Chuck Marunde

Port Angeles, WA

Living in Port Angeles?

I love Port Angeles. It's an amazing place to live. Just one of the things I enjoy, among many, is jogging and hiking in the Olympic National Park. What a gorgeous piece of nature! Every time I hike in the park I marvel at how pristine and beautiful it is. Just my thoughts. By the way, Joe, I don't know you, and I'm sure you're a good guy, but honestly, if you hate it so much here, why do you still live here? I'm totally sincere here, not trying to be critical. Have you considered Montana or Alaska?  (Feb 9, 2009 | post #8)

Port Angeles, WA

Looking to relocate

Interesting point Joe makes, but there's an entire town here, and a lot of us are not only thriving, we love raising our families and working here. Just my opinion. A couple from Arizona bought a water front lot recently, and they are planning to build their retirement home, because, as they said, this is an incredible place to retire for a lot of reasons that are unique to Port Angeles.  (Feb 9, 2009 | post #4)

Port Angeles, WA

Why Would a Teen Murder Her Newborn?

Ocean56, you are right that "extremist religious beliefs" can do bad things, but I didn't conveniently omit that. It just wasn't part of what I wrote. It sounds like you may have some experience with that. I can't relate. My parents were pretty plain folks. Good people. They weren't religious, though.  (Feb 1, 2009 | post #14)

Port Angeles, WA

Living in Port Angeles?

Portwood, glad you're coming. I totally concur with my neighbors and what they said. It's a wonderful place to live for a thousand reasons. When you get here, give me a shout. You can always find me, because I'm the editor of Sequim-News.com, an online newspaper for both Sequim and Port Angeles. Chuck Marunde  (Jan 26, 2009 | post #5)

Port Angeles, WA

Why Would a Teen Murder Her Newborn?

Why would this girl do such a thing? The answer is probably rooted in dysfunctional beliefs as a result of a disastrous upbringing. Let's face it, she's not normal, and where does that come from? Most times that comes right from a person's childhood, and what her parents instilled in her and taught her. Drugs and alcohol can do very bad things to people. May God have mercy on this girl's soul.  (Jan 26, 2009 | post #8)

Port Angeles, WA

Looking to relocate

Welcome Single Mom from Kentucky. Glad you could find us here in Port Angeles. You asked if the job market was alive, and my answer is that it is, but that largely is a function of what you can do. If you are in the medical profession, it seems like the hospital and clinics are regularly hiring here, and they seem to get paid well and have great working conditions. If you are a Realtor, forget it. Real estate is dead everywhere. If you are work in the retail business, well, that's pretty slow. If you are a teacher, that depends on whether any local teachers are leaving. In other words, some niches are slow and some are good, depends on what your career experience is. You can check out a new online newspaper here at "Sequim-News. com" It includes classifieds and real estate search features and articles. Good luck to you, and we do hope you do make Port Angeles your new home.  (Jan 26, 2009 | post #2)

Sequim, WA

Editing question

Good question. Why was the child porn story taken out of the local Topix news? Between the Sequim and Port Angeles sections of Topix, we had maybe a half a dozen articles on the child porn case. I made an editorial decision to reduce the number of times our audience has to see another article on the same child porn case. Should we be aware of a child porn case? Yes. Do we read and hear about it in all the newspapers and on our local radio multiple times? Yes. Do we need to hear about it even more on Topix? No. A few dozen times in our local media is quite enough. While news about murders, vicious attacks, child porn, and bizarre crimes do appeal to a percentage of the American public, a very large percentage of Sequim and Port Angeles residents are quite frankly sick and tired of news that is full of nothing but tragedies and horrendous stories of pain and suffering. People tell me all the time that they would like more positive news, not avoiding the realities in the world, but they get plenty of that in traditional print media. What people want more of is the "other real news," such as human interest stories of the incredible careers and things that real people have done right here in Sequim and Port Angeles. That's one reason this editor started a brand new online newspaper just for Sequim and Port Angeles. You'll find it if you simple type "Sequim-News. com" in your browser. Join us and see if you like the content and the way we give locals an opportunity to create the news.  (Jan 26, 2009 | post #2)

Port Angeles, WA

Port Angeles Hospital (Olympic Medical Center) is Highly Rated

You may be right. I do believe that the medical profession and the cost of health care are out of control. My oldest son once broke his finger when he was young. I knew it was broken. It was very crooked, and it obviously hurt him a great deal. The hospital demanded we see a specialist. I told them my son's finger was broken, and it was obvious. They still insisted that the only way to get his finger looked at and fixed was to see a "specialist. " I agreed, but we could not make an appointment with a specialist, because you have to get a general practitioner doctor to "refer you to a specialist." So I paid a doctor $85 to have him say, "Yep, it's broken. Let me refer you to a specialist and get that finger fixed." Duh! Is the medical profession broken? Big time folks. What are doctors and health care practitioners doing to straighten it out. Nothing. Guess who is making all the money with the status quo. Hint: it's not you and me.  (Sep 17, 2008 | post #3)

