Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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It seems quaint now, the arguments we used to have whether these United States was a republic or a democracy. The citizens of the state of Washington are now ruled by an authoritarian. We may be allowed to vote for the authoritarian of our choice for the time being. Unless we are rescued by sensible judges, we will continue to live under authoritarian rule. Folk are getting restless. Those who rule over us are insensitive to the individual wants and needs of the citizenry. It cannot matter to our governor his or her rules...
Last week, the Idaho House of Representatives approved legislation calling for Gov. Brad Little to end his state’s emergency declaration. Shortly thereafter, the Idaho Senate followed suit, albeit approving different legislation. Maybe that’s what our governor, Jay Inslee, is afraid of. Maybe he’s afraid our elected legislators will end his shutdown and tackle an ailing budget that he has yet to responsibly address. Or maybe he just enjoys muzzling other political leade...
PORTLAND, Ore. – Officials want Washington residents to know there is still time to respond to the U.S. Census – especially residents in Eastern Washington. The count conducted every 10 years is important in that it determines congressional representation, helps with awarding billions of federal dollars to communities each year and provides information that will impact communities for years to come. The Census helps determine how many seats in the House of Representatives each state receives. It also affects funding dec...
It is no secret that airlines were clobbered by the coronavirus pandemic. What started as a promising year quickly went south. The COVID-19 outbreak has all but shut down travel. Today, airlines operate at a fraction of capacity. The 3 million passengers carried by U.S. carriers in April 2020 was a 96 percent decline from April 2019, the Bureau of Transportatiaon Statistics reports. To absorb the sudden blow, airlines parked planes, drastically cutback schedules, furloughed wo...
The U.S.-Canada border will remain closed for non-essential travel until at least Sept. 21. President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau mutually agreed to seal the world's longest non-militarized border back in March to slow the spread of COVID-19. But while cross-border road trips and shopping excursions have come to a halt, commerce has continued as usual. That's a good thing – Canada is one of our most important trading partners. Now more than ever, we must strengthen t...
If you are anything like me, and for your sake I hope you are not, you are trying to remember what day of the week and month it is. We don’t need to be reminded that it is 2020. But this year has changed everyone. For instance; Monday had to be Memorial Day since the Indianapolis 500 was finally run on Sunday. I’m sure that you are groaning right now because you certainly don’t want to go back in time and relive the last three months. Well, you would if things were actually ba...
Perhaps the members of the Ritzville City Council have allowed City Hall to be opened to the citizenry. If so, this would be good news. Our “public” buildings should not have been closed. The revolution of 1776 was NOT fought to protect government employees from the citizens of the land. Nor was the revolution meant to establish authoritarian government which appears to be the route we are now traveling. Our Washington state governor is exercising authority that would make our pre-revolution English overlords proud. Den...
Our environmental quality strategy must be encompassing and not just focus on climate change. Since Democrats announced their Green New Deal, the emphasis is reducing greenhouse gases, particularly CO2, which contribute to global warming. Their goal is to replace gasoline and diesel burning vehicles with those operated by batteries and to eliminate coal and natural gas burning power plants. It is understandable since the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human...
More than one person has told me that they wish 2020 would just go away, and some wish it would have never happened at all. I know it has been rough, especially for those people who have locked themselves away in fear that the dreaded C-19 will penetrate their closed windows and doors. My biggest fear is that I will let the dreaded virus consume my life and scare me senseless. I have listened to a fair amount of doctors on TV, and their findings vary so much that it is hard...
Vote Dan Blankenship for general election I see that Dan Blankenship will be running for Adams County Commissioner in the November 4 General Election. Adams County voters will be fortunate to have such a qualified person serve on the Board of Commissioners. Dan is an Adams County native son. Over the years he spent time teaching me, an inexperienced state representative from the Olympic Peninsula, about production agriculture, water issues and what it takes to make a living in eastern Washington. He understands the issues...
