Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1029 - 1053 of 3750
Twenty years ago, Washington State voters outlawed ethnic discrimination within our state. Initiative 200, passed by a decisive popular vote, specified that employers or those granting contracts, “shall not discriminate against nor grant preferable treatment … on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, or national origin.” This past Sunday during their last minute session, our legislature struck down the people’s initiative. Ethnic background is now a required criteria for evaluating new employees and granting state contracts. Proponents base th...
Twenty Democrats have declared their candidacy for the presidency of the United States. It is the largest field of candidates for one party in history. All are seeking their party’s nomination. The diversity of the candidates is impressive. Age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic backgrounds and philosophies are vastly different. Another difference is experience. Some have little experience in any field, be it politics, business or government. In a few cases, hubris seems to be the reason for the run rather than qualifications. The c...
Pet Peeves The farmer who chose to move his combine on Highway 26 at 5 p.m. when all the Moms’ traffic was already heavy. Four council seats open, change for Colfax, please someone run! Okeydokes The library’s virtual reality....
Impeach Donald Trump? What a bad idea for the Democrats, in spite of the pressure from the party's left flank, and in spite of various presidential candidates, like Elizabeth Warren, pandering to the ultra-progressives. After all, the ultimate goal of a House of Representatives impeachment is to set up the Senate to remove him from office. In a rough form, it's kind of like an indictment and trial. Actually, in the Senate it's called a "trial," nothing rough about it. One would think that with the Democratic majority in the House, impeachment,...
There was Bernie Sanders at a Fox News Channel town hall, not giving an inch in a forum every Democratic presidential candidate has shunned. His reward was a cataract of good reviews, and monster ratings. Sanders had a solid hour to try to reach people not favorably inclined to his worldview, at the very least demonstrating that he's willing to show up outside his political silo. Why hadn't any of the other Democrats done it before? Because they lacked the verve and ideological self-confidence of Sanders, as well as the independent streak to...
I want to ruffle my feathers and join the squackfest about marijuana production in Whitman County. I want to see as much agricultural diversity and value-added activity as possible. The location for the proposed new business might have been wrong, near existing homes and a dainty dairy. I can't evaluate that. Other than that, let 'er rip. Looking across countries and over time, the least drug use is found where there is a government policy of restricted availability; neither prohibition nor excessive availability. That's because prohibition...
On March 15, a small group of Aryan supremacists attacked a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 50 worshipers. Political and religious leaders throughout the world condemned the act and the terrorists. The six gunmen were rounded up and will be punished to the limit of New Zealand law. As far as we know, the motivation of the attack was more racial than religious. In retaliation, a group of Islamic terrorists sent seven suicide bombers to Christian targets in Sri Lanka last week. They inflicted 800 casualties, 300 of them fatal. Once...
A trend in American society has been sliding away from the religious toward secular or just spiritual. Easter is a prime example with the Easter bunny gaining more popularity while the Christian observation just spikes attendance at church for the weekend. And, there are those who focus on the pagan ties to classic Easter symbols. Regardless whether it is for the egg hunts or celebrating the resurrection of Christ, the holiday still serves as a reason for people to gather. They gather in homes,...
Pet Peeves Landlords that expect an 80-year-old woman to mow lawns around their apartment building. First person to say it is too hot. Okeydokes The flowering trees on Mill Street. Onecho Good Friday Easter Cantata. Wonderful....
We should do better, but how can we? By "we" I mean media wretches -- the purveyors, so President Donald Trump charges, of "fake news." The reality is that we constantly deal in his fake spews of outrageous controversy, which he concocts to feed his insatiable need for attention, and our perpetual need to have something to feed our beasts. Astronomers made a big deal about actually photographing a black hole; we all know that it doesn't compare with the black hole that is Donald Trump's desperate inner child. But what can we do? As...
"I believe that this church offers the carefully discerning such cause for admiration," the 14th-century French philosopher Jean de Jandun wrote of Notre Dame, "that its inspection can scarcely sate the soul." A cultural calamity played out on live TV when the Paris cathedral that has been a focal point of Christendom for so long was apparently gutted by a raging fire, destroying a significant part of an inheritance built up over hundreds of years in a few hours. Notre Dame stands for so many qualities that we now lack -- patience and staying...
It seems to me, having spent most of my life in eastern Washington and working throughout the area, that the people who want to destroy our existing water environment have little or no direct connection to the Valley communities or to the Palouse. All they can talk about is the high cost of maintaining the dams and decline of the native fish population. It is time to start talking about the huge benefits, as done by Krista Meria at the recent 'Our Columbia Snake River System' luncheon. None of the advocates for dam removal grew up in the...
