Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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When Oregon enacted the nation’s first bottle bill in 1971, it was intended to reduce litter on the state’s beaches, along roads, and in parks. It was a cleanup, not a recycling program. Today, the focus is recycling empty beer, pop, juice, and water containers and it is working very well in large part because it pays people to recycle. Collect the “empties” and earn a dime for each plastic bottle or aluminum can. It adds up and often is enough money to supplement purchas...
From cars to bigfoot to high-speed sprint boats, you don’t have to look very far to find something to do this weekend. But dad won’t care if you take him somewhere or just spend time with him. For dad, Father’s Day isn’t about spending money, it’s about time – time to connect, reflect and enjoy each other’s company. Dads spend a lifetime taking care of the needs of their children. Through their children’s formative years into college, fathers bring structure, discipline, log...
The deal reached between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to increase our nation’s debt limit was a welcome compromise. It appears to avert our nation’s defaulting on our financial responsibilities and is a step toward bringing government spending under control. However, it is just a start; and the hurdles ahead are much higher. While the federal government operates differently than a family or business, people are starting to realize that if our nation def...
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which allocated $386 billion for clean energy, is a major breakthrough in our nation’s struggle to address climate change. The IRA can decrease our carbon emissions 40% by 2030, putting us within general range of our targeted 50-52% emissions reduction by then. But unless we speed up the permitting process for the transmission lines needed to convey the clean energy, we’ll realize only about 20% of the projected reduction, according to a Princeton REPEAT Project study. It now takes 4.3...
Relying on increased wind and solar is likely to increase electricity costs for residents in Washington and Idaho, and make electricity less reliable. Advocates of wind and solar frequently point to is the claim that the fuel is “free.” That claim ignores the extremely high up-front cost of those energy sources. To account for that, energy analysts create a “levelized cost of energy” to compare between energy that has low costs up-front but has ongoing costs for the fuel ...
In a victory for private property owners, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the “significant nexus” test in its Sackett v EPA ruling. The ruling changes how “waters of the United States” can be applied by leaving wetlands that are not directly flowing into “rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water that flow across or form a part of State boundaries” out of consideration as WOTUS. The “significant nexus” test was established in Rapanos v United States. The “significant ne...
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee is busy signing bills. I think he should start putting his John Hancock on apology letters to former state workers who were terminated because of his vaccine mandate. I doubt he will. In a press release about the move, the Inslee administration says that the end of the employment requirement “aligns with the end of the federal public health emergency and the lifting of vaccination requirements for federal employees and contractors on May 11. La...
An “aha” moment – a time when make that brilliant “I’m going to do it” decision. I got mine after reading “Lone Survivor” by Marcus Luttrell and studying up on my favorite Purple Heart recipient, Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter. It sounds crazy, but for some reason a moving film about Marines fighting to save our country and their ensuing brotherhood inspired me to start my search for a military career. It wasn’t until after I read the story of a Spokane local, Ty Carter, and how h...
Although New Zealand and Washington are located a half-a-world apart, they have lots in common---beautiful seashores, majestic mountains, crystal clear streams and lakes, and vibrant salmon and trout fisheries. Both are struggling to rid their air sheds of CO2 and other greenhouse gases coming from the burning of carbon fuels (coal, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel) in vehicles, home heating and electric-power generation. New Zealand and Washington share a common goal to be c...
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee is busy signing bills. I think he should start putting his John Hancock on apology letters to former state workers who were terminated because of his vaccine mandate. I doubt he will. In a press release about the move, the Inslee administration says that the end of the employment requirement “aligns with the end of the federal public health emergency and the lifting of vaccination requirements for federal employees and contractors on May 11. La...
The state Legislature is headed back to Olympia this week for a special session specifically to deal with the prospect of all drugs becoming legal July 1. Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, says he hopes lawmakers will pass a new drug-possession law to fix last year’s so-called “Blake fix.” At issue is a temporary law that expires at the end of next month relating to possession of drugs in Washington. The temporary law was implemented during the 2022 legislative session after...
President Joe Biden is seeking re-election. I wish he were younger and I might favor other Democrats — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and 2020 presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker come to mind. But Biden’s record is impressive and he may have the best chance of winning the presidency. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has opposed everything Democrats proposed from the day former President Barack Obama was inaugurated, even if originally Republican-proposed. And Republican opposition has...
