Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The Obama Administration announced it will begin providing Pell grants to federal prisoners, effectively overturning a 1994 ban on the practice. While overturning the ban requires Congressional action, the administration is circumventing Congress by designating the plan a "pilot program." If allowed to stand, the administration’s unauthorized action would be costly to taxpayers. From 1972-95, before Congress issued the ban, inmates received $34.6 million a year in Pell grants. Under the new pilot, prisoners will receive up to $5,775 for t...
Mt. St. Helens Don Brunell’s column of 16 July prompted an online search of “Mt. St. Helens recovery” because of his claim: “Nowhere is the contrast between managed forests and barren forest land clearer than on Mount St. Helens.” That’s not what I found. Five years ago Scientific American (May 19, 2010) pointed out how well the unmanaged land has recovered: “…the devastating losses had made room for remarkable gains – in terms of both ecosystem productivity and scientific progress. “Plants and animals that never stood a chance under heavy...
It turns out that everything we've heard about the evils of states and localities defying federal law is wrong. So long as a jurisdiction is sticking its thumb in the eye of the federal government on behalf of illegal immigrants who have been arrested and jailed, defiance of federal authority is progressive and commendable. Through the years, the left has created dozens upon dozens of so-called sanctuary cities devoted to frustrating federal immigration enforcement. On this issue, they are little islands of secession. Somewhere John C. Calhoun...
In political news, the cliche that somebody has "sucked all of the air out of the room," means, of course, that an individual has managed to distract from the many elements of a multifaceted story and put the entire focus on himself. That's what Donald Trump has been doing of late -- sucking all the stagnant air out of the campaign and replacing it with his foul breath. How's that for a tortured metaphor? But for those who have felt like they've been tortured by the All-Donald-All-The-Time coverage, take heart: He's very quickly becoming...
The Blob is here. No, not the famous 1950’s sci-fi movie starring a young Steve McQueen, but an area of abnormally warm water off the Pacific Coast. This concentration of warm water was first called “the blob” in 2014. Much has yet to be learned of the phenomenon. Scientists, however, are convinced that it may be a symptom or even the cause of some very serious changes in the marine environment. Whales are starving, starfish are dying in unusual numbers as are some seabirds, and krill, a fundamental part of the food chain, are declining. The b...
If only President Barack Obama were as hard-nosed and clever in undermining our adversaries as he is in kneecapping the U.S. Congress, the country's strategic position might be transformed. The Iran deal just went to the United Nations Security Council, months before Congress will vote on it, and got unanimous approval. The U.N. vote doesn't bind Congress, but it boxes it in and minimizes it -- with malice aforethought. After the U.N. vote, President Obama urged Congress to get with the program: "There is broad international consensus around...
The powers-that-be in Washington are just now getting their hands on the momentous deal the United States and other world powers negotiated with Iran. After years of hand-wringing and tedious discussions, Tehran has agreed to long-term significant limitations on its ability to construct nuclear weaponry. In return, the U.S. and other world powers will phase out brutal economic sanctions. President Barack Obama is staking his legacy on this deal. So what does that mean, everyone? It means, of course, that every Republican is against it. Never...
Not so long ago, citizens had to make their way to a polling place to cast their votes. Often, long lines made the process time consuming. Then, too, the weather might make even getting to the voting booth difficult. Arrangements had to be made to care for the kids. Now, all it takes to cast a ballot is to open the mail, mark the ballot, sign the security envelope and stick on a stamp. The postal service will get the ballot to the elections office, and the votes will be counted. Things have changed. But not everything has changed. Voter...
There was a time when wine connoisseurs looked with disdain on wines produced in the United States. Then, when California wines gained popularity, those made in Washington were viewed with skepticism. Wines fermented in Chile, Argentina and Australia were dismissed for years before finally being stocked on store shelves. Well, in the years ahead, you may see Chinese wines appearing in America and they may compete with Washington’s award-winning fine red wines. Surprisingly, some wines produced in China are getting good reviews, wine expert a...
Colfax Still Asking A long time ago my family and I relocated to Colfax because I had the great good fortune to join the Colfax School District staff. One of the very first persons to cross my path was Jerry Jones of the Gazette Staff, now editor after fifty fulfilling years. Immediately he started asking questions about where I was from and how did I see the future here in Colfax. Over the years Jerry is still asking the right questions and he is also still making the trips to far off places where the Colfax Wrestling Team was participating...
Grandmothers may know best, as Hillary Clinton has put it in tweets, but judging by her latest economic speech, they don’t necessarily get or like Uber. The ride-sharing service is synonymous with the new efficiency and convenience enabled by information technology, and is anathema to regulators and entrenched interests everywhere. Add to the list of its critics the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Hillary Clinton didn’t mention Uber by name but warned about the disruption caused by it and other companies in the so-called sha...
It’s easy to decide to ignore the eurozone crisis pitting Athens against everyone else over there. It’s too far away to worry about, and too complicated — it’s, uh, “all Greek to me.” But it’s not all Greek and not too far removed from our system. A financial collapse of Greece eventually would have serious repercussions in the U.S., no matter how insular we are. We can debate the sustainability of a European confederation and a common currency, but the truth is that the world’s economic system is so entangled that it actually operates as a f...
