News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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I found it interesting to read how well the local hospital did last month. It made headline news. Such enthusiasm over more people needing to pay for medical care. It’s unfortunate for the care center that this comes with less government payouts and more insurance forms, since it is harder when you have to show your work. Hopefully they can adjust. I’m glad we do have medical care here, and I know they do much good, but it was a strange article....
So why am I writing this letter? I have asked the Chief of Police for 20 years to have an officer do speed control above the canal on SR-174. The answer is always the same: Ok, Rob. Then there is nothing done. I have asked several officers if they would be traffic control on SR-174. Their answers are, I work for the Grand Coulee Dam Project, or there is no place to sit by the road above the canal. People don’t have to pull over if they don’t want to, and, it costs too much to write a ticket. With the cost of gas and time going to court and peo...
Hearing the deadly dust storm on Monday caused me some alarm. The storm was reported to be in Indiana, where I have a close friend. So I called Warner Bartleson, who is well known in the coulee. Warner was hospital administrator here for four years in the early 1990s, during the struggle to save the hospital. Warner said they had the wind, but no dust. However, the area was visited by four tornadoes recently. Warner’s wife, Sara, had recently suffered a bad fall and is still recovering from that. He remarked that the years he was here were r...
Intentionally, the Washington State Legislature, Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, are completely destroying our state. The Democrat controlled legislature has singlehandedly absolved you from having any say over the health of your children as it pertains to gender identity. If your child runs away from home and seeks shelter at a state facility, while seeking gender-transitioning treatment, including puberty blocking drugs that can render a child sterile for life, the state will not contact the parent or guardian. This bill,...
Central Washington is home to a diverse and reliable energy portfolio, and with abundant natural resources at our doorstep—from hydropower to wind energy—we are proud to play a leading role in our nation’s energy independence. If we are to ensure the United States remains at the forefront of energy production and innovation, then our federal policy must take a page out of Central Washington’s book and aggressively pursue an “all-of-the-above” energy approach. The idea of “all-of-the-above” energy is simple: we utilize all available sourc...
It seems to be our human nature to blame someone when events take a turn that we don’t like. When deadly contagious disease struck the ancient Greeks and Romans, they thought that humans had displeased the gods, and the gods were punishing the human race. During the Middle Ages, there was a time now known as the “little ice age.” The summer weather in Europe was cold and wet for years or decades at a time. Crops failed and people suffered from hunger and starvation. People blamed minority elements of the population for the bad weather, and t...
I would like to know how much of our city budget goes to our police department. How long do they get to destroy our city finances? We have eight officers and a sniper. I do notice there is a new SUV in the sniper’s garage (unmarked). I do notice the force also has a new unmarked SUV plus a unmarked cruiser with a police bumper sticker. We lost the Electric City contract, but we did not lose an officer. We hire officers that do not work for the city; they work for the Grand Coulee Dam Project, but where will there retirement come from? Not t...
President Biden is unwisely “throttling up” plans to ditch carbon fuels unilaterally despite the extreme consequences of doing so. He wants to accelerate replacement of gas/diesel vehicles with electrics (EVs) which will be recharged by electrical grids energized by solar, wind and hydro power---- not coal, natural gas, or nuclear fuels. Additionally, in our state, Governor Inslee mimicked Berkeley (CA) building codes stopping the installation of natural gas stoves and water heaters; however, a federal appeals court overturned the ban. The cou...
I think there’s a song about that. In a few days it will be 75 years since I graduated from Palouse High School. Palouse will always be where I am from, and my home away from home. We had 24 in our graduation class, 15 of us attending all 12 grades together. We didn’t have kindergarten back then. Palouse is at the center of a rich farming area — never a crop failure, farmers like to say. So, the kids don’t move around much. In addition to the 15 who stuck it out together, another two left after their junior year. Among my classmates, one bec...
Right now, there are more job openings in the United States than people looking for work. Allowing anyone to qualify for welfare when they simply don’t want to work isn’t making things any better. Medicaid and food stamps were originally designed as a safety net during a time of need. However, it has expanded much beyond its original intent and is now disincentivizing work for able-bodied adults. Congress must reorient these programs toward what they were originally designed to do—help Americans who are in need to be strong members of the workf...
I appreciate the “public service announcement” in last week’s Star newspaper concerning sexual abuse and information about available hotlines and help. Since not everyone, especially teens, seniors and those with special needs, is able to travel 50 or more miles to receive emergency or ongoing care for their mental health issues, what, if any, services are available closer to home? I realize our community sits in extreme corners of several counties and that it’s difficult for our hospital to persuade medical professionals to work in our are...
Our youngest son, Nathan is visiting the 37 courthouses in Oregon with the intent to create a book. He received his bachelor and master degrees from the University of Oregon. For the past 25 years he has been teaching at a private school in Portland. He proposed getting a sabbatical from teaching to do the book and was granted a leave. Nathan got the idea after stopping by and taking photos of the courthouse in Davenport. All of his active life as far back as high school, he has had something to do with photography. When I was involved with a...
Rural small businesses and agricultural producers looking to save money by reducing energy costs may be eligible for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). With a boost in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the program is offering $1 billion in grants and guaranteed loans to assist with investments in renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. This may include the installation of hydropower, geothermal, wind, or solar energy systems, updating heating and cooling systems, or switching from a diesel to an electric...
