Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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On Jan. 8, “The Gateway Pundit” published a piece with a sensational headline: “Bill Filed In Washington Would Authorize ‘Strike Force’ To ‘Involuntarily Detain’ Unvaccinated Families – Zoom Meeting on Proposed Agenda on Jan. 12, …” When the story hit, friends from all across the state began reaching out to me, some of them in panic. On one hand, I’m glad when Washington state politics make national news headlines. A bright light needs to be shined on the political process that is driving the t...
This House debated and voted on legislation impacting Washington state’s Long-Term Care Insurance and Payroll Tax, a plan created through House Bill 1087 during the 2019 legislative session. House Bill 1732 would delay implementation of the program by 18 months and delay the collection of premiums until July 1, 2023. House Bill 1733 would create four new voluntary exemptions from the program. I am grateful the governor and more legislators are starting to understand the many inherent problems wi...
House Bill 1838 asks Washingtonians to save fish habitat at the expense of rural communities. The bill proposes an expansion of riparian mitigation areas from their current range of 50 to 100 feet from the high-water mark to between 100 and 249 feet depending upon the site. Buffer zones of 150 feet along 1 mile of riparian zone are the equivalent of 18 acres of farmland. Most urban areas are exempt from the rules of the bill. If a landowner must remove more than half an acre of land from...
On Feb. 8, Colfax School District taxpayers will have the opportunity to vote for the next two year replacement enrichment levy. Since the Washington State Legislature began designating school district funds, the local levies have been given the title of “Enrichment Levy.” An enrichment curriculum includes music, arts, field trips, highly capable programs, college in the high school, credit retrieval, and elective course offerings. This levy will provide and enhance extracurricular programs such as FFA, FCLA, FBLA, Knowledge Bowl, clubs, athlet...
As residents of the Colfax School District, we can show once again how much we value the high-quality education provided by our district. Resolution 511 renews the levy for 2023 and 2024. It requests voter approval to continue to fund programs and services already in place, such as nursing, counseling, arts and vocational programs, and athletics, along with operational expenses like insurance and utilities. State funding just doesn’t go far enough, and the district is allowed to fill the gap by requesting these levy funds. They show prudence b...
The Colfax School District has proposed a renewal of the current levy in the Feb. 8 special election. That levy passed in 2020 by a 2-to-1 margin, and we Thrifty Grandmothers urge voters to continue their strong support of our local schools by approving its renewal. Although the state allows levy rates of up to $2.50 per $1,000 of assessed property values, the renewed Colfax levy proposes a rate of only $1.99 in 2023 and $2.00 in 2024. This levy will help fund essential programs such as nursing, counseling, the arts, and extracurricular...
The first order of business when Washington’s Legislature convenes in Olympia is replacing the state’s new long-term care law. It is fatally flawed. Gov. Jay Inslee and Democrats who control the state legislature wisely postponed implementing the sweeping “Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program” but it is beyond repair. It is time to find a better alternative. The new law, also known as the Washington Cares Act, is a mandatory, public, state-run long-term care insurance program. Beginni...
The 2022 legislative session began this week much like the 2021 session. It will be a mostly-remote session with online committee meetings and floor votes and very few legislators or staff in attendance in Olympia. Because of the increase of COVID-19 cases statewide due to the Omicron variant, this is what the majority party in Olympia has decided. It may not be what I would want, but it is the reality in which we’re living at the moment. TOP 5 ISSUES 1. Repealing and replacing the long-term c...
In a few days, Colfax School District voters will receive a ballot with the opportunity to renew the educational programs and operation levy. It is my opinion that equal access to excellent primary and secondary education is the greatest opportunity we as a community have to level the economic playing field for future generations. We cannot make every child in our district achieve their best, but we can provide every child the resources to learn and succeed. The renewal of this levy will ensure funding of essential programs in the Colfax...
I was sad to learn the Biden Administration plans to spend $1 billion to increase the nation’s slaughter capacity. Instead, the White House should invest these funds into open-access cultivated-meat research. For those who don’t know, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without slaughter. It’s better for the environment, public health and animal welfare. Cultivated meat requires a fraction of the greenhouse-gas emissions to produce that raising livestock does. Since animals are removed from the process, the risk of zoonotic disea...
My first session was way back in 1993, and as a freshman state representative, I was very humbled and excited about being elected to serve the people of the 9th District in the House. Now, almost 30 years later, I’m still humbled and excited to serve you and other 9th District residents, even if I’m now considered to be a Senate veteran. This year’s legislative session started Monday and is scheduled (by our state constitution) to last 60 days, finishing on March 10. This will be what we call...
