with the state and get on with the random drug testing. HSTA concerns of privacy rights or the potential for illegal searches and seizures can all be eliminated by using the same contractual language, with all the checks and balances, and protective guidelines for their members, that other public sector unions like SHOPO (police), the firefighters' union and UPW have in their drug-testing contractual policies with the city. If they have nothing to hide, what are they afraid of? Enough Department of Education personnel have been arrested for using, possessing and selling illegal drugs to warrant mandatory random drug testing. Steven T. K. Burke Pearl City [end]
Pay Raises Given While State Still Awaits Ruling On Lingle's Complaint The contractual deadline for random drug testing of Hawai'i public school teachers passed nearly six months ago, and still no teacher has been tested. This week, the teachers union and the state are expected to begin talks on a new contract. The current two-year contract, which expires in June, included pay increases of up to 11 percent in exchange for a commitment from teachers to accept random drug testing. Teachers have gotten most of the pay increases, but the teachers union has balked at the testing. [continues 568 words]
As a Hawai'i-born expert on local regulation of medical marijuana (licensed to practice law in California and Hawai'i), I learned some things from the Nov. 24 article, "Medical pot users up 87%." Apparently Keith Kamita, head of the state's Narcotics Enforcement Division, thinks he knows better than doctors what drugs people should use. He also thinks he knows better what "debilitating pain" is. And he can apparently read the Legislature's mind and knows what their intent is. This is the problem with Hawai'i's medical marijuana law, it puts a health program under the control of law enforcement. Is it any wonder it doesn't work and is woefully underutilized? [continues 66 words]
Hawai'i's medical marijuana law has done enormous good for thousands of suffering patients ("Hawai'i medical pot use up 87 percent," Nov. 24). However, it's unfortunate that Keith Kamita of the Narcotics Enforcement Division sees a problem with use of marijuana to treat severe pain. In the last two years, three published clinical trials have verified marijuana's safety and efficacy for treating pain caused by nerve damage related to multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and other causes. And marijuana is far less toxic and addictive than commonly used pain drugs. [continues 62 words]
But, Despite Protections Under State Law, Access to Drug Remains an Issue The number of medical marijuana patients in Hawai'i has grown 87 percent in the past two years, with the biggest gains on Maui and the Big Island. According to the state Department of Public Safety, 4,200 patients were registered state-wide as of June 30, with 444 more signing up since then. One reason for the increase is that more doctors have been certifying patients for the program, according to Keith Kamita, head of the department's Narcotics Enforcement Division. Still, a relatively few physicians account for most of the state's medical marijuana patients, he said. One Big Island doctor, for example, accounts for about half of the total certified patients statewide. [continues 1332 words]
Conflict Likely To Cloud Upcoming Contract Talks Between Teachers, State The unresolved random drug-testing issue is likely to haunt upcoming contract negotiations between the state and the Hawai'i State Teachers Association, officials said. Marie Laderta, director of the state Department of Human Resource Development, this week said that the credibility of the teachers union has been hurt by its handling of random drug testing. "Because of the position they are taking with respect to the previous negotiated contract, it makes it that much more challenging to go into this next round," Laderta said. [continues 709 words]
The U.S. is fighting a war that's costing billions of dollars every year with marginal results. Current strategies are not working. And in these painful economic times, the war must increasingly be fought with cost-effective, common-sense approaches to achieve success. It's the war on drugs. Since the 1980s, tough mandatory sentencing guidelines to combat epidemics of crack cocaine, ice and other drugs helped swell the nation's prison population to nearly 2.5 million inmates at a cost of $45 billion a year. [continues 406 words]
PA'IA, Maui -- The head of a medical marijuana advocacy group on Maui and six other men have been charged with running a drug trafficking ring. The suspects were arrested Tuesday following a two-year investigation surrounding the Patients Without Time organization located on Baldwin Avenue in Pa'ia, said Capt. Gerald Matsunaga of the Maui Police Department. As part of the investigation dubbed Operation Weedkiller, Maui police, assisted by other county, state and federal law enforcement agencies, recovered more than 335 plants, nearly 16 pounds of marijuana, a small amount of hashish and more than $14,000 in cash from several homes and businesses, he said. [continues 778 words]
