Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1545 - 1569 of 3750
Added benefit Many folks have written in already with great reasons to support the County Library levy and school levies that are on the ballot in this election. I want to add my voice to theirs, and to urge your readers to consider the added benefit we all get from a healthy library and robust schools: a lower crime rate. As the County's prosecuting attorney, I've seen the evidence that proves that money invested in schools and libraries, and programs to keep our kids pointed in the right direction, is also an effective tool in fighting...
President Donald Trump has had impure thoughts about special counsel Robert Mueller. That much, we know. The New York Times reported that Trump asked White House counsel Don McGahn to fire the special counsel. When McGahn resisted, Trump backed off and left Mueller in place. Talking their clients out of bad ideas -- especially impulsive clients likely to blunder into gross mistakes -- is what lawyers are supposed to do. The Trump-Mueller episode is like the "Saturday Night Massacre" if Richard Nixon had merely thought about firing Archibald...
"If the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. If the law and the facts are against you, pound the table and yell like hell." We can thank Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and biographer Carl Sandburg for that bit of wisdom. It's standard operating procedure for trial lawyers and certainly for politicians, both of whom could be best described as "anti-poets." It's clearly a way of life for the most obscene practitioner of these dark arts. I refer, of course, to the table-pounder in chief Donald Trump, who...
It was spectacular. In fact, it was as spectacular as in the old days. Elon Musk, famous billionaire visionary, pulled off a coup that could change the world. On Tuesday, his company SpaceX launched what is reportedly the world’s most powerful rocket. It was a successful launch. Then, to cap off the achievement two of the three boosters successfully returned to earth landing upright and undamaged, ready for reuse. The third, programmed to land on a barge in the ocean, failed and crashed into the sea. The point of returning the boosters for m...
I wrote a letter to the candidates during the 2008 campaign. I outlined my three biggest concerns for the future of our country and asked for their position on these issues. I received no response from McCain but did get a note from Obama requesting a campaign contribution. Little has changed in the past ten years. Politicians still ignore input from the voters. I dug into my old files and retrieved the letter to compare it with my current list. I found that my number one fear for our country’s future hasn’t changed. My second concern is now...
Enriches lives I am writing in support of the Whitman County Library levy. Our Whitman County Library enriches lives in many ways. With 14 branches throughout the county, WCL offers programs for all ages, including preschool storytime, after school events, teen nights, summer reading, as well as informative speakers sponsored by WCL through Humanities Washington. Other services offered include internet and Wi-Fi hot-spot access, computer help, services to daycares, senior facilities and home bound residents. I appreciate the convenience of...
Chuck Schumer started a government shutdown he couldn't finish. The New York Democrat, among the shrewdest operators in national politics, stumbled badly because he succumbed to the siren song of the anti-Trump resistance. He believed that any charge could be made to stick to President Donald Trump, no matter how implausible, and chose the dictates of an inflamed Democratic base over common sense. His embarrassing climbdown after a short, mostly weekend shutdown shows the limits of the resistance. Yes, an anti-Trump midterm wave appears to be...
You are probably asking yourself, "What was that all about?" Just because the government shutdown ended shortly after it began, it doesn't mean that it won't happen again in just a few weeks -- and it definitely doesn't mean that our great leaders in Washington covered themselves in glory. Quite the opposite. They can't even guarantee that they can handle their most rudimentary job, which is to keep the federal government functioning. When all is said and done, the bulk of the debate was about who would be held responsible for this debacle. It...
#!*! People who don’t say “thank you.” #!*! Neighbors who don’t take care of their own yard and expect neighbors to rake leaves for them. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
All the attention has been on President Donald Trump recently, and very little attention has been paid to Hillary Clinton. She, of course, ran against the president. Right up to the counting of the votes, all the smart money was on her. She was predicted to win and become the first female president. We all know that didn’t happen. Many Americans were furious over the loss and claimed that Trump was not a legitimate president. Many Clinton supporters will never forget her loss, and some of the attacks on Trump simply may be because he beat h...
Too often, virtues and accomplishments of quiet leaders go unsung. Such is the case with John Spellman, former Washington governor and King County executive, who died on January 16 at the age of 91. Now many friends, colleagues and adversaries from both political parties extol Spellman’s courage, integrity, leadership, humility, tenacity, wisdom, inclusiveness, helpfulness and civility----all values of a strong and effective leader. John Spellman was the right person for our state during some of the most difficult times we faced since the Great...
A need As graduates and residents of the Colfax School District, we would like to encourage voters to support the Colfax School District ballot measures on the Feb. 13 ballot. There is a need to maintain and improve the structures for the future to benefit our students and our community. The measures will not only provide for new roofing, but also HVAC improvements and security upgrades. We will not only be protecting our investment in our schools, but also further ensuring the safety and security of our students. Dan and Lorraine Fulfs,...
