News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1176 - 1200 of 3351
Representative democracy is based on a simple premise. It’s that ordinary citizens can judge complex public policy and political issues — or at least grasp them well enough to decide who should be dealing with them. But the significance of that premise isn’t simple at all. It means that our country’s future depends on the quality of democratic participation by its citizens. So, in an era when our democracy appears to be under great stress, what must we do to keep it healthy? Here are some steps I think we need to take. First, we have to protect...
Each Thanksgiving, I am reminded that in Central Washington, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are blessed with gorgeous national forests and public lands, powerful rivers and dams, and bountiful farm land. As we gather with our families and friends to reflect on our gratitude, let us not forget to thank the farmers and ranchers who produce food to feed the United States and the world. We are fortunate to be surrounded by a diverse agriculture industry, with over 300 unique commodities being grown in Washington state. Many of our state’s p...
This week I am profiling another outstanding senior at Lake Roosevelt High School. I have watched her grow up right before our eyes. She has had many ups and downs in her educational career here within the walls of the Coulee, but she is putting the pieces together and is ready to take on whatever is next. Here is a little bit of my talk with Rosa Carter. “It’s going alright,” is how Rosa answered my first question about her senior year, and then the normally quiet young lady opened up the f...
One of my favorite family photographs shows Billy Curlew, then close to 63, holding the team. My uncle Clair is sitting on the rail, my aunt Eleanor standing right foreground, and my grandfather Sam Seaton standing behind. It was taken about 1925 (based on the apparent ages of Clair, born in September 1915, and Eleanor, about two years older). Billy Curlew was born in 1862 while his band was on a root-digging trip to the present Ephrata - Soap Lake area, at a summer village site called En Tach...
No matter who the experts are, the city administration and the city council who hire them must keep their eyes wide open. Problems in city infrastructure can take a long time to develop and be noticed, but two things are certain: they will develop, and you will pay, sooner or later. So, while the tendency in local governments is to let the experts do their thing, the people we elect to oversee them have a tough job to do in overriding that tendency and holding accountable those who know more than they do. The selection in Electric City of a...
The students of Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers were recently given a second chance. Earlier this year, the future of these programs was threatened when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed closing nine of the 25 Civilian Conservation Center (CCC) programs and transferring the operations of the remaining Centers to the Department of Labor (DOL). This transfer to the DOL would have been contrary to the very mission of the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers, which aims to train the next generation of America’s w...
The grounding of the 737MAX is testing Boeing’s resiliency. It has turned the company upside down in just six months. Boeing executives and engineers have been under duress since the two fatal crashes killing 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia, and that is likely to extend well into 2020. What started as a continuation of a most successful 2018 for Boeing has turned into prolonged migraine. Hopefully, the world’s most successful aerospace company will weather the storm and quickly con...
In August 1934, the Silas Mason Company, headquartered in New York City, began building a new "all electric" town next to the Columbia River in eastern Washington State. The town, called Mason City, was named after Silas Boxley Mason II, who was the Chairman of the MWAK consortium that won the contract to build the Grand Coulee Dam. Silas was married to Suzanne Dallam Burnett, an accomplished thoroughbred racehorse trainer and owner. Suzanne owned Lexington Kentucky's Duntreath Farms and 1933...
First of all, thanks to everyone who has supported me the past years as Electric City Council member. Congratulations to the Electric City Council and mayor elect. I wish them the best in their journey the next few years. I only hope that the community will support them in this journey at public meetings and at monthly council meetings. Birdie Hensley...
Earlier this week the nation took pause to honor our veterans. The debt we owe to veterans goes well beyond Nov. 11. I didn’t come from a military family; however, my father and three of my brothers were in the military: my father in World War I, and my brothers in World War ll. I am sorry now that I know so little of their service times and experiences. They, like so many, didn’t talk a lot about their experiences, it brought back unpleasant memories. My father didn’t serve overseas, but my three brothers did, in the thick of it. My brothers,...
Just before Veterans Day, the last known survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor died at age 98. With the passing of George Hursey of Massachusetts, it closed that chapter of World War II — the world’s most deadly conflict in which over 60 million people perished. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called Dec. 7, 1941, “the date which will live in infamy.” During the surprise attack, 350 Japanese aircraft descended on Pearl Harbor and nearby Hawaiian military installations in two waves. Mor...
When this paper comes out there will be 35 shopping days until Christmas, and eight days till Thanksgiving. (Pause to let that sink in) OK, breathe. In the past at our house, we would be making lists consisting of ammo, kitchen tools and automotive tools. We could even dig a little deeper on the depth chart of possible gifts and say stuff like, Kanye West album, a recliner or a new pair of boots. But things have changed this year. We recently bought a luxury kitchen. No, not for our home. Well,...
If someone asked you if you would commit to a job that could send you to anywhere in the world, even some of its worst places, for years, and that you had to obey orders of your supervisors at all times or there could be serious repercussions, and that the pay wasn’t great, and that it would be entirely possible that you could be in serious danger, even killed, would you jump at the chance? You might, if, like the men and women depicted in our special section honoring veterans this week, you found that the job also allowed you to serve the n...
