Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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You might say I’ve scanned the Ritzville Adams County Journal (editions dated March 18 and 25, 2020) including the Coronavirus supplement that is part of every newspaper in the Free Press enterprise. It is of no surprise that the term “coronavirus or COVID-19” appears at least 39 times. I noted that Journal Editor Katie Teachout and Davenport Times interim editor Burnham in columns for which a byline was given, used the term a combined five times while not using its colloquial name. My objection is to Mr. Harnack’s colloqu...
The Ritzville Adams County Journal publishes letters of civic nature relating to area, state and national issues and politics. Letters should be limited to 250 words, and any cited facts should be attributed to the source of information. Letters may not contain personal attacks, profanity or cite other media. Please keep letters to a single subject. We do not publish “thank you” letters; contact our advertising staff. Writers will be limited to one letter per month. No chain letters — those are letters written by one perso...
Shop locally and help out our businesses We all need to pitch in. Buy your groceries, gardening supplies, and take-outs here in our towns to help out our hard-working businesses and families. It’s vital for our communities’ well-being. And when this virus subsides, our town will be able to get back on their feet again. Let’s do more to support our local economy: get your car washed, buy a newspaper, support the drugstore....shop local. Marsha Smith Ritzville Quarantines have been used to saved lives Publisher Roger Harna...
The Ritzville Adams County Journal publishes letters of civic nature relating to area, state and national issues and politics. Letters should be limited to 250 words, and any cited facts should be attributed to the source of information. Letters may not contain personal attacks, profanity or cite other media. Please keep letters to a single subject. We do not publish “thank you” letters; contact our advertising staff. Writers will be limited to one letter per month. No chain letters — those are letters written by one perso...
Government overreach needs to be reined in Gov. Jay Inslee’s house-arrest order for the populace, Proclamation 20-25, is in conflict with the Bill of Rights. Our rights of the free exercise of religion, of the people to peaceably assemble, of due process of law, as well as our Ninth Amendment rights to pursue happiness by earning a living and to travel freely outside of our homes are sacred. These individual rights are enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. Under the Supremacy Clause, the Constitution p...
More than 230,000 small businesses across our state have been shut down since March 25 by order of Gov. Inslee. While the executive branch does not view these employers as being essential, I and my Senate Republican colleagues recognize the value of these businesses to the families they support, the communities they serve, and the economic activity they generate. We recognize how these employers have already suffered from being forcibly closed and how offers of government...
Our nation’s founding fathers were no strangers to pandemics. They knew of many viruses and diseases — yellow fever, smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, to name a few. Yet, when the Constitution was written and signed, our founding fathers chose not include a caveat for a health emergency as a reason to suspend the inalienable rights of U.S. citizens. Indeed, they took steps to prevent such an effort in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exerc...
We don’t need to be reminded these are strange times. Anxiety has increased exponentially with the lifestyle changes we are all experiencing. The city of Ritzville has made some difficult choices concerning our service to you, the residents. We declared a city-wide emergency March 13. We closed City Hall to the public March 16 and asked staff to stay home. Our Public Works crew and police officers will continue to provide services with no disruptions during this time. We held an emergency City Council meeting March 20 by p...
Given the ongoing shutdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, like nearly all local businesses, we had to make some difficult decisions last week. Among those was the decision to reduce the number print pages. At the same time, we decided to continue to provide the same amount of content. So in balancing our lack of print “real estate” with increasing news and feature coverage, we’ve opted to put more on our webpage, www.ritzvillejournal.com. For our subscribers, acces...
Some years back, in the biggest town in a small county outside our 9th District, there was a clothing store. Upstairs was the office of the area’s weekly newspaper. Week after week, year after year, the clothing store published the same advertisement in the newspaper, displaying its name, address and a drawing of a coat rack, to signal what people could buy there. No brand names, no sale prices, nothing else. The message this ad sent was clear and reassuring: “We’re still...
It has been said many times that we are in uncharted waters. Frankly, it is daunting and somewhat scary for many. So, I wanted to write a little bit to everyone in our community about this evolving situation with COVID-19 and our response. As a foundational partner to caring for this community along with other private healthcare entities, the department of health, schools and other agencies local and distant, it is imperative to be united and to communicate. With so many closures of businesses and gatherings this becomes...
Unintended consequence or bureaucratic power grab? Given the things being ordered behind locked doors of government offices, I’ll take the latter. Tonight, March 25, when the clock strikes midnight, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife is banning all fishing and boating statewide. This closure comes on the heels of a previous order to ban all camping on publicly owned, state-managed lands. The closures, Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say, is in keeping with G...
Last week, you received your Journal a day early. That was not a mistake. Due to the growth of our company, the Ritzville Adams County Journal is transitioning to a Wednesday publication. Under the leadership of Editor Katie Teachout, that means your newspaper will arrive a day early each and every week going forward. Why the change? In the last month, our family of newspapers has grown. On Feb. 15, we acquired the Odessa Record. On March 1, we took over ownership of the...
