Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1557 - 1581 of 3749
Is it me, or has anyone else noticed that when someone is exposed for wrongdoing, the responses all seem similar? No matter whether someone is overheard saying something racist, credibly accused of sexual harassment or caught in some incredibly egregious act, if the person decides that it's futile to dispute the charge, his (or her) apology looks like it came from the same mea culpa template. Somewhere in each one, there will be words to the effect that he or she has had a lapse in judgment, is sorry that he or she caused harm or distress and,...
By order of a federal judge recently, the spring flows over Snake River and Columbia River dams will be increased. This is the result of all parties involved working out the plans for the change. The increased flows will start April 3 and continue into June. It is thought that the increased flows will give juvenile steelhead and salmon a better chance of survival on their way to the ocean. The increased flows will get them to the ocean faster and help them avoid some of the dangers associated with the dams. For years, the debate over saving...
Earlier this month, China launched its “national sword” policy which bans many recyclable materials it traditionally imported. Meanwhile, its upcoming March edict imposing a lower limit on contaminants is having global reverberations. Since the 1990s, the world has shipped the bulk of its used paper, plastics and metals to China. In 2016, its imported value was $18 billion. Nearly one-third of North America’s recyclables were processed in China---much of it from West Coast states. China was hungry for scrap and tolerated higher conta... Full story
Basic needs After a good deal of study, the Colfax Schools have decided to put a bond proposition before the voters on the Feb. 13 ballot. I have been looking at the information related to the bond and intend to vote "yes". This bond is needed to take care of basic facilities needs like roofs, HVAC systems and asbestos removal. The bond also invests money in much-needed renovations to all classrooms, the JES gymnasium, the auditorium and the high school gymnasium. In reviewing the information, it is clear that a tremendous amount of work will...
If Hillary Clinton could deliver a political speech half as effectively as Oprah Winfrey, she might be president today. The actress, media mogul and erstwhile queen of daytime TV gave what, if she ever becomes president, will be known to history as the Golden Globes Address. The first de facto convention speech ever delivered at an awards show, it brought down the house and predictably stoked talk of Oprah 2020. In the era Before Trump, this would have been risible. Once upon a time, military service, political experience, a policy portfolio...
Tweety Bird Trump is at it again. Actually, he never really stops. I'm referring, of course, to President Tweety Bird Trump. One has to show all the due respect, and that is all I can muster. So Tweety is pecking away as he starts off the new year with his Twitter bombast bomb blasts. Most of his output is the routine ridiculous stuff: He suggests that another political opponent -- in this case Huma Abedin, who has been attached at the hip to Hillary Clinton her entire adult life -- should be jailed for her sloppy handling of classified... Full story
#!*! For too long women have not been heard or believed if they dare to speak the truth. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
The Colfax School District is seeking voter approval for a bond for improvements and repairs to its school buildings. A long list of needs justify the bond and should justify voter approval. The needs list is extensive and important. The requested bond is for $18.9 million. Both Jennings Elementary and Colfax Junior/Senior High School are older buildings and have been in use since the 1950s. A school building in Pullman, built at virtually the same time as Jennings, was torn down several years ago. It is said that the building had so...
Our parents drilled into our heads that saying “please” and “thank you” were not only part of everyday life, but were essential to operating a successful business. They are the basic ingredients of “Good Manners.” For more than 30 years, our family owned and operated the garbage collection business for Walkerville, a small incorporated Montana city north of Butte. It was a part-time operation, which required about 8 hours a week. In the early 1950s, our family posted a $100 bond and took it over. Previous owners thought it was too small to be...
Astounded It utterly astounds me that the leader of the United States is again attacking one of our most important rights and freedoms - free speech. For the president to argue that libel laws are too weak, well, let's examine how the change he wants could work locally: City, county and state officials and employees routinely are criticized by newspapers and residents. Public criticism of them is one of our rights. Some of those complaints are legitimate and some of them are unfair. However, unfair or not, those government personnel could not s...
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty much footballed out. After the college Division I championship, the other professional league, the NFL, will decide who's No. 1 with its playoffs and the Super Bowl, of course. The Super Bowl has become a grotesque salute to so much of what makes America what we are these days: extremely expensive excess that is only for the filthy rich; a garish halftime show; the intrigue this year about which players will ignore its contrived patriotism; and, certainly, the game itself, with injuries on seemingly every...
YYYY Tammy Lewis for volunteering to raise money for the Colfax pool. YYYY Colfax Rotary for generously donating toward pool fund. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office... Full story
Hang onto your hats. The true state of our politics may finally become clear. Oprah Winfrey, after a speech at the Golden Globes, is being heralded as a possible candidate for president of the United States. Her speech dazzled the celebrities at the affair and pushed her even higher into the stratosphere of fame. President Donald Trump was elected in part because of his celebrity. It is not impossible that Oprah’s fame could catapult her to the White House. She is everywhere. Currently, she promotes a weight loss program and the line of ...
