News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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On behalf of the Care and Share Food Bank, we just want to take this opportunity to give a big “Thank You” to our local Scout troop for the tremendous work they performed this past weekend. You hve no idea how much that meant to all of us who volunteer our time! Thank you also to those of you who contributed food for the Scouts to pick up and bring out to us! We cannot thank you enough for all of you! This community is such a special place to live because we all care about each other, and we truly do “Care and Share!” Sincerely, Carrol Nordine...
No surprises following the election as Donald Trump doubles down on becoming dictator by picking unvetted, unqualified cult loyalists Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbert, RFK Jr. and Pete Hegseth for key Cabinet posts! Trump told innumerable lies on the campaign trail but his insatiable need for power was never in doubt. Do his voters really want to live under a dictatorship? David Brooks argues persuasively (Spokesman-Review 11/10/24, Opinion | Voters to Elites: Do You See Me Now? - The New York Times ) that the working class justifiably feels...
It always seemed I ended up with a fry cooking job. It started in high school, quite by accident. A friend had the fry cooking job at The Oasis in Palouse, one of three restaurants in town at the time. One of the owners, Ellen, asked me if I would come in and help out for the evening. I would be washing dishes and peeling spuds for 50 cents an hour while she filled in as fry cook. My friend didn’t show for the second night and Ellen asked if I would like the job. I said yes and she assured me that she would stay with me until I was ready to go...
November 26, 1789, was proclaimed a Day of National Thanksgiving by President George Washington. President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 designated the last Thursday of November as a day to be “set apart and observed as a day of thanksgiving and praise.” President Franklin Roosevelt signed a congressional resolution in 1941 making it the fourth Thursday of the month. The origin of the American Thanksgiving tradition of feasting is generally credited to the Pilgrims. As early as 1621, the Puritan colonists of Plymouth, Massachusetts set aside a day...
You may have likely heard that Grant, Chelan and Douglas PUDs jointly filed a lawsuit in June against the federal government over our collective contribution of hydroelectric energy and capacity we must send to Canada per the Columbia River Treaty. Implemented in 1964, the Columbia River Treaty between the United States and Canada was established to facilitate the joint development of power generation and flood control in the Columbia River Basin. It has many elements and directly affects our ability to maximize the benefits of the...
After years of odious political behavior, it is time for elected officials to focus on governing our nation with civility and respect. It is time to go back to acting for the common good. Enough is enough! Our country needs leaders, irrespective of party affiliation, to set aside differences and unite — not demagogue and jockey for power. America is weakened by the continual onslaught of character assassinations, false accusations, misinformation, and bitterness which has been pervasive over the last dozen years. We do not know who to trust o...
Your article concerning the Vista repaint brought back a lot of memories. In the early 50s we used to park our cars up there, lights toward the vista and every other car backed in, opened up trunks, turn on the radios to KFDR and danced all night on the Vista. Good times, until I graduated 1956. (Bud) Al Fetter Omaha, Nebraska...
White Plantation House again, will continue to bathe in joy and victory for greed, genocide, and white rage. Conspicuous demand of Peaky Blinders, bullets, and assault rifles soars, meanwhile white sheets with eyeholes continue declining street cred. Empires’ forever-wars-terrorism continues water boarding the hopes of Veterans For Peace as the mythic dance of armistice endures. Like the White Plantation House’s founding upon destroying Indigenous cultures, exterminations, piracy and slave economies, Biden couldn’t hear his own angry rant...
The Great Depression was a great teacher. You’ve read about it, but few of you experienced it. As a youngster it wasn’t as bad for me as many others. I credit my parents for sparing me the suffering that hit America. It didn’t hit and then change. It hit and held on for my entire childhood. I still remember the fun I had growing up, more so than my three older brothers and sister. I don’t remember any of them who expressed any fond memories. Along came the war and suddenly I was cast into the real world. First, my oldest brother Richard...
Every year, on Veterans Day, we pause to honor the men and women who have worn the uniform of our country and served in defense of our freedom. It is a time to reflect on the sacrifices made by those who stood guard over our nation’s ideals, from the founding of America to today. As a proud representative of Central Washington, I have the privilege of meeting veterans who have devoted their lives to preserving the freedoms we hold dear. From their courageous service on battlefields around the world to their ongoing efforts to support the local...
November 15, 1777, the second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation. It was submitted to the states two days later for ratification. A letter from the congress accompanied the document. The letter was emphatic, stating that the document should be, “…reviewed under a sense of the difficulty of combining in one general system the various sentiments and interests of a continent divided into so many sovereign and independent communities, under a conviction of the absolute necessity of uniting all our councils and all our str...
As a mother of a special-needs adult man, I feel the need to share with the community how he was mostly treated great throughout the Trick or Treating community, but of course there were the houses that will probably make him stop. With my son’s kind heart and love for children and his own child-like demeanor, he looks forward to wearing his “cop costume” every year and going out with his nieces and nephews to have one of his most memorable nights. For the last few years, his sister takes him out with them and, unfortunately, both years they co...
