The furor over the death of a 16-year-old girl in a Fort Lewis barracks reminds me of what I consider one of the great achievements of my life.

Not once, but twice a few years ago, I extracted my son from Marine Corps custody for several hours while he was in basic training in San Diego.

We gamed the fearsome Marine Corp Recruit Depot. We braved the terror of drill instructors. We drove past concrete barriers and Marine guards who carried M-16s and looked like they were prepared to use them. Security was lighter at Checkpoint Charlie.

I did it by acting bored, casual, natural, "I do this every day." Also, it helped that he was in sick bay, not the place where sergeants were hovering over every twitching recruit.

So I have some sympathy for military guards who get caught with their pants down. If it can happen to the U.S. Marines, the greatest guards in history, it can happen to anyone.

This editorial will appear in tomorrow's print edition.

Members of the Army – and the Marines, Navy and Air Force, for that matter – reflect the society they come from.

The average 19- or 20-year-old soldier is smarter, better disciplined and more law-abiding than his or her civilian peers. But soldiers aren’t immune to America’s social problems, and they sometimes carry those problems from civilian life into the service.

The death of Lakes High School sophomore Leah King in a Fort Lewis barracks last February has forced a hard look at drug abuse on the post. A just-concluded Article 32 hearing for Pvt. Timothy E. Bennitt – in whose room King died of an overdose – clearly points toward a serious breakdown of discipline among some of the young soldiers there.

However much or little responsibility Bennitt bears for King’s death, several facts emerged from the hearing:

Bennitt was buying illegal drugs and apparently retailing them to other soldiers. He and others were using them in their private rooms.

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This editorial will appear in Thursday's print edition.

Thirteen parks that appeared headed to the state’s budget chopping block earlier this year have eked out a reprieve of sorts. But their future is far from assured.

Gov. Chris Gregoire last week vetoed a budget proviso that required the state to pursue transferring the targeted parks to local governments or nonprofits.

But the governor’s veto doesn’t put those parks – which include Joemma and Kopachuck in Pierce County and Tolmie in Thurston County – in the clear.

Gregoire said in her veto message that she still expects the state officials to move forward on transfers when “appropriate and mutually beneficial.” In other words, if someone will have them, don’t hesitate to hand over the deeds.

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The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin's editorial today is about how those conniving (my word, not the U-B's) members of Congress attached an amendment allowing guns in national parks and wildlife to legislation intended to whip the credit card industry into shape. The paper's editorial bemoaned the practice:

This is one of the quirks in our federal legislative system. A wide range of topics can — and are — addressed by one piece of legislation. This is not allowed in the Washington state Legislature, for example, where it is mandated that legislation must stick to a single topic.

I no sooner finished reading that editorial than I received a note from the Secretary of State's office announcing the filing of a referendum by a Federal Way man who claims state lawmakers made like those D.C. shysters this session.

Gerald Galland claims that the Legislature violated the single-subject rule by slipping language that fundamentally changes the annexation process into a bill that was purportedly about giving fire district employees notice about changes in employment. Galland has a vested interest – he lives in an area that the City of Federal Way attempted to annex in 2007.

I'll reserve judgment on the merits of Galland's case – if it makes the ballot, our editorial board will want to weigh in – but a quick review of the legislation in question makes me think he's on to something. If lawmakers did indeed attempt to surreptitiously cut voters out of the annexation process, they will deserve to be spanked come November.

One thing is clear from the Article 32 hearing for Pvt. Timothy Bennitt: security and oversight at Fort Lewis barracks were appallingly lacking.

Thirteen parks that found themselves on the state's budget chopping block this year eked out a reprieve of sorts. But parks supporters cannot rest yet.

If you have comments or questions about these topics, please email them to patrick.ocallahan@thenewstribune.com. Editorials represent the consensus view of The News Tribune's editorial board.