Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1263 - 1287 of 3750
The attempted political assassination of Brett Kavanaugh is bad for the country, but good for a Trumpian attitude toward American politics. The last-minute ambush validates key assumptions of Donald Trump's supporters that fueled his rise and buttress him in office, no matter how rocky the ride has been or will become. At least three premises have been underlined by tawdry events of the past weeks. First, that good character is no defense. If you are John McCain, who genuinely tried to do the right thing and carefully cultivated a relationship...
Okeydokes Flake for seeing our pain and acting on it....
Currently, there are continuous technological advances, especially in the way we communicate, which have led to large media platforms belittling the value of local news reporting. It is essential to be aware of what is happening around your community, not only being aware of what is on your Facebook feed. Local newspapers represent your surrounding area. They provide citizens with current events, opinion pieces, and now, local newspapers can use the technology that is their own destruction for their benefit by accessing Facebook and Twitter. If...
In the 1960s, there was a popular movie called: “The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming”. The plot was a Soviet naval commander runs his sub aground off a Massachusetts coastal island and sends two English-speaking crewmen ashore to procure a boat with enough power to pull them free. The Russian sailors didn’t exactly blend in and chaos ensued. That was fiction, but today American farmers face the hard facts that the Russians are invading our wheat markets worldwide. Many of us remem...
Another natural disaster is predicted to impact the United States. As with the Dust Bowl, refugees will flood different parts of the country. The new disaster will be slower in coming and last longer than the Depression era dislocation of people. And, it has already started. The Guardian newspaper in England reports that Americans are already reacting to the new threat. The paper calls those trying to escape it “climate refugees.” Many more, it says, will follow in the coming years as the climate continues to warm. Climate refugees will grow in...
Pet Peeves Those people who let their pets sit on their laps when driving. Talk about distractions while driving. Okeydokes Crisp fall mornings and warm days. Three new businesses on Main Street Colfax....
The human tragedy and cataclysmic damage of devastating storms like Florence, Harvey and Maria are natural disasters that mercifully divert the news emphasis, just for a while, from the unnatural disaster that is the American political system. I don't wish to be flippant about tragic and costly storms, so I'll spare you the glib analogies, other than to describe an American society that is being overwhelmed by floods of distrust. The destruction is not just the result of one man -- that is, the demagogic, grossly incapable Donald Trump. Instead...
President Donald Trump is showing that it's possible to preside over a period of peace and prosperity and still be notably unpopular. Over the past several months, Trump has opened even more of a wedge between the largely benign material conditions in the country and his own political standing, which is precarious and appears to be sliding backward. This isn't how it's supposed to work. Republican politicos believed, reasonably enough, that last year's tax cuts would stoke growth and create a good-news backdrop for Republicans in the midterms....
I want to take a moment to recognize the people who made last week's fair such a great experience. The fairgrounds was beautiful, clean, and had a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The work and devotion of Bill Tensfeld, Janel Goebel, Heather Netz and all of their staff and volunteers, and of volunteer Steve Larkin, did not go unnoticed. --Mellissa Dugger, Garfield...
I am writing this letter in support of Sandy Jamison as Whitman County auditor. Sandy has the education, experience and practical knowledge for being an excellent auditor for our county. Sandy will "hit the ground running" and I’m sure we will be pleased with her performance and results. I have known Sandy for the past 15 years through our common support of and involvement in both the Whitman County and Washington State Farm Bureaus. I support Washington State Farm Bureau’s formal endorsement of Sandy Jamison's candidacy for Whitman County aud...
Last spring, Boeing revealed its proposed hypersonic passenger airliner which would fly much higher and faster than the Concorde---the only previous supersonic commercial airplane. For reference, supersonic jets fly over the speed of sound (660 mph or Mach 1), while hypersonics surpass Mach 5 or 3,800 mph. Boeing told the annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference held in Atlanta its sleek new airplanes would travel at Mach 5, enabling them to cross the Atlantic Ocean...
My first new car was a Chevy Malibu made in Detroit. A few years later, my wife and I bought a few acres north of Airway Heights and thought we needed a small truck. I wouldn’t settle for anything but an American brand and was surprised to find that our new Luv Truck was made in Japan. The only thing American on it was the Chevy emblem. My next truck was a half-ton Chevy made in Canada. It was followed by a Ford made in Mexico. During my rebellious phase, I owned a Harley that was made in Milwaukee. Thus, I was a bit surprised that the l...
