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  • Allen (Lenny) Lyden

    Allen (Lenny) Lyden

    Jul 5, 2018

    Allen George Lyden passed away on Sunday, June 24, 2018, at Sacred Heart Providence Medical Center in Spokane. Lenny was born on December 19, 1942, to George and Betty Lyden, in Spokane, Wash. He grew up and attended school at Saint Aloysius and Gonzaga Prep in Spokane. During his childhood, he often spent time with his Aunt, Uncle and Cousins on the farm near Tensed. He played and loved all types of sports. Following high school, Lenny enlisted into the United States Army where he served two...

  • 'Don't it always seem to go'

    Jerry Jones, Gazette Editor|Jun 28, 2018

    Two reports last week about the same neighborhood in Pullman call to mind the anchor lyrics from Joni Mitchell's 1970 “Big Yellow Taxi” hit song: Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got `til its gone The Department of Transportation's project list last week for the eastern district announced a plan to remove an unused railroad crossing across N. Grand in Pullman. In Colfax, two Pullman residents who were introduced at Sunday's ice cream social or Whitman County Historical Society announced a launch for the Pullman Depot H...

  • A NAFTA World Cup?

    Bob Franken, Syndicated Columnist|Jun 28, 2018

    I'm totally puzzled: How could the United States, Canada and Mexico have successfully convinced FIFA, the international soccer governing body, to award the 2026 World Cup competition to North America, the first time in history that the hosts will be three different countries? But Mexico, Canada and the United States in a joint venue for a NAFTA World Cup? If President Donald Trump goes along as he has so far, the U.S. could be at war with one or both nations by 2026, or at least have built walls on both borders. Or maybe a wall of prohibitive...

  • Harvard's Bias Against Asian-Americans

    Rich Lowry, Syndicated Columnist|Jun 28, 2018

    The Harvard University admissions process appears to be an ongoing microaggression against Asian-Americans. A group called Students for Fair Admissions is suing the school for alleged racial discrimination and has filed documents in federal court making a persuasive case, based on data provided by the school. Harvard denies it, but one of the imperatives of the affirmative action regime in college admissions is that schools never admit what they are doing. The great and good at Harvard will insist that Asian-Americans all be called by their...

  • Pet Peeves & Okeydokes

    Jun 28, 2018

    Pet Peeves Parents who use the library for a daycare service drop-off. Clean the corner of Endicott and Fairgrounds Road. Okeydokes Town festivals where the volunteers work so hard to make everything run smoothly and turn out great. Thanks for all you do. Fresh new paint and look for some of the businesses on Main Street... Very refreshing and appreciate the hard work....

  • Role Models Are Among Us

    Don C. Brunell, Syndicated Columnist|Jun 28, 2018

    Too often, our sons and daughters tend to look for role models in lofty places and many become disillusioned by the bad behavior of some of them. Worse yet, some try to emulate that comportment. The most admired people tend to be the teachers, neighbors, pastors and bosses who live in our home towns. In 2013, Dr. Susan Krauss Whitbourne, a psychology and brain science professor at the University of Massachusetts, wrote in Psychology Today (PT): “Role models who uphold high ethical or moral v...

  • Open Primaries Could Move us to the Middle

    Frank Watson, Gazette Columnist|Jun 28, 2018

    I frequently decompress by laying back in my overstuffed recliner as I read the paper. I was doing fine until a sentence in a nationally syndicated column caught my eye and raised my blood pressure. This well known columnist said he didn’t want to understand the conservatives, he simply wanted to defeat them. Wow! So much for finding the middle ground. This ultra adversarial attitude is becoming more and more common. At my family reunion a few months ago, one of my relatives proclaimed she hated those damned Republicans. “I don’t trust anyth...

  • Whoa back, Mariners

    Jerry Jones, Gazette Editor|Jun 21, 2018

    The hard charge to date by the Seattle Mariners has left more than a few of their fans in the dust, or maybe the infield dirt. Longtime Mariner loyalists need time to catch up. It's like needing reverse attitude adjustment. The Ms are winning at a torrid pace, and veteran fans have trouble accepting, or maybe trusting, what has happened. Many long-suffering Ms' fans feel more that a little nervous. This could be some of an extended MLB scheme. Maybe a Charlie-Brown-tries-to-kick-the-football-thing. The Mariners have not been in the playoffs...

  • With Friends Like These...

