Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1414 - 1438 of 3750
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...
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...
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...
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...
Usually, the only place to hear cultured British accents is anytime on PBS, but on the eve of the royal wedding, British experts were flooding the other domestic networks, making the U.S. news personalities sound like American riffraff (pardon the redundancy). They certainly had their stiff upper lips full explaining all the pageantry, accumulated over centuries of tradition. Even the Meghan Markle father drama was restrained, with Prince Charles taking up the slack. So we were treated to a jolly good show set in the splendor of St. George's...
Memorial Day has passed. Millions of Americans celebrated those who served and sacrificed for the country. Flags waved. Taps was played. Speeches glorified. It is an important American holiday. It pays tribute to those who have played such a vital role in protecting the country and for all it stands. Accolades and praise are just part of the holiday. Underlying it all are some very important principles that sometimes get overlooked. A current controversy is a good example. The National Football League franchise owners recently declared that no...
NOTICE OF ROAD CLOSURE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the following Whitman County roads/bridges will be closed to thru vehicular traffic as part of the Sand Road Reconstruction, County Road Project No. XFR 1600, pursuant to R.C.W. 47.48.01, for the time periods specified below: County Road No. 9060, the Sand Road from the Brown Road intersection, Milepost 2.53 East to the Idaho State Line, from June 12, 2018 thru June 13, 2018 BY ORDER OF THE COUNTY ENGINEER UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS of Whitman County, Washington....
REAL ESTATE Glen and Leilani Carpenter, Pullman, to Judith McDonald, house on Lost Trail Drive, Pullman, $249.000, May 11. Janice and Jan Busboom, Pullman, to Shane and Ann Lee, house on Banner Road, Pullman, $399,000, May 11. Steven and Carolyn Thomas, Pullman, to Shane and Sarah Corbin, Pullman, house on SE Dexter, Pullman, $382,000, May 11. Hamilton & Wood LLC to Eric Steinback and Tiffany Justice, 1979 14 X 66 mobile home on Professional Mall Blvd., Pullman, $32,000, May 11. Susan Bemis, Elkhart Lake, Wis., to Catherine Fox, Moscow, house...
Every now and again I come across something that is unbelievably dumb. It seems that there is currently an epidemic of very stupid things in the news. I don’t have space enough to cover them all, so I have selected three that my old friend Oscar would say, “are as dumb as a whole box of rocks”. It should come as no surprise that the second runner up comes from the far side of the Cascades. It seems that King County is suing the five major oil companies for global warming. The petition alleges that the oil companies provided the gasoline that ca...
In the second century A.D., Jewish rebels who had stunned the Romans and liberated a portion of Judea over struck imperial coins with images and a message of their own, "Year One of the Redemption of Jerusalem." The leader of the Jewish rebellion, Bar Kokhba, was fired by a vision of a united Israel with Jerusalem as its capital, which had been the exception during the prior millennium, thanks to the depredations of the Assyrians and Babylonians, among others. But such was the power of the national idea -- and his messianic zeal -- that Bar...
On Sunday (May 27), actor/musician Gary Sinise will again co-host the National Memorial Day Concert from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. It will be the 29th annual concert on the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day. The format is much the same as in past years. Sinise and Criminal Minds star Joe Mantegna team with retired Army Gen. Colin Powell to remember those who have sacrificed for our country, our freedom and our way of life. It will attract millions of viewers across our nation and at American military installations around the world....
Hiding science? Our federal government's war on science took another step after the president made a decision to cut the budget of NOAA. This agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is an American scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce that focuses on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere. I am one of Whitman County's volunteer weather watchers. I am also a member of the Palouse Citizens' Climate Lobby. All of us know how excellent weather forecasting has become, thanks to NOAA. Way...
A couple of generations ago, there was a story about a well-connected Washington figure who encountered a corporate type who was having trouble with government regulatory officials. "Oh," said the insider. "I can help you with that." Quickly, the bad situation went away. The delighted executive insisted that he be charged for the favor, and very soon thereafter, received a bill for $10,000 (remember, this was way back when). The businessman was taken aback: "That's outrageous," he complained. "I need you to itemize the fees." It wasn't long...