I wanted to thank the students and parents who allowed me to be a part of your lives for the last three years as the GCDJH eighth-grade girls basketball coach. It has truly been a pleasure to put that time into our youth by either working on their basketball skills or just being there as a leader. I’m seeing more and more that guidance and leadership is something that our youth need, not only as encouragement but as stability. Being told over and over that you’re not good enough is just as bad as being told over and over that you’re the best an...
When I talk to farmers in Central Washington and across the country, having access to a stable and legal workforce is often their number one concern. Each year, it becomes harder to hire domestic workers, and farm owners have become increasingly dependent on the H-2A agricultural guestworker program to grow and harvest their goods for market. This has amounted to a critical labor shortage for our agriculture industry – one of the most important sectors of our nation’s economy. Since I was elected to Congress, making reforms to our nat...
Scientists have been coring glacial ice fields for some time now. One objective is to analyze the small atmospheric gas bubbles that got trapped as the ice formed. These gas bubbles contain atmospheric gases from our ancient past. Much of the research is done to address climate change. The Antarctic has proven to be the place where past climate clues can be found and by past, I mean long, long ago. Up until recently, the oldest complete Antarctica ice core data took the research back some...
With the average age of a U.S. farmer at nearly 60 years, and millions of acres expected to change hands over the next few years, military veterans have a key role to play as the nation looks for the next generation of producers. To do so, veterans will need assistance overcoming barriers, such as accessing land and the lack of assets or cash flow to purchase land, equipment, and farm inputs. Access to credit is an important component of most farming operations, especially for new and beginning producers. Farm Service Agency (FSA), a branch of...
During World War II, construction material was becoming scarce. Support buildings were needing to be erected for the finishing of Grand Coulee Dam. An idea was introduced, where the old Great Northern Railway bridge, up the Columbia River and then over the Kettle River at Marcus, could be reused to provide steel and wood beams needed for these buildings. The bridge was purchased by the government for this plan. By June of 1942, the rising water of the reservoir had backed the Kettle River up to...
There are a lot of reasons why people seek public office. Probably the best reason is when people feel the community has been good to them and they want to give something back. It usually, but not always, comes after families are raised, and there’s more time for public service. This reason probably produces the most effective elected officials. Another reason is that someone encourages someone to run because if they get a friend in office then they can work the system. This seems to be the standard reason today. You see it being played out e...
Sometimes things are very fun around this place. Since Karrie has a new job title of Grandma, the fun level has picked up dramatically. There are tears sometimes, but so it goes with a 9-month-old and a 1-plus-year-old toddler. There are fun times and stressful times but all valuable times. Have you ever watched a baby fall asleep in her highchair? It is hilarious for all except the babe in question. Opening her eyes when you try and give her a bite, very slowly and looking at you annoyed...
“I ask how and why this decision was reached,” Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said in the Senate recently. He was calling for an investigation into President Trump’s decision to pull US forces out of Syria. “Are we so weak and so inept diplomatically that Turkey forced the hand of the United States of America?” A good question, but if the Senate does launch an investigation, do you imagine Romney will get even close to posing it directly to the President? I didn’t think so. We have a presidential accountability problem that has significant...
All of Central Washington’s constituents are special, and I am proud to represent each of them in our nation’s capital. One constituent I am most proud of is General James N. Mattis, decorated four-star general and former U.S. secretary of Defense. He exemplifies the American principles of hard work, patriotism, and integrity. He can communicate and resonate with everyone — from heads of state and members of Congress to local business leaders and young students. His military and civilian service serves as an example for all, and I am honor...
You know the signs. The thunderous cough. The pounding headache. The full-body fatigue. It’s the flu. Last fall and winter, influenza sickened roughly 40 million Americans and killed 60,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This year’s flu season is nearly upon us. Here are four tips to stay healthy. 1. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. People should get the flu vaccine early. Every year, this shot prevents up to 6.7 million flu cases, 87,000 hospitalizations, and 10,000 deaths. The vaccine also hel...
Editor’s note: A story in the Oct. 9 Star told of a missing 14-year-old boy and his grandmother’s efforts to bring him home. This letter is her message to him. 10/14/2019 Javante, To prevent you from being preyed upon by pseudo family or friends, I’m doing the hardest thing in the world, as tears run down my cheek, and that is publicly announcing that I will surrender custody over to both of your biological parents to let the three of you determine where you will live, and solidify it through court. Come back and we will call your paren...
Washington’s 4th Congressional District is home to two sovereign tribes, the Yakama Nation in the south and the Colville Tribes in the north. I am proud to represent these strong Native communities in Congress, but there is a crisis affecting not only the Yakama and the Colville but tribes across the nation: missing and murdered indigenous women. Indigenous women throughout the country face a murder rate ten times higher than the national average, and I have seen firsthand how these injustices affect local communities. There are currently o...