“The cars keep going faster all the timeBum still cries, ‘Hey buddy, have you got a dime?’And the beat goes on, the beat goes on#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brainLa-de-da-de-deLa-de-da-de-da”I always thought that Sonny and Cher’s classic song was referring to the musical beat. When I took a more careful look at the lyrics, it is obvious they are referring to time. As time passes, sometimes things change and sometimes they don’t, but the beat goes on.A beat is also a newspaper term. A reporter has a beat. It is the subject matter or geographical area that they cover. My beat has primarily focused on our local community. Local issues interest me the most and will also have the greatest impact on me personally. I observe the world in my view.This the 52nd column that I have written for the Del Norte Triplicate. Coincidently, one year is the paper anniversary.Changes to the TriplicateIt has been a full year since I was invited by the former editor to engage in a dueling banjos, left/right contest with Roger Gitlin on the editorial page. When I started, I made a personal commitment to not refer to Gitlin by name but only respond to his misguided policy pronouncements. This lasted for 28 weeks until I could no longer resist responding.It turns out that some readers wanted me to provide a balance to more conservative viewpoints. Nevertheless, last month my leftist, democratic label was removed from my column and replaced with a less political title, “In My View”. Depending on are where you stand, I may appear to be to your left or to your right.I just focus on what I want to say and hope that people can benefit from the information. Most often there is an action component to my opinions. I will try to get you to do something to support positive change.There have been more changes to the Triplicate this year. Roger Gitlin has been hired as the Associate Editor and lately has been writing most of the news stories. However, Gitlin has been taken off the editorial page.As the Triplicate Publisher explained to me, it is inappropriate to have a reporter writing an opinion on the editorial page. This should be reserved only for editorial staff.There are also production and publication schedule changes coming. This week will be the last week that the Triplicate is published on a Friday.Starting next week, March 29, the Triplicate will be published on Wednesday. For me this means that I must submit two columns on the same day for these two upcoming issues.A Year In My ViewIn this column and my next column, I will review some of the many topics that I have written about over the last 12 months. What has changed and what has not changed? Most of the columns that I have written over the last year have been about government or politics.My first column, published on April 1, 2022, was titled, Trust Our Local Elections.“Democracy is alive and well in Del Norte County! While some people in other states and counties have spread allegations of voter fraud, in Del Norte County we still have faith in our election administration.”“In other counties, election officials have been harassed and even threatened by people that did not like the outcome of an election. Locally this has not occurred.”“I trust that our elections are run fairly, and the votes are counted accurately. When I ran for 5th District Supervisor in 2020, I did not win, but never did I think about claiming that there was voter fraud or that the vote count was wrong.”“Sometimes candidates simply do not get enough votes and they lose.”“It is a critical requirement of our democracy that we trust our elections and accept the outcome. When an election is over, we should all come together to solve the many problems and challenges that we face.”Over the last year we have had two elections, a primary election last June and a general election in November.Despite my opinions, most of the local candidates that I supported in the 2022 elections did not win, including my own campaign for Harbor Commissioner.Harbor District ProgressI pledged during my campaign, if I did not win a seat on the Harbor Commission, I would continue to help. I have kept this promise. I have attended most of the Harbor District meetings and have written at least 5 columns commenting on their successes.Last April (4/29/22), I reported that the harbor is making progress. They had just approved new leases for the Harbor owned recreational vehicle parks which will result in a 10-fold increase in their revenue from $82,000 to $820,000 per year.More recently (2/3/23) I reported that the Harbor District decided to take the lead on preparing a large regional grant application. I stepped up to help corral the other agencies that were interested in participating with this joint application.In the end, the Harbor District submitted a grant application for ten million dollars to fund economic resiliency projects on behalf of the Harbor District, Crescent City, Del Norte County and multiple other local partners. This was made possible because the Harbor District had the foresight to hire a grant writer.There have been positive changes in the management of the Harbor District, and I have been happy to report on these.To Be Continued…In next week’s column I will reflect on other topics that I have reported on over the last year including affordable housing, the homeless and economic development.Kevin Hendrick is a 30-year resident of Del Norte County. kevinjameshendrick@gmail.com googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });