Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 3407 - 3431 of 3749
One in 10 Americans receive government aid. The gap between the rich and the poor in America is the widest it has ever been. The poverty rate is rising, too. More food stamps are being used in the country. For the nation at large nearly 12 million households depend on food stamps. That’s households, not individuals. The national unemployment rate is nearly 10 percent, and the underemployed rate has increased as people take whatever jobs they can find. Nationally, income fell 2.9 percent between 2008 and 2009. More than 14 percent of A...
Awesome The banks did an awesome job decorating the corners of Main Street this year. Every corner was remarkable. It made it very hard to choose the winner, but we hope you all had fun. In our eyes you were all winners. We appreciate the time and effort you put into your corners, and welcome you aboard. What a wonderful way to kick off the 2010 Hullabaloo. We hope everyone will come and enjoy this year’s event. Great job. our town looks beautiful. Phyllis Kincaid, Hullabaloo Committee Speed limit The speed limit on our county road was r... Full story
Dear Action Movies, I’ve been watching you for a long time now and have gotten to know you pretty well, but I think that in order for our relationship to keep growing, there are a few questions I need you to answer. First, you know those scenes where the Hero is standing in a circle of bad guys, and they all attack him, and he manages to fight them all off? How come the bad guys all wait their turn — is that some sort of bad-guy etiquette thing? Because it seems to me, if I were watching this Hero kicking and punching my buddies into obl...
In the classic children’s story, “Alice in Wonderland,” a little girl falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a strange world where everything is upside down, where all the rules have changed and peculiar people do inexplicable things. I know how she feels. According to a Sept. 14 BBC broadcast, Cuban President Raul Castro will lay off at least 500,000 state employees by mid-2011 and boost opportunities in the private sector to help those workers find new jobs. He suggested that as many as one million government workers will be laid...
I SEE THE Seattle Times decided to rattle Bill Gates Sr.’s cage in its editorial column instead of sticking The Truth Needle into him. The Truth Needle is what The Times calls its investigations into claims made by political candidates and campaigns. They’ve zeroed in on U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Republican challenger Dino Rossi so far. You know, Patty takes credit for stopping the feds from awarding a $35 billion aircraft tanker contract to a foreign company thus giving Boeing another shot at a bid. The Times responds that she was “mo... Full story
#!*! To a community that fails and then barely passes a school district special levy and then takes issue with the increased number of students in some class rooms at the same time the district balances its budget with limited reserves. +++ To the banks in Colfax for working together to decorate Main Street’s corners for Hullabaloo. They are festive and colorful. Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 211 N. Main St Colfax, Wa 99111...
The county financial books are a mess. At first, a cash shortage of around a half million dollars was reported. Now, it is said to be around two hundred thousand dollars. Neither the commissioners, the auditor nor the treasurer has any clue what happened. Nor is anyone sure of the amount. The shortage was discovered by an outside accountant hired by the county at no small expense to keep the financial operations functioning while the county tries to extricate itself from its financial quagmire. The county’s failure to accurately track its o...
Selective reading The people criticizing Mr. Whitten’s attempt to recall two county commissioners must be very selective in their reading of the newspaper. The newspaper publisher, as well as the county prosecutor, both explained how the Open Public Meeting Law was violated. What is it about public officials breaking a law that some of you do not understand? Government should operate in the open. Violators of this fundamental principle should be held accountable, no matter the cost. Rick Kiesz, Thornton Backs Romeyn I was shocked to read a r...
Back in the 1980s, my grandparents, Dick and Emily, moved to Florida because they wanted a better climate to argue in. They had one of those relationships where they fought so much they couldn’t even agree on what they disagreed on. Their little home in Florida was a few dozen yards from a boggy pond that kept trying to evolve into a swamp. Dick liked to go down to the water’s edge and feed marshmallows to the small alligator who lived there, probably hoping that one day it would grow large enough that he could feed it Emily. Emily would stand...
President Obama says two of his biggest priorities are jobs and renewable energy. Perhaps he should tell his regulators to help, not hinder, energy projects because some of their most recent actions are killing them and their accompanying jobs. In the process, they re making us even more reliant on foreign oil. Historically, America s energy sector has been one of the strongest drivers of our economy. The oil and gas industry alone employs more than nine million people. But that industry is under siege. In the wake of the Gulf oil spill, the...
WELL, LOOK who got a write-up in the Wall Street Journal. Our own Dino Rossi, in a tantalizing top of the page editorial entitled “A Washington State Smear Campaign.” “Desperate political environments tend to inspire desperate political tactics,” writes Kimberley A. Strassel. “In Washington State, liberal activists are desperate.” Dino attracted the Journal’s attention in his race to unseat U.S. Sen. Patty Murray because if this turns out to be a “wave election” on Nov. 2, meaning a loss of over 20 seats by the Democrat majority, our man...
It was a long time ago when Cuba, basically a corporate holding of the United States since the Spanish American War, was swept with revolutionary fervor. The old government was overthrown. Cuba’s new leader, Fidel Castro, tried to find allies and support. Spurned by most countries, he sought support from the Communist Block. This was in the 1950’s, and the Cold War was raging. The United States and Cuba became adversaries and enemies. During John F. Kennedy’s presidency, America covertly supported an invasion of the country, and the Sovie...