Beef Day is the second-best day of the legislative session, next to the last day. Probably the best news about the 2023 legislative session is that we adjourned on time, although there are grumblings from even the governor that he may call for a special session to deal with flawed drug-possession law problem known as the Blake decision. More about that later. As a state senator representing large parts of eastern Washington and chair of the Senate Republican Caucus, I’m repres...
Some would argue that spring is the most wonderful time of the year in Washington. Throughout our state fruit trees blossom, vibrant tulip fields bloom, and colorful lentils carpeted the fields on the Palouse. It is when photographers and sightseers have a field day. While spring is eye-catching, it is the late summer and fall when our state reaps the benefits of the harvest. It is when crops yield “green” generating cash in markets around the world. While Washington ran...
This session saw some bipartisan successes as lawmakers and citizens were in Olympia together for the first time in nearly three years. That in-person interaction is always key for working relationships and good workable solutions to our state’s problems. The transportation budget and capital budget were both very bipartisan. Republicans were allowed to give input and Democrat budget writers worked to fund projects important to legislators on both sides of the aisle. Sen. Schoesler was the lead negotiator for Senate R...
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 wat...
A miracle of sorts took place under the Capitol dome on April 23. The state Legislature adjourned its 2023 legislative session without raising taxes. I want to point it out because I’m not sure anyone outside Olympia will notice. There have been a dozen major tax increases in the state since the Legislature fell under one-party control in 2018. The biggest ones kicked in this year and are just beginning to bite. We also saw four big new tax proposals. None of them passed t...
On Earth Day this year, I will be planting two trees in a local park. This is not a political act. And yet, there are many who will see it that way because it occurs on a day politicians and environmental activists – especially on the left – have appropriated for political purposes. By filtering environmental stewardship though the distorting lens of politics, we are losing the ability to enjoy the beautiful creation around us, making it more difficult to take actions tha...
I have spent 15-plus years on the City Council and now finishing up 10 years as your mayor. It all started out with an "appointment." I received a call from the then-mayor; he had a position to fill and was looking for a volunteer. I was a housewife with two young children and a career hairdresser, having no background in politics nor city government. What I did have was a deep, sincere love for my community. So, I accepted the appointment as a council member. The first year...
For the past 33 years, my wife and I have lived in a house near State Route 904, which connects Cheney to Interstate 90. When we bought our house in 1990, this highway had only a modest amount of traffic on it. Turning onto the highway was seldom dangerous. That is no longer the case. SR-904 has become more congested and more dangerous. It's easy to understand why. Since 1990, Cheney's population has grown from just over 8,200 to nearly 13,100. Spokane County's population...
In recent years, drunk and drug-impaired driving has become a greater problem on Washington’s roads and highways. It is a major reason for the alarming increase in accidents and traffic deaths and injuries. Just a month ago, a horrible crash happened on Interstate 82 near Sunnyside in which a 20-year-old man who eluded State Patrol troopers eventually drove westbound on eastbound I-82 and collided with an eastbound vehicle. Two children in the other car were killed and the o...
On the Saturday before Easter, the state Senate's majority Democrats passed what they call an "assault weapons ban." In reality, the bill targets several of the most popular sporting and self-defense firearms in the country, including most modern sporting rifles and even some shotguns used for hunting and competition shooting. My Republican colleagues and I debated the measure for nearly three hours, using the amendment process to try to point out the fallacies of their argume...
House and Senate budget writers released their 2023-25 state operating budget proposals recently. It was a reminder that taxpayers have been very kind to the state’s coffers as revenue forecasts over the past few years have continued to increase. As a result of taxpayer largess and the majority party’s proclivity to spend every dime available, state spending has more than doubled over the past 10 years. Has our population doubled? No. According to the Washington State Off...
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...
Nice to see Prez Biden supporting salmon, treaty rights and dam breaching. As you may or may not know, the four Lower Snake River dams were made to be breached as they are half earthen and half concrete. Maybe those who put them in had the forethought to think that we wouldn’t be here with an archaic form of hydro power generation and be more advanced than we are with alternative forms of energy 50 years later. We can’t live in the past and have to move ahead and progress to new and better ways of power generation. Jul...