    Bob Franken, Syndicated Columnist|Jun 21, 2018

    Now that President Donald Trump has totally alienated the leaders of the traditional U.S. allies before escaping from Canada, it's easy to see what he hopes to gain from that experience when he sat down with Kim Jong Un in Singapore. North Korea could give him some pointers on how the United States will exist as another pariah nation. No, we're not one yet, but the other G-7 heads of state could barely hide their disgust and were talking openly about becoming the G-6 now that Trump is blasting the Old World Order of trade agreements and so...

  • Canada is Not the Enemy

    Rich Lowry, Syndicated Columnist|Jun 21, 2018

    Justin Trudeau may be the annoying, youthful avatar of chic progressivism -- but he's not our adversary. After leaving the G-7 summit, President Donald Trump blasted the Canadian prime minister on Twitter as weak and dishonest, in the kind of invective once reserved for "Little Rocket Man." The Trump presidency routinely produces unprecedented events, and here is another: Never before has a president of the United States spoken as scornfully in public about the head of state of a friendly, allied country. Particularly one who has appeared in Vo...

  • Pet Peeves & Okeydokes

    Jun 21, 2018

    Pet Peeves Tearing toddlers from the arms of their mothers is beyond cruel. Americans must be better than that. Thank you for considering this, whether or not you choose to do so. Red flower pot with geraniums stolen from 214 Main Street. We try to make storefronts look nice and then the items get stolen....

  • Cemetery site

    Jun 21, 2018

    For the past year and a half, the Palouse city council has been looking for ways to increase the water pressure on the south hill, which is needed. An engineering firm looked at several locations for a water reservoir that would provide redundancy to the existing tank on the north hill while boosting pressure on the south side. The sites being considered is located in the Greenwood Cemetery. The tower height may be 70 feet tall and be situated in the northeast corner of the newest section along Wall Street. The city has filed a motion in court...

  • Interacts

    Jun 21, 2018

    The Rosalia Battle Days parade was a real hit. Battle Days Chairman Karen Rockness did a terrific job. It is heart lifting to see the parade gain back its status as a living function - so many thought it was dying. We had a lot of politicians in the parade, and I would really like to thank Dan Lebeau for letting my 10-year-old granddaughter pass out candy. She was thrilled. I am sure all three candidates for District Court Judge are qualified, but Dan takes the time to interact with people, showing real compassion for others. Kelley Messinger,...

  • Seattle's Misstep Highlights Need for New Approach

    Don C. Brunell, Syndicated Columnist|Jun 21, 2018

    Last week, Seattle’s City Council did an “about face” revoking the onerous corporate head tax it unanimously enacted less than one month ago. Its city council had approved an annual $275 per full-time employee assessment to fund homeless programs and affordable housing. The tax, which would raise $237 million over five years, was the subject of an employer-led referendum to abolish it. The handwriting was on the wall. If the council did not rescind the tax, the voters would. Tax suppo...

  • Fair Trade

    Frank Watson, Gazette Columnist|Jun 21, 2018

    It is popular to pick on our president. He makes it so easy that anyone can do it. The recent meeting with the North Korean dictator should have been praiseworthy, but President Trump’s unorthodox leadership style brought criticism instead. I have worked for some very good bosses and a few bad ones. The good ones were all predictable. I found it easy to support them, because they kept their staff informed. I knew what they were thinking and what they were going to do. Mr Trump, however, enjoys surprises. His offer to stop joint military e...

  • Frank Watson

    Jun 14, 2018

    Plastic Straws – Public Enemy Number One Seattle is leading the effort to save our planet from ourselves. They have joined Portland and a host of California cities in the battle against plastic drinking straws. A school boy noticed discarded straws outside fast food outlets and wrote an essay spurring environmentalists into action. The fight has spread from the classroom to city councils and state legislatures across the land. The first success I noticed was in Portland’s conversion to biodegradable straws. Some mornings I need my coffee to...

  • Don C. Brunell

    Jun 14, 2018

    Washington’s Expensive Culvert Court Case While much of the media buzz over declining salmon runs focuses on dam removal and predation by sea lions and cormorants, the U.S. Supreme Court is asked to decide whether Washington State needs to spend an additional $2.4 billion to replace more road culverts. In 2001, Western Washington Tribes sued claiming the state needed to remove culverts which block salmon migrating to spawning channels. The Ninth Circuit agreed with the Tribes and oral arguments were heard at the Supreme Court in April. The s...

