Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1700 - 1724 of 3747
There is an old saying: Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good! That is important to remember when it comes to improving our air quality. While some activists want to eliminate all fossil fuels used on the waterfront, it is not possible without major disruption to our quality of life, jobs and economy. That is not perfect. It is a recipe for disaster. The better way is to recognize the major environmental improvements we have accomplished and find ways to continue to solve problems. That is good for all Americans. Here is an example...
Some of you young folks may not believe this but my whole generation grew up without hand sanitizer, and we rode our bicycles without helmets! Men who rode motorcycles looked cool in black leather jackets with wavy hair blowing in the breeze. I can’t imagine James Dean in a helmet? I think riding a motorcycle is dangerous under the best conditions, so I choose not to do so. But for those who like the danger and the exhilarating feeling of freedom should have the right to assume the risk. If I rode a racing bicycle at 30 miles an hour, I would w...
Uniontown call Citizens of Uniontown, people who pay property taxes in this city deserve due diligence. You have invested in our community. Protect your investment. Three council positions plus the mayor's spot are open - all as write-ins for those positions. City council meetings are on the second Wednesday of the month at city hall. Meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. Ray Heitstuman, Uniontown Honest cartoon Thank you for the first honest political cartoon that I have seen in any news. Ninety-nine percent of newspapers in America would not have run...
The world has had its delusions about China over the years, but none quite as fantastical as the notion of Beijing assuming the mantle of global leadership. Ever since Donald Trump's election, it has been a journalistic trope to speculate that China is about to take the lead on globalization, climate change and international diplomacy. Knowing his audience, President Xi Jinping has stoked this tripe by mouthing all the right cliches in front of the right audiences. He gave a speech at Davos heavy on the theme of openness and promised to help...
I can tell you what the cast members of "Saturday Night Live" are doing during their off-season: They are practicing their Russian accents. It would take pretty much the entire "SNL" group to do a bit on the meeting between Don Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort and the gang from the Kremlin. There were altogether at least eight people at that infamous get-together that we now know was called to dish some dirt on Hillary Clinton. "SNL" already has been feasting on the Trumpsters to the point that this season it gathered 22 Emmy...
Autonomous vehicles will soon be on the roads. At least, that is the prediction. Some are already being tested. These cars can drive themselves, negotiate traffic, follow a circuitous route to their destination and react to traffic signals and changing road conditions. The “driver” will have nothing to do. The responsibility of the “driver” may only be to make sure there is gas in the tank or a charge in the battery. Autonomous vehicles are coming, but they are not ready for widespread use. The problem is that many drivers think they already...
The Trump Administration is still trying to fulfill their promise to repeal and replace Obamacare with something better. They are having a rough time of it. Even within their own party there are divisions that seemingly will never compromise. I have listened to the debate and have come to the conclusion that the majority of Americans want free government sponsored health care for everyone. Most Americans don’t care who pays for it as long as they don’t have to. Government programs have a history of growth far beyond what was originally int...
When the Economist Magazine reported the price of a Guinness pint could increase because of Brexit, it grabbed readers’ attention. Brexit is the process whereby Great Britain, including Northern Ireland and Scotland, is withdrawing from the European Union. The Republic of Ireland remains with 26 other nations. EU members benefit from a standardized system of laws which allows the free movement of people and goods. Costly border checkpoints were abolished, but because of Brexit, they may be reconstructed between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Whi...
Imagine that President Donald Trump gave a speech praising a strong Europe. Imagine that he called forthrightly on Russia to stop its aggression in Ukraine and join the community of responsible nations. Imagine that he embraced the mutual defense commitment, so-called Article 5, of NATO. Imagine that he extolled the role of women in our society. Imagine that he said we share the hope of every soul to live in freedom. Imagine that he celebrated the free press and ceaseless innovation, and a spirit of inquiry and self-criticism. That's the...
Beware of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's lowballing. That's good advice for the Democrats and others who are getting cocky about defeating a Republican replacement for Obamacare. Be very suspicious of stories appearing in the papers of record and TV network news that all say the same thing, which is that McConnell's intentions to sell his partisans in the Senate on some variation of a plan are in deep doo-doo. The consensus of all these stories is that too many moderates and right-wing immoderates in his party are irretrievably split...
Gazette Staff Acid crimes are on the rise in Britain. NPR recently reported about two teens who had splashed acid in people's faces in five different attacks in one night. This has prompted lawmakers to begin talking about “solutions,” like limiting how much acid you can buy, having permits or background checks. Such reactive solutions probably aren't the answer to the real problem. There aren't many guns in Britain, so the criminal's weapon of choice is a knife, making knife crime common in the...
Donald Trump’s address in Warsaw on July 6 was his best as President. His prepared remarks carried the right tone and hit the mark. It was a message the Polish people were waiting to hear from America. He called on the U.S. and its Western allies to confront common threats, declaring "Our values will prevail, our people will thrive and our civilization will triumph." The President added (paraphrasing): We write symphonies, pursue innovation, seek to explore and discover new frontiers, reward brilliance, strive for excellence, empower women a...
