Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 2882 - 2906 of 3750
Colfax The county commissioner race for District 1 offers voters two individuals who are sincerely committed to serving Whitman County. In this time of divisive budget concerns, Art Swannack is the right person to deal with the challenges our county faces. Art is very approachable and listens with an open mind. He does his homework and looks at issues from a very practical and fiscally responsible viewpoint. Art isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions and he is refreshingly succinct and to-the-point with his matter-of-fact responses that d...
Dream a Little Q&A W. Bruce Cameron Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2007. My dreams are so boring they usually put me to sleep. They bore other people, too. When I was young, my father had a rule that if I wanted to tell my family about my dreams I had to (a) keep it short and (b) find another family. But dreams ultimately tell us a lot about ourselves, such as the fact that we must be asleep. Thus, the fact that my dreams are excruciatingly boring tells me they would make a good episode of “John From Cin...
Elections are always important, but the stakes are particularly high this year with our economy stuck in neutral and threatening to slip into reverse. The economy will move forward only when employers feel confident enough to begin hiring. The choices voters make this November will either strengthen or weaken employer confidence. When you mark your ballot, ask yourself, “Will my vote help create real private-sector jobs for me and my family? Will my vote put us on the path to reducing our crushing federal debt? Will my vote begin to reverse y...
THIS IS WRITTEN before the first presidential debate because it didn’t mesh with my deadline so I will have to deal with that later, but I look forward to watching it and the slew of other candidate debates in this final month before the election. I am anxious to see if the news people selected to ask the questions betray their bias. You’ll generally know where they stand by what media they represent. It was the same here during the 30 years I was an active political writer expected to give readers the who, what, why and wherefores without ind...
The lines are drawn and opinions are set. It is hard to remember when Americans were so divided and so antagonistic to opposing views. The last time may have been more than forty years ago during the Vietnam War. The national debate over it reached much the same volume as we are hearing now. Then, as now, opinions were entrenched and few would budge from their views. Opinions in this presidential election, whether expressed in the media or over a cup of coffee, are rigid and unforgiving. All the harsh noise reduces the chance for meaningful...
When the so-called Affordable Care Act was signed into law, President Obama promised that health care would be affordable and repeatedly assured Americans that if they liked their health plan and their doctor, they could keep them. Neither promise has come true. Millions of people are losing their preferred coverage, tens of thousands of doctors plan to retire rather than deal with the ACA, and costs are skyrocketing. Last March, the Congressional Budget Office doubled the original cost estimate of “Obamacare” to $1.76 trillion over the nex...
Okay, since we are a little over a month from the election, and that’s all anybody talks or writes about, let’s test you on memorable quotes: 1 “It’s time to put aside partisanship, stop telling lies and start telling the truth.” 2. “You know, do me a favor. Could you say senator instead of ma’am? I worked so hard to get that title so I’d appreciate it.” 3. “I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs...
The Great Hoodwinki When I was 13 years old, I was a professional escape artist known as “The Great Hoodwinki,” except that no one actually knew me as that and I wasn’t professional. I thought that people would admire the clever play on words, since “Hoodwink” means “to fool” and “the Great Hoodwinki” would remind the same people of “the Great Houdini,” though who these “people” were supposed to be I had never really defined. Probably the local news anchor, a woman I had such a crush on that when her show came on the television, I couldn’t be...
The presidential election is coming fast. Although “election day” is not what it used to be, what with all the early voting and vote-by-mail options, election day is Tuesday, November 6. Despite the ticking clock, there is still time to register to vote. A presidential election with all the other federal, state and local races is no election to miss. Two deadlines are here now. Mail-in registrations must be postmarked by this Saturday, October 6. Forms are available online or at the elections office in Colfax or Pullman City Hall. Ele...
MARRIAGE LICENSES Timothy J. Cottrell, 25, and Justina I. Petry, 25, both Pullman, Sept. 21. Brett W. Josephson, 27, Pullman and Amy R. Keller, 26, Portland, Sept. 21. Larry W. Hickman, 21, and Crystal J.M. Blank, 20, both Pullman, Sept. 21. Randy A. Zehm, 40, and Maeleen E. Aston, 38, both Palouse, Sept. 19. Steven D. Tronsen, 21, and Roze L. Vessey, 24, both Palouse, Sept. 19. Christopher B. Holmes, 40, and Teana L. Gregg, 41, both Palouse, Sept. 18. Luke E. Davis, 18, and Cayla L.M. Leinweber, 18, both Endicott, Sept. 18. WHITMAN COUNTY...
No way To whomever thought that police sign on JJ Building Supply was a good idea.....don’t quit your day job. What awful public relations for such a “homey” town. How about some community policing, getting out there and interacting with the community on a positive level. How about common sense traffic control during WSU games, not that awful, intimidating sign. It gives a threatening connotation just by the way the officers are portraying themselves. “Stop For Other Reasons.” No way. Who would? That doesn’t help out this town that has so much...
Have you ever traveled to another state for your job, perhaps to attend a business meeting or a conference? Most people have. But few people realize that they may owe income taxes in that other state. In all, 41 states levy a tax on the income earned by nonresident employees during their time in the state, even if they’re just attending a conference. Each state calculates its tax differently — 24 states levy the tax from the very first day, while 17 others, including Oregon, Idaho and California, set thresholds of how long the nonresident emp...
