Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Rather than emphasizing personal, individual freedoms, perhaps the leaders of our civilized society should focus on establishing and assuring fair and effective rules that protect the freedom of all individuals. Necessarily this means that all citizens must accept some reduction in their individual freedoms while benefitting from the limits on the freedoms of others. For example, newspapers have the freedom to publish lies about individuals, but that freedom of speech is limited by the affected individual’s legal right to litigate for f...
This was one eloquent editorial (Lisa Meyer, June 25, 2020) I would love to see it sent to the WSJ or a big national newspaper. Jeanne M. Prier, Portland, Oregon...
Did you hear about the right wing protester who went to a liberty rally and was filmed yelling he is not going to bow down to any of Inslee’s unconstitutional rules, and he will never wear a stupid mask either? Did you hear he got the Covid-19 virus and had to be taken care of by his mother - since his wife had left him and moved to another town a couple of months before? Did you hear that after losing fifteen pounds he finally got well, but his mother got sick from taking care of him and she ended up dying? Did you hear this made the rest o...
Has America lost its mind? Perhaps 2020 will be best described in history books as the year a virus from China caused a global pandemic, massive riots erupted across the country, the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum, and there was an attempt to rewrite American history — all leading to what is sure to be an interesting November at the polls. If you are like me, you’ve likely been trying to tune out the national media to retain a little bit of self-worth and delay the onset of manic de...
Sixty-six years ago, racism was part of the fabric of America, especially in the deep south. Few of us actually experienced separate water coolers, segregated bathrooms, or all white schools. I am glad that I did not. The Supreme Court ruling in the Brown vs Board of Education was supposed to change all that, but it met with stiff resistance. Sixty-three years ago, nine students required military escorts to and from school in Little Rock, Arkansas. White privilege was real, and racism was endemic in American society. We have come a long way sin...
Are you stressed? Well, deal with it. No, seriously, deal with it. For the sake of yourself, your family and your community, people need to acknowledge if they are stressed and find healthy ways to cope and manage that stress. There are some life events that are considered major stressors, no matter how zen you are. They include: a birth or death in the family, new job/major change at work, moving and dealing with serious illness. In the past four months, I've managed to tick off all of those...
Franklin Roosevelt became president in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. The highlight of his inaugural address was, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” The same is true today. Panic has disrupted more lives than the virus, and the statewide edict to wear masks in all public places adds to the panic. The governor stated the wearing of masks was, “imperative as economic activity increases.” Wearing of masks, however, will be a detriment to economic activity. My wife and I went to the movie last week in Newport. When Pend Oreille...
On July 4, 1975, America proudly celebrated its Bicentennial as the world’s greatest nation while Poland was a suppressed Soviet satellite state. Poles had no right to free speech, were hungry and impoverished. If you wanted a job, you played ball with Communist Party bosses. If you disagreed with their ideology, you likely were imprisoned. Poland was a rather bleak land which had not recovered from the German Blitzkrieg in 1939. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Business Week program started at C...
Teaching Psychology for 20 years at Spokane Falls Community College was such a learning experience – for me. I hope the students also learned a lot about the “Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.” When teaching the section on Evolutionary Psychology, it was always interesting to ask the classes if anyone knew about the Darwin Awards. Sheepishly, some students, especially boys, would raise their hands, grinning from ear to ear. For those of you who don’t know, every year people are selected for Darwin Awards - the dumbest things...
Oh, how I appreciated Lisa Meyer’s article in last week’s Gazette. If only everyone in the country could read her thoughts, hear her philosophy. Could it be published in some of the larger, urban papers across the country? Thank you for your good, relevant writing. Robin Wylie, Nampa, Idaho...
Are government agencies and big tech tracking your every move via your smartphone? The answer is maybe. Gov. Jay Inslee has repeatedly said the state is using smartphone data to track interactions and travel as it may relate to coronavirus exposure and spread. That data may include time, date, location and even a "marker" for each mobile device. Indeed, anytime your cellphone is turned on, it connects to towers for telephone calls or texting. Using three tower connections, it's possible to trian...
