Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Do you remember the time when going to a bowl game was what every school desired? With C-19 and everything that goes along with it, bowl games seemingly don’t mean that much this year. Maybe it was the delayed start of the season for several conferences. Maybe it was the cancellation of games after those delays. Maybe it was the fear of new outbreaks. Maybe it was the fact that some states or counties made it difficult to come home without first quarantining for two weeks. W...
I’m sure that as you look at the title to this particular column, you are probably thinking I need to be slapped. Fair enough. I guess it would be in all of our best interests to just be depressed and give up. It will never get better. But we all have to be smarter and tougher than that. There are enough ‘woe is me’ people that don’t appreciate a thing that they have, and the more they get the worse off they are. My parents got married five years into this nation’s depressio...
As we enter the 10th month of the COVID-19 crisis, I find myself looking forward to this Christmas season. Festivities and celebrations will undoubtedly look different, and some traditions and customary gatherings may not be feasible this year – but holiday spirit is just as important as ever. As it is for most Christians, Christmas time is a sacred and special time for my family because it is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ and the salvation of humanity. It is a time of hope and faith, community and family, and k...
Yes, even in a pandemic, the time of the season when football coaches are fired is upon us. You remember just three, four, five or six years ago when the athletic director walked into the press conference to announce the hiring of the next coach who will bring a new energy and sometimes dignity to the football program? At this point in time, the newly hired and very humble coach walks up to the podium telling the press corps about how he plans on recruiting and showcasing a...
It’s been a difficult year for us all. I know that’s an understatement. But methinks I shouldn’t have to go into many details to explain why. Unfortunately, those reasons are still all around us. It’s said hard times bring out the best and worst in people. I’ve come to see the truth in that first-hand, and — put mildly — it’s disheartening. I’ve seen people come together as a community to support each other, and I’ve seen people who talk about the need for community support refusing to do so by undertaking the sim...
“One of the biggest challenges of the 21st Century is dealing with the progress of the 20th Century – especially old computers, monitors, cellular phones and televisions. These appliances depend on hazardous materials, such as mercury, to operate. After a five-to-eight year useful life, many are tossed into dumpsters and sent to landfills where those hazardous materials can leach into the soil, streams and groundwater.” That was the opening paragraph of a column I wrote 20 ye...
During last year’s holiday season, I submitted a letter to the Journal appealing to those in our communities to consider donating to our local non-profit organizations. I would like to again encourage your readers to do the same this year. The four organizations I mentioned last year (Lind and Ritzville Ministerial Associations, Ritzville Food Pantry and The Collective Adventure) all have a vital role helping individuals and families in need, especially during this time of year. These organizations do not normally have o...
The facts are COVID-19 has cost the city in lost tourism dollars as many events were cancelled. Sprague Days, Little League and other softball tournaments, plus several events at our Historical Railroad Museum just to name a few. The schools certainly have been impacted by the pandemic with their many community functions. Senior graduation was scaled back, but to the school and parents’ credit, they found a way to make it memorial for the graduating class. They all deserve m...
It’s been 278 days since Gov. Jay Inslee first issued executive orders shutting down businesses, ending government transparency and calling some people “non-essential.” His mantra at the time, “flatten that curve” on the growing coronavirus outbreak. The governor and his hand-picked advisers told us the shutdowns were temporary, that the so-called emergency was temporary. More than six month later, temporary seems to have a different definition. Businesses are closing daily, residents across the state are protestin...
It’s no secret that airlines and airplane manufacturers have been clobbered by the coronavirus pandemic. Particularly hard hit are international flights traditionally flown by jumbo jets. Borders are closed and people aren’t flying. There is a small silver-lining. Just as restaurants started take-out service to survive, airlines are filling planes with freight. U.S. airlines are reeling from the pandemic and have lost more than $20 billion combined in the last two quarters. Ev...