The Cougars will have to be careful Friday night. They are playing the mighty Trojans in the L.A. Coliseum. The last time the two teams played WSU won. A fan was also injured by an USC player after the game. It can get rough on the field. It is not bound to be easier in Los Angeles. USC is mad. They are unsettled. Take for instance the fact that they have been beaten by Texas in two of their last three meetings. They are still steaming over the fact that one of their great stars was unjustly accused of murder. And to make matters worse, they...
Okeydokes The delicious seniors breakfast the first day of the fair ... the ladies appreciated the beautiful carnations too! Rosalia Lions Club ice cream at the Steiger Hotel. Flags this weekend in Colfax–WSU, EWU and Colfax Bulldogs....
This is one of those "good news, bad news" situations. First, the good news: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has communicated his continuing trust in President Donald Trump to make good on their deal, whatever it is. POTUS reciprocated by going to Twitter to thank Kim for his "unwavering faith." Now the bad news: Faith in Trump is wavering big-time in his own administration. If we can't trust Bob Woodward, who wrote in his new book that Trump's top aides go to huge lengths to block his craziest decisions, then perhaps we can believe Mr. or Ms....
The economic recovery is really beginning to reach into Trump country. The president is famous for his extravagant promises, involving, invariably, the biggest and the best. The landscape is littered with examples, although he never promised to create blue-collar jobs at the fastest clip since 1984, something he achieved in the first half of 2018. A labor market that has been rocky since the financial crisis, and hasn't truly delivered for many workers for decades, is robust enough to reach all corners of the economy, including Trump areas...
KREM news recently focused on Washington State’s immigration and agricultural needs by asking the two Congressional candidates, Lisa Brown and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, their views on the subject. Last October, an Agriculture Guest-Worker Act was introduced in the House of Representatives (HR 4092), but there has been little action since its introduction. Washington State is the third-largest agricultural state of our fifty states, and the Washington State Farm Bill committee said Washington state is in its the fifth year of a severe recession i...
Cathy McMorris Rodgers has launched a "Red Scare" attack about Lisa Brown, arguing that Lisa sympathizes with Russian communists because she wrote about Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Emma Goldman in her economics doctoral dissertation. Had Cathy bothered to "google" their names, she would have found that in the early 1900s, Elizabeth and Emma spoke and wrote about women's rights, birth control, women's right to vote and workers' right to organize. Elizabeth was a founding member of the American Civil Liberty Union which continues to defend the...
If you want to pay more taxes, vote for Lisa Brown. --David Stueckle, LaCrosse...
Since President Trump took office, the attention to social media has mushroomed. His pointed tweets are often the top news story each day. Twitter, Facebook and the other apps are pervasive and even though Google and some others have their share of problems preventing leaking of private information, they aren’t going away. Hopefully, posting will begin carrying a more responsible, friendly and constructive tone. While President’s unfettered tweets may work to his advantage, it is rarely the cas...
I received a call from my credit card company last week informing me that my card had been used in Brazil, and I needed to verify a thirty-six cent charge at a fast food outlet in Rio. I have never been to Rio. It is on my list behind Rome, Australia and Christmas Island, so I was pretty sure it wasn't me. My wife went shopping in Spokane that morning, but she hadn’t had time to get to Rio, so I ruled her out too. As neither of us had made the purchase, the agent for the credit card company said they should cancel the card and issue me a new o...
Last week was tough on President Trump. Advance copies of Bob Woodward's new book were released. Then an anonymous letter was published in the New York Times criticizing Trump and declaring that some of his subordinates were actively trying to thwart his agenda. Woodward's book has been roundly attacked by some. Others declare that it is a truthful depiction. As for the anonymous letter, published as an op-ed in the Times, criticism is strong over some of the assertions and the fact the author is undeclared. A wild chase is on to name the...
Okeydokes The new digital Gazette. The PDF option is great. The individuals that remembered to put out the flags on Patriot Day....
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Arguably these are even worse times than the mid-19th century, when Charles Dickens wrote his "Tale of Two Cities." In the 21st century, we have effectively divided into two countries, separated by impenetrable fortifications. President Donald Trump heads up the hordes on the right. Those on the left are led by, well, actually they're not really led by anyone. That's a big part of their problem: All they really do is focus their utter contempt on Trump. He's constantly making that easy for...
History is usually airbrushed to remove a figure who has fallen out of favor with a dictatorship, or to hide away an episode of national shame. Leave it to Hollywood to erase from a national triumph its most iconic moment. The new movie "First Man," a biopic about the Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, omits the planting of the American flag during his historic walk on the surface of the moon. Ryan Gosling, who plays Armstrong in the film, tried to explain the strange editing of his moonwalk: "This was widely regarded in the end as a human ach...
