Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1316 - 1340 of 3750
In America, when people invent things, they expect their trade secrets to be protected by federal law when their government patents are approved. However, that isn’t always the case. Patent infringements are life and death for inventors especially when their ideas are incorporated into products made by larger and better financed competitors who avoid paying licensing fees. Too often the originators sue, run out of money fighting off competitors, and simply fade away. Until recently, our c...
A few weeks ago, I was in a serious discussion with a young friend who claimed that the Washington State tax system is unfair to the poor. I asked how he came to that conclusion, and he said the rich in Washington pay a lower percent of their income in taxes than the poor. I pondered that for a second and asked where he came to that conclusion. You guessed it. He said, “Well, everybody knows that.” I told him that I didn’t know that and would need to think on it. He got mad and stomped out. I knew that his claim had to have some basis, so af...
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has added a new Oscars category for next year: Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film. While the parameters for the award have not been set, the idea of it puts the blame on the audience for the telecast’s dwindling ratings over the last decade-plus. Are you at fault? Perhaps the Academy should look inward. Because, while popularity and quality are separate things, more often than not they converge. Actual achievement in film results in a movie b...
(A note from your writer: So much of what happens these days in the political realm is utter nonsense. Why not tell it in verse? At least there will be rhyme with no reason.) Every Who in Whomerica likes freedom a lot, But the Trump who lives here in Washington, Does Not! The Trump hates democracy, to the point of malfeasance. Now please don't ask why, we all know the reasons. It could be his head isn't screwed on just right, It could be, perhaps, that his pants are too tight. But I think the most likely reason may be That he has a brain...
Elizabeth Warren is branching out. The Massachusetts senator, who has made a career of unfairly maligning bankers and other alleged capitalist malefactors, is now smearing the criminal justice system, too. In a speech at a historically black college in New Orleans, she declared that "the hard truth about our criminal justice system: It's racist ... I mean front to back." Her riff is a sign that the Democrats are going to leaven their lurch toward socialism with a condemnation of America as fundamentally racist. The U.S. criminal justice system...
Pet Peeves Speeders on Main Street. Where’s the city police? Okeydokes Lovely flowers in front of Palouse Hills Computing. Makes Colfax look welcoming, and makes me feel good....
It was only a paritial count in what amounts to a sample election, but Tuesday night's return for the primary election put Whitman county back on blue side for the big race. Democrat Lisa Brown had 215 more votes than Republican incumbent Cathy McMorris-Rodgers. The Whitman return compares to Spokane county where McMorris-Rodgers was hanging on to a 500-vote margin in the early returns. This county's Democratic edge in the hotly contested race for the 5th District follows the blue return two years ago when Whitman was the lone county east of...
Enough is enough. The time has come for the media to reclaim our role and aggressively cover the Trump administration without the fear. We must disregard the constant bullying by him and his accessories after the "alternative facts," aka flunkies, aka stooges. The new stooge on the block is Bill Shine, forced out as a top dog at Fox News after lawsuits charged him with enabling all of Roger Ailes' alleged sexual outrages. That would immediately endear him to Donald Trump, and sure enough, now he's the new White House communications director,...
It's begun. We are having a debate over socialism. Not over whether it's fair to call Democrats socialists. Not over whether socialism has been good for Venezuela or some other faraway, unfortunate country. But socialist policies right here in the United States. The press attention to a new study of the costs of "Medicare for all," or universal health coverage paid for by the government that goes much further than Obamacare, is a sign that it is a live issue. Popularized by Bernie Sanders, Medicare-for-all is not just a fringy left-wing...
I am very disappointed with the lack of candidate information available for the primary election. No newspaper coverage for many positions. Very few ads with little details about the candidate. No voter pamphlet. Candidate forums held at night when I work. No candidate web page to review their qualifications and goals while in office. Only a couple flyers mailed to my home. I dislike voting for unknown candidates. As an independent voter I like to know something about each one on the ballot. Just to vote along party lines is not necessarily a...
Garth Meyer, in your editorial ("Heads and Tails"), you must be a Republican who doesn't understand what non-Republicans intensely dislike about President Trump. I'll clue you in on some major complaints: His sordid behavior towards women (grabbing their genitalia at will and barging in on naked beauty contestants), using high office for personal gains (Chinese government's grant of $500 million for Trump's Indonesia resort in exchange for Trump granting Chinese manufacturer ZTG U.S. made parts), his numerous lies ("I will give Americans...
By electing Rob Rembert as our next district court judge, everybody can win. All citizens of Whitman County win by having the most qualified individual sitting on that bench. Rembert has more years of experience and far greater breadth of experience than either of the other two candidates. Citizens of Colfax benefit by retaining John Hart as their municipal court judge. He is clearly the most qualified to retain that position. And given Dan LeBeau's success as a deputy prosecutor, he'd be a great choice to replace Denis Tracy as Whitman...
