Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Sometimes being first isn’t good. Such is the case with legislation making Washington the only state to ban natural gas in new homes and commercial buildings. Thankfully, the legislators ended their session in Olympia and left that bad idea on the table. However, it is destined to come back next year. The issue is complicated and expensive. Earlier this year, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) unveiled it as part of a package to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It included a phase out of natural gas for space and water heating by forbidding the use of fossil...
In 2012, state voters decided to go where no other state ever had - they legalized adult-use marijuana, reversing 70 years of policy that by most measures was a waste of time and money. The prohibition against marijuana consumption had virtually no effect on its price, availability, or use. And yet, in that same time period, we taxpayers had to foot the bill for enforcement and incarceration. For many - like me the vote to legalize marijuana was not a vote to endorse its use. It was a vote to act in a pragmatic manner. Simply put, a lot of the...
While European cities are welcoming large cruise ships again, many of the same ship owners are canceling calls to North American seaports because of continued stringent COVID restrictions. In March 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) issued a "No Sail and Suspension of Further Embarkation" order. The 2020 cruise season abruptly ended. Since then, the order has been only slightly modified. However, Canada's shutdown has been extended through February 2022. Both directives apply to vessels...
The 2021 legislative session, which is scheduled to end April 25, will be remembered for several things - some good, some bad. The candidates for the "bad" column may include a variety of new or increased taxes and fees that will hit your pocketbook in different ways. For instance, a higher state gas tax and a new "cap and trade" tax that would hit motorists hard, and a higher cellphone tax. Also, before the Legislature wraps up its 105-day session, it's likely to pass Senate Bill 5096, which...
My guide dog needs to stay focused when we are walking to be able to keep us safe. She loves her work. What bothers her is when other dogs run up to us. I did not think this was going to be a problem, since we have a leash law here in Colfax. I learned that either people do not know that or they do not care! When my dog is distracted it puts us in danger. It can get me confused as to where I am going. My dog is good at what she does for me and I would appreciate it if all would follow the law and please keep your dogs on a leash. “All dogs m...
I’m by no means a mathematician but when the public works director and county commissioner come out and say they gave out $150,000 in additional rock budget and spent $300,000 on crushing that adds up to $450,000. Where is the other $1 million going from the levy increase?! Mr. Storey you hired the three equipment operators the month after the levy passed in November 2019. You said publicly that you would hire three new operators with the levy money no contingency on gas tax revenue. You mentioned the gas tax loss for not filling those newly c...
My letter is in response to Bill Forhan, of Leavenworth, in last week’s paper. At last, a brave individual is willing to come forward to intelligently address the actual need to keep the dams exactly where they stand. All of us benefit. Get a spine, people!...
The world is beginning to unfreeze after more than a year of physical and economic lockdowns. Many states have ended mask mandates, citing increasing vaccinations and decreasing cases. Others are allowing normal activities to resume. By and large, it seems as though America is ready to turn a corner and return to normal life. That is, unless you're in Washington. As our state Legislature moves closer and closer towards the conclusion of its 2021 session, the Capitol in Olympia still sits in...
The state House of Representatives passed a $58.2 billion 2021-23 operating budget that relies on an unnecessary, unpopular, and likely unconstitutional income tax on capital gains. As I've said before, state tax collections are now back to pre-pandemic levels. We also have billions coming into the state from the federal stimulus package. There is no legitimate reason to pass new taxes, especially a tax that voters in our state have rejected 10 times in the past. I have concerns that state...
We are now less than two weeks away from end of the 2021 legislative session. It’s been a very busy time, wrapping up work in committees and marathon evening and weekend sessions voting on bills on the floor. The “opposite house of origin” cutoff for moving legislation has passed — meaning all policy bills that were not approved by both the House and Senate in some form are considered “dead.” Exceptions are made for any bill found to be necessary to implement the budget, and it should alwa...
Declining salmon runs, just like global warming/climate change is just another misunderstood problem that could be solved without removing any dams or spending small fortunes employing lawyers and environmentalists that do not understand the problem. Even if the dams are removed salmon runs will continue to decline. Why? Because the biggest problem comes from overfishing off the coasts of North America and British Columbia. Native Americans unfortunately are part of the problem here. Before you start calling me a racist we need to examine...