Port Angeles, WA

Why You Should Visit Port Angeles Washington

Point well taken Commonsense, but I do love it here. The Olympic Peninsula is a beautiful place to live, and if you try to get away from dysfunctional people, good luck. They're all over the planet. Oh yea, I'm one, too. But I'm a happy one. Life is what you make of it. I know that's a cliche, but true isn't it?  (Aug 13, 2008 | post #23)

Port Angeles, WA

Port Angeles Bus Depot

I think one of the fundamental economic stimulants for a city economy is new businesses and new residents. Growth doesn't occur if we close the gates or turn away new business, and it takes creativity and hard work and open arms to provide the catalyst for healthy growth in our city. I think our city fathers and many business owners are good people and sincere, but clearly we have been stuck for decades (not just years). If people do not insist on dramatic change, it will never occur, and the status quo will continue . . . while other cities (Sequim and Victoria) continue to leave us in the dust. I could be wrong, but if I am, how?  (Jul 9, 2008 | post #3)

Sequim, WA

Sequim Real Estate Market Dependent Upon California Market

Miss Codelady, if I was selfish I wouldn't be inviting people to come and see beautiful Sequim. If I was selfish, I wouldn't be giving all I learned in 20 years of law practice away free on the Internet. If I was selfish, I wouldn't have devoted my life to raising my precious children so they could be prepared to be productive citizens and happy adults. P.S. It's not nice to cast aspersions at others anonymously. When you post, share your full name.  (Jun 25, 2008 | post #3)

Port Angeles, WA

Port Angeles Bus Depot

Downtown Port Angeles welcomes a bus depot, or does it? The image I have of bus stations is of the Seattle bus depot or the others I've seen in cities. It's not a pretty image. It's actually kind of scary. I wonder. Would Victoria, just across the Strait from us, take a precious piece of near-water front property right downtown in the hottest tourist and business area, and turn it into a bus depot? Any thoughts?  (Jun 19, 2008 | post #1)

Sequim, WA

Port Angeles v. Sequim

Sometimes it seems there's no difference in weather between Sequim and Port Angeles. I drive back and forth, and I really haven't seen much of a difference at all in rainfall. I'm no expert, and I don't measure any rainfall, but a lot of times it's even sunny in P.A. and cloudy in Sequim. The technical explanation from the weather service is: http://sequim-port -angeles.blogspot. com/2008/05/sequim -rain-shadow-techn ical.html  (Jun 13, 2008 | post #3)

Sequim, WA

Port Angeles v. Sequim

I raised my family in Sequim and now live in Port Angeles, and this area is one of the best places in the country to live. We're only 15 minutes apart. I will say that some of the comments I've heard about backwardness in Port Angeles has some merit, and Port Angeles should be much further ahead along in its economic development than it is. But anyone who has lived in a small town knows that this is the way it often happens. Personally and professionally (I'm retired as a real estate attorney and now I own a real estate brokerage), I'm working hard to help develop a vision for Port Angeles among businessmen, and to help people moving into the area. Sequim is a much new city, and that has given them a huge advantage in terms of urban and rural planning and development, because they started on a geographic clean slate, so to speak. But also the local Sequim bussinessmen, city council, and chamber of commerce are very active with assertive leadership, all three. And let's face it, Sequim real estate is beautiful. It just is. I do think that west of Port Angeles is probably one of the best kept secrets, though, in terms of incredible water views and reasonable prices. If you're outside the area, and you want specific information about the real estate market or anything, email me, and if I can email helpful info to you, I certainly will. I've written about these issues on my local blog and literally 100's of other articles about the local real estate market and news, and you're welcome to read and comment on my blog. If you want to see it, go to http://SequimRealE stateNews.com Oh, my email is chuckmarunde@gmail .com  (Jun 4, 2008 | post #1)

Port Angeles, WA

Why You Should Visit Port Angeles Washington

I raised my family in Sequim and now live in Port Angeles, and this area is one of the best places in the country to live. I will say that some of the comments about backwardness have some merit, and Port Angeles should be much further ahead along in its economic development than it is. But anyone who has lived in a small town knows that this is the way it often happens. Personally and professionally (I'm retired as a real estate attorney and now I own a real estate brokerage), I'm working hard to help develop a vision for Port Angeles among businessmen, and to help people moving into the area. If you're outside the area, and you want specific information about the real estate market or anything, email me, and if I can email helpful info to you, I certainly will. I've written about these issues on my local blog and literally 100's of other articles about the local real estate market and news, and you're welcome to read and comment on my blog. If you want to see it, go to http://PortAngeles RealEstateNews.com Oh, my email is chuckmarunde@gmail .com  (Jun 4, 2008 | post #20)