Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1395 - 1419 of 3750
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 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....
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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... Full story
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...
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...
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;...
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...
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,... Full story
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...
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... Full story
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... Full story
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...
Congratulations. You have successfully completed your public education and are about to enter the real world. It isn’t that school is not the real world, but it is a special world where you are not fully responsible for your actions and most mistakes have no real long-term consequences. You are considered children still learning the difference between right and wrong. That changes when you walk across the stage and receive your diploma. From the beginning of time, all cultures have had a rite of passage children go through to be accepted as a...
The battle in Seattle over the city council’s imposition of a head tax on large companies is generating disparaging labels which local elected leaders likely will come to regret. As a mayor, the last things you want are “anti-business” or “job killer” red letters stamped on your city’s investment opportunity portfolio. A head tax is a “job killer” because it discourages companies from hiring full-time employees and encourages employers to replace people with computers and machines. According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, businesses in Se... Full story
More difficult What is happening to this country I love? Every day our present government is making life more difficult for many people, the latest is separating children from their families at the border: and among those, 20 percent (1,500) are missing – some babies and toddlers. General Kelly reports that they are either in foster care or “wherever.” I am outraged and saddened. Who is thinking up these terrible policies? What’s more, standing alongside of these government officials day after day is our smiling Representative of the 5th Dis... Full story
We are currently engaged in a high-profile negotiation that may or may not succeed in getting the Chinese to buy more of our stuff. This is a fine goal as far as it goes, although that isn't very far. It doesn't matter if China buys $14 billion of our soybeans or $25 billion of our soybeans – it is still a mercantilist, revisionist power representing a significant geopolitical challenge. China isn't just a commercial but a strategic competitor with the United States. It seeks to restore its former national glory, establish hegemony in East Asia...
