Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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I’ve never been a fan of the new ban on plastic bags and straws in our state. Subconsciously, I always knew it was a designed scheme to get more money out of people shopping in stores or having a beverage at a gas station or fast food stop. As you know, the politicos in Seattle and Olympia said that wasn’t the case. They said it was necessary to help eliminate the number of plastic straws and bags along our roadways, ending up in our streams and plaguing our landfills. They said future bags wou...
Wood buildings are making a comeback in the Pacific Northwest thanks to new laminated timber products. Even very large buildings are now constructed with laminated beams and are successfully competing with steel and concrete building materials. For example, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, is home to one of the world’s tallest “cross laminated timber” buildings. Brock Commons, a student residence, is 174 feet high. The 18-story dorm houses more than 400 students. Cross-laminated ti...
In recent years, environmentalists have targeted natural gas, even though it is an affordable energy source for so many. Their efforts have failed in the Legislature. But, apparently, Gov. Inslee and his environmental allies found another way to restrict natural gas use. Last Friday, the State Building Code Council, whose members are appointed by the governor, voted 11-3 to change state energy rules by requiring new businesses and apartments to mostly use heat pumps to warm air and water...
Why haven’t we read or heard more about the immuno-compromised who are dealing with the decision to remove mask mandates by a newly-appointed 33-year-old Florida U.S. District judge deemed unqualified by the American Bar Association? The unyielding power of one person in our country, seen over and over, is a defect in our Constitution needing correction (consider Sen. Joe Manchin). In fact, an individual’s health situation may not always be evident. There are veterans, who signed up to protect our freedoms, who may not be able to take adv...
There is an old saying: “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” W hen it comes to the Undeberg Invitational you could say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s back — and back it came last Saturday in Ritzville. With 28 teams and Tekoa-Rosalia, among many others — and about 500 athletes, this great track meet was a breath of fresh air starting with a little rain before the meet started and mild temperatures throughout the day with a slight breeze. The last Undeberg Invite was in 201...
Most politicians could only dream of a scenario in which a flood of extra tax revenues suddenly lets them cut taxes in an election year. But clearly Washington state leaders think differently. While other states move to cut taxes in these tough times, hardliners in the Washington state Legislature have decided to keep the extra money for their own spending priorities and offer no general relief. It's not that they don't have the cash. The state expects to take in more than $10 billion in extra...
Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair was awe-inspiring. It previewed developments that would improve our daily lives in the next millennium. While “Century 21” memories have faded, three of its landmarks remain as reminders of the innovations it inspired: The Seattle Center, Space Needle and the monorail. One thing many remember is “The Bubble-ator,” a glass ball-shaped elevator in the coliseum (now Climate Pledge Arena), which gradually climbed to the middle of a contoured map of the Puget Sound regio...
Through multiple initiatives, the Biden Administration is promoting harmful lies. In a direct, panicked response to states across the country successfully passing bills that protect women's sports, the morally corrupt U.S. Department of Education is amending Title IX rules for college sports, making it illegal to discriminate against athletes on the basis of "gender identity" and sexual orientation. In other words, biological men will be able to compete against women. Schools will be forced to...
The news that President Biden plans to resume leasing of federal land for oil exploration maybe good five years from now, but that action alone won’t bring down record gas prices at the pump in the months ahead. According to American Automobile Association (AAA), the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $4.07 on Good Friday (April 15); down from $4.31 a gallon a month ago. That’s still 70 percent higher than when he took office. The Interior Department announced it will put up...
The state Board of Health unanimously passed a motion to accept the recommendation from a technical advisory group (TAG) against a COVID-19 immunization requirement for school entry. Board members did reiterate support for the COVID-19 vaccines and hoped for voluntary vaccination of school children. The vote against a vaccine mandate for school children came after an hour-and-a-half of public comment and thousands of emails over the past months opposing such a requirement. (My public comment is...
Several days ago, The Wall Street Journal ran an extended interview with Fred Smith, the founder and CEO of FedEx. (here) After serving two tours of duty as a Marine in Viet Nam, Smith began a parcel delivery service using small aircraft and limited scheduling. Under his leadership, FedEx has grown into the largest parcel delivery system in the world. The company currently employs 560,000 people in 220 countries. Smith's economic philosophy, and guiding principle, is really quite simple....