It has happened again. A school–this time in Texas–was attacked by a killer. Eight students and two adults are dead as a result. More are in hospitals. The shooter was a student at the school. Indications are that he targeted certain students and intentionally saved others. He gave up after what was variously described as 25-minutes of negotiations and gunfire with police. He is now in custody. It is a familiar story. Also familiar is the response. Public figures declare that something must be done. They offer condolences and prayers. They say...
MARRIAGE LICENSES William Roy Moore, 86, and Esther Lucille Stalnaker, 77, both Clarkston, May 1. Grant Nathan Schoenlein, 24, and Shyanne Nicole Knighten, 23, both Moscow, May 2. Scott Alan Kruse, 51 and Esther Matos Tate, 47, both Colfax, May 8. Brian Philip West, 37, and Hind Mawhoub, 32, both Pullman, May 8. Amber Lynn Hughes, 26, and Alexander James Brown, 24, both Pullman, May 9. Davie Melita Kipelian, 44, and Tito Beatrice Siampala, 39, both Pullman, May 10. REAL ESTATE Cougar Den LLC, Coulee City, to Stonegate LLC., Olympia, unit at Sto...
Mr. Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s attempt to influence the 2016 election is getting more and more press lately. The prosecutor and his team are not actually tasked with finding out if the Russians tried to influence the election. That is the purview of the FBI. The special prosecutor law limits special investigations to alleged misconduct of federal elected officials while in office. Thus, Mr. Mueller’s team is investigating whether or not someone in our government worked with the Russians in an alleged attempt to influence our election...
Rod Rosenstein is doing a star turn as principled defender of the law, but he's performed abysmally as deputy attorney general, and President Donald Trump would be fully justified in firing him. The leaked questions that special counsel Robert Mueller wants to ask Trump in a prospective deposition are, if accurate, a sign that Mueller has spun out of control on Rosenstein's watch. The questions (drafted by Trump's legal team after consultations with Mueller's investigators) suggest a free-floating investigation of the president's motives,...
America’s supply of affordable housing is shrinking and a bevy of government regulations on residential construction only acerbates the homeless problem. As a result more people are now living “unsheltered” in tents along the freeway or beneath overpasses because they can’t afford to pay rent or a home mortgage. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported on a single night in 2017, over a half million people were homeless in America. There were more than 21,000 people homeless in Washington State last year. In Seattle...
It's not something he does very often, but this time President Donald Trump was telling the truth when, in his rambles before the gun nuts -- aka the National Rifle Association Convention in Dallas -- he pointed out that the upcoming midterms will be determined by voter turnout. Turnout is always the be-all and end-all when it comes to any election, but it's particularly vital in this one. The Democrats will get the chance to demonstrate whether they can abandon their usual backbiting and lethargy, and instead channel all the anti-Trump horror...
The concept of a 51st state with a division of Washington along the crest of the Cascades has surfaced again. Reports on the concept, which has been around the block a few times in the past, surfaced in two recent editions of Colville's Statesman Examiner newspaper. One report noted a large crowd gathered at the Colville's Agricultural Trade Center to hear State Rep. Matt Shea, a Republican from District 4 in Spokane Valley, introduce what he called eight steps to freedom in order to bring about a state split and create Liberty State. In Shea's...
Printing technology of yore Two men watch as a third works a Heidelberg printing press, circa 1953. One of the men watching is wearing a shirt that reads "Original Heidelberg." From the Hutchison Studio Photographs of WSU and Pullman, Wash. Collection. Reprinted with permission. 125 year ago The Commoner April 28, 1893 Samuel T. Riggs was examined Monday afternoon before Justice of the Peace Zimmerman on a charge of exhibiting a pistol in a crowd. The evidence was very plain against Riggs. The...
Dear Savvy Senior, What can you tell me about reverse mortgages for retirees? My wife and I are contemplating getting one but want to make sure we know what we’re getting into. Running Short Dear Running, For retirees who own their home and want to stay living there, but could use some extra cash, a reverse mortgage is a viable financial tool, but there’s a lot to know and consider to be sure it’s a good option for you. Let’s start with the basics. A reverse mortgage is a unique type of loan that allows older homeowners to borrow money against...
Whitman County Commissioners met with Port of Whitman Commissioners May 7 at the Port office to discuss the PCC, Martin Hall, Port of Wilma, CERB grants and lowering the speed past Boyer to 25 miles per hour. From left, Debbie Snell, Michael Largent, Kristine Meyer, Tom Kammerzell, John Love, Dean Kinzer and Mark Storey....
