Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 745 - 769 of 3750
When Donald Trump was looking into Ukraine last year, how concerned was he about presidential candidate Joe Biden? Enough that he wanted foreign help to beat him? If so, wouldn't that be about the most overestimated Joe Biden has been in his life? Biden is not a good candidate. Four years ago, it was more likely, but a month from now he'll be out of the 2020 race. Show a reel of his highlights, good and bad, from the last eight months and any honest observer would say; some president was worried...
It's not just that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo chewed out NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly after she dared to ask him questions he didn't like. Nor is it so objectionable that his tirade was saturated with F-bombs. And it certainly is not because she's a woman. When it comes to reporters, Pompeo is not just a misogynist but a mistersogynist. He's an equal opportunity jerk, as evidenced by his decision to block NPR from his plane for his trip to Kyiv. No wonder President Trump likes him so much. He's not your stereotypical diplomat, but he...
And so 2016 finally draws to a close. It's been the longest election year in American history. It ran from Feb. 1, 2016, the date of the Iowa caucuses, to the Senate vote to acquit President Donald Trump in early February 2020. It's true that Nov. 6, 2016, was a signal event in this long election year, but it didn't really conclude anything, even though the result wasn't in doubt. Usually, contested elections are ties or near-ties. This is the first time an election has gone into overtime, with repeated attempts at what were in effect...
#### The president who would be king!...
Public School Parents: take note of two bills being considered without the people’s vote. Senate Bill 5395/HB2184 would require every public school to teach sex education to all students in grades K-12. Proponents believe that sex education starting in kindergarten will encourage consensual relationships, deter sexual violence and guard against sexual predators. I really doubt this but if a family does feel it important to discuss at home, then they certainly should. The decision of when and if to discuss these sensitive issues should remain w...
It was a busy week in American politics. The Democrats were embarrassed when the results of the Iowa caucus were overshadowed by administrative glitches. The State of the Union address was choreographed to promote the successes of the current administration. Mitt Romney is contemplating the fallout of being the only Republican to vote to remove the President from office. The impeachment ended without cheers from either side, but it is thankfully finished. Now is the time to sit back and ask ourselves if our nation has benefited from the impeach...
I can't think of any previous Super Bowl where I had to Google who was booked for the halftime show. The honor went to Shakira and Jennifer Lopez this year. I'll start off by saying kudos for having two Spanish-speaking singers headlining the show Sunday in Miami, Fla., singing bilingually nonetheless. The performance was definitely Latina and Miami-inspired. Shakira and Lopez did not hold back, they gave that performance their all. Shakira and Lopez are the first two Latinas to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. Not only were two females...
Let's discuss the fantasy that so many desperate Democrats are having. In their minds, they're asking, "Is it too late for Adam Schiff to run for president?" Actually, since his dynamite performance as lead House of Representatives counsel advocating in the Senate for the conviction of Donald Trump and his extrication from the White House, it's not really a secret dream for some in the party who are wholly unimpressed with their mix of wannabes. Schiff has been rattling around the Capitol as a member of the House of Representatives since 2001,...
It's easy to forget what the Senate impeachment trial is supposed to be about. It's not a fight over whether the Senate will call a couple of witnesses that the House couldn't, or didn't bother to, obtain on its own. The underlying question is whether the United States Senate will impose the most severe sanction it has ever inflicted on any chief executive, voting to remove a president for the first time in the history of the country and doing it about 10 months from his reelection bid. This is a truly radical step that, if it ever came about,...
Keeping hospitals and health workers healthy is key to fighting diseases. With new and more deadly viruses, the job is more challenging. Although the coronavirus has captured the world’s attention, it is important to note the Center for Disease Control estimates that 80,000 Americans died of flu and flu complications in the winter of 2017-2018 - the highest flu-related death toll in at least four decades. The coronavirus outbreak is very serious. According to the New York Times, China’s Hea...
The legislature has directed the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to remove the catch limits on bass, walleye and channel catfish in all waters of the state where they coexist with salmon. It seems that someone in the legislature realized the existence of a connection between bass and whales. It is about time. Everything in nature is connected to everything else. In this case, our politicians are concerned about the declining numbers of the resident Puget Sound orca pod. Orcas and bass both eat salmon, therefore, if the numbers of...
Warming skeptic I am a global warming skeptic. What does that mean? It means I believe that warming can occur. What I am skeptical about is that man can have a substantial effect on the climate to cause warming harmful to the earth's ecosystem. You cannot change my mind by saying the “science is settled” (science is never settled) or by trying to scare me by warning that we are going to have more storms, greater intensity in the storms and potential catastrophic sea level rise. These things could happen whether man is responsible or not. I need...