I want to thank Claudia Hartman Bjorklund for her touching letter sharing her memories of the Coulee Dam Theatre and for her support in seeing Village Cinema brought back to life. Stories like Claudia’s show just how important this theater has been to our community, and we’re excited to create new memories with the Village Cinema Revitalization Project. As Claudia suggested, we are inviting community members to contribute toward this effort. We’re currently raising $20,000 to fund essential equipment, such as a projector, audio system, and H...
My son Paul is finally returned from Alaska. I had written about his “once in a lifetime” camping and exploring trip to Alaska. He left his home just north of Everett on May 15 and got back Oct. 4. He described it as his retirement dream. Paul drove 16,996 miles, went through a new set of tires, and cooked a lot of meals. His goal was to see a lot of Alaska. He did! Paul said he was on all major roads and a host of minor ones. He retired last year and spent the better part of six months planning the trip. A return trip is being discussed. Pau...
Washington’s agriculture is a $12.8 billion business with 33,000 farms — and it runs on gasoline, diesel, and natural gas. The hundreds of big rigs hauling crops and food products are not electric. Even though new trucks have reduced CO2 and other pollutants, some politicians are hastily charging ahead to replace fossil-fueled trucks with unproven technology. According to 2021 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, transportation was responsible for 30 percent of greenhouse gases of which 80 percent comes from cars and trucks. A qua...
November 9, 1731, Benjamin Banneker was born in Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland. Banneker was a self-taught Astronomer and Mathematician. He was one of the first African Americans to gain distinction in the sciences. Most of his life was on his family’s farm outside Baltimore. He taught himself by using borrowed textbooks. In 1789, Banneker made astronomical calculations that enabled him to successfully forecast a solar eclipse. His mechanical and mathematical abilities brought him acclaim by building a clock out of wood. In a letter to then Sec...
I want to share how much I enjoy seeing the progress of the reopening of the Village Cinema. My sister, Cecilia, and I subscribe to The Star and enjoy sharing what is happening. My parents, Rod and Anne Hartman, ran the Coulee Dam Theatre when I was growing up. I have such memories of having my parents own the theatre. Some good, some great, and some embarrassing. We’ll start with the embarrassing. My mom would cruise the aisles with her flashlight, watching for those that were not watching the movie but were choosing to make out with their d...
Northwestern University reports that, during the past 20 years, 3,200 print newspapers have closed. That is a savage blow to our nation. The traffic and the advertising money moved to social media. Traditional newspapers are edited for accuracy and truth. Social media are not edited, and anyone can publish their own agenda on social media. Foreign countries that are enemies of the United States can post on social media using fake identities. Community newspapers provide social stability, what economists call a public “good.” Social media is...
Over the past two years, as a member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, we have uncovered the malign influence the CCP has in American institutions. With these revelations, we have committed to finding real, actionable solutions to prevent the CCP from tightening their grip on our nation’s security and way of life. The Select Committee has exposed numerous CCP schemes aimed at undermining our national security. From increased land purchases near sensitive sites to di...
I have been in the writing business almost 70 years. It started under difficult circumstances and almost ended the same way. I took a couple of journalism classes early on and my prof, Helen Wilson, took a liking to my work. When an opening came up on the staff of the small daily paper in Nampa, Idaho, she arranged for me to go in for an interview. I talked with the editor, Jack Scudder, who sensed my hesitation. He explained that as sports editor I would be following and writing about sports events in the area. After I said I didn’t think I wa...
The elections always generate a lot of enthusiasm and competition. Overall, that’s a good thing — a sign of a healthy Democracy. But when things get too heated, it become corrosive. People who oppose Donald Trump aren’t “haters.” They disagree with his positions. Kamala Harris isn’t “retarded” (an antiquated and cruel word for people with intellectual disabilities). She is an accomplished, intelligent woman. Democrats are not “Marxists,” “Socialists,” or “Communists.” That’s a ridiculous assertion on its face, at least to those of us who know...
When I was a kid, I was taught lying was very bad. Up until the last few years I wasn’t aware of hardly any outright lies. Then in 2015 Donald Trump lied to the whole world that he didn’t know anything about Russia. He had never been there. Since then, the lies are unending. People don’t care anymore. Don Andrews...
At 94, I am still not old enough to answer what I think I owe my present age to. I suppose I could say that I drank sparingly and quit smoking when I was 20 years old, or more accurately when I met my wife. I was born on a farm and lived there until I was 6. My parents often told me that we moved to town so I could start school. That was in 1936, in Palouse. I never was comfortable on the farm. My siblings and I always were wondering what was going on in town. We lived four miles out. So we moved to town, and I started what some might call my...
Throughout my time in Congress, I have been fortunate to be part of numerous committees and caucuses that allow me to directly impact the constituents of Central Washington. One of these caucuses, the Western Caucus, has allowed me to advocate for issues that all of rural America struggles with, and as Chairman, I have been able to ensure the priorities of Central Washington are not forgotten. The Western Caucus is a bipartisan caucus with over a hundred members from across the United States, which advocates for rural policy issues throughout...
When President Biden warned FEMA does not have enough money to finish the hurricane season let alone the entire year, it was surprising. Suddenly, we discovered federal disaster relief money may be insufficient for future hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes relief. The frequency of major hurricanes and massive wildfires is draining federal accounts, and replacement funds only add to our soaring national debt. That debt is weighing on our ability to operate our national government. For those of us in the Pacific Northwest, which stretches...