Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1584 - 1608 of 3750
Colfax Christmas present? Our Grinch-O-Claus president says he’s bringing us a big present for Christmas. He’s putting all this on our credit card, though, over a trillion dollars’ worth. And while you will get maybe an orange or a candy cane in your tax stocking (maybe even a lump of coal), the rich kids will be getting the yachts and jets and Ivanka jewelry. Call your senator or representative in Congress, 202-224-3121, and tell them to just vote no. Steve Swoope, Topics of Interest Over the past two years the Whitman County Library syste...
It's a wonder that President Donald Trump devotes so much time to discrediting the press, when the press does so much to discredit itself. The media's errors in recent weeks haven't been marginal or coincidental, but involved blockbuster reports on one of the most dominating stories of the past year, Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. They all slanted one way -- namely, toward lurid conclusions about the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with the Russians. Every media outlet makes mistakes. It's easier than ever to run with fragmentary or...
LONDON -- "Come in. We love Americans." It was a restauranteur hustling customers outside his establishment here in London. My wife and I are here for our anniversary. I was ready with my retort: "I must say I admire how you can keep a straight face while claiming to love Americans." "Don't worry," he replied. "It'll get better." Obviously, he's not a Donald Trump fan. He assumed I wasn't either. Safe assumption, although he didn't know that when it comes to U.S. politics, I'm not an anybody fan. I was too polite to utter that one-word...
YYYY The little group that does the “Memorial Tree” at the hospital yearly. The Stirling’s Christmas lights. Outstanding! #!*! Careless and non-thinking drivers. Turn on your headlights at all times so you can be seen and possibly save your life and someone else’s too. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, asking about Santa Claus. Her friends had been telling her that Santa Claus was not real. The response, written by Francis Pharcellus Church, was printed as an editorial Sept. 21, 1897. It has since become famous and a Christmas classic. DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They ha...
I have a good friend who works for a Washington State agency. Recently, everyone in her office had to attend sensitivity training. The instructor began by stating that the course objective was to make everyone feel comfortable in the workplace. Thus, men should keep their hands to themselves and romantic liaisons should not be part of the work day. All terms should be gender neutral. Everyone was cautioned to avoid language that might inadvertently insult any given faith. This included not being allowed to decorate workstations for traditional...
During the holidays, our thoughts naturally turn to giving — not just giving gifts, but donating our time and money to charities, disasters and community programs. We’re reminded that, with all our frailties, we, Americans are a pretty generous lot. According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 88 percent of our households donate to charity. In 2015, our total was more than $375 billion in cash to non-profit organizations. Cash contributions are only part of the story. Many businesses and those they employ, have jumped in with...
The president of the United States wakes up some mornings seemingly determined to convince as many people as possible that he's unsuited to high office. Fortunately for him, he has a Twitter account allowing him to act on this impulse immediately and without any filter. Trump recently retweeted three videos from an apparatchik of an extremist party in Britain purporting to show acts of violence by Muslims. One of them is reportedly a fake. He followed up with a tweet calling for the firing of "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough on the basis of...
My wife spends a lot of time rolling her eyes. She knows, for instance, that when we meet at the end of the day and she asks, "How was your day?" as she always does, I'll have a Dickens of a response: "It was the best of days, it was the worst of days." It's not often that I have all that much in common with Donald Trump, although I bet Melania rolls her eyes a lot, too. However, the first of December certainly was a "best-worst" kind of day for the president. Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's "Tale of Two Cities" --...
YYYY Thanks to everyone who entered the Festival of Trees at the Center at Colfax Library. The trees are creative and help light up our town beautifully. #!*! People who drive way too fast on Fairview. Animals getting killed due to speeding cars. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
It is a changing world. First take the rigid, closed British royal family. Prince Harry is engaged to an American woman. She is bi-racial, divorced and older than he is. She is also an actress. She is a very unlikely addition to the royal family. This engagement is heralded as very special. In fact, this soon-to-be union has been claimed by some to ensure the survival of the monarchy. Even more rigid and closed is the Saudi royal family. In Saudi Arabia, the new prince has started a campaign of modernizing the country. He has arrested hundreds...
Tough GOP choice To pass or not to pass tax cuts/reform? A tough choice for Republicans who have to choose between looking unable to govern or looking incompetent to govern by passing a really, really bad bill. Which will most hurt their chances in 2018? And which will most hurt the country and their constituents? Frankly the country needs every dime we are currently collecting since we have had unbelievable natural disasters which will require zillions of dollars in federal aid to rebuild. The proposals so far under consideration clearly benef...