Donald Trump is reportedly leading all other Republican presidential hopefuls in the polls. The amount of money he has spent on his campaign thus far is not known, but he has garnered millions of dollars in free publicity because of his statements. For those who do not know, he has caused an uproar over his comments about illegal immigrants. His remarks about Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, caused an even greater turmoil. The outcries have been loud. According to the campaign pundits, Trump, so far, has done very littl...
Editor's Note: The following column was originally published in 2010. 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...
We associate air pollution with big cities, but millions of people are feeling the impacts of pollution from wildfires burning from California to Alaska and as far east as Colorado. It is one of the worst years on record for forest fires and we will spend billions to fight the fires and protect people, homes and businesses. Mammoth forest fires have been around for centuries. In a single week in September 1902, the Yacolt Burn engulfed more than a half million acres and killed 56 people in the Columbia River Gorge and around Mt. St. Helens. The...
You are hardly a name-brand company if you haven't dumped Donald Trump in recent weeks. NBC, Univision and Macy's all have thrown The Donald under the bus, in the heaviest blow to schlock culture in this country since the cancellation of "Jersey Shore." The carnage ranges across media, encompassing reality TV ("Celebrity Apprentice"), entertainment properties (the Miss USA Pageant), fashion (the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection) and even fragrance (Success by Trump). The shunning of Trump is in response to his, uh, memorable presidential...
This is a real dilemma for many of us in punditbiz: Do we ignore Donald Trump's noxious publicity-mongering and his obvious attempts to advance his candidacy with mindless and hateful demagoguery, or are we obligated to dive into his excrement, particularly since the polls show that Republicans consider him a significant candidate? I'm afraid the answer is a no-brainer, just like his rhetoric. He can't be swept under the rug, and no, that is not a joke about his hair. Much already has been said about his racist remark concerning Mexican...
The League of Women Voters has booked three pre-primary candidate forums, one for each of three contested races. Tuesday night marked the first of these candidate forums. Some details of the event are in the news columns of this Gazette. This forum was for the three candidates running for a one-year term as Ninth District Representative. Mary Dye, Pomeroy, was named to replace Susan Fagan, who resigned. She is now campaigning to be elected on her own. Richard Lathim, Pasco, and Kenneth Caylor, Othello, want the job as well. Still upcoming are...
Dr. Elson Floyd leaves big shoes to fill at Washington State University. He was just 59 when he died of colon cancer on June 20. From the day he stepped onto the WSU campus in 2007 he was determined to make big changes, and he did just that. In his short eight years as WSU president, he pushed higher education along faster than universities are accustomed to moving. He began by taking a page from Gov. Gary Locke’s playbook. In 2003, Gov. Locke (D) turned the state’s budget process upside down by establishing the “priorities of gover...
Everyone knows where the debate over gay marriage is going next. Now that the Supreme Court has imposed its edict on the land, the question is whether religious institutions and people of faith will still be permitted to act on moral beliefs that the court has portrayed as bigoted and deeply wounding. In his long prose-poem about love masquerading as a judicial opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy made a bow to these concerns. He cited the First Amendment for the proposition that religions and those who adhere to them “may continue to advocate w...
Now that the Supremes have handed down what President Barack Obama called the “thunderbolt” ruling allowing gay marriage, it is the law of the land, and it’s kinda fun to watch the various Republican candidates try to suck up to their conservative — make that ultra-conservative — base with varying degrees of intensity. There are those who are thundering their opposition, like Mike Huckabee, who promises not to wave the “white flag” of surrender to the decision. Even more contemptuous are those who try to go both ways, the Scott Walkers and L...
Jerry Jones, editor of the Gazette, just celebrated his 50-year mark at the Gazette. He joined the paper in June, 1965. This is a remarkable milestone. The story announcing his arrival on staff was primarily dedicated to the person he was replacing. It was a short story, on the lower right of the front page. At the end, Jerry was briefly introduced. Apparently, nobody imagined at that time that he would become an institution in the county. Jerry is a well-known figure. He can been seen at high school sporting events, council meetings and...
Some may remember the infamous Seattle billboard: “Will the last person leaving Seattle turn out the lights?" The billboard appeared in April 1971 after Boeing shed 60,000 jobs at its Puget Sound plants. The collapse spurred the state to diversify its economy. Seattle, in particular, has become one of the world’s hubs for software, health care and life sciences research. One of the key ways to stimulate innovative life sciences research is the Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF). Established in May 2005 to help attract life sciences res...
Bad Road My wife and I have lived here at 401 Draper/Brown Road for twenty nine years, and we don’t remember this road being this bad. I would believe it is from a lack of attention, rather than storm damage. Although I believe that has happened elsewhere. Our road is so washboarded now we have to hold on to our back teeth to keep them in. The problem I see with most Whitman County roads is they have no base except bedrock. Gravel will not stay put. It moves to the barrow pits in no time at all. I hate to think we have to drive over our road a...
Jeb Bush is onto something, and it’s a shame. A book he co-wrote 20 years ago has come to light again, just as he has formally declared that he’s an official presidential candidate — now that’s he’s finished sucking all the money out of being an unannounced one. In the book “Profiles in Character,” he includes a chapter touting the “Restoration of Shame,” his Scarlet Letter prescription for society: “One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and more young men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that...
