Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been delivered. It was flown to Japan and will go into service in November for All Nippon Airways. The takeoff was a few minutes late. The delivery of the first 787 was about three years late, and development of the plane was billions over original estimates. Nevertheless, completion of the 787 was a masterful achievement. It is lighter and more fuel efficient, using perhaps 20 percent less fuel than other similarly sized planes. It also offers greater creature comforts for the traveler. More than 800 of the...
Car-Buying Trauma W. BRUCE CAMERON Alert readers of this column are aware that I’ve recently been advised by my trusty mechanic, Marvin Walletdrainer, that my car is ready to cross the rainbow bridge. I asked him if he thought I could drive it for a few more weeks, and he said, “I wouldn’t.” I said, “How about just until I find a replacement?” and he said, “I wouldn’t.” I asked him what he would do, and he said, “Run away.” So now I find myself shopping for a car for the first time in many years. (Most of the wrecks I’ve been driving lat...
Hullabaloo support October 7 and 8 will be our annual Autumn Harvest Hullabaloo. It has been growing every year and we want to invite and encourage all to come to the event this year. Many people and organizations have worked hard and volunteered their time to make this a great weekend with something for everyone. It starts Friday afternoon and runs through Saturday. Colfax Chamber and the Hullabaloo Committee Colfax Chamber President Support incumbents The Colfax School District has been described to me several times over the years in several...
Withdrawing new EPA rule is a good start Recently, President Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to delay implementation of a new rule that further reduces industrial ozone emissions (smog) under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The announcement came on the same day new employment figures showed the economy had created no new jobs in August. With unemployment stuck above 9 percent and the economy teetering on the brink of a double-dip recession, President Obama decided the suggested benefits of the new rule were not worth the damage to...
The Big Hoss You could tell Rick Perry was going to be a big problem for Mitt Romney as soon as the Texas governor started blowing him kisses. Asked a question on his first campaign leg about a Romney talking point, Perry brushed it off with a smooch and said, “Send him my love.” It was classic Perry — audacious, a little gauche and entertaining as hell. Surely, Romney didn’t get blown many “right back atcha” kisses in the offices of Bain Capital or during his time as Massachusetts governor. The message was that Romney was about to get a challe...
#!*! Religious bias cropping up in local races. #!*! “Short” trees at our local grocery store that allow people to see their sign, but block the traffic sightlines of exiting customers turning south on Main ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ School administrator for writing the $90,000 grant to repair the JES roof. Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 Colfax, Wa 99111 Pet Peeves and Okeydokes must be short. One sentence is usually enough. Please sign longer submissions so they can be run as letters to the editor. Comments pertaining to...
Hullabaloo, Colfax’s annual fall event, kicks off in a week. Activities will take place up and down Main Street Friday and Saturday, October 7 and 8. This year there will be more than the official events to enjoy. Some positive changes are taking place on Main Street. They are the result of new local, private investment and faith in the local economy. This is a good time to check them out. Events on Main opened last week, serving coffees, baked goods from Sage Bakery and other goodies in the morning and sandwiches and soups for lunch until 2 p...
Recently my husband, Rick, wrote about how much First Wind did not want Roger Whitten to present his case in court. The letter was prophetic. Lo and behold, we read in last week’s Gazette that Mr. Whitten is “planning to drop his appeal and move to rural Spokane County” and that the County Prosecutor says “the move to continue the hearing was made so both sides could finalize an out-of-court settlement.” hmmmm...I guess Rick’s letter stating “could his (Whitten’s) arguments be legitimate” and “they don’t want them to see the light of day” mus...
With all the complaints about taxes and government I wanted to send a note about how much I appreciate our local government services providers. My big thanks goes to our county road crews. I know it takes hard work to keep the roads in the Palouse open and in good shape. I appreciate the county crews who respond quickly and effectively to any problems. I also appreciate the teachers in our area who provide a quality education for our children. My kids are all out of school, but that doesn’t mean I’m not happy to support the teachers tra...
I own an automobile built by one of the better N.D. (Now Defunct) car companies. I’m worried that parts will become harder and harder to come by, so I take my faithful car into my mechanic, Melvin Walletdrainer. “I want you to give it a complete checkup,” I tell him. “I’m hoping to get at least another 50,000 miles out of it.” “Man, are you funny,” Melvin replies. He has hair, fingernails and shirt stains that are all the same shade of black. “You could do Vegas, you’re funnier than that guy, what’s his name, been there forever.” “Don Rickle...
The 1896 Yukon gold rush triggered a boom for Seattle as prospectors flocked to ships bound for Alaska. In 1968, ARCO found black gold - oil - on the state’s North Slope around Prudhoe Bay, triggering a boom for Tacoma’s port where equipment was loaded onto ships and barges bound for our 49th state. Today, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) is launching a campaign to bring more business to his state. Parnell, who served as Sarah Palin's lieutenant governor, has been traveling the country telling people that Alaska is open for business. He says his...
THERE’S BEEN another one of those sleep studies warning us once again that millions of Americans are sleep-deprived, thus making us vulnerable to heart attacks and strokes, dumbed down students and drowsy drivers. The latest is according to a study presented at the American Academy of Sleep’s annual meeting in June in Minneapolis and reported in USA Today last month. It shouldn’t surprise you to be told that men tend to be night owls, wanting to go to bed later and get up later, while women are more often morning people. I happen to be a morni...