Increasing river flows to wash young salmon to sea works; however, once water goes down stream, it is gone. What if we could recycle it in key parts of the Columbia River system allowing us to increase electricity generation as well? The Columbia River and its tributaries offer enormous potential for innovation. Power planners are looking for new ways to increase electricity output while providing sufficient water for migrating salmon and steelhead. The good news is we are looking at non-traditional ways to accommodate increasing power...
Do you think of politics as an uncontrollable monster? Is it an unstoppable beast you have no hope of influencing? Is it a Goliath? Do you want to ignore politics, and just live your own life? You may want to ignore politics, but politics is not ignoring you! There is no aspect of modern life that is not constrained by laws, regulations, and rules. From food production to energy production, from home building to shipping, from banking to monetary policy —it’s all politics. And many of the peo...
When Toyota speaks, car buyers listen. Hopefully, our elected officials will as well. It is one of the world’s two largest auto and truck manufacturers – twice the size of GM, our biggest. Toyota warns the world is far from ready to jettison gasoline and diesel engines and require batteries to run our replacements. For Toyota, it is not just about finding enough critical battery material such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, but it is about having enough electricity in our power grid to recharge t...
Well, more accurately, 2021 ended in smoke, at least here at the newspaper. That smoke came from the meltdown of our labeling system. And as a result, your newspaper was likely late. And for that we apologize. I want to assure you we are already in the process of resolving the issue. Hopefully, this edition of the newspaper reaches you on time, a sign that the labeling system problem has been resolved. Who would have thought that just getting your name and address on the newspaper would be such...
Let’s time-travel onto the bridge of the unsinkable Titanic – We’ll warn the captain to slow down, but he replies. “We like traveling fast! I don’t believe in icebergs, and a crew member agrees with me. Ships sink all the time. It’s natural. Besides, God won’t let anything bad happen to us.” The reply sounds absurd. In 1912, Michigan Senator William Alden Smith chaired the Titanic investigation committee. He concluded, “indifference to danger was one of the direct and contributing causes of this unnecessary tragedy.” So which was the real...
It ain’t over until the fat lady sings, Yogi Berra reminded us. Yes, Joe Manchin dealt us a setback on climate change, child tax credit extension, reducing prescription drug costs, etc. etc. etc. But if we don’t throw in the towel and leave the field prematurely, we can still win this, just not this year. We need to add some new hitters to Team Democracy in 2022 so we can afford to let Manchin and Sinema stay in the dugout if they don’t want to play ball. To accomplish this, we must get the voting and election protection bills passed immed...
In the Dec. 30 edition, the engagement announcement misspelled the name of Lindsay Webber. We regret the error and any inconvenience it may have caused....
As we approach the season of giving, it has become clear that the progressive movement has transformed the Democratic Party into the “Party of Scrooge.” At the national level, Democratic policies like runaway deficit spending, out-of-control theft and crime, a broken transportation system, open national borders, racist education policies, and “climate justice” tax policies have created the highest inflation rate in 39 years, empty store shelves, and declining IQ scores for our youngest childre...
Increasing river flows to wash young salmon to sea works; however, once water goes down stream, it is gone. What if we could recycle it in key parts of the Columbia River system allowing us to increase electricity generation as well? The Columbia River and its tributaries offer enormous potential for innovation. Power planners are looking for new ways to increase electricity output while providing sufficient water for migrating salmon and steelhead. The good news is we are looking at...
Washington motorists have choices when it comes to fueling their vehicles, thanks to the free market – but the benefits of competition, beginning with cost and quality, aren't consistently available throughout our state's energy sector. Reliable and affordable home energy continues to be a challenge for Washington, including locally. During the last summer's heatwave, for example, thousands of customers in the Spokane area were victims of blackouts that were intentional – outages that were del...
Tis the season when we take stock of our lives and wonder if we are better off. It prompts memories of “Christmases Past” and wonderment about “Christmases Future.” In some ways our lives are much better now; however, in other ways we’re in worse shape. Today, we have coronavirus vaccines, which work and are widely available. The Kaiser Family Foundation found the virus is deadly for all age groups in our country. Since June, Kaiser estimated vaccinations prevented 163,000 deaths. The vaccines...
With Christmas coming up, I’ve been out shopping for gifts for family members. During these busy times, I’m sure all of you have noticed (like I have) that many items in stores – especially groceries – have increased quite a bit in recent months due to inflation. Now, you’d think Gov. Jay Inslee would be well aware of the financial hardship that this historic inflation — we’re talking the worst inflation since the early 1970s — is causing families and individuals statewide. Judging by the...
Last weekend while shopping in a Colfax thrift store with my friend, I realized that I had left my wallet at home. I found a booklet on gardens for one dollar and asked my friend for a dollar. Although she did have her wallet with her, she had no cash, so back went the booklet to its bin. As I began to head towards the exit, a masked stranger held out his hand and said Merry Christmas. In his hand was a dollar bill. He was insistent that I take it and buy the booklet. What a generous and...