Therefore In response to Roger Whitten’s letter Sept 2: Mr. Whitten you did not file against the two commissioners personally, you filed against them as commissioners. You filed against them and the way you believe they did or did not do their jobs. Therefore the county (taxpayers) would be paying for their defense. Kerry Moser, Colton Passing the buck Roger Whitten is trying to pass the buck for what even Roger acknowledges was a $19,632 unnecessary County expenditure for Commissioner legal defense in the matter of Roger’s failed recall com...
Few things have ever given me as much national pride as learning that an American named Monte Pierce currently holds the world record for firing a dime the longest distance (10 feet, 10.5 inches) using his earlobe. China’s economy may be growing faster than ours, and maybe we aren’t competitive at soccer, but at this, using ears as slingshots, we excel. Take that, world. I learned about this dime-shot accomplishment from the folks at Guinness, who manage the most famous list of the World’s Records for Things Idiots Do. Take, for example, Shrid...
In the competition for $3.4 billion in education grants under President Obama’s Race to the Top, Washington is near the bottom. We ranked 32nd out of the 36 states that applied. While the Race to the Top program stresses innovative reform and stringent evaluation of student and teacher performance, our application was a mishmash of platitudes and promises. But chief among our shortcomings was a lack of support for reforms from the teachers unions and our anti-charter schools law. Charter schools are a major focus of the administration’s edu...
REMEMBER the big flap last November when unknown hackers illegally broke into a server at a British climate institute and stole and published on the Internet thousands of emails and documents in which global warming scientists privately discussed how to silence anyone who disagreed with their view that mankind is the cause? All hell broke loose in the scientific community, considering the climate institute at the University of East Anglia is the main source of information and advice on climate change for the United Nations. Further, an... Full story
#!*! All the helicopter repair personnel at Fort Bliss who read Cory’s copy of the Gazette before he can. (Ed. note: There is a subscription form on Page 7B.) Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 211 N. Main St Colfax, Wa 99111...
Terry Jones, a pastor of a small Christian church in Florida, has declared the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks “International Burn a Koran Day.” This Jones fellow, ironically the head of the Dove World Outreach Center, has been roundly and universally criticized for his promised inflammatory gesture. No less than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken out against his plan, calling it disrespectful and disgraceful. American commander in Afghanistan General David Patreaus said such a plan could incite more violence aga...
Frivilous I myself and on behalf of my fellow Whitman County citizens who agree with me would like to collectively kick Roger Whitten’s ass for his filing of the frivolous recall petition that we the taxpayers of this county get to pay for. At least it was put to an end, saving us untold thousands. According to reports in this newspaper, “Total cost for lawyers to defend Whitman County Commissioners Pat O’Neill and Greg Partch against recall proceedings last month was $19,632.” I’m pretty sure there are many others areas in our county th...
My younger sister looks to me to provide her with advice on how to do her job better — though she’s too shy to ask me questions, so I have to give her my opinion on an unsolicited basis. (She’s a doctor.) “You’re ‘book smart’ in medicine. I’m ‘street smart,’” I explain to her. “I’ve been practicing for 20 years!” she replies. “Well, keep at it, practice makes perfect. I think you’re coming along fine,” I say charitably. (Her response to this is, as they say in the medical profession, unprofessional.) She’s irritated with me because I was abl... Full story
With all the focus on eliminating the Bush tax cuts and spurring the economy, President Obama and Congressional Democrats are tripping over themselves touting their small business tax breaks this election season. What they’re not mentioning is an automatic tax increase that will hit family-owned businesses hard, starting on New Year’s Day. Unless Congress and President Obama act, the inheritance or “death tax” will automatically revert to its pre-2001 level: 55 percent of the value of one’s estate after a $1 million deduction. That tax alone... Full story
IT WAS BAD enough when Clint Didier, who ran third in the U.S. Senate primary election where the top two vote getters are nominated, offered an endorsement to Republican Dino Rossi in exchange for policy pledges but he used the wrong pronoun. He said “we,” meaning the endorsement represented the 170,000 plus people who voted for him as a candidate endorsed by the Tea Party. Rossi told him to put his endorsement where the sun don’t shine and the woman who founded the Tea Party in Seattle said Didier wasn’t speaking for them even if they had end... Full story
#!*! My hard earned tax dollars given to some CRP farmer north of Colfax to grow china lettuce and thistles. #!*! Incessantly yapping little dogs on Hauser Heights. Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 211 N. Main St...
Tuesday, President Obama officially declared the nation’s combat mission in Iraq finished. The last of the American combat troops have left the county. Still, 50,000 American troops remain. These troops are to provide security support and training for the Iraqi police and military. The seven-year conflict has been controversial and expensive. The cost to America has been billions of dollars with more than 4,400 troops killed. Many thousands more were wounded and injured. International coalition forces also suffered in the conflict. According to... Full story
New School Year Earlier this year in the wake of a failed levy, board members and the superintendent of Colfax’s School District took the brunt of negative feedback. The problems are real and should not be glossed over. But, it is important to acknowledge the efforts being made to restore trust and improve communication among staff and community. Monday night the school board and administrators discussed specific plans to improve confidence and open wide the channels of communication. A few of those plans include open forums; one on one b...