Today, employers continue to struggle finding enough workers while attempting to bring people back to the office (work sites). A key problem is there simply aren’t enough people to fill available jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported at the end of February, there were 9.9 million job openings and 5.9 million unemployed workers. The Chamber added if every unemployed person in the country found a job, there would still be 4 million vacant positions. As America emerges from the Covid-19 p...
Regarding “Disbarred Colville Tribal Spokesperson,’ ...Chairman [Erickson] continued, “The Colville Tribes will always protect its members...People who think they can prey on our community without suffering consequences are badly mistaken.” — Tribal Tribune March 17, 2023 pp A1,9. Really? Nope! FYI, whistle-blowing is a ticket to “black-ball,” while embezzlers rise in the heap. Harms by a scheming, grifting-colonized-preying CBC, Office of Reservation Attorney (ORA), historical Executive Direction & Public Safety Directors (ED; PSD), Tribal...
All work and no play…. You know the rest. While in college in 1955-59, I occasionally took some needed time off to go fishing, despite two jobs, a full college load of classes and being a husband and father. I was located in Nampa, Idaho, and had found a good bass fishing spot, about 15 miles away, along the Boise River. I kept my fishing gear in my car, so in an instant I was on the 20-minute drive to fish. On one occasion I went by a house that had piled up some boxes with a “free” sign on them. I turned back, looked in the boxes and, along...
Last week, President Biden turned his back on agricultural producers, small business owners, and anyone who wants to have authority over their own property by vetoing a bipartisan, bicameral effort to stop the Biden Administration’s proposed “Waters of the United States,” or WOTUS, rule under the guise of protecting clean water. What this administration fails to realize is that the federal government already sets stringent national health-based standards for drinking water and no WOTUS rule would weaken these requirements. Rather, WOTUS only...
Every morning when my mirror smiles back, I am grateful to two dentists who have helped me for decades. They must be darn good, because thanks to regular visits I’ve retained excellent cuspids, bicuspids, plus a host of workable molars. I am not the best patient. I nearly always brush my teeth at least once a day, and sometimes use toothpaste. But I am an excellent flosser. I know this, because the hygienist complimented me the last visit when she dug junk food from my molars. Over the years, dentists have worked miracles on two upper front i...
My mom would be horrified by the rash of violence in our schools today. The most recent tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville, where three students and three adults were shot to death, is devastating. It was unimaginable 40 years ago. Mom was an elementary school secretary for 20 years. She wanted us — her four children — to become teachers. A key reason was schools were safe places for kids, teachers, and staff —places where students learned the fundamental skills required in life. Littl...
If 2023 Colville Business Council (CBC) candidates know, let alone understand, what organized racketeering is, can they attack its head, the colonized CBC, on the Colville Indian Reservation (CIR)? “Part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) makes it unlawful to acquire, operate, or receive income from an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. Geared toward ongoing organized criminal activities, the underlying tenet of RICO is to prove and prohibit a pattern o...
[Editor’s note: We mistakenly ran only a part of this column last week; here’s the full piece.] I’ve visited both the spectacular and the simplest of places where the faithful gather. A visit to Angkor Wat near Siem Reap in Cambodia is probably the place I will always remember. The complex is huge and the construction history reminds me of the pyramids in Egypt. Angkor Wat was completed in 1110, and has many Hindu carvings in the complex. Sometime along the way it was taken over by the Buddhists. The quarry where the stone came from is 50 mi...
Developing exciting, supplemental courses that young learners will become motivated about can be challenging. Some schools have proven that it can be done. I don’t recall any supplemental classes when I attended elementary school. Of course, those days are deep in the recesses of my mind, nearly lost to memory. A friend sent me a news item about a school program that peaked my attention. It was about a supplemental course in weather. Sierra House Elementary School is located in South Lake T...
Our Constitutional First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech is a fundamental requirement for a successful democracy. But false statements produce consequences that threaten our democracy and the well-being of our society. Fifty-nine years ago, the administration of President Lyndon Johnson falsified information about U.S. operations in the Tonkin Gulf. That falsification was used to justify the invasion of Vietnam in 1965. The Vietnam War dragged on for 10 years and caused disruptions in American society. It lasted long enough, 1965 to...
7 candidates for Colville Business Council (CBC), what do you commit to your claim as a “candidate for change”? What change? Year after year, “change” turns out to be about another face replacing the same dysfunctional-type council member. It is extremely rare a council candidate shows up with an original idea. Let’s start here: On behalf of the Tribes and Tribal Members, the CBC may file legal claims for damages against corporations and other governments. Orion Donovan-Smith, orionds@spokesman.com, Spokesman Review 8/4/21 reported,...
H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, passed the House on Friday. A recent column by Sean V. O’Brien, Eastern Washington director of right-wing Washington Policy Center (WPC), “We must affirm parents’ rights, put students first” (March 22), explained the bill. Reading the “five pillars of H.R. 5,” one senses that in normal times this legislation, though unnecessary, would seem quite innocent. But these aren’t normal times and the second pillar, “Parents have the right to be heard,” is being greatly debased by many Republicans. Perhaps the greates...