News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Catastrophic wildfires have had a devastating impact on our region. Wildfires can ravage vast sections of our state, displacing families, putting firefighters at risk, and leaving long-term economic recovery challenges. One of the key elements to minimizing our risk of wildfire is to engage in responsible forest management practices and to greatly reduce the small diameter trees, organic waste, and logging slash throughout our timberlands. Throughout my years in the Washington State Legislature, I have been an active supporter of efforts to...
A year into living with the ramifications of a global pandemic, it is clearer now than ever before how important science is to our decision-making – and how quickly it can get tossed to the side in lieu of more politically expedient “truths.” When other countries join the fray to undermine our nation’s stability, annoyance quickly gives way to alarm. China is leading the latest attack against America with one goal in mind: to undermine our nation’s food supply. Alarming, to say the least. China is asking the World Health Organization (WHO) to d...
The vaccine showed up, the numbers are going down, and places are beginning to open back up. While the hope of a return to normalcy may be peeking out, I want to remind ourselves that some of the worst repercussions of this pandemic are beginning to emerge. This past week, a tragedy, a suicide, occurred with a high school student right in our area's backyard. While we all wish it was an anomaly, the truth is that the pain is right here in our house. Life can be difficult no matter who you are,...
It is said that a dog is man’s best friend. If this is true for you, then you have a serious problem. I’ve only had one dog that ever came close, and I will get to that in a minute. My first dog was a collie/shepherd mix, called “Scottie.” I remember how he would sit out on the lawn until he could see me in the distance coming home from school. He had a body clock that would tell him that I would come into view soon. He could see me drop down off North Hill when I was about an eighth of a mile away, and he would come running down the road to...
In Central Washington, we know the best way to jumpstart our economy is by reopening our small businesses and letting America’s free markets get individuals back in the workplace. Unfortunately, far-left Democrats in Congress don’t see it that way. They used the “relief package” to massively fund programs unrelated to COVID-19, to cut our seniors’ Medicare, and to enact tax increases to pay for their crazy spending. It doesn’t make economic sense. Led by Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer, Congress recently passed President Biden’s $1....
Surprisingly, there is something U.S. Presidents agree upon: America’s economic and national security hinge upon maintaining our technology edge in semiconductors. Those tiny computer chips are the brains of modern electronics. They operate our laptops and smart phones and permeate every sector of our lives from farming and manufacturing to health care and public safety. They are embedded in our military’s most advanced equipment and give us a tactical edge. Semiconductors are among our nation’s top five exports. The Semiconductor Indus...
One silver lining of our time in the covid cloud points to a better way of doing some things, a way that should not be abandoned as we shake off what some may think feels like a kind of societal hibernation: better, more-open public meetings. Yeah, that means continuing online options for attending meetings. Don’t shoot! I said “option.” Nothing can replace the dynamics of meeting in person, but at least two situations cry out for keeping the new skills many have learned over the last year of attending meetings online: local government meeti...
It’s on again! Here’s the good news: the Bureau of Reclamation plans on restarting its fire station project. The bad news is that no one has any confidence the bureau will ever finish the project. This project has had more starts than the fleas on a hound dog. You can tell it’s a government job because it’s going to take deep pockets to pull this out. Now the bureau is going to find another contractor for the restart. It seems the contractors are only part of the problem. The rest lies with inspecting the work that is being done. The bureau...
The Senate on March 6 voted 25-24 to pass Senate Bill 5096, a proposal that seeks to create a state income tax on capital gains. The Senate’s passage of a state income tax is beyond disappointing, although not entirely unexpected. This proposal has been a concern of mine for the past few years, and it finally advanced. In the past, the Senate has been a helpful backstop against new tax proposals. In recent years, either Republican senators or a few conservative Democrats helped block the income tax. I’m afraid that the 25 to 24 vote shows that...
In the first two and a half months of 2021, illegal immigration has reached a crisis point. There have been more than 200,000 illegal border crossings with as many as 5,000 illegal crossing encounters in one day. In order to maintain the rule of law and keep criminals out of our country, we must continue working to enhance our border security. One way to do this is to take away opportunities to work illegally in the United States. Congress can do so by creating a viable agriculture labor program that allows workers to come into our country, wor...
When government fails, it’s the rare public official who says, “Oops. My fault.” That’s human nature, particularly for officials in the public eye who may have to run for office again. No one wants to be held directly responsible for letting the public down. Case in point is the recent catastrophe in Texas, when unexpected winter storms left 4 million homes without power, ruptured pipes and tainted the water supply for many. Texas’ energy grid essentially collapsed. While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to blame frozen wind turbines,...
The four-town community has long had a tradition of deciding to use common resources to help in a communal spring cleaning, sprucing the community up and lifting spirits after a long winter. Back in the day, the effort even had a mascot cartoon character named Coulee Clem, who encouraged everyone to get out the brooms and rakes. That community spirit led to the decision to encourage that behavior with a free dump day for yard waste at the Delano Landfill, now a transfer station. That’s not a “gifting of public funds,” as some pencil pushe...
