News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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When Congress established the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) in 1935, it was intended to provide temporary and partial income replacement for workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. It was supposed to be a “bridge” to a new job and not “in lieu of compensation” to remain jobless. The coronavirus pandemic produced massive layoffs. The resulting economic downturn swelled the ranks of unemployed Americans by more than 14 million — from 6.2 million in February to 20.5 million in May 2020, Pew Research reported. The unemp...
When Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday that he and state public health leaders had decided to go easy considering a dreaded possible rollback to more restrictive public safety measures, no sighs of relief left his critics’ lips, just more grumbling. After watching case rates rise for weeks, public health quantifiers noted the trend had plateaued, leveled off. Critics of Inslee’s approach in deferring to public health experts and letting science guide the state through the pandemic, might have been expected to be glad they’d finally come down...
Damon Landeros is my great grandson. He’s really more than that; he is one of my best friends. Damon is a frequent visitor to our home and has the run of the place. He has two TV locations, the computer, and of course, the refrigerator. He has also been a great help around the house and does things to help without being asked. He has been here for almost all of the Gonzaga games, and probably knows more than anyone about Gonzaga’s program, except for Mark Few. He knows all the players, their numbers and most of their statistics. During the gam...
Climatologists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s office of National Centers for Environmental Information are recalculating the nation’s Climate Normals covering the span of 1991-2020. This process occurs every 30 years. It started in 1935 when the International Meteorological Organization, now called World Meteorological Organization, asked its nation members to calculate “climate normals” using a 30-year period, starting with 1901-1930. For the first time, the update w...
Millions of Americans tuned in last Wednesday night to see what President Biden had to say about the first 100 days of his Administration and his plans for our country. Unfortunately for farmers, ranchers, and agricultural communities like ours in Central Washington, he had little to offer. Instead of discussing real, concrete solutions that would help our farmers and ranchers through the recovery of a global pandemic, the President spent two hours pontificating on his radical agenda and social welfare programs. It would be irresponsible to...
Sunshine is so seductive, which you certainly know if you ever went to a school in springtime with windows in the classroom. It can ruin your focus, draw you out, trash the best of intentions after a long, dark winter just ended. Happened every year for me in grade school. I feel like that now, freshly, fully vaccinated more than a year after entering the battle against the pandemic, everywhere is begging to be a destination. Can’t really blame anybody for wanting to throw caution to the wind. Fortunately, that feels close to the r...
As your state senator, I am not opposed to taxes outright, but I do care greatly about the tax burden placed upon you. Taxes are applied to us at all levels of government (local, state, and federal), and government should always demonstrate a prudent use of tax dollars. As a state legislator, I am involved in “state” level taxes, not local or federal taxes. The primary taxes for Washington state budgeting include sales taxes and business taxes. Understanding the property tax system Of all the taxes that exist, the one I receive the most que...
Sometimes being first isn’t good. Such is the case with legislation making Washington the only state to ban natural gas in new homes and commercial buildings. Thankfully, the legislators ended their session in Olympia and left that bad idea on the table. However, it is destined to come back next year. The issue is complicated and expensive. Earlier this year, Gov. Jay Inslee (D) unveiled it as part of a package to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It included a phase out of natural gas for space and water heating by forbidding the use of fossil...
While at the Statesman Newspaper in Boise, I was assigned boxing and covered a single pro wrestling event. The promoter of both boxing and wrestling in Boise was Al Berra, who operated a tavern in the downtown area. Al was constantly finding ways to build the gate for his events, and of course filling his pockets at the same time. He had built a stable of pretty good boxers, with two of them ending in the top 10 in their weight division. I was at ringside for all the boxing events and remember once getting splattered with blood, ruining a new...
Each of the past several elections has thrust rural people into the media spotlight. Rural and urban people are divided, the pundits tell us. Neither understands the lives of the other, the news reports read. I find the entire narrative rather tired. It is rife with inaccuracies that I won’t try to unpack here. It is also a distraction. Spending our energy debating an unhelpful caricature of cultural divides keeps both voters and policymakers distracted from making changes that matter. I suggest we focus our energy instead on a simple q...
I’m writing this letter in response to the recent article regarding updating the Shane Proctor Park. I would like to suggest a new sign be added to the updates. The old sign (made from a broken pallet) is an embarrassment. Our hometown hero will be returning to the area for the Colorama festivities, and he should be welcomed back to town with a sign that shows our pride in him! Colorama is only weeks away. Maybe something can be done with this tacky old sign before he and his family arrive. Thank you for your time. Cheryl Pr...
A special THANK YOU to Katie & Jeff, Bob that came to help Evelyn & Carl Saturday cleaning up the gravel pit where people shoot rifles and shotguns. Evelyn & Carl helped Sunday afternoon along with a young man that was here for a wedding. Carl spent two hours Monday. A total of 15 man hours. We burned all wood & cardboard, recycled all plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Still ended up with 600 lbs. of garbage to go in the garbage dump. It is so irritating people think of themselves as SPORTSMEN when they leave all their trash, including...