There’s no other way to say it, 2020 has been just an awful year. It is difficult to believe anything good can come from this mess but I’m really excited to see that one silver lining to our collective misery will be the opportunity for more public participation across the state during the 2021 Legislative Session. With news that lawmakers will primarily be conducting business remotely next year also comes the exciting announcement of expansive remote testimony for cit...
By mid-September, there was no one left to call. The West, with its thousands of federal, state, and local fire engines and crews, had been tapped out. Wildfires across the West had consumed the labor of all available wildland firefighters, and though there were fewer fires burning, those fires were larger and more difficult to contain. They consumed 13 million acres -- an area almost the size of West Virginia. In the midst of the 2020 wildfire season, John Phipps, the Forest...
It all started March 17, when I declared a local emergency proclamation for the city of Washtucna due to the coronavirus. The emergency proclamation facilitates potential future assistance related to COVID-19, as well as access to regional and state resources. This declaration was a means to ensure all necessary resources will be available if needed. On March 21, the first COVID-19 patient in Adams County was confirmed. Ever since, it has been a roller coaster. Gov. Jay...
Yes, Gov. Jay Inslee has issued new orders shutting down your favorite gym and movie theater, and limiting service at your favorite diner or watering hole. Yes, you’re directed to wear a mask when you go in public. And yes, there’s another run on toilet paper and paper towels (in some parts of our state). But it’s Thanksgiving. It’s time to count your blessings. You’re in America. You live in the greatest, most prosperous country the world has ever known. You have housing opportunities, electricity, running water and emplo...
Ever since I was lucky enough to become the Executive Director at the WIAA, I’ve told our staff and membership that we are in the memory-making business. Those memories can be made in any town, large or small, in any sport or activity, at a mid-week practice, a senior night, or a State Championship final. As a former coach and teacher, I had the opportunity to be a part of those memories and I’ve seen firsthand that high school is defined as much by what you learn outside of...
Washington has one of the highest minimum wage levels in the U.S. For workers who have a job this sounds like a great deal, but as with all things the government mandates, there are some serious, negative consequences, primarily on young and entry level workers who are forced into joblessness. Nowhere is the harm imposed by a high minimum wage demonstrated more clearly than in Seattle, where the city council has aggressively increased the minimum wage over the last few years....
Diversity in the ranks has been the lifeline of our all-volunteer military, but it wasn’t always that way. As we celebrate Veterans Day, we ought to be thankful for all of the men and women from a variety of ethnic backgrounds who put their lives in harm’s way to protect our freedoms and make safe our way of life. When my father was inducted into the U.S. Army during World War II, our military was segregated. That lasted until 1948 when President Harry Truman signed Executive...
If we can provide it, maybe we should return to polling place voting Over the last few months, all eyes have been on Washington’s 16-year-old vote-by-mail system. National media has been holding it up as an example of what should become the norm nationwide. But should it? Yes, we have fastidious local election employees resolving problems. And yes, we have years of experience making vote-by-mail work. But the nation isn’t ready for all-mail elections, whether it’s our system or another state’s. Simply put, voting by mail ap...
Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day, began the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month 1919 when the treaty was signed to end World War I. It honored those who had survived the war to end all wars. By 1954, we had fought another world war and a costly conflict in Korea. In order to pay tribute to those veterans, Congress changed the name of the holiday. The date remained the same except for a brief time in the early seventies when all holidays were on Mondays. November 11 is a fitting day to honor...
To the average American, China’s control of the world production, processing technology and stockpile of critical metals is not their concern. However, to our military and high-tech leaders, it is a very big deal. Our government has a list consisting of 35 metals considered to be vital to our national economy and security. While 17 are classified as “rare earth” and are not commonly known, all are critical components of products such as smart phones, laptop computers, lithi...
Operating expenditures for Washington’s K-12 public schools have increased almost 92 percent in real terms since 1982, even though student population has increased by only 36 percent. In 2005, Washington taxpayers spent about $9,500 per public school student. In contrast, private schools typically spend around $6,000 per student. Even taking the differences in their missions into account, public schools still spend over 50 percent more per student than private schools, and g...