Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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On behalf of the residents on Catalona Heights in Colfax, we want to salute the efforts of all the firefighters this past Labor Day in combating the fires that engulfed many of our homes and property. We would also like to send a sincere thank you to friends, neighbors, and family for their quick efforts in saving precious photos and personal keepsakes when the thought of losing our home was a possibility. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our neighbors, Jerry and Loree Pugh and their family. Thank you to the wonderful community we live in....
I am a Colfax Volunteer Firefighter/EMT and was on initial attack of the Colfax West Hill Labor Day fire. I wanted to applaud the local citizens who chipped in to keep their’s and neighbors’ properties “wet” as we were attacking the large wind-driven flames. They need to hear their efforts were greatly appreciated. Terry Olson, Colfax...
Most schools in Washington state will remain closed this fall. Some school districts are tightening their belts in anticipation of the COVID-19 budget cuts that are coming. But last week Gov. Jay Inslee bypassed the Legislature and the decisions of local school districts to protect the jobs of unionized school bus drivers. He’s made sure money will keep flowing for school buses that are not carrying school children. Here is the background on his action: In early August, the school districts o...
Not only is the world in the grasp of the COVID-19 pandemic, but America’s western wildlands are burning up as well. Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters California has a dual crises: the massive wildfire complexes and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “At this time last year, California had seen 4,292 fires that burned 56,000 acres. So far this year, we’ve had 7,002 fires that have burned a whopping 1.4 million acres.” California reports more than 660,000 coronavirus cases. In Washington, the gig...
Last week, the Idaho House of Representatives approved legislation calling for Gov. Brad Little to end his state’s emergency declaration. Shortly thereafter, the Idaho Senate followed suit, albeit approving different legislation. Maybe that’s what our governor, Jay Inslee, is afraid of. Maybe he’s afraid our elected legislators will end his shutdown and tackle an ailing budget that he has yet to responsibly address. Or maybe he just enjoys muzzling other political leaders across the state...
With Fair time approaching, I’d like to pass on a great suggestion I heard from one of its supporters. Why not spend Fair dollars (and we’d all have spent ‘em!) on boosting our great downtown businesses? They’ve had a tough year; why not make a difference where we can? Melissa May, Colfax...
In the recent primary, King County overwhelmingly voted for “Unlawful Inslee.” “Unlawful” because a flu-like virus that does not increase the death rate does not constitute a disaster that warrants emergency powers. “Unlawful” because “the governor must terminate said state of emergency proclamation when order has been restored in the area affected” (Revised Code of Washington 43.06.210). “Unlawful” because mandates that suspend the Bill of Rights violate the supreme law of the land. Unlawful Inslee is King County’s pick. The theft of our righ...
In the early 1990s I was a deputy prosecuting attorney for Whitman County. One of the interesting tasks of my position was to be a member of a panel certifying absentee ballots. The other representatives on the panel were the county auditor and a county commissioner. This was before voting by mail, so these ballots belonged to Whitman County voters who had requested to vote absentee, rather than in person. There were never many absentee ballots at that time, perhaps 25 or so, and we would compare the signatures with the voters’ signatures of r...
Okeydokes Quick responses and hard work from county fire departments. Community response during pandemic. Especially the local teachers. Pet Peeves When you put free zucchini for the public to enjoy out in your garden wagon and somebody steals the garden wagon....
Now that college football season is gone for half of the United States, representing the most significant hit to the sports world during COVID-19, it suggests – since we’re still in this – perhaps sports administrators should use part of this time to look at what has been underlined by the past six months. Sports mean something to a society. Even to non-fans, who benefit from the social element and residual effects of a nation’s shared experience. So a few things to look at, how about, with the...