  • RICH LOWRY

    Jun 14, 2018

    Roseanne Tells Nothing about America Valerie Jarrett, the former Obama aide targeted by Roseanne Barr, says the comedienne's train wreck should be a "teaching moment." And so it should -- about the poisonous kookery of Roseanne Barr. Given the political freight piled atop the hit revival of her TV program, it was inevitable that Barr's spectacular Twitter flameout would be interpreted as a portentous statement on Donald Trump's America. Chris Hayes of MSNBC says that her "problem turned out to be that she far too authentically represented the a...

  • BOB FRANKEN

    Jun 14, 2018

    Roseanne, Samantha and Kim Jong Un By now, you're probably tired of hearing about Roseanne Barr and her racist tweet. It was another case where the usual bottom-line-feeding corporate executives were forced to display a flash of conscience. Or they calculated that her show, which has made ABC millions of dollars, would now make them nothing but trouble if they didn't get rid of her in a big hurry. So, Roseanne Barr is now in the dumpster. What's interesting is the Trumpster's reaction. Even Donald Trump seemed to heed the advice of a grown-up;...

  • Are TV political ads worth it?

    Jun 14, 2018

    A Spokesman-Review article in the Northwest section of the paper Saturday heralded the unveiling of the first television ad for Lisa Brown, the Democratic challenger facing Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers in this year's race for the Fifth District representative. The race this year is proving to be competitive. The report includes a picture of Brown when she brought her infant son to a session of the State House of Representatives in 1993. The article noted $85,000 of campaign funds went to the current television advertising segment. The...

  • On the Record

    Jun 7, 2018

    MARRIAGE LICENSES Derek Elliott Oliver, 26, and Lydia Anne Miller, 29, both Pullman, May 11. Ryan Nels Collins, 22, Elma, and Kacie Paige Morgan, Pullman, May 14. Nichala Anthony LaFrazia, 23, Las Vegas, Nev., and Nicole Jean Manzione, 21, Pullman, May 14. Gulcan Semra Sahin, 30 and Kaan Koper, 28, both Pullman, May 14. Breitan Adair Haug, 18, and Kayla Bridget Owens, 18, both Pullman, May 22. Juan Jose Quiros Vargas, 31, and Vanessa Nathalia Vargaz Munoz, 31, both Pullman, May 23. Meghan Elizabeth Gfeller, 24, St. John, and Richard Lynn Kulm,...

  • Don C. Brunell: Straw Pulp Looks Like Win Win

    Jun 7, 2018

    Here’s a switch! Rather than closing another pulp and paper mill, a new one is under construction right here in Washington. Columbia Pulp’s plant on the Snake River will use a new technology that pulls cellulose out of the abundant straw left over from wheat and alfalfa harvests. The $184 million plant near Dayton is scheduled to open later this year. Traditionally, pulp comes from wood either grown specifically for paper making or as byproducts from sawmills. When fully operational, it will add 100 full-time jobs in Columbia County, which the...

  • RICH LOWRY: The Big Hysteria

    Jun 7, 2018

    One of the rules of our politics is that it's permissible to accuse the Trump administration of anything, and the claim that it "lost" 1,475 migrant children fits the bill. It has lit up social media and made the debate over a new Trump policy of "zero tolerance" at the border even more hysterical than it would be otherwise. The 1,475 factoid makes it sound as though the Trump administration had these children in its custody and then one day couldn't find them. Instead, Health and Human Services had placed them, along with thousands of others...

  • BOB FRANKEN: The Swamp Leaks

    Jun 7, 2018

    Let's give President Donald Trump his due: He's right when he refers to Washington as "The Swamp." It really does fester with marsh scum. What the Trumpster doesn't say is that he's just another of the bottom-feeding swamp cretins. Right now, you're probably muttering at me sarcastically: "Don't hold back. Tell us what you really think." Well, that is what I really think, a contempt of the political lowlifes and their petty con men and women inner tubes who keep them afloat in the contamination. One of their favorite survival tactics is...

  • A third party

    Jun 7, 2018

    Historically, third political parties have been on the fringes of the political spectrum, although they have played important roles in bringing selective issues to the fore. These parties have not fared well in national elections, but often, over time, their platforms and proposals have gained national acceptance. That was in a time that the two dominant parties were closer to each other than they are now. Both parties, Republican and Democrat, basically hugged the center line, although they professed important differences. The political...

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