The state wolf population saw a significant increase, growing by 16% in 2021 according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. The number of packs grew to 23 from 29 in 2020, and the number of breeding pairs increased from 16 to 19. The consistent growth of the wolf population is good news and is the result of hard work of staff, the Wolf Advisory Group and Northeast Washington ranchers, who have taken steps to reduce wolf attacks. These good numbers contradict the rhetoric from some...
Sunflowers are to Ukraine what tulips are to western Washington. During the blooming season, both are spectacular and represent the best in the people who cultivate and visit those fields. In late 1945, Princess Juliana of the Netherlands presented the Canadian government with 100,000 tulip bulbs as a gift for providing Holland’s royal family exile during World War II. Since then, the tulip became known as a “Peace Flower” in North America. Her pilgrimage inspired Dutch tulip growers to come...
Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5th District, delivered the following remarks at the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Hearing on legislation to support mental health and the well-being of people in America. The following are excerpts from her prepared remarks. "Our children are in crisis. More high schoolers are unhappy and depressed. Mental health emergencies are increasing. Last year, there was a two-and-a-half-fold increase in emergency department visits for suicidal ideation...
Listening to the news every day is a downer for the most part. All the bad events that are happening in the nation and the world line up on your radio or television stations and online feeds. What a breath of fresh air to hear Cory Booker’s impassioned speech at the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Wednesday, March 23. Instead of angry rhetoric that has been the usual discourse, here was a delightful description of the progress people have made in the country to right the wrongs of the past, and a p...
A group of pro-life organizations uncovered a freezer at University of Washington containing the remains of aborted babies, exposing the university’s cruel and evil experimentation. The groups released a photo showing bags that contained the fetal body parts. The Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, Pro-Life San Francisco and Rehumanize International located the freezer “by examining invoices previously exposed via public records requests by Indiana Right to...
With COVID-19 vaccines widely dispensed and masking requirements mostly lifted, will “work from home” end? Will workers return to downtown offices at pre-pandemic levels? Probably Not! One big reason it is expensive to drive and the waste of time and fuel idling in traffic jams. Another is safety. Gas prices continue to skyrocket. Last year, the average cost at the pump was $2.62 per gallon. By the end of March, Seattle’s gasoline increased to $4.88 per gallon, according to GasBuddy’s latest survey of 775 stations in the city. Higher energy...
The Northeast Washington Wildlife Group is very concerned about the whitetail deer in District 1 of Region 1 in Northeast Washington. The harvest numbers for the area in 2019 and 2020 set record lows and the blue tongue outbreak in 2020 was worse than the very bad outbreak of 2015. The city of Colville removed over 160 carcasses from within city limits last year, in 2015 they removed 80. When asked if the state Department of Fish and Wildlife had any plans to help deer numbers rebound, the department replied: “Indeed, disease outbreaks of t...
Each year during the NCAA tournament, I get asked how my bracket is doing. I always answer I don’t do brackets because I would pick teams that I want to win instead of investing time figuring out which team matches up better against an opponent. That’s really time consuming and I wouldn’t enjoy watching the games. I think one of my uncles had the right idea when he bet on a game. He would take the opposing team and let you take the team we both really wanted to win. He said, “If I win the bet I...
Listening to the news every day is a downer for the most part. All the bad events that are happening in the nation and the world line up on your radio or television stations and online feeds. What a breath of fresh air to hear Cory Booker’s impassioned speech at the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Wednesday, March 23. Instead of angry rhetoric that has been the usual discourse, here was a delightful description of the progress people have made in the country to right the wrongs of the past, and a p...
With so much rhetoric about moving the state away from gas-powered vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions, one of the strangest claims made during the legislative session was that there was no increase in "gas taxes." Various versions of this claim appeared.At best, it is misleading, but in many cases it is false. The transportation package specifically relies on an increase in taxes on gasoline as legislative documents and the Department of Ecology admit. The $17 billion transportation package has...
Sorry to break the news, Washingtonians, but Year 3 of living under emergency orders by the governor will continue without meaningful legislative oversight. The House officially killed Senate Bill 5909 before adjourning. Although that bill as passed by the Senate was essentially fake reform, several amendments were introduced for the House floor debate to bring the policy back in line with what exists in the rest of the country by requiring affirmative legislative approval for emergency orders...
The cult of social justice is perpetuating racism in the Clover Park School District with a new student discipline policy requiring staff to consider a student’s race and background before determining their punishment. Instead of disciplining students consistently based on conduct, as justice would require, it is mandating discrimination based on race. In other words, skin color determines whether one receives easy or harsh punishment for the same offense. Isn’t this the textbook definition of...