There are sexual harassers, and then there is John Conyers, the Democrat from Detroit who made his congressional office an adjunct of his libido. The evidence suggests that Conyers believed that as a 27-term congressman, he was entitled to the Washington, D.C., equivalent of the Ottoman imperial harem. He routinely hit on his female staffers, and his office was a den of sexual intrigue -- allegedly featuring a jealous wife and a vindictive mistress -- that properly belongs in a Bravo reality show if the network ever extends its franchise to...
Still another Thanksgiving has passed, and I have done what I always do: nothing. I didn't overeat, and certainly didn't travel. Getting together with family and friends can wait for a non holiday. There is no way in the world I'm going to endure airports, long Transportation Security Administration lines and flights that are even more tortuous than normal. Ditto for jammed and dangerous highways to take us crawling over the hills and through the woods. Did I mention that I also avoid going out on New Year's Eve, when the streets are filled...
#!*! Whitman County Public Works -- if you pay, they will stay. Wolves in sheep’s clothing!!! Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
Today is December 7. For anyone with just a little knowledge about this country, that is a significant date. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. President Franklin Roosevelt immediately declared that a state of war existed with Japan. He famously called December 7, a day that would live in infamy. It has. The American response was swift. Thousands of Americans went to recruiting offices the next day to enlist in the military. The American economy was quickly transformed to meet wartime needs. The attack...
Recently, the Institute for Justice (Institute) determined state licensing barriers for lower-income workers and aspiring entrepreneurs not only hurts people trying to establish themselves in a profession, but annually drives consumer prices up by $203 billion. Washington requires people in 77 jobs, including driving school bus, well-drilling and operating cranes, to be licensed. That means applicants must successfully complete education and training, pass their exams and pay licensing fees. Just as technology changes, so do licensing...
Colfax To the chopping block I was interested to learn from Pat Bates’ letter to the editor last week that the GOP’s tax plan will actually raise college students’ taxes. I am amazed that they would raise anyone’s taxes. So, I followed Pat’s advice and called my congresswoman and complained. They need to cut everyone’s taxes. So, I suggested that the GOP cut the rates even further … much further. They are only shaving taxes, not “cutting” them. They need to take taxes to the chopping block and seriously slash them. While they are at the choppi...
Roy Moore is the Steve Bannon project in a nutshell. For the former Trump operative, the Alabama Senate candidate's tattered credibility is a feature, not a bug. If Moore had well-considered political and legal views, good judgment and a sterling reputation, he'd almost by definition be part of the establishment that Bannon so loathes. Since Moore has none of those things, he's nearly an ideal representative of the Bannon insurgency. Events in Alabama make it clear that Bannon's dime-store Leninism -- burn everything down, including perhaps...
There's no such thing as the Hypocritic Oath, but there should be. Translated from the original Pig Latin, it is: "Be sanctimonious if you want, but don't get caught doing the very same thing you're so holier-than-thou about, otherwise it'll bite you in the butt." That is a very loose translation. Among those it has bottom-bitten is Sen. Al Franken. He goes first because we're related. We're friends, so anyone who's not happy with what I say here can rip me a new one. Al has been outspoken about female rights, but don't you know, he stands...
YYYY Church members and Whitman County members, you made “North to Alaska” successful!!!!! Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
It is hard to imagine that sexual harassment would be condoned by anyone. A survey of this country would surely show that every American disapproves of it, no matter its severity. Being disturbed by it, at one time, would have been universal. Such an emotion would never have been questioned. Yet, now, the universality of this is in doubt. With the current overwhelming number of charges of sexual harassment being leveled against celebrities and politicians, a new attitude has been exposed. A few cases are clear. The allegations against movie...
I am a conservative; thus, I was pleased when the conservatives won in the last general election. I agreed with most of candidate Trump’s message but had serious doubts about the messenger. He got off to a horrible start. His tweeter made him look absolutely foolish. He made off-the-cuff statements without considering the ramifications. He made enemies that conservatives didn’t need. We are now beginning to feel the repercussions of his lack of diplomacy. He continues to be pillared in the press. Even Fox News is having trouble defending him...
Editor's Note: In 1978, I was hired by Crown Zellerbach. Part of my responsibility was to help with the permitting, incentives and public support for the $425 million modernization project at the Camas Mill. I left Crown Zellerbach with the takeover by Sir James Goldsmith in 1986. The announced shutdown of the communications paper arm of Georgia Pacific’s Camas pulp and paper mill maybe the harbinger of what’s to come. Consumers are buying less paper, production costs are increasing, and competition is fiercer. GP will lay off as many as 300...
Tax plan The GOP tax plan will crush the middle class, and it will decimate students’ educations. Cathy McMorris Rodgers won’t even address the bill with her own constituents. She certainly won’t address education because of the damage she is inflicting on our next generation. Currently, student loan interest deduction allows students to lower their taxable income by $2,500. Cathy supports a tax bill that will take away all student loan interest deductions. One student illustrated how, with the current plan at 15%, her yearly tax would be $4...
