Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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I was in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001 attending a medical conference. On that morning while walking to my first session of the day, I noticed a large group of people gathered around a large screen TV. I joined the group and in horror watched a plane fly into one of the World Trade Center's towers. Everyone was numb. There was complete silence. I turned around and went back to my hotel room to where my husband was. We turned on the TV and began to watch. Soon, there was an emergency...
We remember. As a country, we remember when 2,996 people died and two iconic New York buildings fell from a terrorist attack. Our military headquarters was struck by a high jacked airliner. And, a group of heroes rose to resist Al-Qaeda terrorists to crash Flight 93, the plane they were on rather than allow it to strike the White House. If you are old enough, you can remember when you learned that two airliners full of passengers were flown into the World Trade Center, causing two 110-story...
Having lived in three developing countries for 17 years, I met very fine Americans as well as arrogant, and ignorant Americans. Representatives from the U.S. Embassy, USAID, Peace Corp, U.S. Military, UNICEfF, UNESCO, and missionaries are among those I encountered. Many stayed briefly, never getting to know the culture. Not fitting into any of those categories gave me special insight into others and myself. Most Americans, including me, travel with American glasses and don’t often see what is happening right before our eyes. For instance, in Si...
Viruses are smaller than the microscope can see. They are infectious agents that replicate only inside the living cells of an organism. Organisms are classified as multicellular animals, plants, fungi, and unicellular microorganisms such as bacteria. Humans are multicellular animals. Viruses are not considered to be living organisms, but their existence is dependent on infecting living organisms, entering their cells and forcing the cells to produce thousands of copies of itself. This is how...
It’s clear: Parents in Washington are sick of their children being used as pawns by radicals in power who wish to destroy family, children, and faith. Widespread protests against mask mandates at school and vaccine mandates at work have erupted statewide, with many calling out Gov. Jay Inslee for his aggressive misuses and abuses of emergency powers. This has largely been a fight for religious freedom and individual liberty, but it is creeping onto another deeply disturbing frontier — the fig...
It is not surprising that COVID-19, which ravaged the world, was disastrous for our country's economy. Millions died from COVID complications; offices, stores, and factories closed. People were forced to quarantine at home. The good news this Labor Day is vaccines are working and readily available. As a result, our job market has dramatically improved. People are eating out, shopping, and traveling. Our economy is healing. Vaccines were developed and deployed at "warp speed" under President...
I was touched reading Bill Stevenson’s opinion piece published in the Aug. 12 issue of the Gazette. What came through in Mr. Stevenson’s story was his humanity. He tells of meeting, for the first time, a person who had become infected with the COVID-19 virus and now was suffering with the disease it causes. He describes not only her symptoms, but also the other impacts this nasty virus has had on her life, such as her fear, loss of job, and income and isolation from important people in her life. He describes her vulnerability. What Mr. Ste...
After 10 years of reporting for the Colfax Gazette, Garth Meyer headed south for a new adventure. Garth took a job for the Easy Reader in Torrance, CA, a city south of Los Angeles. I wanted to thank Garth for his many years of excellent reporting and writing. I always enjoyed Garth’s style of writing when covering local news and sports. Garth’s articles were more interesting and fun to read than the average newspaper journalist. He could take a routine monthly, boring city council meeting and make it funny and entertaining. His sports art...
When thinking of England’s fabled Sherwood Forest, the medieval images of Robin Hood hiding in the woods giving the Sheriff of Nottingham a hard time comes to mind. Who would envision a crew of young American oil workers concealed among the giant oaks drilling oil wells? However, the crude production from those wells was essential in helping fuel the D-Day invasion launched from English shores in 1944. Until Guy Woodward and Grace Steele Woodward published “The Secret of Sherwood Forest – Oil p...
On Aug. 9, Gov. Jay Inslee issued a mandate requiring that certain employees must receive a COVID-19 vaccination in order to work in certain jobs. Employees who do not comply will be fired. This vaccination mandate puts our small rural hospitals and long-term care facilities at great risk. The health care administrators of these rural medical facilities are heroes who have worked long and hard to provide us with top-quality service during these difficult and uncertain times. They have successful...
