News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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While he’s right about the diverse energy portfolio the state of Washington boasts, and about the necessity of an all-of-the-above energy solution, for now, Rep. Dan Newhouse would better advance the goals of energy independence by not including the divisive rhetoric he seems to think is necessary at every turn. We include his column on this page because he represents us in the U.S. House of Representatives, but even a piece about his bringing members of Congress to his district to show them local energy solutions obligatorily starts with an a... Full story
Andy Clark is an LR alumnus and was a very talented Raider and UW Husky track athlete. At LR he was coached by Randy Spotts, who was the best high school distance coach around. Randy was very organized, methodical, expected the best from his athletes and coached several state champions and medalists. Coach Spotts always kept things fun with his bizarre sense of humor. Even when his runners were tops in the state he would yell at them to run “Faster, faster, faster.” Then when their events were over he’d tell the coaches jokingly, “Boy, could I...
“Mass shooting” is defined as four or more people shot. A list of the number of those mass shooting events by year is cited below. 2022: 249 as of May 24. In all of 2021: 671; in 2020, 611; 2019, 416; 2018, 336; 2017, 346; 2016, 381; 2015, 335; 2014, 269. The number of people who were shot and the number who were killed is given by the following website, and it also reports the date and location of each event. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2021/may/27/us-mass-shootings-database On Oct. 1, 2017, one individual shot 471 peo...
Memorial Day can be a special occasion. It is meant to be a day of remembering family members and close friends who have passed on. It is a time when you can reflect on the good times enjoyed with those who have been closest to you. When I return home to Palouse, which I plan to do in a few weeks, the first place I always go is to the cemetery where my parents and grandparents are buried. There are a number of others that were close to me buried there. How fortunate we are that our society sets apart a special day to do this. At my parents’ g...
Over the past year and a half — under the Democrats’ one-party rule — rural communities like ours in Central Washington have been harmed by the failed, anti-energy policies coming out of our nation’s capital. Gas prices have hit all-time highs, and American families are facing high inflation and supply chain interruptions thata threaten our way of life. It is more critical than ever that our nation establishes a strong, reliable, all-of-the-above domestic energy portfolio. Fortunately for us in Central Washington, we have a prime example...
Electric City is making the correct move in considering whether it should plan for expansion to its south. Like the rest of the country, the local area is running short of housing, and that’s a major obstacle to progress for a better community. Local employers have trouble recruiting employees to the area when they can’t find a place to live. Our largest employers in the Grand Coulee Dam area — the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Coulee Medical Center — run into the problem repeatedly. The hospital keeps eight rentals of its own just to have a...
The cartoon in the May 18th edition of The Star newspaper depicts the issue of abortion as a political one. It is a huge disservice to our communities to infer abortion is a political issue. It is not. It is a moral issue. A woman cries out it is her body, therefore, her choice, but what about the little girl or boy who is torn to pieces by the abortion? Why does she or he not get a say in what is going to happen to her or his body? To hear what happens to that little girl or boy, listen to Dr. Anthony Levatino. In October of 2015, he...
People that fly complain about how much time it takes to get to and clear security at the airport. Just getting to the airport can be just as difficult. I was staying at the Mandarin Hotel, which is located on Hong Kong Island. I had a fairly near flight departure and asked the guy at the desk to call a taxi for me. He explained that there were no taxis at that time, but the bicycle taxi people gathered at dawn at a location nearby, he said. Maybe I could get one there. You would think that one of the world’s prime hotels would have a better h...
As Memorial Day approaches each year, I reflect on the debt that each and every American owes to the heroes who have fought to preserve our freedoms. Throughout our history, more than one million Americans, in Lincoln’s words, “gave their last full measure of devotion” in our nation’s defense. This Memorial Day will be the 155th in our nation’s history, and rather than simply marking the beginning of summer, as Americans we should take the opportunity to honor those who have given their all. This year is especially memorable for Central W...
The 1938 high water of the Columbia River tops the upstream spillway blocks and floods the blockouts left for the outlet works gate installations at EL. 934. The maximum flow for 1938 was 361,680 second feet. May 28, 1938...
Imagine the nation’s hospitals besieged by pressure to set aside most of what medical science has learned in the past half century. Individuals needing care would receive attention, but from physicians wary that implementing contemporary practices and ideas could have consequences for their careers. Public health would diminish even more. This is the challenge faced by history educators in many states and school districts across the United States right now. Radical organizations, prompted and prodded by marketing professionals and political i...
After a few decades of interviewing high school students two or three times a year, certain traits start to seem universal, including eager optimism mixed with a little nervousness about the unknown coming up. Last week, I had the absolute pleasure, once again, to talk with a few local seniors, one on one, about their plans for the future and what high school has been like for them. Whether they hoped to go to college, pursue a certain career, or begin a new adventure, these young adults — vibrant, bright, and hopeful as they are — carries at...