Our Governor’s plan to raid the state contingency fund to pay for schools, then repay the fund with a new tax, violates sound financial principles. Creating a budget is not rocket science. The basic principles are the same for every organization, be they military units, government agencies or families. The first step is to list all the possible demands for funds that you can think of. A good budget also includes regular inputs into an emergency fund to take care of those things that you didn’t think of. Step two is to arrange all these nec...
Curbside recycling bins are packed with cardboard shipping boxes from Christmas online shopping. The uptick in consumer shipments is not only good news for the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and UPS, but our nation’s papermakers. According to Mastercard Spending Pulse, U.S. year-end holiday retail sales rose nearly five percent compared to the same period last year while online purchases shot up more than 18 percent. USA Today reported “despite thousands of store closings this year, Americans supplied a final flurry of spending to give ret...
Being Duped When I think of how the new Tax Bill is being sold to the public, it reminds me of my years in Liberia, under President William Tubman. Tubman was dearly loved by the poorest in the country, which actually didn’t make any sense at all. But, needy citizens would ask him for financial help – for a funeral, a wedding, or just hard times. He would gladly oblige with a gift of up to $500. In fact, Tubman had envelopes marked with various amounts of money already prepared to distribute. Yet, he neglected to support job growth so these poo...
To listen to the Democrats, the American middle class will be lucky to survive the Republican tax bill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calls the bill "monumental, brazen theft from the American middle class," and that's one of her more restrained comments. Per Pelosi, the bill is an affront to the Founding Fathers, veterans, children and all that's good and true in America. She constantly charges that the bill "raises taxes on 86 million middle-class households," and "hands a breathtaking 83 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest 1...
11 is the Year of the Dog. That is, if you're Asian and follow the Chinese zodiac. It rotates between the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. And as I mentioned, 2018 is a Dog year. That's a good thing, particularly when us Westerners remember Harry Truman's bromide: "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." But I was surprised to find out Donald Trump's birthdate also had the Dog as its sign, considering my affection for puppies. Obviously, he was so mistreated that he turned dangerously f...
Tensions are high. 2017 has left an indelible mark on us. The world is in turmoil what with irresponsible statements and threats, childish posturing and claims that defy reality. Like children who live in violent homes and are in turn violent as adults, the world is learning from its leaders, and the lessons are not good. There is more to the tension than just global problems. Individuals are not immune from the atmosphere. A recent news broadcast showed Americans behaving badly in restaurants. A wild woman jumped on a counter and threw food...
The media frenzy surrounding accusations of sexual misconduct continues to gather momentum. Many of the allegations are true, and those who have abused their power should be held accountable. Many charges, however, make no sense unless sexual misconduct has been redefined beyond the realm of logic. The snow ball effect has taken on a lynch mob mentality to the point that the abuser and victim are no longer clearly defined. The Associated Press recently published an article exposing an Idaho State Representative who made a woman “uncomfortable... Full story
While the investigation continues into the deadly AMTRAK derailment near Dupont, the clock continues to tick on the implementation of Positive Track Control (PTC). The deadline is Dec. 31, 2018. PTC integrates new satellite tracking (GPS) and trackside technology for passenger, freight and commuter rail service. It is designed to instantly feed mountains of detailed and complex information to control centers and moving locomotives to automatically stop speeding trains from going off the track and colliding. Neither the track on new Point...
Republicans have tried, on and off, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling since the 1980s. The effort has always engendered intense opposition and always been abandoned. A provision for drilling in ANWR is included in the Republican tax bill almost as an afterthought. Republicans took a constitutional fight against Obamacare's individual mandate to the Supreme Court in 2012, and lost. They targeted it in their Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill earlier this year, and lost. They tried again with a last-ditch "skinny...
Why would we try solving society's most ancient problems with worn-out solutions? Sexual harassment and assault are as old as any issue can get. What do you think would have happened if the Garden of Eden had an HR department? Actually, nothing, just like today. These days, however, Eve would have decided that in the process of starting the human species, Adam acted inappropriately when he took a bite from the apple. Adam would be fired, and Genesis would have removed his blog. The point is that nature requires that in the name of propagation,...
The year was 1863. The American Civil War had been going for two years and would last two more before its end. The man was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Two years earlier he had lost his wife of 18 years in a tragic fire, leaving him a widower with six children. His eldest son had left home to join the army and recently returned after being shot and narrowly escaping paralysis. The country is torn by war. Things did not look promising for Longfellow or his country. On Christmas day he penned the poem ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’ whi...
I am getting to the age where young folks ask me about my best and most memorable Christmas. They are not the same. My most memorable one wasn’t my best, but it is the one I think of most often. I had completed Air Force Flight Training and was assigned to an air refueling crew at Fairchild Air Force Base. After a few short months, our crew was notified that we would depart in mid-December for a short tour in Southeast Asia as part of the Vietnam conflict. We were excited and anticipating a great adventure. We hadn’t yet discovered that war...