A note came into the Gazette that complained about the Pet Peeves in the paper. The complaint said that the paper should not allow such negative thoughts to be printed and that they are harmful. Pet Peeves, the letter said, should be eliminated, but it would be okay to continue with Okeydokes because they are positive. Actually, some of the “negative” pet peeves have had a positive effect. As such, both the positive and negative are acceptable. That is the point. Even so, not all make it to the page. Some are eliminated because they are sim...
To-do or Not To-do W. BRUCE CAMERON The Internet and computers have made me so efficient I no longer can accomplish anything. I even have a computerized to-do list so that I can manage my tasks electronically by printing the list. The list runs several pages and really bores me. Who can do tasks, anymore? By the time I’ve checked e-mail, read my Twitter tweets and looked into what my friends on Facebook are doing, it’s time to check my e-mail again. In fact, the only tasks I can cross off the list are the ones I add after I’ve already done...
Restoring confidence is job one Looking at the opinion polls, it’s easy to be depressed these days. Three out of four likely voters say America is on the wrong track, consumer confidence has tanked, investors are sitting on the sidelines and job growth has stalled. In short, this is not a recipe for optimism. In his most recent survey, Seattle pollster Stu Elway found that voter confidence has sunk to an all-time low, the worst he’s seen in 20 years. Elway writes: “Economic recovery is a little like the five-day weather forecast around here...
Hue and cry will not derail Obama’s second term USING THE EXCUSE of presenting a long promised jobs plan, President Barack Obama tried last week to launch a political comeback “amid the lowest approval rating of his presidency.” Plus “a growing sense of economic foreboding here and across the country among voters who are increasingly questioning their president’s skills and priorities.” So says the Wall Street Journal on the basis of a poll it jointly took with NBC News Aug. 27 -31 that found only 44 percent of Americans approve of the job he...
America came together Sunday to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The anniversary brought much of the nation together emotionally. Displays of patriotism were everywhere. Much of the patriotic fervor, however, was feel good patriotism. Patriotism is more than wearing red, white and blue and waving flags. It is more than shouting “USA” in a stadium or being silent during a rendition of the national anthem. It is more than speeches and rhetoric. Yet, for many, these are the the only expressions of pat...
Backs Didier Please welcome a new candidate for the mayor’s office in Colfax. Jeff Didier will bring a fresh, common sense approach to the office. Not only do Jeff and his family choose to make their home in Colfax, he also works in and helps manage a small business right here in town. Neither of the other two candidates can make that claim. I think it’s crucial that a mayor for Colfax have a clear understanding of how a business must operate inside Colfax. Jeff can create that positive connection between the business community and city hal...
The Palouse Empire Fair opens its four-day run today, Thursday. What food are you most looking forward to eating? Ken Ditzler, Spokane “Corn Dogs. Or those New York sausages if they have them. Really, any good barbecue when I can get it.” Dalton Doramus, Colfax “Ice Cream. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, I’ll take whatever they have.” Noah Groom, Colfax “Cotton Candy.” Blue or pink? “Blue.” Can you taste a difference? “Yeah. Blue tastes way better.” Shawn Staves, Colfax “Elephant Ears.” Do you worry about them going to your hips? “They have....
Told you so The Gazette’s featured article last week clearly shows what I’ve known all along — our County has partnered with a global corporation in opposition to local citizens and specifically Mr. Whitten’s current Appeals of the wind farm development. Why is our County trying so hard to stop a local resident from having his day in court? Could his arguments be legitimate and they don’t want them to see the light of day? If wind energy were so beneficial and cost effective, why would it have to be mandated (forced) upon utility companies and...
Marshall Doak of Salem, Ore., has been hired as executive director of the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association, or SEWEDA, and the Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization. Doak will take over the agency’s helm at its board meeting Tuesday, Sept. 13. He succeeds Duane Wollmuth of Walla Walla, who resigned from the post in May. Doak previously served as executive director of a community economic development organization in Sunnyside, and for both the Economic Development Council and Small Business Development C...
Obama administration turns to the private sector President Obama and the newly appointed Congressional federal debt reduction committee will need to look under every rock to find ways to save money and do things differently. Now, they’re getting some help from the private sector. In June, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services awarded a four-year $77 million contract to Northrop Grumman to develop a detection system capable of stopping fraud before it happens. Based on systems used in the private sector to detect credit card f...
Getting enough sleep? There’s been another one of those sleep studies warning us once again that millions of Americans are sleep-deprived, thus making us vulnerable to heart attacks and strokes, dumbed down students and drowsy drivers. The latest is according to a study presented at the American Academy of Sleep’s annual meeting in June in Minneapolis and reported in USA Today last month. It shouldn’t surprise you to be told that men tend to be night owls, wanting to go to bed later and get up later, while women are more often morning peopl...
Sunday will mark the tenth anniversary of the terror attacks on America. On September 11, 2001, four commercial jetliners were commandeered by Muslim extremists. Two of the planes were flown into the Twin Towers in New York City. The towers collapsed as people were trying to escape them. Thousands died. A third plane was rammed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where hundreds were killed. The fourth crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers tried to retake the plane. All aboard perished. The nation was stunned and horrified. For those near...
The Best Dog Movie Ever The publication of my new novel, “Emory’s Gift,” gets me a meeting with a Hollywood producer who professes to be a “big fan” of my work, though in his email he confesses he hasn’t yet read any of it. He’s a man in his 30s with black hair so perfectly arranged on his head it would make a Ken doll jealous. His office is adorned with movie posters and photographs of him with famous actors and other people. I ask him what it was like to meet the governor of California, and he responds, “Well, but he’s back to being an actor...