Summers in Palouse when I was a kid meant carnivals and the circus. They held the carnivals just off Main Street and next to the downtown gym. My brother Bob got kicked out of the carnival one summer. They had a monkey on a chain, and it was a popular attraction. Well Bob, who was always pushing the envelope, pushed a little too much. He was teasing the monkey, and the animal would make it out to the end of the chain. Bob didn’t calculate distance too well, and the monkey got on him, causing a stir. Every carny at the site thought Bob was h...
Gov. Jay Inslee and Sen. Patty Murray have their priorities backward when it comes to rebuilding Snake River salmon and steelhead runs. Instead of focusing on ripping out dams with fish passages and navigation locks, they should find ways to reopen traditional spawning areas upriver that are blocked by dams without fish ladders. Breaching Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite dams is costly and counterproductive. Over the last 30 years, northwest electric ratepayers paid $7.6 billion to the Bonneville Power...
Sheep of Joe Hodgin enroute from winter quarters at Adrian, Washington to summer range in the Colville National Forest. - May 9, 1945...
I wrote a request for everyone to write a letter of support for dedicating Highway 20 to the Vietnam Veterans. I thought it was a great idea and I accepted the role as chair from Hodges Post #84, in Oroville. I thought the response would be immediate and overwhelming due to those families in the three-plus counties of this state would have had family members that need to be recognized for their dedication to duty during that war. I hope I am not wrong, I need the letters. So, would you take time write me a short letter of support? I am requesti...
I have been tracing my Lucas family back as far as the mid 17th century in LaRochelle, France. I can’t seem to get past Jean Lucas, so for now he is the patriarch of the family. The family followed the teachings of John Calvin and finally left France for Germany and the long emigration to escape to the New World. Part of the family went to Ireland, but my branch went to England to pursue Queen Anne’s pledge to pay their passage to New York. The family took refuge in a fleet of 10 ships who were waiting out the winter for spring sailing. The...
Google Home speakers are “smart,” to use the language of our times. They’re also stolen. That’s according to a recent ruling from the U.S. International Tradex Commission that found Google infringed on five patents from Sonos, a speaker company. The ruling prohibits Google from importing products that infringe on the patented technology -- a decision that could have multimillion-dollar consequences for the folks in Mountain View. Google’s case is no outlier. In August, a federal jury slapped Apple with a $300 million verdict for stealing...
Having just watched a Supreme Court nominee supported by a comfortable majority of Americans draw just three Republican votes in the Senate, you could be forgiven for thinking bipartisanship in Congress is a thing of the past. But if you look carefully, there are plenty of signs that bipartisanship is still possible in Washington. President Biden recently signed a bill reforming the Postal Service, which drew strong support from both parties in Congress. The same happened with a measure that keeps companies and universities from shielding...
Thinning public woodlands to remove millions of dead trees is a way to generate much needed cash to reduce wildfire risks, improve forest health, and protect rural homeowners and farms. It is money the U.S. Forest Service and Washington’s Dept. of Natural Resources don’t have because the bulk of their funds are tied up fighting fires. Our state’s wildfire severity has worsened in recent years. The 2020 fire season was particularly destructive. Over 1,250 square miles burned in more than 1,600...
Anytime you go out anywhere, it is so apparent that people are feeling exhilarated to be outside, and the community is not holding back. After the end of most covid-warranted restrictions in most places, we’re breathing sighs of relief and flexing our collectively stiff, out-of-shape social muscles. And it feels so good. Last night, a junior high softball game and two very young kids’ baseball games were all going on at the same time on Ludolph Field, the athletic field of the former middle school. A breeze seemed to blow good will across eve...
With the wildfires burning in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, one would think we were in summer fire season already. Though, the reality is, it’s mid spring, and fire season is now nearly year-round. In last month’s column, I shared the status of drought for our region. We have not recovered from drought conditions, it’s still here. Looking at the National Integrated Drought Information System, the dryness will continue. For Washington state, the eastern portion is in drought. These condition...
Why am I so lucky? I have a new great granddaughter, at least new to me. She was born the day that President Biden took office, Jan. 20, 2021. I saw Autumn once before, in Spokane at the hospital, but last weekend she was at the house, so I really got an opportunity to watch her closely. She is really mobile and walks all over. Her mother and father are Camille and Mark Fabian. No one can know the joy of seeing a new family generation arrive. As they say “out with the old and in with the new.” I wonder what circumstances await little Aut...
This week, as Native American tribes and communities gather to honor the women and girls who have been murdered or gone missing at alarming rates here in Central Washington and across the country, the glaring question remains: When will this end? For decades, indigenous women have faced a murder rate 10 times higher than the national average, and in Washington state, native women account for 7% of all reported missing women. The lack of a streamlined reporting apparatus and accurate data combined with jurisdictional challenges have left tribes...
Wood buildings are making a comeback in the Pacific Northwest thanks to new laminated timber products. Even very large buildings are now constructed with laminated beams and are successfully competing with steel and concrete building materials. For example, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, is home to one of the world’s tallest “cross laminated timber” (CLT) buildings. Brock Commons, a student residence, is 174 feet high. The 18-story dorm houses more than 400 students. Cross...