Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1113 - 1137 of 3750
Okeydokes Palouse mayor should school Colfax! The county commissioners, who trekked out to meet constituents at the Steptoe school, came to listen and not to direct. It was a very good meeting. Our lovely friend who gave us the beautiful copper stamped sign. Very grateful at Penewawa....
I know that the suspense has been unbearable, but I'm finally ready to make my announcement: I am not running for president. I realize that by doing so, I have aligned myself with 328,113,170 or so other Americans who also have decided not to run for president. We have much in common, including our shared contempt for nearly all of those, on all sides, who practice the dark arts of politics, most of whom are running for president. In case you were wondering why I found it necessary to announce that I'm forgoing an election campaign, it's...
Sen. Kamala Harris committed a most unusual gaffe at her recent CNN town hall -- not by misspeaking about one of her central policy proposals, but by describing it accurately. Asked if the "Medicare-for-all" plan she's co-sponsoring with Sen. Bernie Sanders eliminates private health insurance, she said that it most certainly does. Citing insurance company paperwork and delays, she waved her hand: "Let's eliminate all of that. Let's move on." She met with approbation from the friendly audience in Des Moines, Iowa, but the reaction elsewhere was...
Although others have written about the importance of vaccination in light of the measles outbreak in Southwestern Washington, our representative Joe Schmick believes that decision is best left up to parents and their doctors! He is known as the healthcare expert, so he must know that if people who can be vaccinated are not, like in Southwestern Washington, it can lead to epidemics. If only those who chose not to vaccinate were affected, that would not be such an issue. However, children younger than 15 months who cannot yet be vaccinated,...
America’s drift away from our market-based economic system is perplexing. Equally, mystifying is the new push to replace entrepreneurs with government bureaucrats in planning and controlling services and products offered to us--the consumers. Scrapping capitalism is a very bad idea. History shows that socialist and communist regimes dominated by strong-armed dictators, such as in Venezuela, and Soviet-style politburos are ripe for economic collapse and suppression of free speech and human r...
Along with millions of other Americans, I watched last week’s State of the Union Address. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. The President was uncharacteristically subdued. He didn’t pick any fights nor call anyone names. He was definitely un-Trumplike. The Democrats and the national press hate everything the President does, so it was no surprise when they discounted everything he said. Republicans, on the other hand, proclaimed it to be the best speech since Gettysburg. To me, it was kind of bland. One short segment...
After threats and counter threats, invitations and disinvitations, the State of the Union Address finally occurred. President Trump gave his speech from the House of Representatives Tuesday night. Behind him, Nancy Pelosi sat listening, sometimes engaged and sometimes reading from what appeared to be pages of future spontaneous remarks. Beside her was Vice President Pence, as always emulating the FIGI water girl. Not many State of the Union speeches are love fests. This could have been more tense than normal, but it wasn’t. In fact, the w...
There's an expression we hear or see all too frequently, one that is particularly odious: "collateral damage." Some military types, or civilian leaders who are pursuing their own ambitions, use that phrase to sterilize the death and maiming of innocents as battle operations rage nearby. In a less violent way, that same kind of offensive mentality permeates the rationalizations of too many political leaders. That is, if they even bother to think about the human consequences of their rhetoric or schemes to manipulate voters or to generate...
The fundamental offense of the Covington Catholic High School kids wasn't so much allegedly mobbing, mocking or getting in the face of an American Indian drummer at the Lincoln Memorial. It was wearing red Make America Great Again hats. That was the actual, incontestable conduct that created the predicate for the presumption of guilt and all the rest of the grief they've been subjected to since. For much of progressive America, if you are wearing the hat, you are suiting up for Team Racist. You are marking yourself out as a bigot and a goon. Yo...
It’s not likely they colluded. Yet on Jan. 31, publisher Gordon Forgey of the Whitman County Gazette and managing editor Devin Rokyta of the Daily News published editorials on the dangers of ignoring vaccinations. The reason? Washington State’s Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency because of a growing measles outbreak. In 1736 Ben Franklin lost a four-year-old son to smallpox. Recounting that event, the Washington Post quoted from Franklin’s autobiography: “I long regretted bitterly, and still regret,” Franklin wrote, “that I h...
Dear Editor, Frank Watson wrote a powerful column (1-31-19) regarding the prohibition of marijuana and other drugs. He said, "The argument that made the most sense to me was, 'What we are doing now isn't working.' " That's what I tried to say. --Wiley Hollingsworth, Pullman...
