Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1306 - 1330 of 3750
Last April, Washington wheat, apple and cherry growers hoped U.S. and China trade negotiators would resolve differences and prevent imposition of damaging tariffs on our state’s leading crops. Unfortunately, that did not happened and the costs are adding up. Thousands of Washington farmers now find themselves on the front lines of a battle between the two largest economies in the world. Here’s what has happened so far. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on $34...
A friend and I were engaged in a bit of fanciful wishful thinking the other day when he asked me how I would improve our country with a hundred million dollars or so. I quickly ran down the list of national problems we are rapidly leaving for our grandchildren. A hundred million wouldn’t do much for the national debt, so I scrolled down to our utter dependence on fossil fuels. I’m not concerned that our oil and coal reserves will run out in my lifetime, but the supply is finite and will eventually be depleted. In the long term, we have onl...
The wonders of television news programming surfaced again last week with "the girl who was pushed off the bridge." The episode rocketed to the national news level when a cell phone video showed a young girl hesitating about leaping off a bridge and then being pushed. Jordan Holgerson, 16, sustained five cracked ribs and a punctured lung when she hit the Lewis River in the Vancouver area, and Taylor Smith, the girl who allegedly pushed her, has been charged in Clark County with reckless endangerment. The intent here is not to dimish the impact...
Networking in Washington is even more important than it is elsewhere. One would never go to a party here inadequately dressed, which is to say without carrying a resume, ready to hand out at a moment's notice. Socializing is not personal; it's hard work. Ambition is a good thing, and we're swarming with those who have brought their principled beliefs to government to make a difference. At least that's what they say. Count me among those who say "Balderdash!" (That's not what I actually say, but we have to remember the kiddies.) The point is...
It's never a good idea to negotiate with a hostage-taker, but when it's a NATO ally, there isn't much choice. The Trump administration has been trying to get back a Christian pastor detained in Turkey since October 2016, and when a possible deal at the sidelines of the NATO summit fell through, decided to drop the hammer. The administration sanctioned Turkey's justice and interior ministers -- remember, these are top officials of a fellow NATO country. The action hit the Turkish currency and stock market hard. Then President Donald Trump interv...
Pet Peeves Truckers, not grain trucks, using Main & Fairview as a bypass. Residential area gone to hell!!!!! Dusty and Rosalia rest areas. Anybody ever clean them? People who don’t turn on their headlights when it’s smoky. Okeydokes Citizens of North Flat for their generosity and kindness toward construction workers....
We are writing this letter to address our concerns with the notion of a roundabout or a “T” intersection being installed in Colfax. This idea of a roundabout, or “T,” will not only be a public relations nightmare for Colfax, but will result in the loss of traffic capacity for the vital shipping intersection Colfax is. To properly address this issue, we need to build for future capacity, not settle for what’s convenient. A single bridge with a “T” design will force eastbound 26 to southbound 195 (west side to WSU) to stop. Worse yet would be a r...
While most of our attention in the Pacific Northwest these days is on trade wars, tariffs and wildfires, there are critical talks underway between the U.S. and Canada over future allocations of the Columbia River system’s water. The two countries are renegotiating the Columbia River Treaty which went into effect in 1964. It is a 50-year agreement under which both nations can redo providing there is a 10-year advanced warning. That occurred and negotiators are now busy meeting. A new agreement w...
There is a letter in the Gazette Aug. 9 issue, entitled "Thumbs down," criticizing the lack of information about candidates in this year's election. I am sure the Gazette and other newspapers would not object to publishing political ads, either. I would say that our area newspapers have done pretty well in covering the candidates, but those who would like much more information in depth can log onto http://lwvpullman.org/forums.html. I was able to attend the voter forum put on by the Pullman League of Women Voters in Colfax. I was unable to...
Recently I sent a letter to Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers. Part of the letter says: ‘I just needed to tell you how encouraged I was when I met some young people from your campaign at the anti-racism rally at the County Courthouse on Aug. 2 and while we were talking they told me that racism has no place in American politics and is in fact un-American.’ On Aug. 4 I bumped into Cathy at the Hillyard Parade and she told me that our land should be the land of opportunity for everyone. I was encouraged again by that and reminded of the Chr...
In America, when people invent things, they expect their trade secrets to be protected by federal law when their government patents are approved. However, that isn’t always the case. Patent infringements are life and death for inventors especially when their ideas are incorporated into products made by larger and better financed competitors who avoid paying licensing fees. Too often the originators sue, run out of money fighting off competitors, and simply fade away. Until recently, our c...
A few weeks ago, I was in a serious discussion with a young friend who claimed that the Washington State tax system is unfair to the poor. I asked how he came to that conclusion, and he said the rich in Washington pay a lower percent of their income in taxes than the poor. I pondered that for a second and asked where he came to that conclusion. You guessed it. He said, “Well, everybody knows that.” I told him that I didn’t know that and would need to think on it. He got mad and stomped out. I knew that his claim had to have some basis, so af...