Today I received three phone calls. When I returned the calls according to my caller ID app on my telephone each one was fraudulent. The numbers they gave me were ‘no longer in service,’ according to the message by the phone company. A 75-year-old friend answered one and they claimed they were from Amazon calling to collect an overdue amount of $700. He does not have an Amazon account. When I called it back to check for him, the message said, “no longer in service” In my opinion the phone company, by allowing the callers to put in numbers...
Appreciation for union leadership and workplace improvements cannot mean that every business must therefore subscribe to the union. While willingness to raise standards, offer education and training, and ensure onsite safety are excellent qualities in any business, being manipulated into submitting to formal regulation of those issues is counterproductive. Evidently passionate, the suggested fix seems more emotionally distraught than well-thought out. It appears surprisingly unwise to spend personal money repeatedly paying for returns....
Just the other day I was catching up with a friend and he shared with me a surprising experience. He said his daughter is attending law school and one of her professors has been rabidly vocal about how our justice system needs to be reformed to judge individuals on their skin color rather than their crimes. Wherever we look now, it seems as if nothing makes sense. What is up is now considered down and what is wrong is now considered right. It usually makes folks ask, “What in the world is going on?” One possible explanation: a tiny portion of t...
The Senate operating budget for 2021-23 was approved on April 1 by a 27-22 vote, with two Democrats joining all Republicans in opposition. It is fitting this plan (Senate Bill 5092) was passed on April Fools’ Day. The sharp spending increase found in this budget can be viewed as a bad joke on Washington taxpayers. Total spending in the Senate budget is $59.5 billion. It’s $7 billion more than the current budget, or equal to a 13% increase in spending. If the Senate plan is enacted, the ope...
There are some things I like about Amazon and my Amazon Prime Account, but Amazon isn’t perfect. I like the fact that I can stay at home and order the exact hardware fittings I want without sorting through bins at hardware stores. I like knowing my order will be at my house within a few days. I like the fact that I can send things back and get a refund simply by printing a label, going to a local address, and turning my purchase over. I like the idea that while a hundred people, who all want just one thing, might use their time and gas to go o...
The use of single thought is dangerous. Group think, the act of surrounding yourself with only like-minded people, is one of the only things that can kill democracy. This is sadly an issue in our education system. Teachers can’t seem to tell the difference between radical opinion, and essential education. Often confusing or turning off the student population they teach. Sometimes brain washing the minds of their targets – implanting their radical ideas into the mind of our young – a cancer of American democracy But, this cancer can be cured...
Public Works accountability When Whitman County Public Works was soliciting all that the road levy tax increase would do for the rural residents of Whitman County, I thought it could be beneficial, but have yet to see the benefit. They hired three new personnel as promised but that lasted about as long as ... well not long at all. By the time first half of property taxes were payed, equipment operators were beginning to retire and Whitman County Public Works was not filling the vacated positions. The three positions were a great selling point...
When ESSB 5172, a bill addressing retroactive pay in agriculture, passed out of the Senate in early March, Senate Democrats who hijacked the bill with amendments celebrated its passage as a supposed victory for farmworkers throughout our state. They also acknowledged the bill still needed work. Yet, since moving to the House, the legislators who pledged to make the bill better have disappeared, the embodiment of all the negative clichés you hear about dishonest politicians and sneaky lawyers. The current version of ESSB 5172 would create a...
OLYMPIA – This will sound funny anywhere outside Olympia, but there is a question that for years has stumped half the Legislature. If an income tax is so good for the people of the state of Washington, why do they say no every time they are asked? Advocates of higher taxes and spending have tried just about everything. Big income taxes, little income taxes, income taxes dedicated to noble purposes and income taxes that is only supposed to hurt millionaires. Yet the people keep voting no – ten times since 1934. The last time, in 2010, the mar...
Surprisingly, there is something U.S. Presidents agree upon — America’s economic and national security hinge upon maintaining our technology edge in semiconductors. Those tiny computer chips are the brains of modern electronics. They operate our laptops and smart phones and permeate every sector of our lives from farming and manufacturing to health care and public safety. They are embedded in our military’s most advanced equipment and give us a tactical edge. Semiconductors are among our natio...
Last week the Legislature got a terrific piece of news. State tax collections have rebounded despite one of the worst economic situations we've ever faced. The latest projection adds $3.3 billion, and we're right back where we were before the COVID shutdown. The strange thing about it was the reaction of our Democratic colleagues. They said they wouldn't let this good news stand in the way of their brave and noble effort to impose an income tax on the people of Washington. And never mind that the voters keep saying no to the idea, 10 times...
