Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

People across our planet are increasingly aware of the growing amounts of trash floating in our oceans. While we are finding new ways to collect it, the more vexing problem is what to do with it. The garbage is accumulating in “gyres” which are l...

Before lawmakers wrap-up their work in Olympia, they should re-examine their hefty new state spending plan. The budget may not be sustainable even with a substantial increase in taxes. It may force legislators to return to the State Capitol to cut...

Each year Americans throw away more than three billion batteries constituting 180,000 tons of hazardous material and the situation is likely to get much worse as the world shifts to electric vehicles. Everyday-green.com reports more than 86,000 tons...

Before our country, in haste, dives totally into renewable energy, we must carefully evaluate its impacts. By just focusing on eliminating natural gas, liquid fuels (gasoline and diesel) and coal to combat climate change, we ignore the effects of...

Across the pond, London-based BP and Netherlands-headquartered Shell are looking to invest in innovative electric technology which is very good news. The two international oil giants, both of which have oil refineries in northwest Washington,...

Historically, international trade issues have galvanized our state’s congressional delegation. Many wondered if that would still be the case today. Fortunately, it seems to be. While Democrats and Republicans are at one another’s throats on most...

November’s Camp Wildfire was California’s deadliest, killing 86 people and destroying 14,000 homes along with more than 500 businesses. The financial fallout is forcing PG&E, northern California’s electric utility, to seek Chapter 11...

The circumstances leading to Amazon’s decision to scrap its New York City project are trends corporate leaders need to examine closely. There are cultural and political shifts in America which are changing the way business is done. Amazon walked...

America’s drift away from our market-based economic system is perplexing. Equally, mystifying is the new push to replace entrepreneurs with government bureaucrats in planning and controlling services and products offered to us--the consumers....

A lot is written about students exiting college saddled with hefty student loans; however, the impact on retired parents went largely unnoticed. Recently, Wall Street Journal writer AnnaMaria Andriotis reported Americans over 60 years old are coming...

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. That’s particularly true in difficult times when “business as usual” no longer works. As our national deficit approaches $22 trillion ($180,000 per taxpayer) and state and local governments...

While many eyes are on trade talks between our country and China, America’s port leaders are positioning their seaports to compete for increasing volumes of container traffic. After container shipments surged in November---primarily from...

Last year, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) global study of aerospace manufacturing attractiveness found the United States is top rated and within our country, Washington is the best. The study reaffirmed that “Washington’s economy and industry...

Christmas is a difficult time for anyone grieving the death of a loved one. It is especially hard when they were slain in the line-of-duty while protecting our country. It hit home again last month when Army sergeants Eric Emond, 39, Brush Prairie,...

The good news is Washington’s revenues continue to grow, and projections for the next couple of years appear promising. That is welcome news, but it is sprinkled with caution about introducing new taxes. Our state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast...

When Congress convenes next year lawmakers must focus on the cost and quality of health care. In November, voters made it clear, health care was on top of their minds. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation a third of voters said it was the...

While massive wildfires are historic, they are more dangerous today. As our population grows they are a greater threat to communities adjacent to wild lands This year, with nearly 4.8 million acres already burned in the U.S. and wildfires finally con...

One of the consequences of Venezuela’s economic ruin is infectious diseases are reaching epidemic proportions and spreading to neighboring Latin American countries. Venezuela, a country of 30 million people, sits on large oil reserves but when...

When our military is viewed as an employer, it has the same problem as the private sector; attracting qualified people to fill jobs. In today’s vibrant economy, there is an abundance of “Help Wanted” signs. Even though our armed forces have...

When our military is viewed as an employer, it has the same problem as the private sector; attracting qualified people to fill jobs. In today’s vibrant economy, there is an abundance of “Help Wanted” signs. Even though our armed forces have...

Give Gov. Jay Inslee and backers of Initiative 1631 credit. They are persistent in their quest to invoke a fee on carbon emissions. Voters will decide its fate on Nov.6. Since Inslee was first elected, he pushed to reduce CO2 discharges---a laudable...

In the 1960s, there was a popular movie called: “The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming”. The plot was a Soviet naval commander runs his sub aground off a Massachusetts coastal island and sends two English-speaking crewmen ashore to...

Last spring, Boeing revealed its proposed hypersonic passenger airliner which would fly much higher and faster than the Concorde---the only previous supersonic commercial airplane. For reference, supersonic jets fly over the speed of sound (660 mph...

Since President Trump took office, the attention to social media has mushroomed. His pointed tweets are often the top news story each day. Twitter, Facebook and the other apps are pervasive and even though Google and some others have their share of...

When one approaches the Tri Cities, it is impossible to ignore Lampson International’s monstrous cranes in its Pasco assembly yard. Those gantries stand out like the Space Needle in Seattle and reach over 560 feet into the sky. Like the Space...