It has been a difficult spring on many fronts. I’ve been reassured, though, by the community spirit displayed on the Palouse. From patrons purchasing gift cards to help struggling businesses, to restaurants providing free dinners for those in need, to marches to protest racism and state violence, I’m proud of our community. This pride and reassurance makes me optimistic that we can work together on other problems we face. The consequences of climate change are coming home to the Palouse – we can see it in changing weather patterns, risin...
I'm disappointed and disgusted with the city of Palouse for caving to the mob of 4 people to even consider dishonoring police. Is the city of Palouse such a hotbed of controversy that they can't stand with law enforcement by proudly flying the BLUE LINE FLAG? Thank you Lions Club for standing up for what is right. Shame on Mayor Chris Cook for not supporting law enforcement. Keith Pigott, Whitman County...
As a white mom with four adopted black children I would like to pause and celebrate ebony and ivory or black, white and everything in between. The chaos of the last weeks has been perplexing at best and distressing at worst. However, I believe there is much to celebrate. There will always be wrong doing, but for one moment can we pause and celebrate the good. All four of my children have been adopted before they were two. Their pasty white family is the only family they have ever known. So the...
Educators nationwide scoff at the idea of homeschooling children. Those in unions, especially those in the Washington Education Association in our state, say parents can’t provide the same educational opportunities at home as are available in public schools. A large part of their reasoning is social interaction. Indeed, those in the union have long argued social interactions are more important than allowing advanced students to move up a grade or substandard students from being held back. Even e...
May was Older American’s month. The focus of Older American’s Month is normally the contribution seniors have made and continue to make to our communities and the needs of older American’s going forward. I represent Whitman County on Aging and Long-Term Care of Eastern Washington’s board and represent the Counties in Washington State on the Washington State Council on Aging. We hear a lot about the capabilities and the needs of seniors. However, I believe right now the biggest challenge seniors face isn’t some bill going through Congress...
Many people have asked-whether directly or secondhand-about the page count at the Gazette since the virus hit. It all boils down to business practices, the bottom line and trying to keep our heads above water during what the economists have officially deemed a recession. In newspapers there is ad hole and news hole. For the majority of newspapers, the size of the news hole--the space we get to fill with stories, features, records, etc.-is determined by the ad hole-how much space is taken up by...
I sincerely hope I misread or misunderstood Nancy Street’s letter to the editor last week. She used three underlying premisses that hopefully she didn’t intend, or if she did, to which I strongly object. The first is that people “of European ancestry” (her term not mine) can’t or don’t feel enough outrage at the murder of George Floyd. Every one I have talked to about this murder is over the top outraged, regardless of “ancestry”. I think that charge is akin to someone saying that if you don’t live in New York you can’t feel enough outrage...
Fight, Flight, and Freeze are the three biological responses to danger. There doesn't even have to be a real danger. If your nose smells danger, then your body is going to come out fighting, fleeing, or freezing. Body's choice. The survival instinct takes over the mind and the body. Even after extensive training, professionals can still find their bodies reacting differently than planned. Fight, Flight, or Freeze, do not reflect moral values. That's just biology, that's all it is. Moral values are displayed in what you do afterward, when...
Solar power is getting a lot of attention these days as our country strives to reduce greenhouse gases. Sunny cities like Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Antonio have ramped-up solar power production; however, in cloudy coastal municipalities such as Seattle, investments in “sun power” have been lagging. One reason is Washington is blessed with an abundance of low-cost and carbon-free hydropower which accounts for three-fourths of our electricity generation. Electricity from the Columbia Riv...
No agriculture producer likes to see their work go to waste. Whether it is a crop, milk or livestock, no one involved in agriculture wants their products to go anywhere other than to consumers. That is what makes the COVID-19 crisis particularly difficult for agriculture – food continues to be produced but, in many cases, it is not reaching its intended destination. In April, the president of Tyson meats warned of a nationwide meat shortage. Milk producers are working to find the middle g...
