Development and the loss of a local business | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 10:10 am Tuesday, May 31, 2016

To the editor:

This is a lament.

First, it’s the butchering of 800 trees (and the subsequent loss of wildlife habitat and oxygen) to make way for Key Bank and Walgreens.

Next, it’s Virginia Mason’s imminent move from downtown Winslow to the Visconsi property (and the subsequent loss of neighborhood health care for those people — many of whom are senior citizens and/or lower-income — in the downtown area without cars).

And now it’s the announced closing of Winslow Drug (and, again, the subsequent loss of a local pharmacy for those of us in what is feeling less and less like a downtown village).

I can’t blame Justin at Winslow Drug for closing shop; he has little choice.

But, I do blame our corporate American culture which obviously values profit more than it values the environment or the individual people within any given neighborhood.

I am sad!

JENNIFER MERRILL

Bainbridge Island