Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

The House Executive Rules Committee is a five-member committee within the Washington State House of Representatives consisting of the Speaker of the House; the House Majority Leader; the House Majority Caucus Chair; the House Minority Leader; and...

“Go ahead and drop it in.” I watched in bewilderment as my classmate unloaded several large pebbles into the empty cauldron, which resounded with a cacophony of metallic clangs. I sat waiting my turn in line with my can of sweet corn amongst...

In last week’s Gazette editorial, Gordon Forgey commented on the jeers Donald Trump received at a World Series game in the other Washington. Forgey decried the “utter disrespect shown to a sitting president” and by extension, “the cost that...

Climate change Some of us might find it remarkable, given partisan divisions, but it appears Republicans and Democrats are coming together on a surprising issue: Climate change. Lawmakers are responding to public opinion. Last month, a CBS News poll...

Endorses Parks Like other Pullman residents, I received my ballot for the upcoming election. Among the issues we will be voting on is the selection of new members to our City Council. I am a resident of Ward 1 and am presently served by Ann Parks. I...

It is time It would be wonderful to see President Trump’s tax returns and a breakdown of all expenses of his and his family’s trips to their golf courses and hotels since taking office, along with a tally of the profits he is making while...

To Rich Lowry’s National Review column last week, I respond, “You bullied well.” Lowry wrested the message from the messenger and twisted it into the voice of his political opponents. Not a new trick, but despicable, nonetheless. His victim was...

Curry letter People have been identifying income inequality as one of the top three problems facing our country. Of course this means wealth inequality, but most are not wanting to acquire wealth for its own sake, but to smooth out the bumps from...

Two weeks ago Gordon Forgey’s editorial was right on the mark. “Climate change is more and more a topic of conversation with those in a position to do something about it.” He called climate change “an idea and cause that will grow and force...

Chip chip chip away. Do you notice the chipping away of human rights of migrants and reduction of total number of refugees by the present administration? Day after day, it creates an even more cruel way to block asylum-seekers; the latest being the...

Rights In response to Mr. Carl M. Ogren’s anti-gun rant in last week's WCG, please allow me to paraphrase Voltaire when he said “I wholly disapprove of what you say―but will defend to the death your right to say it.” Yes, I know there is...

Fleeced Well pilgrims, we've just been fleeced once again. Your no-carbon-footprint-governor just wasted more of our hard earned money. I'm sure he didn't ride a horse or bicycle back east to campaign and debate. Of course a bicycle would be out of...

Brock letter Our hearts break again and again as we read headlines in the news about the murders in our land. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were no murder. Ever. If everyone just determined within their own being to NOT murder. That would make...

Well done Like Susan Barbee wrote in a recent edition of The Gazette, my wife and I recently made cemetery visits, and like Ms. Barbee we were somewhat dismayed by what we saw. We visited the Colfax Cemetery and were surprised at the dried up grass...

Life skills I learned in the 1950's might be well applied in present day. Recently while decorating at the Bethel Cemetery in Steptoe it brought back memories of my youth. My Mom was the caretaker when I was five. No Kindergarten then, so I would go...

Franken non fan I have been getting the Gazette for about one year. I am satisfied with the reporting of the local news. My only complaint is about the Emmy award winning reporter who is nothing more than a gossip columnist. Any employee of the...

Pretty good overview Skepticism underlies all critical thinking, especially in science. Frank Watson’s May 30 column on climate change illustrates this well. He begins by observing, “Winters…are not as severe as they were when I was a kid....

David Wells, in your letter to the editor you concur with the arguments Frank Watson made in his Whitman County Gazette Opinion article the week prior ("Worth Cultivating" May 23, 2019). You both conclude that, splitting Washington in two and...

Two editorials in the Gazette's, "One-two punch" dated May 9th and "The Knock out punch?" dated a week later are to be commended for their courage, being printed in a conservative county. Gordon Forgey accurately explained the three threats of...

Thank you, for Frank Watson's well-written article. If ever the time was right, after our "Leftist Legislature" thinks they have had an "Epic Year" this is a reasonable time to respond. The Washington legislature needs to know they have not served...

I want to ruffle my feathers and join the squackfest about marijuana production in Whitman County. I want to see as much agricultural diversity and value-added activity as possible. The location for the proposed new business might have been wrong,...

It seems to me, having spent most of my life in eastern Washington and working throughout the area, that the people who want to destroy our existing water environment have little or no direct connection to the Valley communities or to the Palouse....

Carbon dioxide is the thermostat of earth’s atmosphere. That was demonstrated by John Tyndall, a British physicist, in experiments done in his laboratory in the 1850s. Using a relatively simple apparatus, he showed infrared radiation (heat) passes...

In 1869 the main Western Expansion started. The railroads began expanding to more towns and cities. They brought the people who cleared the land, established schools, built road, and made the West what it is today. Many of these people had come...