Does anyone really know Ronald Reagan? In his new book "The Working Class Republican," a bracingly revisionist account of the 40th president, Henry Olsen answers "no." One of the most astute political analysts at work today and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Olsen argues that Reagan's politics bear the distinctive stamp of his origins as a New Deal Democrat. Olsen's interpretation of what he calls "Reagan's New Deal conservatism" is open to dispute. But he undoubtedly is correct that contemporary conservative politicians do...
Perkins House volunteers The 45th Ice Cream Social at the Perkins House in Colfax has taken place. Many people had the opportunity to view and appreciate the grand old house, as well as eat ice cream and be entertained, thanks to the efforts of volunteers and helpers who turned out to make the day work. But maintaining and improving the House is a year-round effort. Here is why more people should consider joining in, perhaps for more than just a day. In 1972, when the House was in such poor shape that it was at risk of being condemned and torn...
Donald Trump almost got it right. Where his predecessor from a couple of generations ago, President Harry Truman, famously said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," President Trump's version would be, "If you can't stand the heat, get out the Twitter." He's been at it again, celebrating the July 4th break with a tweeting fireworks show. Some of them blow up in his face, like his attack on Mika Brzezinski for her face-lift that never was. Then he topped that with a 10-year-old video from World Wrestling Entertainment, the epit...
YYYY GREAT GREAT GREAT music on First Thursday. Both acts (The Hankers and Eric E.) YYYY New outdoor railing for hospital therapy department. Thank you, Hank! #!*! No Concrete River Festival this year. Very sad for Colfax community. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
According to recent reports, political leaders have received an increasing number of threats. Some are even death threats. In an Associated Press report, members of Congress have received more disturbing communications so far this year than in all of last year. Some Congressional leaders are so unsettled by the wave of ugly and threatening communications, not to mention the shooting at the Republican baseball practice field, that they are seeking to use campaign funds for security systems at their homes. People in public life have always been...
I have been asked about my political affiliation on several occasions. The question is usually if I am a Republican or a Democrat. When I respond that I am a conservative, I either get funny looks or blank stares. Those who offer funny looks generally say, “OK, but are you a conservative Republican or a conservative Democrat?” When I respond that I am neither, “I am simply a conservative”, they look alarmed and back away as if I am some sort of terrorist. Those with blank stares seldom say anything, but their spouses ask what a conservative is....
In the last half century, Americans yearned for energy independence. We were tired of being held captive by foreign governments--some of which continue to be hostile toward the United States and our way of life. Thankfully, things have changed in the last few years. The American Petroleum Institute (API) put it best. “Over the past decade alone, America has undergone a major energy revolution, rapidly shifting from an era of energy scarcity to an era of energy abundance”. API believes advances in hydraulic fracturing—or “frac...
Donald Trump, the erstwhile Democrat, independent and member of the Reform Party, finally has a fixed partisan identity. The president may be besieged, unpopular and prone to lashing out self-destructively, but all of this cements his bond to his party rather than erodes it. Commentators who ask wishfully and plaintively, "When will Republicans dump Trump and save themselves?" are missing the point: Trump's weakness makes him more Republican than ever before. It was possible to imagine Trump, with a head of steam after his upset victory in...
There is a silver lining here: It enlightens anyone who believes that all those who comprise the judicial branch of our federal government, particularly the nine justices of the Supreme Court, exist on some pedestal. The myth is that their jurisprudence is somehow removed from the self-promoting deceptions of the riffraff who scurry through the sewers of the executive and legislative branches. It is not -- at least, not all of it. Even the nine at the top of the heap are not elevated above those lowlifes. Their robes are no shield from petty...
What percentage of Americans approve or disapprove of the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare? Whatever the number is, it's wrong. Because who truly knows what exactly the Republicans' reasons are to be against it? They have yet to make a detailed case, so they push for the legislation and what they've earned so far is the title of worst public relations in the history of lawmaking. Repeal and replace is a cause Ted Cruz has never been more sure of than anything in his life. So what are his reasons why? Anyone actually...
Amazing bike ride As part of the Slippery Gulch Celebration, there was a bike ride that left Tekoa and traversed the John Wayne Trail east to the Idaho border. Thanks to a collaboration between the members of the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association, the Friends of the John Wayne Trail and local farmers, the trail is being expanded past the Washington border to hopefully connect with the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in Plummer. Our group ride was led by John Heaton, one of those farmers who has land next to the trail. What an amazing experience...
With the left feverishly attempting to squash unwelcome speech on college campuses, with the president of the United States musing about tightening libel laws, with prominent liberals asserting that so-called hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment, free speech in America at least has one reliable friend -- the Supreme Court of the United States. In a firm 8-0 decision, the court slapped down the Patent and Trademark Office for denying federal trademark registration to a band named "The Slants," a derogatory term for...
One can only guess that 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois, had decided that he needed to be a hero and single-handedly rescue his country from the malevolent forces that had taken control. Instead, history will remember him as a pathetic man whose final act was the work not of a hero, but of a murderous coward. Yes, a coward, as is anyone who turns to a firearm to express his rage. And fear. This is not another discussion about our passionate attachment to guns in this nation. That battle for sanity has been lost, which me...