Carbon dioxide is the thermostat of earth’s atmosphere. That was demonstrated by John Tyndall, a British physicist, in experiments done in his laboratory in the 1850s. Using a relatively simple apparatus, he showed infrared radiation (heat) passes through oxygen and nitrogen gases unimpeded, whereas carbon dioxide, even in low concentrations, absorbs heat. Light energy from the sun [a spectrum of wavelengths] passes to the earth’s surface with little absorption, bringing the energy that is transformed into heat at the earth’s surface. Carbo...
In 1869 the main Western Expansion started. The railroads began expanding to more towns and cities. They brought the people who cleared the land, established schools, built road, and made the West what it is today. Many of these people had come through Ellis Island which was the gateway for most immigrants. Have people forgotten about our countrymen who settled the unknown, lived through the Great Depression, and two world wars? They think the hoards of people come in to the U.S. are coming to fill a job? Do they know many of the lesser jobs...
Imagine sitting home and learning Fortune Magazine just listed you among the world’s greatest leaders? That’s exactly what happened to Marilyn Bartlett who led the effort to save Montana’s state employee health insurance plan from bankruptcy. In April, Bartlett was ranked No. 16 on a list which featured global leaders including Bill and Melinda Gates, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Michael J. Fox and Apple’s Tim Cook. Our sixth annual leaders list is the home of the brave,...
Despite the calendar, tax season is not over. Bernie Sanders has released his returns. Much to his embarrassment and the embarrassment of some of his supporters, he is a millionaire. He has spent much of his career railing against millionaires. President Donald Trump, on the other hand, steadfastly refuses to release his tax returns. An official request from Representative Richard Neal, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, has been blunted, and the Internal Revenue Service so far has been holding fast against releasing them. Neal wants...
Okeydokes Congratulations to Tiger Woods!...
President Donald Trump obviously loves playing whack-a-mole. You know, like the amusement-park game where once a thingy is knocked back into a hole, another one pops up somewhere nearby. Trump is a political whack-a-mole wizard. Just as his carnival roadies tamp down one of his outrageous controversies, another one explodes. Did he go too far, though, with his guacamole whack-a-mole? To review the past few moves in his never-be-bored game: Just as Donald Trump was taking a totally premature victory lap after special counsel Robert Mueller, for...
The fast-food chain Chick-fil-A is wanted on suspicion of aiding and abetting Christian organizations. The home of the "original chicken sandwich" was banned from its second airport in two weeks for the offense of contributing to Christian groups deemed anti-gay by its critics. The San Antonio City Council voted to exclude the restaurant from its airport, and Buffalo, New York, soon followed suit, thus denying travelers the option of juicy chicken sandwiches and waffle fries in the cause of social justice. This is about punishing the...
The front page article in the Spokesman-Review on Thursday, July 13, 2017, entitled "Tubbs Hill Battle" opened up "Pandora’s Box" starting with Rosalia’s Pandora's Road into northern Whitman County. Pandora's Road, much like Tubbs Hill Battle, is just one example of our county roads that are faced with an ongoing battle against roadside litter. This can problem can be verified by groups like the Rosalia Lions Club through their efforts to help WSDOT’s Adopt a Highway Program and by those who walk the road to get in their daily exercise. And, th...
And then there's the Californians. We used to camp, hunt, fish, shoot, swim and ride horses, bikes and motorcycles and take road trips all over the place. And we didn't burn down the forest or leave our trash all over the place. Now when we go to those places we can't do anything except pay to park and look at the scenery. If we try to do any of the above activities someone comes and rousts us and says "you can't be here." Nazis. They moved here to get away from the B.S., but they brought it here with them! And horses. My dad and uncle used to...
People across our planet are increasingly aware of the growing amounts of trash floating in our oceans. While we are finding new ways to collect it, the more vexing problem is what to do with it. The garbage is accumulating in “gyres” which are large systems of circulating ocean currents, kind of like slow-moving whirlpools. Though the oceans are home to many gyres, there are five that have a significant impact on our environment. For example, our litter which makes its way into the open ocean m...
Governor Jay Inslee is running for the presidency of the United States. He is one of the now 20 candidates from the Democratic party seeking the job. So far, his candidacy is lost in the crowd of other hopefuls. His main reason for running for the job is to bring awareness and changes to the arguments and policies on climate change. He is not a one issue candidate but his main focus is on climate change and global warming. Many agree with him, although a political divide about the issue splits the country. President Trump is a fervent denier...
Pet Peeves The bridge by the sewer plant is horrible. Fix it....
Donald Trump's enemies are in agony after Bob Mueller's probe did not uncover sufficient evidence that candidate Trump and his people had colluded with the Russians. Meanwhile, he and his supporters are in a vengeful bliss. But not so fast: There is ample evidence of collusion, all right -- of President Trump colluding with the Democrats. That could be the explanation for what possessed the Trump Department of Justice to file a legal brief in support of doing away entirely with Obamacare. Actually, what Justice did was to abandon its position...