Lingle Had Said Lack of Drug Testing Might Stall Negotiated Increases The state yesterday funded the last round of teacher pay raises under the current contract, even as the issue of random drug testing remained up in the air. Georgina Kawamura, director of the state Department of Budget and Finance, processed paperwork yesterday that ensures the state Department of Education will receive the money needed to cover the upcoming round of teacher pay raises, said Russell Pang, spokesman for Gov. Linda Lingle. [continues 801 words]
As a student at 'Aiea High School, I believe teachers should be subject to random drug testing. I feel that it is important to do this because education is crucial to a child's life and teachers are the key to every child's future. Since education is so important to a child's life, then we can't afford to jeopardize children's future to teachers taking drugs. I've heard all of the excuses: that random drug testing violates the Constitution and teachers don't deal with life-and-death situations. [continues 120 words]
Professor Richard Miller may be an emeritus scholar of law, but his math is seriously skewed to fit his view of random drug testing of public school teachers. Using his figures, there were 13,404 educators eligible to vote in the union contract ratification; 8,449 cast their ballots (63 percent), 4,955 did not vote (37 percent), 5,176 out of 8,449 voted "yes" (61.26 percent). 3,273 voted "no" (38.74 percent). His figure of 43 percent of eligible voters is irrelevant because the 4,955 who chose to not vote gave up their rights to be heard in this argument. [continues 94 words]
Contrary to some misguided commentators, Gov. Linda Lingle's attempt to saddle our public school teachers with random drug testing is an overtly cynical strategy, designed to win political points by embarrassing the Hawaii State Teachers Association and Board of Education and at the expense of hardworking educators' fundamental rights. Such testing would do nothing to make our students any safer, but would most certainly deprive them of further critical services and supplies and leave taxpayers footing the bill. [continues 627 words]
Lawmakers Say They'll Reintroduce Legislation to Tighten Gaps in Law Despite Gov. Linda Lingle's veto of a measure that would have tightened gaps in Hawai'i's medical marijuana laws, state lawmakers vowed yesterday to reintroduce legislation in the upcoming 2009 session. "We had this bill to address problems with our law," said Rep. Joe Bertram III, D-11th (Makena, Wailea, Kihei). "Our state law is so vague that patients don't know how to get medical cannabis for legitimate use." [continues 445 words]
I was pleased to read that the Big Island is going to vote on marijuana enforcement priorities. Most of the anti-marijuana laws are based on lies and faulty research. For example, if marijuana is addictive, then where are the bank robberies and stolen car rings attributable solely to marijuana addiction? The government is wasting tax dollars "stamping out the marijuana" and the federal government wastes billions of tax dollars each year. Millions upon millions of Americans have used marijuana. Where are all the bad effects in the general population if marijuana is harmful? The government in the nation's capital lies to us all the time; why should we believe them, waste our tax dollars, and put people in jail for puffing the weed? Phil Robertson, Honolulu [end]
Reasoned Discussion Needed On Best Policy Reading the letters in Sunday's Advertiser in favor of random drug testing for Hawai'i's teachers made me see that the public discourse on this is more of a brawl than a reasoned discussion to arrive at the best policy. I think it very unfortunate that the HSTA negotiated random drug testing. There's reasonable grounds to drug test when a teacher is behaving like their performance is suffering due to drug abuse, but random testing implies that the interest isn't in confirming problems, but rather in ferreting out deviant behavior that is otherwise private. [continues 138 words]
Group Wants Small-Time Busts to Be County Police's Lowest Priority HILO, Hawai'i -- The off-and-on political struggle over eradication and enforcement of anti-marijuana laws on the Big Island is moving to the fall election, when voters will be asked whether law enforcement officials should make busts of small-time marijuana users the county's lowest policing priority. The proposed ordinance advanced by a group called "Project Peaceful Sky" -- and ordered onto the ballot by a split vote of the County Council -- would also prohibit the county from accepting any further state or federal money for marijuana eradication operations. [continues 1118 words]
How dare the Hawaii State Teachers Association compare being subjected to random drug testing with the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. People in the private sector have been taking drug tests for years, and if employees did not like it they were free to seek employment elsewhere. Unfortunately for HSTA members, there is nowhere else where workers possess such a sense of entitlement that they think they are somehow exempt from something required for everyone else. It is time for these union members to face reality. Shannon Brown Kailua [end]