In 2019, 14,000 people died from influenza. In 2018, 61,000 people died from the flu. And in 2017, 80,000 people died from the flu That year, hospitals were so overrun that hospitals set up tents to treat patients. Yet, there was none of the hysteria that is going on now with this coronavirus. You did not see the stock market plunging, you did not see stores selling out of hand sanitizers or masks. And you certainly did not see people in a panic wearing a mask or a company like Boeing sending their workers home, parades...
Engrossed Senate Bill 5395, the sex education bill mandating “inclusive” curriculum beginning in kindergarten has been hotly contested this legislative session in Olympia. But with the House and Senate both backing the bill, it’s likely to become an issue locally. Under the bill sponsored by Sen. Claire Wilson, an openly lesbian Democrat from Federal Way, all public schools statewide would be required to start teaching a curriculum that includes gay, lesbian, transgender and o...
If you think the run on toilet paper is just an American thing, think again. On March 10, Business Insider reported: “The spread of the coronavirus has brought with it panic-buying of food and household essentials, despite the attempts of governments to discourage stockpiling. But no item has made more headlines than the humble toilet roll. “From buying enough toilet rolls to make a throne, to printing out blank newspaper pages to serve as extra toilet paper, people have had...
While wind farms generate “greenhouse gas free” electricity, there is increasing concern over the rapidly growing number of worn out blades ending up in landfills. Those blades, housed on giant towers reaching over 200-feet in the sky, are starting to reach the end of their useful life (15 to 20 years) and are being taken down, cut up and hauled to dumps in Iowa, South Dakota and Wyoming. Adding to the spent blade disposal problem is utilities are retrofitting existing win...
Gender Dysphoria was, for years, seen by psychological professionals as a treatable mental health disorder. And for years, individuals suffering from it found relief from their illness. During that time, researchers indicated that 97 percent of children who were suffering from gender dysphoria grew up to accept their biological sex as reality. That is, until radical leftist and pagan activists moved to disassociate gender dysphoria from psychologists' lists of mental illnesses...
A few years ago, I attended a workshop on politics in San Francisco. One of the main ideas taken away from that event was the importance of enthusiasm. Washington State has tried to increase voter participation with mail-in stamped ballots, yet the turnout is usually below 50 percent. So, if you are wrestling with your choice of nominee in the upcoming March 10 presidential primary and electability is your prime consideration, choose the candidate who is most likely to excite the most number of people and can attract the...
Keeping hospitals and health workers healthy is key to fighting diseases. With new and more deadly viruses, the job is more challenging. Although the coronavirus has captured the world’s attention, it is important to note the Centers for Disease Control and Provention estimates 80,000 Americans died of flu and flu complications in the winter of 2017-2018 – the highest flu-related death toll in at least four decades. The coronavirus outbreak is very serious. According to the...
Washington has the opportunity to review and change the Redistricting Commission every 10 years. This is the group that works in the background making sure the wheels of democracy turn smoothly and fairly. The commission decides where the lines will be drawn for legislative and congressional districts. In the next 10 years, decisions about growth, energy, transportation, water, fire and quality-of-life issues will be made by legislators and congressmen. Now, is when you can influence the process. Counting who lives where is...
Boys are boys and girls are girls. There's no in-between, at least when it comes to sports. I know it's not politically correct to say that in this day and age. But genetically (and generally) speaking, boys are stronger and faster than girls. As a result, we have separate sports for each gender. That is, unless your young athlete competes for a middle or high school, or a non-profit organization in Washington state. Here, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association...
When House Bill 1888 was proposed this year to help protect state employee unions from an ongoing battle with the Freedom Foundation, the media was strong in opposition against blowing a hole in the state's Public Records Act. Sadly, it looks like some in the "Fourth Estate" are now willing to play Solomon and cut access to public records in half by allowing some public records to be hidden from the public, as long as they are still able to receive them. The House State...
Government leaders, doctors, and medical researchers worldwide are working feverishly to stop the spread of the coronavirus and keep it from becoming a global pandemic. Wuhan, one of China’s major transportation hubs whose population approaches 11 million, is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak that is spreading like wildfire. Wuhan was put on lockdown. The fear is widespread prompting China’s government leaders to build a 1,000 bed hospital within a week. Professor Shen...
Well, this is really the first time I’ve had to write one of these, so let’s see how it goes. This week will be my last with The Journal. I have recently accepted a position with a news organization in southwestern Washington, which will allow me to be closer to family in an area that has been a second home for me throughout my childhood. News about The Journal’s next editor will be forthcoming in the near future. But I want to spend time now on thanking our readers and eastern Adams County for welcoming me, a stran...