When I moved here, I thought with all this water I would get some boating and fishing in. I was wrong on both ideas. First, I bought a boat, a nice little boat, 17 foot long, as I recall. Paid $2,000 for it. I had been told that the two days that stand out are the day you purchase a boat and the day you sell it. The only boat I had ever used before was a rowboat, a fishing vessel rented by several of my high school buddies and trolling by dipping the oars slightly in the water. I got a hitch put on my rig and wondered how I was going to do...
The saying goes: if you can’t win the debate, change the rules. And that is exactly what the Democrats in Congress are doing. Over the past few weeks, Democrats in Congress have pressed forth numerous pieces of legislation to change the one set of rules we all play by – our Constitution. They’ve usurped State’s rights in holding fair elections, are trying to turn the federal city of Washington, D.C. into a state to add two more liberal Democrats to the Senate, and now want to add more Supreme Court justices in order to tip court rulings...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District leadership is taking a good step forward by preparing for the day when funding becomes available to entities who already have plans in place for improvements. In fact, that’s exactly how the district got its new school built, by taking the steps necessary to be ready when fortune, or the state Legislature, or Congress, smiles. When the plans were already in place, the day came that a jobs bill was looking for a place to lay in some green. A sharp state legislator we had working for us knew what to do. S...
P.Y. Yee put clothes on you that fit and were of superior quality. He was one of the infamous tailors in Hong Kong, and I got to know him visiting his tailor shop in Hong Kong during my several visits there. It was like getting new skin, his coats and suits fitting so well. He had a remarkable memory, greeting me by name though my visits were a year apart. I learned of Yee through someone who had used him on an earlier occasion. His shop wasn’t fancy, and I often wondered what he thought of my store-bought clothes. He must have quickly g...
It isn’t often we hear good news from Hanford, but the Dept. of Energy recently announced the nation’s first commercial advanced nuclear power reactor would be developed on the massive federal reservation north of Richland. Much of the news from Hanford focuses on radioactive waste cleanup and storing it safely. It has accumulated since the 1940s when nuclear reactors enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. While that tedious work will continue for years to come, Hanford scientists have a new mission — develop smaller and safer nuclear react...
We all agree that senseless acts of violence are unacceptable, and in our nation of law and order, there is no room for gun violence. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration is utilizing heartbreaking crimes to push its agenda. Manipulating tragedy for political gain is just wrong. The recent shootings in Colorado and Georgia were absolutely devastating for the families and loved ones affected by these events. Now, instead of being allowed to grieve in peace, their lives have been turned into a political circus. And rather than offering viable...
As Washington turns its attention to infrastructure and other matters of policy, the Senate filibuster isn’t commanding quite the same headlines as it did a few weeks back. But that’s only because the issue is percolating behind the scenes. At some point, it will return to the limelight. And when it does, you should understand what’s at stake. Because as obscure as it seems, it actually goes to the heart of how we operate as a democracy. The key point to remember is that as the country’s population has shifted, a growing number of senator...
Grant PUD’s decision to pursue a partnership in a next-generation nuclear power plant stems from the same circumstance that incented Columbia Basin Hydropower’s interest in its Banks Lake Hydropower project. The factors driving this grip all of us; change is inevitable. Both the PUD and Columbia Basin Hydro figure more power will be needed in the coming years, and that much of it will come from renewable energy developments that need a more stable, fairly permanent source of power to steady their less-than-stable energy flow. Both of those pro...
Here I’ve shared how scientists develop forecasts and predictions of our planet’s weather: from ground and airborne observations and data from stationary and orbiting satellites. Those data that are gathered are put through algorithms on computers that help create weather forecasts and predictions. It’s not a perfect science and likely never will be. So, how are scientists gathering data on what weather occurred in the past — way back before people predicted our weather — even before people? Pal...
Things look pretty bad right now for the people of Burma. In my visit to Burma, I found the people of a peaceful nature, but governed by military men who at the time stayed in the background. Since that time, there was a peaceful transfer of power to an elected government. That didn’t last long. Power grabs people and doesn’t let go. We have seen the evidence of this here in our own country. While there, I observed uniformed men carrying rifles on most street corners. They weren’t threatening, but their presence was unsettling. While everything...
The Ever Given’s grounding in one of the narrowest parts of the Suez Canal underscores the vulnerability of the world’s supply chain. The reverberations will be felt for months as consumer demand, suppressed by the COVID pandemic, ramps up. The canal, which was completed in 1869, is the main shipping artery between Asian and European seaports through which 10 percent of the global shipping traverses. Much of the 120-mile waterway is extremely narrow, especially for ships as long as the Empire State Building (New York City) is tall (1,300 ft....
The school board approved a new schedule for students in high school (March 22). With this schedule, students who choose to be in school in person will now be able to be in school four days a week instead of two days. The administration is hoping that by doing so, these students will become more engaged with their work and will find a renewed motivation. Unfortunately, this decision comes at a cost: the cost of quality education. You see, because of bus constraints in this time of COVID-19, to accommodate this schedule, the administration has...
If you asked someone who the heroes of World War II were, you would probably get FDR, Gen. MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Gen. Patton, and so on. And they would be correct. But what about the unsung heroes? The kids across America did their part in the winning of World War II. They became a gigantic salvage yard operation in collecting aluminum, rubber and iron, and buying Savings stamps and bonds. When the country was asked to bring in salvage items to help the war effort, millions of young boys and girls really rolled up their sleeves and got...