We ran a Your Voice last week by University Place resident Lee Schriver that was critical of the Chambers Bay Golf Course.

We’ve already run one letter to the editor rebutting Schriver, and we’re running a Viewpoint today by Toby Davis, senior vice president of KemperSports, the company that manages Chambers Bay for Pierce County. So I’m not inclined to run another defense in the print edition.

However, I thought online readers might find this letter interesting. It’s from the president of The Home Course in DuPont (I’m guessing that’s Chamber Bay’s competition in the South Sound) and the executive director of the Washington State Golf Association.

Here’s their letter:

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Gov. Chris Gregoire has been on the defensive for months about the deal she cut with state Indian tribes that will allow them to expand their casino operations considerably.

Regardless of the merits of the deal itself, the governor has to play defense because the tribes have dumped a whole lot of money in her campaign chest.

I mention this because the Los Angeles Times has this story about California legislators dashing to protect tribal casinos from – gasp – competition from non-Indian bingo parlors.

The horror – bingo operators have come up a version of bingo that’s played on a device much like a slot machine, without actually being one.

The lovely irony of this is that the slots that tribes in both Washington and California operate are technically not slot machines, which are illegal in both states. The devices are legally considered lotteries because of the way the machines operate when the customer plays the machine.

Some difference. But the courts have thus decreed. Unlike Washington, the state of California gets a share of the tribal gambling take. Which is why California lawmakers don’t want bingo parlors cutting in on the action.

From the Times:

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Here’s the entire Anchorage Daily News editorial on the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. We excerpted it today as a companion piece to our own editorial.

Palin picked
A great day for Alaska; but for the country . . . ?

Alaskans were stunned and delighted that John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Delighted because one of our own has burst into the national spotlight. You go, girl!

Stunned because a woman from such ordinary circumstances – a self-professed hockey mom from a small Alaska town – is running for vice-president.

Alaskans are delighted because the eyes of the world will be on Alaska as Sarah Palin campaigns for the vice-presidency.

And it’s stunning that someone with so little national and international experience might be heartbeat away from the presidency.

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin – teacher’s daughter, oil worker’s wife – in the supermarket aisle (with baby, right).

Whatever else Palin adds to the GOP ticket, it’s a good bet she knows how many houses she owns.

Saturday: Sen. John McCain’s choice of the almost unknown Sarah Palin as his running mate is an audacious dice throw in an unpredictable presidential election.

Sunday: Beyond telling readers where its stories come from, The News Tribune pushes to keep itself open in many other ways. Our goal is to make our operations as transparent as possible. This has long been an important value at The News Tribune; we emphasize it as part of our year-long commemoration of the newspaper’s 125th anniversary.

Monday: Someone like Joseph Edward Duncan presents the toughest of all cases for opponents of capital

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Based merely on conversations happening around the water cooler here and what I’m reading in comments sections around the Web, I’m wondering if there isn’t a gender gap on the Sarah Palin pick.

Many men seem to think her pick by McCain was a masterful move while many women say they are insulted that McCain believes he can get their vote by picking anyone in a skirt, no matter how inexperienced.

Pollsters undoubtedly will tell us soon whether I’m right.