Here in rural Whitman County, we depend on the USPS to deliver medicine, or receiving and paying bills, for communicating with family and friends with letters, cards and presents, and even to receive this newspaper. If I had to use a commercial carrier for these services, the cost would be greater than I could afford. Now, as our mail service is caught up in politics, we need to realize mail service will continue to deteriorate after the election unless federal support is provided soon in order to maintain or improve this essential service....
Sunny summer weather helped restaurant owners and workers recover after they were broadsided by the coronavirus pandemic last March. However, as fall morphs into winter and diners are forced back inside, the big question will be: Are there enough customers to keep what’s left of the restaurant sector financially viable? The worst fears of many American businesses are coming true. With no recovery in sight from the COVID-19 pandemic, 72,842 businesses across the U.S. have permanently closed, a...
Okeydokes: So thankful for quality individuals who choose to extend compassionate grace, mercy and kindness towards others, especially during these tough times. Your life is a light. Pet Peeves: Spokane would like to be no. 1 in the nation in car theft, currently third (1,800 cars a year). Will train. People who let their dogs bark all day and night....
If you are high on anything—other than joyful life—do not get in a car. In the Friday Colfax Daily Bulletin, a headline read ‘Traffic infraction+drugs=arrest.’ In less than half a year of reading the arrest reports of people thrown in jail or charged in Superior Court, I have lost track of the number of cases that boil down to that equation. The redundancy is getting a little dull and boring. So why both reporting on such cases? Two reasons: one is the simple fact my job is to write about 5,000 characters of news four days a week for the Bullet...
The President and his complicit Senate installed a Trump crony as Postmaster General, an appointee who then cut postal worker hours, who ordered that it was okay to deliver mail late, and so forth. So what do we hear now? That voting by mail, a process that would keep Americans safe during our runaway pandemic, won’t work because the post office won’t be able to deliver ballots on time! Amazing! Destroy it, then claim as he has done before, “Only I can fix it.” Except, Trump never fixes anything. Next, he’ll want to fix the post office by...
We vote by mail in Washington – and I miss the cookies – but my vote is still counted. When I first started voting, I would go to the local elementary school on election day. I’d stand in a short line, get my ballot, mark it, then put it in the box. And on the way out, there would always be a big stack of homemade cookies for the voters to sample, brought by the election workers. Since we now vote by mail in Washington, I miss the cookies. But I still feel an added sense of pride in my country every time I fill out a ballot and put it in the m...
If Americans are to receive all of their electricity without coal and natural gas by 2035, they will need nuclear power. Even if Washingtonians, who already procure over 70 percent of their electricity from the hydro, are to be completely devoid of fossil fuel generation by 2045, they must have nuclear. Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act passed earlier this year by the legislature leans heavily on renewable fuels, particularly wind and solar. It calls for electrical generation to be c...
I love food--good food. I think it’s safe to say that all humans like to eat. (Unless you have some other issues, but we’re not going there.) As humans, we are biologically prone to certain foods like sweets and salty things. Food companies have expounded on this to the point of being unhealthy, but we’re not going there either. There are some really good eats out there, and we all have things we are particularly fond of and it can cause us distress to not eat those things. While I can eat a...
Each morning my husband and I read 365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World by Pierre Pradervand, which among others, encourages blessings for people engaged in different occupations, including politicians. Today I want to send a blessing to our Representative for the 5th Congressional District, Cathy McMorris Rodgers - to bless her for her ability to demonstrate integrity in listening to her constituents and promoting peace; to bless her for caring and advocating for people in need who are suffering and anxious because of Covid-19; to bless...
Oops! I missed a birthday. Our lovely drug prohibition is 105 years old, today -- March 15, 2020 -- Happy birthday, prohibition, and hats off, to all the people out there who are profiting from it. Prohibitionists claim that prohibition didn’t, didn’t, didn’t, create our drug problem. Then explain history to me. For 56 years (1915-1971), the US had a policy of drug prohibition, while England and Europe had a policy of legal drugs. The two policies had different outcomes. Under prohibition, America had developed a large drug problem. Under...