It has now has been over 530 days since Gov. Jay Inslee proclaimed a state of emergency and again issued another order without going through the Legislature. He ordered that all state employees and health care professionals working in private facilities must get the COVID-19 vaccine or face termination. Workers have until Oct. 18 to show proof of full vaccination. If they do not, they will likely be shown the door with “non-disciplinary dismissal.” It is beyond debatable that the governor has...
Hypocrisy is when someone lied about their virtues or taste in music or pretty much anything. “I hate rap music!” screams your friend. But you find rap artist DMX on his playlist. Which is it? “Trump should be jailed for his involvement in the Ukraine!” screams the Democrat. Biden appears to admit quid-pro-quo with the Ukraine and withholding military aid on a video recording. Not a word from the Democrat. “We can’t afford to increase Medicare!” yells the Republican. The same Republican de...
Each year Americans throw away more than three billion batteries constituting 180,000 tons of hazardous material and the situation is likely to get much worse as the world shifts to electric vehicles. Everyday-green.com reports more than 86,000 tons of single-use alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C, and D) are thrown away. They power electronic toys and games, portable audio equipment, and flashlights and makeup 20% of the household hazardous materials in our garbage dumps. Unlike composted waste,...
Mr. Ed Schweitzer, who founded and leads Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, recently pointed out how the new long-term care tax will have an extra-bitter taste for people who call Idaho home but work in our state, in border cities like Clarkston or Pullman. Those include a significant number of SEL's employee-owners, he wrote in a letter to Gov. Inslee, who will be forced to pay the tax but can never benefit from it if they don't reside in Washington. His letter also details...
The little reported information on the elected officials getting a 7% raise is astonishing. My friends in the road department stomached no cost-of-living raise for two years because of the pandemic with the supposed loss of revenue. Trying to be the team players that they are, they went along with it. Darren Alred, from the salary commission, suggested raises of 7-10% would help retain elected officials. I did not know we had to actively try to retain an elected official by throwing money at...
Time is short, but action is necessary! Gov. Jay Inslee and Democrats who control the state legislature need to postpone implementing the sweeping “Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program” to determine its future financial viability and find better alternatives for coverage. The new law, also known as the Washington Cares Act, is a mandatory, public, state-run long-term care insurance program. Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, Washington employers must withhold a new payroll tax ($58 per $10...
Nicole is a 22-year-old and sits in a chair telling her dad on the phone how her boyfriend abandoned her. He stopped calling and texting her once she told him she has COVID. The young man doesn't seem to know he can't catch it through a cellphone. Her dad is several states away waiting for a store to unload his semi-truck, but he called her. An unvaccinated coworker at a juice bar brought it to work. Nicole and two others got sick. She lost the job. Nicole's alone and feeling rejected by...
Parents of public school students in the 9th Legislative district have had enough of coronavirus-related mandates from Olympia. Shutter schools, curtail sports, wear masks, limit field trips, and restrict access to graduation. The actions have not been embraced here. And neither has Gov. Jay Inslee’s renewed call for all public school students to remain masked for the upcoming 2021-22 school year. Area parents are pushing back. This week, led by a group from Fairfield, many parents are e...
In the free and open society of a constitutional republic, when you say something or do something, it is sometimes cheered or cursed, sometimes laughed at or applauded. But mostly and most beautifully folks just go their own way and mind their own affairs. However, in a socialist society, you are compelled to conform and do what the government tells you to do. So, take your “Fauci Ouchi,” also wear your Inslee mask, and don’t object or you will be canceled. Travis Brock Colfax...
Is it time yet to confront climate change? The weather we’ve experienced this summer foreshadows what we will experience more and more frequently in coming years. The situation isn’t hopeless: there’s still time to avert the most damaging effects of climate change, but it’s going to take a national commitment. Among the policies the Congress can enact this year is to place a price on carbon dioxide pollution. Multiple sources confirm that carbon pricing alone will reduce the US’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. There are several w...
If there are any Americans out there who are still loyal to Donald Trump, listen up! Don’t be sidelined by “Trumpian talking heads.” Stay focused on Trump! He and Melania are both vaccinated, and Trump said, “I would recommend it and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly.” Trump told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, “It is a great vaccine. It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works.” He said, “It works incredibly well. 95%, maybe even more than that ... and it i...