Some day, maybe two, three or 10 years from now, a comprehensive book on the Boeing disasters will be written and published. How did a company with all its design experience, corporate skill, money and pride fall to where it is today? The primary loss, of course, has been sustained by the families of the passengers and crew members who were killed in the two tragic accidents after the Boeing 737 Max failed. Twice. A secondary loss has also been sustained by people who were raised in the northwest where Boeing has been a factor over decades....
For the kiddies, it'll be necessary to start this rant by explaining that there was an immensely popular TV show called "Dallas" that ran from 1978 through 1991. It traced the escapades of a grossly dysfunctional Texas family dynasty. Now we have the soap opera about a grossly dysfunctional British family dynasty. We could call it "Palace." Where "Dallas" was fiction, "Palace" is stranger than fiction. But there are similarities: The Ewings of South Fork were caught up in intrigue for their entire 13-year show run. In the case of London's...
Every hostile nickname that Mitch McConnell gets is further confirmation of his effectiveness. The latest is "Midnight Mitch," a reaction to his resolution setting out the road map for the Senate impeachment trial. The measure stipulated that House impeachment managers could make their case over two days of 12-hour sessions, possibly pushing the presentations into the wee hours. Hence, the latest alliterative moniker for McConnell, also known to his enemies as "Moscow Mitch." McConnell relented slightly on the resolution, giving the managers...
Levy for Learning The Colfax School District in conjunction with Citizens for Quality Schools has proposed a two-year Levy for Learning. I began working in the district as a teacher in 1975, retired from the State Education System in 2010, and was hired that fall as an educational consultant for the district. I continue to serve in that capacity. The approval of past levies has provided opportunities and benefits that impact students at all levels. Using my experience as a CSD educator, parent, and community member, I would like to share my...
Government leaders, doctors, and medical researchers worldwide are working feverishly to stop the spread of the coronavirus and keep it from becoming a global pandemic. Wuhan, one of China’s major transportation hubs whose population approaches 11 million, is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak which is spreading like wildfire. Wuhan was put on lockdown. The fear is widespread prompting China’s government leaders to build a 1,000 bed hospital within a week. Professor Shenglan Tang, an exp...
Mike Leach, Washington State University head coach for eight seasons, has left to be head coach at Mississippi State University. Good riddance. The football coach of any university is often the face of the football program, and more notably, the face of the school. As a recent graduate, I was always embarrassed by our choice of coach. Leach was dismissive, crass and rude to both his players and the press. At first when you see Leach in an interview, his monotone, expressionless responses are entertaining. When asked who would win in a fight...
Pardon my sharing a personal preference, but I don't give a rat's patootie about the opinions of some showbiz notables because, notwithstanding their star power, they usually don't really know what they're talking about. Once, I was covering a political story and a prominent actress who happened to be nearby decided that she would love to express her opinion, ON TV, and expected me to jump at the chance because she was a celeb. So she sent some lackey over to request that I put her on right away. When I politely declined, he escalated that to a...
Donald Trump isn't George W. Bush. That should be obvious to everyone by now, but his critics and even some of his supporters immediately acted as if it were 2003 on the cusp of the Iraq War when Trump took out Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. Suddenly, the neocons had cachet again (Vox warned that "the Iraq War hawks are back"), and we were about to launch yet another endless war. Trump's decision to kill Soleimani, New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote, repeating a common refrain, "has brought the United States to the brink of...
Okeydokes! Thanks to all of the Colfax and outlying communities that came out for a great cause to make over 3,000 soup packets with Homestead Ministries....
Colfax Levy I want to encourage fellow citizens to support the Colfax School’s levy request. It is both a privilege and responsibility to invest resources wisely if younger generations are to serve well when their time comes. The proposal is deserving support for the following reasons: The levy is citizen driven. The levy committee represented not only parents, but farmers and tax-payers as well. Our students are achieving. Jennings Elementary and Colfax Junior/Senior High School have both received awards for high performance. Our c...
A year ago, much of America’s heartland was inundated by Missouri River flood waters. At least 1 million acres of US farmland in nine major grain producing states were under water. More than 14 million people were impacted. Damage exceeded $1 billion. With 11 dams on the Missouri, why was the flooding so severe? Why didn’t the dams absorb the excess waters? If dams are above the flooded areas. The last impoundment is at Gavins Point Dams in South Dakota and heavy rainfall and snow melts were dow...
I got snowed in last week. I was at our cabin on the Pend Oreille River where it was quiet, and I could do some writing with no interruptions. There was an unfinished poem running around in my head that I just couldn’t quite get a handle on. I don’t know about other people who write, but I tend to get random thoughts that coagulate in my brain until they take on a vague shape. These unfinished ruminations can keep me awake until I write them down, so I retreated to the cabin for a peaceful interlude to clear my mind. I had a lot of things tha...