That actually happened in the course of the last month. The result would undoubtedly please the legendary U.S. Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson (D-WA) - the master problem solver. In March, President Trump signaled he supported legislation that would fund the backlog of National Parks and natural resources maintenance work. The money would come from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) which was established in 1964 when Jackson, a prominent Democrat, sponsored legislation...
Dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers provide an appropriate balance between the economic needs of Eastern Washington and fish protections. While we already knew that here in Eastern Washington, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came to that conclusion, too, after completing yet another environmental study this spring. The results of that new study were released last Friday, and they support keeping things essentially the way they are on our rivers. The dams will stay, for...
Gov. Jay Inslee may order quarantines and business shutdowns, but he cannot enforce them. In agreeing with that argument — presented by attorneys for the governor — U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled last Friday that Gov. Inslee cannot be sued for the “unconstitutional” quarantine of healthy residents, shutdown of otherwise viable businesses or mask mandates. According to the judge, state officials can only be sued if they are connected to enforcement of an allegedly unconstitutional mandate. According to the...
I am a 76-year-young retiree; geologist/farmer/mechanic/U.S. Army. As a former scientist, the numbers and percentile for the COVID-19 deaths look real good. The CDC/prevention doctors mean well but are overreacting; overly cautious and pessimistic. Their viewpoint and harsh medical criteria carries over to federal/state/county public health authorities. Cases and confirmed cases are referring to those testing positive, not infectious as sometimes erroneously stated by the media. Only 15 to 20% of persons testing positive...
There are two legal options to respond to a state budget deficit: The governor orders across the board budget cuts, or a special session of the Legislature occurs liquidating the deficit. The first is a blunt instrument allowing no thoughtful response. The second provides the people’s legislative branch of government the opportunity to deliberate a more surgical response. Gov. Jay Inslee, however, has made it clear he doesn’t plan to call a special session to allow law...
When I was going to school a whole bunch of years ago there was a question that was sometimes asked concerning a popular subject. “What if they had a ______ and nobody came? Now the blank was always something extremely popular that everyone would want to see. Such as in 1964, what if the Beatles scheduled a concert in Spokane and nobody came? That would have been very hard to believe and was always met with a laugh or two. So what if the Major League baseball season started a...
Keep government offices open I was shocked to read in the Journal that a resolution by the Ritzville City Council to close city hall through December 31, 2020, passed. I, for one as a taxpayer, think city hall, as well as the Adams County Courthouse, should be open to all our citizens as an obligation to their office. If the mail carriers, policemen, firemen, grocery, and retail businesses are out there taking risks for our benefit, why shouldn’t city, county and state employees do the same? And to think they’re getting paid...
What once seemed inevitable is now growing unlikely – a special session to balance the state's budget. This is why it was so important to act before the new spending increases took effect on July 1. Once we started the new fiscal year, the likelihood of a special session dropped. By waiting until August, the September revenue forecast is just around corner. Then after September, the November election is just a jump away. Then the temptation to delay until January becomes even...
This year’s 4th of July fireworks displays by you, our neighbors, and our friends, was a sight to behold. It was hands down the best display and most celebratory 4th of July I have been witness to since the '80s when it was legal to do them everywhere. Matt Carlson, Ritzville Police Department, patrolled in our neighborhood and all-around Ritzville on the 4th of July. He observed fireworks displays for a while, then at the awesome height of the display (about 10 p.m. or so), Officer Carlson played the Star-Spangled Banner o...
On July 4, 1975, America proudly celebrated its Bicentennial as the world’s greatest nation while Poland was a suppressed Soviet satellite state. Poles had no right to free speech, were hungry and impoverished. If you wanted a job, you played ball with Communist Party bosses. If you disagreed with their ideology, you likely were imprisoned. Poland was a rather bleak land which had not recovered from the German Blitzkrieg in 1939. Meanwhile, in Washington, the Business Week p...