A sign on Highway 195 between Colfax and Pullman urges readers to "Vote Republican. Keep America moving in the right direction." But our current administration and Congress are moving us in a direction that many of us find unacceptable. We’re moving in deplorable ways to deal with the Zero Tolerance mess. Who’d ever think we’d hear the government suggest that the ACLU take over their responsibility to find parents of children deported prior to reunification, or that the wife of a decorated Iraq war veteran would be deported for no appar...
Believe it or not, there is good news to report these days. According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, last year Americans donated more than $410 billion in cash to non-profit organizations which is up from $389 billion in 2016. Additionally, giving by individuals represented more than 70 percent of total contributions. “Americans’ record-breaking charitable giving in 2017 demonstrates that even in divisive times our commitment to philanthropy is solid. As people have mor...
It's settling in. After eight years of one thing, we now have the flipside. Millions of Republicans simply could not take President Obama and now millions of Democrats just cannot take Trump. It's an even exchange, and it’s both of their fault. Whose transgressions are worse is beside the point. Something about Trump really irritates many, many Democrats, just as something about Obama was tailor-made to make so many Republicans never accept him. A few examples show it. Obama's “eloquence” and p...
Parasitic worms -- there are many of them -- are among the worst health scourges on Earth. The same could be said about the species that frequently infest the world of American celebrity. They're called WIRMS, and in this case, the opportunistic organisms latch on to the parasites, particularly those in the political realm. WIRMS is shorthand for "What I Really Meant to Say," and we've had an outbreak recently in Washington. It doesn't take an expert to conclude that these particular lice were brought back from Helsinki, where our president...
It's Tehran's turn for the "fire and fury" treatment. In response to Iranian President Hasan Rouhani telling Donald Trump not to "play with the lion's tail" because "war with Iran is the mother of all wars," the president fired back in an emphatically all-caps tweet warning of "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE." Since the last time Trump theatrically threatened a regime with destruction he quickly turned around and had warm talks with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, his Twitter account has lost some of...
Voters in Washington's 5th Congressional District have seen Cathy McMorris Rodger's ad regarding Lisa Brown's vote on Community Protection Zones. It is at best disingenuous. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is correct when she says that Lisa Brown opposed a proposal creating "community protection zones," which would "prohibit sex offenders from living within 880 feet of the facilities or grounds of a public or private schools" (elementary and secondary schools and universities). She forgot to mention, however, that Lisa Brown had argued that pre-schools...
Only two of the world’s 10 leading national economies don’t have carbon pricing programs: The United States and India. The World Bank’s Carbon Pricing 2018, published in May, reports 51 national and sub-national programs (in effect or scheduled to begin soon) that require companies that produce greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, to pay for their air pollution. The report notes that the number of such initiatives - either cap-and-trade or carbon taxes - rose sharply in 2017. This shows major movement for dealing with CO2 pollu...
I choose Rob Rembert as the next Whitman County district court judge. This choice is based upon my first-hand knowledge of his nearly 22 years of practice as a civil litigation and criminal attorney with Irwin, Myklebust, Savage & Brown. In addition to earning my respect, Rob is held in high regard by his clients and peers, as well as judges and community leaders. Did you know that approximately 37 percent of the cases heard in district court are civil? Rob’s extensive civil experience includes business disputes, landlord-tenant, breach of c...
For the past twelve years I have worked for Whitman County as a probation officer. First handling adult misdemeanor crimes in district court and for the past eight years working with juveniles in superior court. Within this time, I have had the privilege to collaborate with all three candidates running for the district court judge position. I also observed them handle cases that I was not a part of. All three candidates are exceptional and we are lucky to have such a difficult decision before us. However, one candidate clearly stands above the...
Jerry Jones ("Hey, thanks for voting freebie"), are you really that concerned about the state spending 50 cents of each taxpayer's money on postage free ballots in an effort to increase voter participation in our elections? It sounds like you really don't want even a few more people voting. --Mark Olson, Seattle...
Again we face bad air quality due to numerous fires in the area. I have lived in Palouse for more than 30 years, and only in the last three years have we had so much issue with fires and bad air quality. We used to open our windows at night to cool off and then close them in the morning and enjoy a comfortable temperature in our home without air conditioning. Not any more! We finally broke down and got a heat pump so that we can keep cool without opening the windows and letting in smoke! Why have we and the rest of the West faced such fire...
Rob Rembert's legal experience and expertise, community involvement and character make him the best-qualified candidate to be Whitman County's District Court judge. Twenty-two years of practice in Whitman County have given him broad and deep experience with the civil and criminal cases that are resolved in the District Court. He has judicial experience from service as a District Court Judge Pro Tem and a Superior Court Commissioner. Participation and leadership roles in the Pullman Chamber of Commerce, Pullman Education Foundation, Whitman...
I am supporting Sandra Jamison for the position of Whitman County auditor. I have known Sandy for more than 20 years and know her to be conscientious and diligent in her work-being a certified public accountant as well as myself. These attributes will serve her well in this position. She is level-headed and has lived in this area, so she knows the Whitman County people well. She has served in varying capacities both in the public and private sector and has worked with a variety of people in these organizations, which in my opinion, is...