A lot is written about students exiting college saddled with hefty student loans; however, the impact on retired parents went largely unnoticed. Recently, Wall Street Journal writer AnnaMaria Andriotis reported Americans over 60 years old are coming out of retirement and going back to work just to pay for their children’s educations. On average, student borrowers in their 60s owed $33,800 in 2017, up 44 percent from 2010. Student loan debt for seniors rose 161 percent between 2010 and 2017. I...
Four Washington state counties announced they will not enforce Initiative 1639, and more may follow. I don’t understand. I was taught in high school civics class we are a federal, constitutional democracy. I remembered the words but didn’t quite remember what they mean, so I looked them up in the dictionary. The “democracy” part means we have the right to vote. In a pure democracy, citizens vote on everything. Any time there is a question, the people gather at the meeting place and vote on the issue. We have both too many people and too man...
Measles were officially eradicated in 2000 in the United States. The viral disease was a scourge for young kids, killing thousands. Since the concerted effort to vaccinate children, the disease in the states was eliminated, although it remained a virulent danger in other parts of the world. Recently, it has periodically reared its ugly head in the states. Now, multiple states are dealing with outbreaks of the disease. In Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee has declared a public health emergency because of the number of cases in the southwest...
Pet Peeves Laws against dwarf tossing. What’s going on at City Hall, and what’s it gonna cost us all? Okeydokes The man putting wood chips along dike between McDonald Park and Golf Course. Colfax PD for continuing to serve us despite slim resources available to them....
Maybe British Prime Minister Theresa May needs to change her country's Brexit focus. Instead of severing ties with the European Union, maybe she should address the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, and disunite them. It would be a Brexit from that so-called "special relationship" with the U.S. Never mind that a majority of the Brits voting chose to leave the E.U. As predicted, it has proven uncommonly difficult, to the point that there is some talk of holding another referendum. The pro-Europe forces might have an e...
The walls supposedly are always closing in on Donald Trump. The end is always beginning. He's going to quit. He's going to be impeached and removed. He's going to decide not to run again. Somehow or other, he's going to relieve everyone of the responsibility of ever thinking of him again, and especially of the responsibility of defeating him in an election. Such scenarios are a constant topic in private conversations. The allure is obvious. It is the promise of deliverance. After tormenting his enemies for so long, Trump's going to make it...
There has been shootings at schools for decades, but none like the shootings of today. The first mass school shooting was at the University of Texas, with 17 people killed, which included the shooter, Charles Whitman. He went to school with the intent to kill as many people as possible. The next mass school shooting didn’t occur until 1999, when two Columbine students killed 13 and wounded 21 others before committing suicide. Since then, school shootings have become much more frequent. Between Columbine and today, there have been 11 school s...
I would like to encourage every concerned Whitman County resident to attend the meeting on Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. at the Steptoe School, when a petition will be reviewed with the county commissioners concerning zoning and ordinances, road conditions, non-running vehicles and trash and garbage in yards throughout the our county. I hope to see you there! --Kristi Kinsinger, Spokane Valley...
Frank Watson (Jan. 24, 2019, "Declaration of a Non-Candidate"), your self-admitted deficits would make you the perfect GOP candidate. Frank, you underestimate your potential. --Mark Olson, Seattle...
I visited a pot shop last week, something I thought I would never do. A senior citizen friend of mine has been experiencing rather severe knee pain and is trying to postpone an inevitable replacement. In the mean time, she has done almost everything: The magic shot series, physical therapy, horse liniment, and continues to ask advice of friends and neighbors who have had similar problems. One friend experienced relief with cannabis oil, and her primary care doctor advised her to, “Try it, you have nothing to lose.” She asked me to pick up som...
The Gazette received a call last week from a local Federal agency. It was to inform us that its small bill could not be paid until the government shutdown ended. The office was closed, the heat turned down and few had access to the building. The answering machine warned callers that messages left would not be answered until the situation changed. How many thousands or millions of times this type of message was relayed across America is unknown. Also unknown is the hardship and fear the shutdown has caused workers and families. The toll is...
Pet Peeves Area gas prices The new Whitman Hospital compensation plan... What a joke!...
In 1932, as the Great Depression took hold and once-proud Americans were reduced to begging, Bing Crosby recorded a song called "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" It became a hit, even though Republicans tried to force radio stations not to play it because it was "anti-capitalist." And indeed it was. "They used to tell me I was building a dream With peace and glory ahead Why should I be standing in line Just waiting for bread? ... Buddy, can you spare a dime?" Today, the Republicans are at it again, or at least one Republican is. As the country...
