Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Sorted by date Results 426 - 450 of 617
“Sequestration” is not the term that I consider to be the best to describe what President Obama is trying to do to our nation, but as we are seeing, he plans to do whatever he wants to do! His budget request for 2013 was to retire 300 airplanes, while buying 54 new ones. The deletion is after retiring 700 more airplanes than it purchased. At the founding of the U.S. Air Force in 1947, we had 12,300 planes and we have 5,200 today. The last time the U.S. bought so few aircraft was 1915 for the aviation section of the U.S. Army...
Two men told the same story. One is a local son. He is active in community affairs including being a supporter and contributor to Project 56. The other man is a highly placed public employee close to Project 56. Because of the decision by Project 56 leadership, and the Ritzville school board to allow Ritzville School District citizenry to “contribute” to the project through a district levy vote, both men assured me Project 56 would keep the $130,000 the group had collected safely banked until needed to fund the expensive mai...
First of all, I like the smaller size of the Journal, but don’t get any smaller print. Next, why did you not take pictures and write up about Washtucna Swimming Pool and lifeguards as you did Ritzville and Lind last summer? These lifeguards did excellent job. Next, you gave LRS football team at State so many pictures and stories. Do your subscribers of Journal remember LaCrosse Washtucna Kahlotus won state title in this same district in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and again in 2008? Four State titles in a row and again three y... Full story
According to our local newspaper, the citizens will be asked whether to continue to upgrade the existing East Adams Rural Hospital (EARH) facilities or to build anew. There may be an attempt to inject a bit of humor here as we are told, “Commissioners have already embraced the building committee’s recommendation that new construction is the most viable and likely the most affordable option.” Why ask the citizens to pay the unnecessary costs inflicted upon them by those who were hired to serve us? The persons respo... Full story
Immigration, the deficit, gun control and jobs are definitely the hot topics that will face Congress as we plunge into 2013. We have a democratic senate that has not passed a budget in almost four years and a combined Congress that did less and spent more time in recess than any Congress since the 1940s. We need to remember that the Senate is required by law to pass a budget each year. The two parties are pointing fingers, but we only need to look at President Obama as he is the primary Senator who eviscerated President...
Hang on to your hats! President Obama considers that his 52 percent vote during the 2012 election was a mandate by the people that he was to be granted supreme power. To h*** with the legislature! He believes that his 52 percent margin (the highest during the last five elections) gives him the right to bypass congress and misuse executive powers. He has already shown his propensity to do this during his first four years. He believes he has nothing to lose. But, the talk by the liberals of a third term should concern us...
The state of Washington is considering having a mileage tax on your vehicles instead of gasoline taxes. Would they have the technology equipment available to do that? They already have had a black box in a majority of our cars since 1996. These black boxes are found in at least 60 million vehicles and are in 85 percent of the new cars sold every year. There are several reasons for the black boxes (mostly insurance and warranties). Black boxes on our vehicles are just one of numerous methods that our government obtains...
It appears there are forces that are so interested in creating The New Ritzville on the other side of I90, that they will take risks with Old Ritzville whose citizens, of course, are responsible for paying the bills. The citizens of Ritzville will be responsible for providing water and collecting sewage from the truck stop. The city will need additional infrastructure to make good on that responsibility. The city council cannot, and are not now, properly maintaining the infrastructure for which they presently have...
President Obama has made clear he will insist on economic and political/social policies, which will have destructive results. No, he does not say his policies will be destructive but the consequences of his policies can be nothing but destructive. The voters of our state have elected a governor every bit as insensible in this regard as President Obama. We can expect no relief from the governor of our state but instead, more economic hardship. The county commissioners, we read in this newspaper last week, anguished over their...
We are a nation of immigrants! Immigrants that were needed to build railroads, homestead the land, cut down the forest, work in the factories and fuel the westward movement. We don’t have those needs anymore as we have 7.8 percent unemployment rate. We have the problem of slightly over 50 percent of our population supporting the rest of the population. We have the problem of refugees being brought to America by churches, and various organizations, only to be abandoned and the U.S. tax payer picks up the tab. We have the probl...
I have a genuine concern about the young men and women of America! We have tens of thousands of young people in our state looking for work. However, the Washington State Patrol is facing a crisis because they can’t find enough good candidates to fill a class. They prefer to have 60 people in each class as that is the optimum size for their facilities and instructors. They recently advertised extensively, and they did not get enough candidates to fill a class. The Chief of the WSP said in a recent interview that they had e...
There are folk in Ritzville who would like to see Ritzville prosper. We need to be clear here, it is not Ritzville that either prospers or declines, but the citizens of Ritzville. Bad social and economic policies have consequences for the individual citizens of this town. There are also folk in Ritzville who have resisted changes that could have resulted in economic opportunities for those living in this city. These folk have denied their fellow city citizens the opportunity to enjoy a more prosperous living. This opposition...
Three months after the worst terrorist attack on an American diplomatic outpost since the 1998 Embassy bombing, the state department is trying to clarify what happened in Benghazi this past September 11. Congress was to be briefed by an advisory board on security in Libya. Two deputy secretaries were to testify in open hearings in the House and Senate. Fuller disclosure on Benghazi is supposed to set the record straight. However, the critical piece of the puzzle will still be missing. Hillary was scheduled to testify but she...
