Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Last weekend numerous young families were outdoors enjoying themselves in the park, riding bikes, or strolling down the street. Before very long, these youngsters will be in our schools. They deserve to have secure and updated facilities for them to get a good education. The current request for the Ritzville School Bond is basically for modernization of the elementary and the high school. The district is not asking for a marbled courtyard, an indoor swimming pool, or decorative statues. No, it is needed for improvements to...
In the March 10, 2016 edition of the Ritzville Journal, Mayor Gary Cook commented on “the commitment and sacrifices of those who made Ritzville the unique community it is.” My great-grandfather Henry Koch Jr. was one of those pioneers who worked to create this community. Henry immigrated with his family to eastern Washington in 1892 at age seven. Learning to read and write English was a priority for a child who at that point only spoke German. He was no different than any of his neighbors who recognized the value of edu... Full story
I am writing to explain why I am voting YES on the upcoming school bond and why I believe it is important for others to vote YES also. First: the most important reason is for the kids. As has been explained numerous times, our schools are badly in need of updating in order to provide good conditions for student learning. You can learn more about these details in the excellent informative flyer that has been sent out and by reading previous articles printed in this paper. Second: for our community. Various groups and many...
On Sunday (March 27) many Christians attended sunrise services and enjoyed special church services (not to mention the traditional Easter Ham) celebrating the resurrection of the Messiah. Approximately 26 days later on the 22nd of April disciples of Jesus will celebrate the Passover. They will also celebrate the anniversary of His escape from the grave three days and three nights later. Passover is one of the events set apart (that is to say, made holy) by the author of the Holy Bible. Leviticus 23 lists all of those days...
As an alumnus of RHS, I am very proud of the education I received from the Ritzville School District. It included academics, the performing arts and sports. We had the Gilson gym, the elementary gym and the high school auditorium and gym. It worked. Now there is only the Gilson gym and the elementary gym. I can understand why space is minimal. The new facility would be multifaceted just as the former and existing structures were and are. The structures have always been used for school and community activities which have not...
Over the last few weeks we have experienced several significant events, both sacred and profane. Many say that the profanity of the terrorist attacks is due to our supposed intolerance of Islam. On the sacred side, it has been presumed by some that Passover should have been observed last week, because the Roman Catholic and Protestant holy day of Easter was observed last weekend. This not the case. Passover will be observed on April 23rd, because Passover is based on the barley harvest, as the bible dictates and not the... Full story
Given the opportunity to vote, we do. Given the opportunity to say yes to school, police and fire protection, hospital services, parks and our pool, we say yes. Our community is our home. Our local services enrich our well being. Our schools nurture and prepare our youth for a full future of which they can be contributors. Some of these fine young people return here to raise the next generation. It is important that they do, as the younger generation takes its place to uphold our community. The day will come when the present...
A few months ago one of many headlines was: “The race for the Whitehouse.” That was a misnomer, as marathon might have been more appropriate. As with any contentious election this one will go down in history for its juvenile sparring and grade school language on the bad side. This has surprised me. The Blue party is down to two candidates who have played softball in their debates. Maybe this is because Hillary has legal problems possibly facing her. The mainstream media has done their best to give certain candidates more tim...
There has been much discussion in recent months concerning the Ritzville School District’s bond proposal. Here are my thoughts as an educator as to why we need to vote YES. I serve as the high school drama teacher. It is wonderful that our small school has been able to offer this fine arts option to our students. The benefits of student learning experiences in the arts are undeniably academic. According to the National Assembly of State Arts, there are “six major types of benefits associated with study of the arts and stu...
We have heard people ask, “Why should I vote for the school bond issue? We vote for an M&O Levy. That should be enough to keep the school in good condition.” Yes, an M&O Levy is routine maintenance. It is similar to your monthly household budget. You keep the lawn mowed and the house painted along with other day to day needs of your home. At some point, however, your house is 20 or 30 years old and things start to fall apart no matter how well you have maintained it over the years. Your monthly budget probably doesn’t allow f... Full story
I am now and have always been proud to be a member of the Ritzville Community. No matter where my travels have taken me people always knew I am from a small town in eastern Washington by the name of Ritzville. One of the biggest reasons I moved back after being gone for 22 years was to be a part of a community I know takes care of each other and I knew Ritzville was the best place for my family and I to finally settle down. However, about a month ago I was a little more than disappointed when my community, our community, did...
I voted yes! Why? Well my neighbor has a sign out that said to vote yes; Didn’t want to hurt their feelings. I voted no! Why? I’m on Social Security. Can’t these people live within their income? We bought them a new gym floor, a new gym roof, they got their new track. Now they want a new gym. Somebody needs to be educated! I voted yes! Why? My friend works there. I voted no! Why? Way too much money, Do you think this school will double it’s size in 10 years? 20 years? I voted yes! Why? Schools are good for the communi... Full story
Is it reasonable to believe that Ritzville citizens can continue to fund expensive projects with a declining population? City taxpayers are obligated to pay millions of dollars for bungled city projects and the failure to maintain water and sewer systems. District taxpayers are obligated to pay millions of dollars for a hospital/clinic that was not properly maintained all the while taxpayers voluntarily funded regular maintenance levies. School district taxpayers are being asked to approve millions more to add, repair and...
