Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 997 - 1021 of 3749
I avoid making fun of someone's physical appearance. I really do. But I'm totally struggling here, folks. All I can say is that the White House image mavens who allowed Donald Trump to be seen with a 390-pound sumo wrestler in Tokyo really blew it. I can't imagine how it was that Donald Trump, who is all about branding, would agree to such a setup. Usually, it's Trump who's mud wrestling on Twitter, oozing out his insults and setting the tone for what passes as political debate in the not-really-United States. Among his latest targets is House...
Donald Trump and Bill de Blasio agree: Joe Biden should be ashamed of his support for the 1994 crime bill. The bipartisan legislation that was long a point of pride for Bill Clinton, who signed it into law, is now in such malodor that CNN the other day identified it in a chyron as the "infamous" crime bill. Trump says that African Americans won't vote for someone who supported the crime bill, which he calls a "dark period in American History" that Biden should apologize for. De Blasio, the no-hope presidential candidate, agrees, deeming the...
Okeydokes Colfax Cemetery was beautiful Memorial Weekend. Job well done. Veterans flags at the Colfax Cemetery - Awesome!! Thanks to Cherry Alice Van Tine & Jim Lemon....
Two editorials in the Gazette's, "One-two punch" dated May 9th and "The Knock out punch?" dated a week later are to be commended for their courage, being printed in a conservative county. Gordon Forgey accurately explained the three threats of climate change, species extinction, and plastics. I agree that we humans are the most important cause. There are solutions, if we care to act. Carbon dioxide's danger is addressed by a bipartisan bill introduced in the House of Representatives. It is "The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act." We...
Relax, and let your truth flow. I'll ask my ornery questions again. And this time, just between you and God, reflect on your knowledge. Have you lost someone you care about, into the world of drugs? Did she fall into drugs in a country where drugs are legal? Did she fall into drugs in a country where drugs are prohibited? Is that the same for everyone you know? Just between you and God, what are you going to do about it? --Wiley Hollingsworth, Pullman...
Last January, Boeing was poised for another record year. The company’s order book burst at the seams. Things seem to be going Boeing’s way. In 2019, Boeing planned to step up deliveries of KC46 aerial refueling jets to the U.S. Air Force and the new 777 composite-wing jumbo jet was entering its critical test phases with plans to begin deliveries within the next two years. Boeing’s contracts for new aircraft climbed to 1,500 Dreamliners (787) and over 5,000 Max (737) jets. The company is capable...
Memorial Day has passed. It is the nation’s time to reflect on those we have lost. The focus of the holiday is on the many who serve this country in time of conflict, particularly those who died in combat. It also honors those who stood ready to protect the the country in times of peace. Memorial Day is not only for those missing, but for those in conflict now and those who make up the rest of the military and are ready to step up when the call comes. America has a long history of combat. The country was born in war and has been engaged in c...
Pet Peeves The big, UGLY stumps are still on Main Street. Okeydokes New people signed to run for positions, mayor and council in Colfax. Volunteers who so lovingly take care of Dusty cemetery. The proposed mural designs for around town....
They say that even a broken clock is right twice a day. Like that broken clock, when President Donald Trump complained recently about social media censorship, he was onto something. We should be very concerned when Facebook executives decide to kick somebody off their social media site just because the offender is anti-social. Actually, the term they use is "dangerous individuals," and arguably what these expelled guys regularly spew out is dangerously crazy. Alex Jones was given the boot, along with removal of links to his Infowars site,...
The Joe Biden polling surge has raised the frightful specter of Democratic rationality. What if Donald Trump hasn't driven Democrats insane, sending them into a spiral of self-defeating radicalism, but instead made them shockingly pragmatic? Biden's early strength suggests it may be the latter, that the reaction to Trump is so intense that it has crossed some sort of event horizon from fevered fantasy of his leaving office early via resignation or impeachment to a cold-eyed, win-at-any-cost practicality. If this is true, one of the exogenous...
On April 21, 1962, the Seattle World’s Fair opened. The “Century 21 Exhibition” ran for six months, drew 11 million visitors, turned a profit and left the Northwest with a wonderful Seattle Center. Well over a half century later, many of the fair’s landmarks remain and the Center’s 73-acres is a gathering place for people from all walks of life. It is Seattle’s Central Park. The Space Needle has become Seattle’s landmark. Conceived in an architect’s notebook, it was constructed in eight months...
It was a pretty normal day at my house for old retirees. I was trying to decide whether to go to bed early or watch another nighttime drama series. Not wanting to rush a big decision, I closed one eye and leaned back in my recliner. Thus, I was only half watching the show as they portrayed an island nation being washed away due to global warming. I came fully awake when the show indicated America was solely responsible for the demise of this small, fictional principality. I ignored the rest of the show and focused on what I knew and had heard a...