HSTA and the teachers agreed to random drug testing in their new contract in June 2007. What don't they understand about what "random drug testing" means? HSTA has already given the excuses - drug testing in unconstitutional and it costs too much. HSTA also wants to test only suspicious teachers who have prior drug or drunk-driving convictions. Now the new proposal is to only test teachers who hold a CDL (commercial driver's license). But the state has been drug testing CDL holders since 1995. It is just another excuse and should not be tolerated. [continues 73 words]
The HSTA says it can't find a constitutionally acceptable means to implement random drug testing for Hawai'i's teachers. Yet every Zippy's restaurant proudly displays signs stating their employees are drug free and subject to drug testing. So we should feel comfortable knowing that the person cooking our chili is not under the influence of an illegal drug, while the same cannot be said of the teacher responsible for the education of our most cherished national asset, our children? [continues 173 words]
Hsta Misled Members, Public About Drug Tests, State Officials Contend State officials blasted the public school teachers union yesterday for attempting to renege on its agreement to accept random drug testing. The Hawaii State Teachers Association agreed to a new contract in June 2007 that included pay increases and random drug testing. After getting most of the pay increases, the union has fought attempts to implement the drug testing. The union's latest suggestion is that only teachers who hold commercial driver's licenses are obligated to be randomly drug tested, State Deputy Attorney General Jim Halvorson said at a news conference yesterday. [continues 673 words]
David Shapiro (July 23) states that "public school teachers displayed a disturbing lack of integrity" over the drug-testing issue. His accusation is unfair and misdirected. Everyone is against drugs in the schools. But to trample on constitutional rights to enact an ineffective program is no solution at all. Our governor, who is sworn to uphold the Constitution, has failed in her duty to protect the citizenry against unreasonable searches. I am a public school teacher, and proud of the work I do. Along with thousands of other teachers, I did not vote for the last contract because I felt that the governor blindsided us at the end of negotiations with her demand for random drug tests. [continues 98 words]
Your July 22 editorial, "Union must not renege on random drug testing," argues that the time for teachers to have raised constitutional objections to random drug testing was when the teacher contract was being "hammered out," and that it is time now to "move on to more important issues, like educating our children." The only thing threatening the task of educating our children is a practice that would drag teachers out of the classroom for drug testing when there is no basis for suspecting they have done anything wrong. [continues 121 words]
Lingle Administration Rejects Offer, Saying It Violates New Contract The Hawaii State Teachers Association said yesterday it would accept "random" drug testing if it is limited to a select group of teachers, perhaps based on prior DUI convictions or a history of chronic absence. The Lingle administration rejected the suggestion, saying it violates the contract teachers agreed to in June 2007, which called for random drug testing of the state's 13,500 public school teachers. "They're trying to redefine what random is," said Jim Halvorson, state deputy attorney general. [continues 558 words]
Once again, David Shapiro has missed the point regarding the constitutional rights of others. In his July 23 column, he criticizes the Hawaii State Teachers Association for now opposing random drug testing. What he does not remember is that many teachers opposed random drug testing and the relinquishing of their rights of privacy at the time of the vote, but they were outvoted by those who were blinded by the promise of a much-deserved pay raise. Furthermore, the testing clause was not one that could have been rejected in part, because the governor said it was a deal breaker. [continues 141 words]
As a parent of children in the Hawai'i public school system, I am outraged by the teachers not being randomly drug tested. It's disturbing to think that there is excuse after excuse for not being tested. People are randomly tested in other occupations that don't even deal with children. Some occupations even require drug testing before a person is employed. What are you folks really afraid of? If you're not on drugs, it shouldn't be a problem. Unless the state and teachers union are afraid of what they might find! Because that's what it looks like. Teachers are responsible for our children's well being and education while in school. Stop making excuses. You folks really look bad, and it looks like you have a lot to hide from the public. It seems to me you don't want to have to deal with the results from the testing. Obviously, the well-being and education of the children of Hawai'i isn't that important to the teachers union. Alice Lenchanko 'Ewa Beach [end]
