Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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I attended the Odessa School Board meeting on March 22. I fear this is only the catalyst. I am in disbelief. I am an alum of Odessa schools and a teacher. From a professional perspective, I cannot fathom conducting myself in any way that would harm a student. Educators’ responsibility to student safety and respect supersedes any other. I care about my students. There are times classroom behaviors require sternness, but never screaming, putting your hands on a student or insulting or demeaning them. There have always been small-town-type problem...
Parents’ Bill of Rights? Sounds OK until you see who supports it and why. House Resolution No. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Reading the “five pillars of H.R. 5,” one senses that in normal times this legislation, though unnecessary, would seem quite innocent. But these aren’t normal times. The second pillar, “Parents have the right to be heard,” is being greatly debased by many Republicans. Perhaps the greatest evidence H.R. 5 is bad legislation is that MAGA and House Republicans...
Do patients have a right to know if an insurance plan is going to force them to use a mail-order pharmacy or the insurance-owned mail order system during open enrollment? Do patients have a right to chose who they receive medical and pharmaceutical care from? As a pharmacist at a local independent pharmacy, I have been fielding questions from patients using Kaiser Permanente insurance, who began receiving letters indicating they must transfer their prescriptions to a Kaiser pharmacy for continued coverage. Starting in January, the Kaiser...
Who would have ever imagined that a fashion would prevail whereby women would purposely choose to look “not pretty?” I am past 80, no longer pretty and right in style. I just wish the green, purple and orange-haired people would add a big red nose, which would be a sign that it’s OK for their audience to “Laugh Out Loud (LOL).” Amazed in 2023 Nancy Parry Moscow, Idaho...
We all need to understand climate science. Climate fundamentals are simple: Sunshine warms the Earth, and the Earth radiates heat back into space as infrared. Earth’s temperature results from how much radiant heat gets trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. GHGs are trace gases but have a disproportionate influence on temperatures. Nitrogen, oxygen and argon represent 78%, 21%, and 0.9% of our atmosphere and are not greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases only make up a fraction of the remaining 0.1%; gases such as carbon-dioxide, methane a...
If you are a State employee in Whitman County, please contact the State Health Care Authority and your legislators about the new requirement from Kaiser Insurance, with approval from PEBB, restricting us to using only Kaiser pharmacies. This policy took effect Jan. 1, yet we were not notified. Why was this not disclosed during the open enrollment period when we could have selected another provider? To use a Kaiser Pharmacy, we will have to travel 60 miles each way to Spokane. Due to the distance, that could mean time off work, miles on our...
Those who think tougher drug laws will solve the drug problem need to learn the relevant history and economics. For fifty-six years (1915-1971) America was alone in drug prohibition, while Europe stayed with legal drugs. It was America that developed the drug problem. (Drug Addicts Are Human Beings, by Henry Smith Williams, MD, 1929; The Drug Hang-up, Rufus King, 1972; and Agency of Fear, by Edward Jay Epstein, 1977) Doctors used to keep their patients’ habits stabilized. Their patients continued to be successful in their marital, p...
The Colfax Rotary Club is a service organization serving the Colfax community. Our club was established in 1950. Colfax Rotary has owned and maintained the Daniel W. Henry Little League Field since the early 1950’s. As a kid I remember playing on that field in the early 1960’s and attending their annual Little League Breakfast, which continues still today. There is also a soccer field and a few years ago, a softball field was added. The Rotary club took tickets at the Palouse Empire Fair for many years. The club sells fireworks each Fourth of...
Throughout history, there have been two political parties — one for the people, and one for the aristocracy. At times, the party for the people has been snuffed out. This is one of those times. The “Democrat/RINO” party and “Republican/Trump” party are both for the billionaire class. If in doubt, one needs only to look at government spending, which consists of an enormous transfer of wealth from the working people to the billionaires. If further proof is required, government’s violations of the Bill of Rights illuminate how all three branc...
The 3-blade electric power generating wind mills in Washington State are, in my opinion, eyesores. The large size of these machines, with the vapid, continuous motion of their huge blades degrades the natural beauty of the landscape in the scenic state of Washington. In the vicinity of Rosalia; and, in the vicinity of Dayton and Pomeroy; and, in the million-dollar scenic view in the vicinity of Briggs Junction in the Columbia River Gorge; and, in many other places in Washington State these huge pieces of machinery degrade the beauty of scenic...
Partisan state senator Mark Schoesler misses the mark again when he complains about the supposed tax and services imbalance between the two different sides of Washington. He calls free public transportation for west side children discriminatory against eastern Washington taxpayers, who supposedly have to “pick up the tab.” However, children are children, no matter where they live and whether their parents are Democrats or not. Why wouldn’t most voters be happy to pay the extra pittance in taxes to keep children out of the rain and from walki...
You and I may not always agree on who the bums are, but we know that “You’re out!” is a cornerstone of our democracy. Lobbyists, dark money and blind ambition can be thwarted, but only If we vote, and this November, only if we vote against candidates who refuse to accept election outcomes unless they win. Heads I win, tails you lose will not work. Our democracy is on the brink of skidding off the rails into the ditch of autocracy, and the chaos and economic meltdown that history leads us to expect will follow. Those Venezuelan refugees DeSan...