Student debt is a national problem. Students find themselves leaving college with massive loans and the daunting challenge of how to pursue career goals and pay off those loans. A college degree remains important for future earnings and choice of careers, but the load of debt many college graduates face entering the job market drives decisions that may not be the best in the long run. The situation has attracted the attention of politicians and others. Student loan debt surpasses $1.53 trillion and takes an average of 19.7 years to pay off....
Okeydokes Staff member at Ticks who read to children while father shopped for cards...
May 1, 2003: Then-President George W. Bush landed in a jet on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to announce that just a few weeks after his Iraq invasion, all major combat operations would end. It was a made-for-television event. Dominating the picture was a huge sign declaring "Mission Accomplished." Thousands of combat deaths later, the banner has been so scornfully ridiculed that even Bush admitted he wished it hadn't been used. May 7, 2019: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell takes to the Senate floor. He derided Democrats'...
The surprise about the big New York Times story on Donald Trump's tax returns is that there are no real surprises. Trump's taxes have been an obsession of the left since he, in violation of a long-standing norm, reneged on his promise to release his returns during the 2016 campaign. Democrats counted as one of the advantages of taking the House that they could demand Trump's returns. The dispute resulting from the administration's refusal to turn them over is now probably headed to the Supreme Court. All the while, the expectation, or at least...
Thank you, for Frank Watson's well-written article. If ever the time was right, after our "Leftist Legislature" thinks they have had an "Epic Year" this is a reasonable time to respond. The Washington legislature needs to know they have not served us well. The question of a "divided state" is only accentuated by last-minute action passed in the darkness of night, low press coverage and more taxes. This is time to remind them that taxes are not the road to wealth or prosperity. "Head taxes" on H2-A labor is one, small example. Abraham Lincoln...
There are dams that should come down and those that shouldn’t. Hopefully, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts its review of the 14 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, that will become abundantly clear. That review is expected to be ready for public comment in late 2020. Here is the difference. Demolishing the two dams on the Elwha River west of Port Angeles was a good thing. They were built in the early 1900s to bring electricity to the Olympic Peninsula at a time when s...
Our court system is out of control. I was watching a Mariner’s game the other day when the network filled a break in the action with a half dozen commercials. My drink and chip bowl were both full, so I sat back in my recliner and day-dreamed. I came fully awake when a law firm announced they had won a $289 million settlement against the makers of Roundup and requested I call the number on the screen to see if I could share in the bounty. I have used Roundup in my garden for several years, so, after the ball game, I retired to my computer to r...
The deepest solo ocean dive ever made was to the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. It was made in a titanium-hulled submersible on May 1. The depth of the dive was more than 35,800 feet. Four new deep sea species were discovered. Also, discovered on the sea floor was a plastic bag and what may have been candy wrappers. In the Philippines, a juvenile whale was found dying of what scientists thought was dehydration and starvation. After its death, it was discovered that the whale had ingested 88 pounds of single use plastic bags....
Pet Peeves People who walk their dogs down Main Street and do not pick up after them. Okeydokes People that support the Rotary baseball breakfast ticket sales and all the extra money donated! Colfax pride!...
Back when I was a TV local newspup, I met Muhammad Ali to do an interview. This was during his boxing days. While my video person set up, I discovered, to my utter surprise, during our chat that he was friendly but soft-spoken and cordial, the exact opposite of his loud, brash shtick. Then it was time for the camera to roll. Ali immediately accelerated into his high-volume, "I am the greatest!" manic patter. When we finished, it was back to normal conversation till we parted. Thousands, if not millions, of people experienced his gracious side,...
The last thing the world needs is more of Robert Mueller's commentary, but Congress is determined to have him hold forth at a public hearing. It's not as though we don't already have the special counsel's version of events. He mustered enormous investigate resources and took two years to write a 400-page report that is available to the public and presumably carefully written (although not necessarily carefully thought through). That should be enough for Mueller to stand on, and enough for Congress to make a decision to impeach or not impeach,...
With the dust settling from the 2019 legislative session, the focus is assessing the impacts on taxpayers and our economy. Our state’s budget grew by a whopping 17.5 percent, which is one of the largest increases ever. Gov. Jay Inslee and his Democrat colleagues who controlled the legislature came to Olympia last January set on raising taxes despite higher than projected revenue collections. “Rather than looking for cost savings, lawmakers chose to raise more than $1 billion in new taxes ove...