The world fell on Donald Trump's head -- yet again -- when he said in a White House meeting that we should be trying to get immigrants from Norway rather than s***hole countries in the Third World. The media has treated Trump's remarks, made in a heated exchange with senators over a proposed immigration deal, as an explicit confession of racism. Why else would he scorn immigrants from places like Haiti and Somalia, while yearning for those from lily-white Scandinavia? He was almost surely trying to say that we should pick immigrants for skills...
Is it me, or has anyone else noticed that when someone is exposed for wrongdoing, the responses all seem similar? No matter whether someone is overheard saying something racist, credibly accused of sexual harassment or caught in some incredibly egregious act, if the person decides that it's futile to dispute the charge, his (or her) apology looks like it came from the same mea culpa template. Somewhere in each one, there will be words to the effect that he or she has had a lapse in judgment, is sorry that he or she caused harm or distress and,...
By order of a federal judge recently, the spring flows over Snake River and Columbia River dams will be increased. This is the result of all parties involved working out the plans for the change. The increased flows will start April 3 and continue into June. It is thought that the increased flows will give juvenile steelhead and salmon a better chance of survival on their way to the ocean. The increased flows will get them to the ocean faster and help them avoid some of the dangers associated with the dams. For years, the debate over saving...
Earlier this month, China launched its “national sword” policy which bans many recyclable materials it traditionally imported. Meanwhile, its upcoming March edict imposing a lower limit on contaminants is having global reverberations. Since the 1990s, the world has shipped the bulk of its used paper, plastics and metals to China. In 2016, its imported value was $18 billion. Nearly one-third of North America’s recyclables were processed in China---much of it from West Coast states. China was hungry for scrap and tolerated higher conta...
Basic needs After a good deal of study, the Colfax Schools have decided to put a bond proposition before the voters on the Feb. 13 ballot. I have been looking at the information related to the bond and intend to vote "yes". This bond is needed to take care of basic facilities needs like roofs, HVAC systems and asbestos removal. The bond also invests money in much-needed renovations to all classrooms, the JES gymnasium, the auditorium and the high school gymnasium. In reviewing the information, it is clear that a tremendous amount of work will...
If Hillary Clinton could deliver a political speech half as effectively as Oprah Winfrey, she might be president today. The actress, media mogul and erstwhile queen of daytime TV gave what, if she ever becomes president, will be known to history as the Golden Globes Address. The first de facto convention speech ever delivered at an awards show, it brought down the house and predictably stoked talk of Oprah 2020. In the era Before Trump, this would have been risible. Once upon a time, military service, political experience, a policy portfolio...
Tweety Bird Trump is at it again. Actually, he never really stops. I'm referring, of course, to President Tweety Bird Trump. One has to show all the due respect, and that is all I can muster. So Tweety is pecking away as he starts off the new year with his Twitter bombast bomb blasts. Most of his output is the routine ridiculous stuff: He suggests that another political opponent -- in this case Huma Abedin, who has been attached at the hip to Hillary Clinton her entire adult life -- should be jailed for her sloppy handling of classified...
#!*! For too long women have not been heard or believed if they dare to speak the truth. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
The Colfax School District is seeking voter approval for a bond for improvements and repairs to its school buildings. A long list of needs justify the bond and should justify voter approval. The needs list is extensive and important. The requested bond is for $18.9 million. Both Jennings Elementary and Colfax Junior/Senior High School are older buildings and have been in use since the 1950s. A school building in Pullman, built at virtually the same time as Jennings, was torn down several years ago. It is said that the building had so...
Our parents drilled into our heads that saying “please” and “thank you” were not only part of everyday life, but were essential to operating a successful business. They are the basic ingredients of “Good Manners.” For more than 30 years, our family owned and operated the garbage collection business for Walkerville, a small incorporated Montana city north of Butte. It was a part-time operation, which required about 8 hours a week. In the early 1950s, our family posted a $100 bond and took it over. Previous owners thought it was too small to be...
Astounded It utterly astounds me that the leader of the United States is again attacking one of our most important rights and freedoms - free speech. For the president to argue that libel laws are too weak, well, let's examine how the change he wants could work locally: City, county and state officials and employees routinely are criticized by newspapers and residents. Public criticism of them is one of our rights. Some of those complaints are legitimate and some of them are unfair. However, unfair or not, those government personnel could not s...
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty much footballed out. After the college Division I championship, the other professional league, the NFL, will decide who's No. 1 with its playoffs and the Super Bowl, of course. The Super Bowl has become a grotesque salute to so much of what makes America what we are these days: extremely expensive excess that is only for the filthy rich; a garish halftime show; the intrigue this year about which players will ignore its contrived patriotism; and, certainly, the game itself, with injuries on seemingly every...
YYYY Tammy Lewis for volunteering to raise money for the Colfax pool. YYYY Colfax Rotary for generously donating toward pool fund. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