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has added a new Oscars category for next year: Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film. While the parameters for the award have not been set, the idea of it puts the blame on the audience for the telecast’s dwindling ratings over the last decade-plus. Are you at fault? Perhaps the Academy should look inward. Because, while popularity and quality are separate things, more often than not they converge. Actual achievement in film results in a movie b...
(A note from your writer: So much of what happens these days in the political realm is utter nonsense. Why not tell it in verse? At least there will be rhyme with no reason.) Every Who in Whomerica likes freedom a lot, But the Trump who lives here in Washington, Does Not! The Trump hates democracy, to the point of malfeasance. Now please don't ask why, we all know the reasons. It could be his head isn't screwed on just right, It could be, perhaps, that his pants are too tight. But I think the most likely reason may be That he has a brain...
Elizabeth Warren is branching out. The Massachusetts senator, who has made a career of unfairly maligning bankers and other alleged capitalist malefactors, is now smearing the criminal justice system, too. In a speech at a historically black college in New Orleans, she declared that "the hard truth about our criminal justice system: It's racist ... I mean front to back." Her riff is a sign that the Democrats are going to leaven their lurch toward socialism with a condemnation of America as fundamentally racist. The U.S. criminal justice system...
Pet Peeves Speeders on Main Street. Where’s the city police? Okeydokes Lovely flowers in front of Palouse Hills Computing. Makes Colfax look welcoming, and makes me feel good....
It was only a paritial count in what amounts to a sample election, but Tuesday night's return for the primary election put Whitman county back on blue side for the big race. Democrat Lisa Brown had 215 more votes than Republican incumbent Cathy McMorris-Rodgers. The Whitman return compares to Spokane county where McMorris-Rodgers was hanging on to a 500-vote margin in the early returns. This county's Democratic edge in the hotly contested race for the 5th District follows the blue return two years ago when Whitman was the lone county east of...
Enough is enough. The time has come for the media to reclaim our role and aggressively cover the Trump administration without the fear. We must disregard the constant bullying by him and his accessories after the "alternative facts," aka flunkies, aka stooges. The new stooge on the block is Bill Shine, forced out as a top dog at Fox News after lawsuits charged him with enabling all of Roger Ailes' alleged sexual outrages. That would immediately endear him to Donald Trump, and sure enough, now he's the new White House communications director,...
It's begun. We are having a debate over socialism. Not over whether it's fair to call Democrats socialists. Not over whether socialism has been good for Venezuela or some other faraway, unfortunate country. But socialist policies right here in the United States. The press attention to a new study of the costs of "Medicare for all," or universal health coverage paid for by the government that goes much further than Obamacare, is a sign that it is a live issue. Popularized by Bernie Sanders, Medicare-for-all is not just a fringy left-wing...
I am very disappointed with the lack of candidate information available for the primary election. No newspaper coverage for many positions. Very few ads with little details about the candidate. No voter pamphlet. Candidate forums held at night when I work. No candidate web page to review their qualifications and goals while in office. Only a couple flyers mailed to my home. I dislike voting for unknown candidates. As an independent voter I like to know something about each one on the ballot. Just to vote along party lines is not necessarily a...
Garth Meyer, in your editorial ("Heads and Tails"), you must be a Republican who doesn't understand what non-Republicans intensely dislike about President Trump. I'll clue you in on some major complaints: His sordid behavior towards women (grabbing their genitalia at will and barging in on naked beauty contestants), using high office for personal gains (Chinese government's grant of $500 million for Trump's Indonesia resort in exchange for Trump granting Chinese manufacturer ZTG U.S. made parts), his numerous lies ("I will give Americans...
By electing Rob Rembert as our next district court judge, everybody can win. All citizens of Whitman County win by having the most qualified individual sitting on that bench. Rembert has more years of experience and far greater breadth of experience than either of the other two candidates. Citizens of Colfax benefit by retaining John Hart as their municipal court judge. He is clearly the most qualified to retain that position. And given Dan LeBeau's success as a deputy prosecutor, he'd be a great choice to replace Denis Tracy as Whitman...
A sign on Highway 195 between Colfax and Pullman urges readers to "Vote Republican. Keep America moving in the right direction." But our current administration and Congress are moving us in a direction that many of us find unacceptable. We’re moving in deplorable ways to deal with the Zero Tolerance mess. Who’d ever think we’d hear the government suggest that the ACLU take over their responsibility to find parents of children deported prior to reunification, or that the wife of a decorated Iraq war veteran would be deported for no appar...
Believe it or not, there is good news to report these days. According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, last year Americans donated more than $410 billion in cash to non-profit organizations which is up from $389 billion in 2016. Additionally, giving by individuals represented more than 70 percent of total contributions. “Americans’ record-breaking charitable giving in 2017 demonstrates that even in divisive times our commitment to philanthropy is solid. As people have mor...
It's settling in. After eight years of one thing, we now have the flipside. Millions of Republicans simply could not take President Obama and now millions of Democrats just cannot take Trump. It's an even exchange, and it’s both of their fault. Whose transgressions are worse is beside the point. Something about Trump really irritates many, many Democrats, just as something about Obama was tailor-made to make so many Republicans never accept him. A few examples show it. Obama's “eloquence” and p...