I have lived in Ritzville just under 30 years and one thing you could always depend on at Christmas was the star on top of Ritzville Warehouse. Not this year, and how sad. Probably it offended some non-Christian and was told to turn it off. Sadder yet, if they just forgot to plug her in. She is missed. Diane Eastman, Ritzville... Full story
I would like to use your column as a thank you message to my mother and father, Alberta and Ozzie Morley. Seventeen years ago, Alberta and Ozzie had a choice to raise a newborn baby, just as they were looking to retire after a life of working every day. Jarradd W. Morley was born to a drug addicted mother and an incarcerated father, who had no idea how to raise a child like Jarradd. He got all the love and more from Alberta, she sat with him through all night fits of crying and my dad, Ozzie, read him bedtime stories to ease...
If you are reading this, it is apparent that the Mayan calendar was not accurate! However, I can’t help but wonder if a large percentage of our population thinks that I might as well use my credit to have one big Christmas before the “cliff and Obama care.” Many people, including myself, are frightened by the unknowns that they will create, as it is obvious that a lot of money is going to leave middle-class pocketbooks. The spending that I alluded to pushed the end of October tally to $2.75 trillion. This figure covers credit... Full story
Why is the city of Ritzville failing? The Ritzville Public Development Authority is one reason. The RPDA was established by city ordinance No. 1022 in June 2001. The City Council of Ritzville will have provided the RPDA with at least $200,000 through 2013. How much more the city council is responsible for providing the RPDA is difficult to discover. Certainly the time spent and being spent by the City Clerk-Treasurer is no small amount. See the RPDA funding at http://www.ritzvillecommonsense.com. The Economic Action Plan for...
Small towns across the country are struggling, some towns have and others will, for all practical matters become ghost towns, this trend has a long history and a variety of reasons. Ritzville is not immune to this trend. My family has a stake in this town, we own property, have children in school, and use the local businesses and own a small business… We are trying to live the American dream in this small community. I understand some vocal citizens are scared of growth and can find fault in any attempt to bring economic d... Full story
I would like to thank Katelin Davidson for the nice article she wrote in this last week’s Journal encouraging Ritzville residents to shop locally. In interviewing the owners of the four businesses mentioned in her article, those businesses were able to promote their merchandise and gift ideas which should give the competition in the “big city” a run for its money. I appreciated Connie Galbreath’s comment about our local business community shrinking in size and how she encouraged each and every one of us to do as much local sh...
Gary Templin raises some interesting issues and some of those issues are worthy of serious attention by anyone concerned for the welfare of the community. None of the issues raised by Mr. Templin however, are likely to be discussed in city council meetings nor are they likely to be of concern to the city council negotiators. There are those at City Hall who are very much committed to the Ritzville Public Development Authority’s (RPDA) seriously flawed Light Industrial/Tourist Park, aka Agricultural Discovery Center. L... Full story
The drought in the Midwest just keeps making headlines! The Midwest lies above Lake Ogallala, which is the largest underground lake in the U.S. It is large in the area of its borders, but not in its capacity as the farmers, towns and businesses have been pumping many billions of gallons of water for irrigation and various uses. This helped turn dust bowl land back into farm ground. They have been pumping at a rate that will dry it up between 2025 and 2030. Thus, they started looking north to the Great Lakes. This would seem...
I know Mr. Roettger already wrote a letter of thanks but many of you have asked me about how the student “scholarship” turned out. When it was certain that our boys’ football team would be heading to the Tacoma Dome for the state championship game, the school offered to the students the option of riding a rooters bus. It was inexpensive to ride, $5. But added to the $11 student admission fee, and the money needed for three meals out, the bill would be at the very least, a $30 day. This was too much to ask from some of our s...
This time of year there is much talk of a “War on Christmas,” as if opposition to religious public displays of affection are the new thing. Such opposition is really nothing new. In fact, there is another commemoration this time of year that speaks directly to the issue of religious public displays of affection. Imagine a time when your rights to live and worship as you see fit are persecuted and you are required to recognize the highest political leader as your lord and savior. Imagine a time when your homes and place of wor...
The United States is blessed with a reasonable supply of natural resources that we haven’t really utilized until recently. Along came new techniques and our government thinks we ought to share and sell to China. The United States and Russia lead the world with 611 and 589 billion cubic meters per year respectively. Canada is third, with 152 billion and Iran is fourth with 139 billion cubic meters. However, when it comes to proven reserves that determine the future, the picture is quite different! The world’s total known res... Full story
The need for growth, new industry for the Ritzville community has been quite evident for many years, but Love’s is not the answer. Love’s will not “create new jobs.” People will only shift from an existing, already strapped employer, to Love’s. Or, will Love’s be bringing in 65-75 new families to Ritzville? Love’s is an exact copy of many businesses already in Ritzville, i.e. gas station, c-store, and fast food. Is Love’s bringing something new to offer to the entire community, or just more competition in an already struggl...