I appreciated Gerald Ray’s letter in last week’s paper regarding the spread of the Zika virus. This virus, and others, is one more symptom of climate change. Veterinarians in Montana are starting to see diseases in pets and livestock they’ve not seen before. Why? As the planet warms, the range of the mosquitoes that carry the viruses like the Zika virus increases. We’re also experiencing record droughts, record heat, and record wildfires. I hate to say this, but we will see more of these kinds of things in our future unless...
The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are in need of some monetary donations for the replacement of the flags that are flown at the cemetery for Memorial Day weekend. We have a flag repair outlet, but they can be repaired just so many times. The source we usually went through to replace these Flags, has now cut us off. The cost for the Flag, pole and name tag is roughly $55. I know that it seems like every time we turn around, somebody is asking for a handout. We do appreciate all of the help that shows up for...
I would like to express my extreme disappointment on the recent failure of the bond the Ritzville School District was trying to pass. According to the Adams County Auditor’s Office website, as of Wednesday, 02-10-16, at 2:36 p.m. a total of 814 people voted on the bond. 406 in favor and 408 against. I really hope the 408 that voted against the bond did their due diligence to research the entire bond measure. I have a suspicion that all they heard was “new gym” and then they shut down. There was so much more to the bond than...
Zika has just given the U.S. a new reason to control our southern border. The disease that originated in Africa 69 years ago has suddenly caused the W.H.O. to wake up. They have admitted that Zika has been overlooked and expect that it could explode to 4 million cases in the Americas over the next year. This mosquito borne virus is linked to a sharp spike in a rare birth defect in Brazil. This is microcephaly, which causes babies to have abnormally small heads. Neither Brazil or the W.H.O. have a vaccine and they expect it...
Many might know that there was a house fire in Ritzville on Saturday. This fire was a large loss to the family and nothing I say will make that better. I would like to commend the officers and firefighters on a swift and professional job that they did. People will see us on Monday night either at the fire station or out and about in the community. This is our training night where we train in fire ground operations. As the training officer I’d like to thank all the firefighters for the time they spent on those Monday n...
A third gym? Really? What Ritzville needs is an auditorium with real seats and a stage, not pull out bleachers and folding chairs. Ritzville has produced one professional athlete to my knowledge. But Ritzville High School has produced artists of all disciplines over the years, writers, musicians, artists and performers. Isn’t it time to turn STEM into STEAM? I’ve heard all the arguments for athletics but the arts also promote self esteem, cooperation and team building. A strong arts program stresses critical thinking, cre...
Compliments to the drama students at the recent performance of “Mmmbeth.” They brought Shakespeare alive amidst witchery, idiocy and just plain old fashioned fun. I thoroughly enjoyed the play and am certain those thespians worked countless hours memorizing their lines. Just wondering, where was the Ritzville Journal? There’s more to education at LRS than sports (though I’m a huge fan of athletics). And where are photos of the pep band members? There are some very talented, dedicated musicians in the band. Students, whether...
Kudos to the Fairway Café for the excellent New Year’s Eve spread which comfortably fed six hungry adults from noon to midnight with plenty to spare for leftovers during the January 1st, 2016 Bowl games. Big thanks to Chris Peterson. Miles Athey, Ethel Rott, John Faure, Linda Faure, Dave Lehman, Krista Lehman - Ritzville... Full story
I read a letter last week from a Ritzville family intending to vote for the school district bonds for the kids. The family will dig deep for the kids. I am with that family. A question, however, has to be asked whether the children of Ritzville will be better served by the additional burden of millions of dollars of debt. Will the bond actually improve the lives of Ritzville children? Or is it possible the financial burden upon Ritzville families will make the lives of our children more difficult? Ritzville parents and other...
After listening to several different conversations about the proposed Ritzville School Bond, I thought it could be helpful to simply list the reasons I came up with in casting my vote specifically as it relates to the additional gym. Extracurricular activities have proven benefits. Extracurricular activities provide a channel for reinforcing the lessons learned in the classroom, offering students the opportunity to apply academic skills in a real-world context, and are thus considered part of a well-rounded education....
It certainly is too bad the community public bathrooms downtown are not open year round. Our town waited years to have this needed facility. The same type of bathrooms stay open (example is Kahlotus and Harrington) every day for 24 hours. What is the problem in Ritzville? Chris Clinesmith, Benge... Full story
We made it 7 miles out of town on our trip after Christmas when the transmission went out on the car. The aging car has served us well, but it simply is time to upgrade to a newer, more dependable model. The house needs some repairs as well. This will add to the other monthly expenses cutting into our budget. Having no car or house payments for a while has been nice and we certainly aren’t excited about the added monthly costs, but after doing our best to maintain our vehicles and house for a few years, it simply is time t...