Since the HSTA now finds that the members refuse to comply with the labor contract they agreed to, there is only one fair thing to do. The state must stop all pay raises, reverting back to the pay scale in effect when the new contract began. They must also recoup all money paid to HSTA members under the new contract. Negotiations should be restarted, just as if a contract had never been agreed upon. The union will, of course, threaten to strike. HSTA never had any intention of meeting the requirement for random drug testing, they intended from the start to get the raises and then find a multitude of reasons why they cannot/will not do random testing. Isn't it about time the HSTA learns it does not control the state? Don Chambers Mililani [end]
In her July 10 Island Voices column, Kim Coco Iwamoto opined that the Department of Education could not implement random drug testing because no state "actor" can constitutionally conduct such testing. Her analysis, however, appears to be based on situations where the state imposes random drug testing by law or policy. That is not this case. The drug testing policy that the DOE has not implemented is in the teachers' collective bargaining agreement. Legally, that constitutes consent. As one federal appeals court stated over 15 years ago: "Even where a drug testing policy has been held to be constitutionally infirm, a public employee may not pursue a civil rights suit based on that infirmity where his union and his employer agree to operate under that policy." In short, it is not unconstitutional for the DOE and the state to implement that agreed-upon testing. Paul Schraff Kane'ohe [end]
The Hawaii State Teachers Association now is arguing that its acceptance of random drug testing among its members could be challenged on constitutional grounds and is pressing for a procedure that limits the testing to a subset of employees for whom there is "reasonable suspicion." In other words: The union is going back on its agreement. Hawai'i public schools face so many other, more critical challenges, so it is beyond belief that this dispute is dragging on this long after the contract was ratified in June 2007. [continues 447 words]
To Agree to Drug Tests and Then Renege Is Just Plain Dishonorable Public school teachers displayed a disturbing lack of integrity when their union reneged on the random drug tests they agreed to in their contract with the state. The Hawaii State Teachers Association last year accepted "random drug and alcohol testing procedures" as part of a two-year contract that paid them 4 percent annual raises and a step increase. The agreement, which required drug tests to start June 30, was signed by HSTA president Roger Takabayashi and other top union leaders and ratified by 61 percent of the teachers voting. [continues 528 words]
State Files Complaint, Says Teachers' Union Not Acting In Good Faith The Hawaii State Teachers Association, which accepted random drug testing as part of a new contract last year, now says it is opposed to such tests. Mike McCartney, executive director of the HSTA, said the teachers' union would accept "reasonable suspicion drug and alcohol testing," but not random testing. McCartney made the statement Thursday in a letter to state Department of Education Superintendent Pat Hamamoto. Teachers agreed to random drug testing in June 2007 as part of a new contract that included pay increases of up to 11 percent over 18 months. Most of the pay increases have already taken effect. [continues 423 words]
Employees testing positive for marijuana use continued on an upward trend in the second quarter of the year, according to statistics released by Diagnostic Laboratory Services. From April through June, 2.5 percent of the drug tests conducted on workers tested positive for marijuana, the report said. In the first quarter of the year, 2.3 percent tested positive, while a little more than 1.5 percent of the tests came back positive in the second quarter of 2007, the report said. [continues 106 words]
What's wrong with this picture? They close the beach at night so druggies can't hang out. Then they decide to tear down the trellis over some outdoor tables because the druggies were hanging out in the shade. Now they are taking away eight parking spaces in Chinatown so druggies can't do drive-by deals. It seem like the druggies are winning this war, and the rest of us are losing. Losing access to our public spaces. When are the Honolulu Police Department and the Prosecutor's Office going to take charge and figure out how to catch the druggies and treat them or put them away? You hear of some crime and they arrest someone and it turns he's had 15 prior crimes and hardly ever been punished. Are our laws too weak? The police? The prosecutors? Do we need to build a prison? Somebody needs to turn this around and get at the real problem, so the rest of us can enjoy living here. Carolyn Dingus Wai'anae [end]
I am clean and sober. I am a teacher. Drugs are for sick people. The Department of Education already has a law in place that states that if a teacher is suspected of taking drugs, she or he will have to be tested. Although the majority of teachers voted to ratify the contract that included the governor's drug testing program, they did it, in my opinion, because it was tied to pay raises. I did not succumb to what I saw as blatant extortion; I voted no on ratifying the new contract. [continues 181 words]