A report released last week by the Washington State Hospital Association indicates that virtually every hospital in the state is in financial trouble. (here) A recent survey revealed that hospital revenues were up five percent from 2021 to 2022, yet expenses rose 11 percent over the same time period. This is unsustainable. Several, if not many, hospitals are at risk of closing if these losses continue for another year. This includes both rural and urban facilities. Executives give a number of...
I officially began my internship at the Whitman County Gazette in January. I was 19 years old, a sophomore in college and contemplating what my future would look like. I came from Detroit to reconnect with my family and friends, explore and grow. Living in a crime-filled city like Detroit never had the glamor that Gotham did with its cape-wearing vigilantes. Just prior to the start of my internship, I had made the choice to consider the Army for the multiple benefits available toward my...
Mike Largent has put his personal life on hold in order to give Whitman County the expertise which we are used to. He has proved in the past he has all the qualifications Whitman County needs in a county commissioner. Whitman County is an agricultural-based county, and as such needs the leadership offered by Mike Largent, a lifelong farmer who well understands the challenges our county faces. Kelley Messinger Thornton...
I just listened to a campaign ad for Patty Murray, who is seeking another term as our senator. She stated she will fight for us for lower prescription prices, inflation, high gas prices, public safety and a cornucopia of problems we face daily. The senator has been in office since 1993. If she is re-elected, that means she has been in office for 30 years. With all of her experience, why is this the same message over and over with no resolution? More to the point, how did she allow all of these things to happen? I rarely hear that she is in our...
The back roads of the Palouse are beautiful this time of year. But there’s a lot more to see if you traverse them on a motorcycle. A couple weeks back, after looking at the cost of gas and the weather forecast, I rode my Harley-Davidson to work for the first time this summer. I don’t have a fancy bike; it’s a simple Sportster – no flashy chrome, no windshield or fairing, no saddlebags. It’s kind of a modern day version of the iconic Triumphs James Dean and Marlon Brando rode decades ago. Usua...
Surprisingly, recent U.S. Presidents and congressional Democrats and Republicans agree America’s economic and national security hinge upon tiny, yet powerful semiconductors. Semiconductor computer chips are the brains of modern electronics that operate our laptop computers, vehicles, and smart phones. They permeate every sector of our lives from farming and manufacturing to health care and public safety. They are embedded in our most advanced military equipment and weapons. Sophisticated semicon...
For people considering self-inflicted death, there is an opportunity of 10 minutes or less to intervene and potentially change that course of action. July 16 marked a milestone in the national mental health discussion with the roll out of the 9-8-8 call system. Previously, anyone in crisis was encouraged to call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). In 2020, Congress enacted legislation requiring the shortening of the crisis lifeline to 9-8-8 to make it easier for...
Agency rules pushed us into drug prohibition In his July 7, 2022 column, publisher Roger Harnack bemoans excessive “law-making” by agencies. I would join with him, pointing to the Harrison Narcotic Tax Act of 1914. Congress wanted to raise revenue by taxing the flow of narcotics from doctor to patient. Naturally, they assigned this revenue measure to the Treasury Department to administer. Evidently, the agency saw more growth potential in enforcing a prohibition than in just collecting a tax, because it inserted drug prohibition into the admini...
Did you know the governor’s office is currently negotiating pay and compensation with state employee unions for the state’s 2023-25 budget? What is on the table? Will the outcome of these secret talks be no tax cuts for Washingtonians but big inflation pay raises for government employees? That answer is currently a mystery since these government pay raise talks happen in secrecy without disclosure of the financial details until the deal is reached. Why is this secret process occurring? In 200...
A draft of the “Lower Snake River Dams Benefit Replacement Report,” requested by Washington’s U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee last fall, recently was released to the public. While intended to make the case for breaching the four dams between Clarkston and the Tri-Cities, the report ironically makes a good case for keeping the dams. The report estimates it will cost between $10-$27 billion to replace the benefits provided by the four dams. Knowing how government projects usually go ov...
While critics contend the U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants was a “gut punch;” it wasn’t. The Court appropriately threw the ball back to Congress to rectify. By a 6-3 vote, the Court said that the federal Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) broad authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming...
Gas can issues resolved by high gasoline prices I can’t believe it. The government bureaucracy has actually fixed a problem of its own creation. I’m talking portable gasoline containers here. As you are probably aware, the federally mandated gas containers are a mess. Literally a mess. A highly flammable mess. If you have used one of the new gas cans, you know what I mean. You cannot get gasoline into the things without spilling and you cannot get any out without three hands. When I was a kid in the 1950s, gas cans were simple and they wor...
I was happy to learn the San Francisco-based company Eat Just is planning to build the world’s biggest cultivated-meat factory in the U.S. For those who don’t know, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without slaughter. The planned facility will have ten 250,000-liter bioreactors, capable of producing 30 million pounds of protein every year. Despite such amazing progress in the private sector, more federal funding for cellular-agriculture research is necessary to help make cultivated-meat competitive with the price of its sla...