ITEM—Mitt Romney comes under attack by the media for saying at a private meeting of his supporters and secretly recorded that he doesn’t expect the vote of Americans who depend on government handouts and have been persuaded by the Obama campaign that they are victims. He must reach out instead, he said, to the undecideds. COMMENT—Over 20 nations around the world were in turmoil as Islamic fanatics burned U.S. and Israeli flags and attacked those countries’ overseas institutions and citizens yet the media concentrated instead in its news coverag...
My Daughter’s Rejectable Boyfriends W. Bruce Cameron Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2007. As my daughters get older, they are more and more likely to thank me for what a good job I did raising them, so I’m sure that will happen any day now. They will recognize that I protected them from all sorts of dangers, such as serial killers, car crashes and dating. In fact, I’m still on the job — just because my daughters have both reached the so-called “age of consent” doesn’t mean I have to give it. My older daughter...
China and Japan are at odds over a couple of islands in the South China Sea. Chinese mobs have threatened Japanese interests in China. Emotions are high. Resentments and hatreds from World War II have been rekindled. Despite the dangers, the situation is a bit refreshing. Here is an old-fashioned dispute. It is a dispute over territory. For generations, the world has been fraught with religious and ideological conflicts. From Ireland where Protestants fought Catholics and the contests between the old Soviet Union and America to the current...
The county may be considering getting rid of its expensive and recently activated New World accounting system. The proper response to this is, “Say, what! We just got it working.” The New World system initially cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it quickly became a nightmare of problems for nearly everyone involved. And, the costs kept soaring. Total cost of buying the software, getting customized patches, getting it on line, staff trauma and turnover and training comes to nearly $1 million. Now, it has been discovered tha...
Important job In time of need, we surely realize just how important our volunteer firefighters and emergency personnel are here in rural Whitman County. The response to successfully fighting our Elberton fire on Saturday was a cooperative effort of the Colfax, Garfield, Palouse, Albion, and Steptoe crews. They kept the fire from moving into the timber and saved the nearby homes and county park ground. In our rural towns, the numbers of volunteers for our fire and medical personnel are dwindling. We encourage people to consider training for thes...
The Writer’s Lack of Support Group W. Bruce Cameron Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2007. As a professional writer, I will do anything to improve my craft, as long as it doesn’t involve work. One of my favorite methods is to participate in a writer’s support group, wherein a bunch of dedicated and focused authors get together once a week to discuss baseball. We each bring samples of our current writing projects to the meetings, and occasionally someone will interrupt the flow of baseball talk to remind us that...
Seattle City Councilman Bruce Harrell is proposing a new law that would prohibit employers from “discriminating” against convicted felons. The law would prevent any employer, whether they are a hospital, school or merchant, from looking at an applicant’s criminal record until late in the hiring process and, with few exceptions, would not allow them to reject applicants solely on their criminal history. Harrell believes convicted felons are less likely to reoffend if they have more employment opportunities. He told a television reporter, “Reci...
I HAD LUNCH with retiring Congressman Norm Dicks the other day which was a bit unusual since we haven’t exactly been buddies his whole 36 years in office. No, it wasn’t anything I wrote, although I have mentioned that when you’re talking to Norm he’s usually looking over your shoulder to see if somebody more important is coming along. But I have never questioned his ability and his dedication to his district. He’s smart, he works hard and he is much respected by his constituents and his peers. He has succeeded admirably in bringing home the bac...
Age Old Problems W. Bruce Cameron Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2007. Let me state for the record that I do not lie about my age — my age lies about me. My age has been saying that I’m too old to stay up until 3:00 a.m. at a Talking Heads concert, which is clearly not true. (Is Talking Heads still a group? Never mind!) My age says my knees can no longer handle a bumpy ski run, which isn’t true, either. My knees are fine — I’ve just come to believe that there are more fun things than skiing ... like, survi...
Recently, Matthew Rose, CEO of BNSF Railway, visited editorial boards in Vancouver, Spokane, Seattle and Bellingham to talk about a variety of issues related to increased train traffic. However, the 800 pound gorilla in the room was not train traffic, but the commodity those trains would carry: coal. In Washington, coal has been shipped by train for decades. Currently, about three to four coal trains a day pass through Clark County. Rose said it’s hard to predict specifics at this point, but if proposed export terminals at Longview and C...
HOW I MISSED National Dog Day Aug. 26 I don’t know, especially since I have a new dog. Well, he’s not new except in ownership. Jake turned 12 on Sept. 3. I didn’t really want another dog. Actually, I did after having to have Max put down because of a tumor that was pressing on his organs causing pain, followed by Daisy with a similar problem and Eleanor who turned out to have an advanced case of heart worms which her previous owner didn’t tell us about when we bought her. No more dogs, my youngest daughter told me, on account of she was the...
The changing flags on Main Street in Colfax have caused quite a stir. In the past, the local VFW and American Legion posts mounted flags along the main drag in town for patriotic holidays. It was a lot of work. Most of the members were veterans of World War II, and the job of festooning Main with flags got to be too much for them. Later, Colfax resident Bill Myers voluntarily took over the job. He put the flags up and kept them up. As needed, he would replace them and clean them. It was essentially his own project, but he is no longer doing...
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tell voters they want manufacturers to stay in America and create new jobs. The president even promised an audience in New Hampshire that he’d create 4.5 million new jobs, half of those in manufacturing. Why all the talk about manufacturing? Our country is the world’s largest manufacturing economy with 21 percent of the global manufactured goods produced here. China is second at 15 percent, and Japan is third at 12 percent. U.S. manufacturing supports an estimated 18.6 million jobs, with one in six people employed i...