Many of us have received the two-step vaccine but are still urged to wear masks. Eventually, if enough of us are vaccinated, we’ll be able to put mask history behind us. But, before you choose the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, you might consider this: While protecting you from serious consequences, just as Moderna and Pfizer do, it is significantly less effective in keeping you from getting corvid. What’s the difference you might ask? Ninety-five (95) percent for the current versus 66 percent for Johnson and Johnson. What this means in lay...
Presently there are three vaccines for COVID 19 corona virus that have been approved in the USA for use. 1. Pfizer vaccine; 2. Moderna vaccine; 3. Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines used no aborted baby cells in the testing or production of their vaccine and require two shots. Johnson & Johnson used aborted baby cells in both the testing and production of their vaccine and requires only one shot. The moral concerns and decisions are up to you. Thank you, Al & Judy Bosco...
I want to thank the GCDSD Board of Directors for making sure their coaches are being fully compensated and that each sport is getting an assistant for various logical reasons. Thanks for stepping up and doing the right thing. I respect our volunteer local board members who try to find balance with issues and will always be questioned. As board members they nor us educators are health experts. They’re doing their best with the COVID-19 challenges. The recent approval for school staff to get vaccinated is tremendously helpful and addresses the “s...
You could call them the formidable four. There was my mom, Mrs. Hollenback (a widow), Mabel Brantner (local tavern owner’s wife), and the preacher’s wife, Mrs. Stott. They spent a lot of time together. They attended church together and sat as a unit in one of the front rows. Their mission was to get the Rev. Stott to stop preaching on time. They set the time, 12 o’clock sharp. The four carried some soda crackers in their purses and would pull them out and start eating them. When he could contain himself, his message was over. I enjoyed the l...
A portion of the geographic United States, specifically the Southern Plains and Gulf Coast, were hit hard in late February with unusual life-threatening winter weather. The state of Texas became the epicenter of this winter event for several reasons. Widespread power outages, freezing water pipes and significant snowfall occurred, which, in some parts of Texas and the Gulf Coast is a rare happening. What was the cause — the Polar Jet Stream or the Arctic Polar Vortex? First, let’s take a loo...
I hope you write sometime about the mental stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve struggled with mental stress a lot, and here is how I feel: The COVID19 pandemic — with its deaths, economic hardship and curbs on social interaction — has put great pressure on people’s mental health. I’ve used COVID19 data to try and understand what is going on, since I am a mathematician by training, but have found that knowing doesn’t help the mental stress. I have a lot of fear about being among the last to receive a vaccine, at least the way I understand...
As a former council member and current park committee member, along with my co-park committee member, I have sat back, listened, and read the newspaper. We feel it is important to correct information regarding the Electric City Park. Our previous and current committee members worked on the Plans for the Park and the Funding for the Park. The current city council has chosen not to use the RCO Grant or Hotel Motel Tax Funds which was for this purpose. We want to inform the public that the Hotel/Motel Tax can be used for Capital Improvement for...
Joe Emerson joined our class as a junior at Palouse High School. He became my closest friend and remained so for several years. His older brother had ties with a motorcycle group in Spokane and we soon followed him there. Our hangout was the British American Motorcycle shop on East Sprague, and the XXX Drive In. We frequently went to Spokane and stayed at one of the motorcycle houses Joe’s brother frequented. After graduation we were at the motorcycle shop one weekend and we both purchased BSA motorcycles. BSA stood for British Small Arms, a n...
When our state moved into Phase 2 of Governor Inslee’s latest iteration of a reopening plan, it signaled a well-deserved step forward for our region. Following guidelines under the leadership of local health districts and elected officials, we worked together to reduce our hospitalization rates, prevent the spread of the virus, and lower the number of cases in our regions. We earned our way into Phase 2. Quite reasonably, members of our community including small business owners and local leaders are now asking: What’s next? What is Phase 3? Wha...
As the events of the past few months have unfolded, I have often found myself wondering what our Founders would have made of it all. Impossible to know, of course, but they had plenty of insight to offer. In particular, I keep returning to these lines from James Madison: “I go on this great republican principle, that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom,” he said. “Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks — no form of government can render us s...
I am writing in response to John Adkins’ series of letters to the editor, the most recent being 2/17/21. As a Lake Roosevelt teacher of nearly 17 years, I have had the opportunity to experience the changing tides of many administrators, several superintendents, and more changes in education than I can honestly remember at times. As a parent of school-aged students for the last 21 years, I have navigated three school districts ranging in size from 250 students to 9,000. I have been trying to determine what point John Adkins’ series of letters is...
When I see Kenny Hoke he always waves and makes my day. Every time this happens, I think about the state championship basketball team he was on back in the days when the rim and net were real baskets. Since Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam combined into the Grand Coulee Dam School District there has only been one Raider team that has won a state championship. That championship was in Track & Field. Raider Track & Field has won multiple team state trophies. It also has had more individual state champions and medalists over time than any other Raider...
I am a former resident of Grand Coulee. Three brothers were born there, the first in October 1935, coinciding with the opening of the Mason City hospital. As a pre-teen in 1950, an older Indian befriended me and spent time describing local native history. When the canal first delivered water to Banks Lake, he invited me to visit a place which would “be lost forever.” He took me to the base of Steamboat Rock as the water was rising. We entered a cave with ancient paintings on the side walls. Very unforgettable moment for this youngster. A few we...