Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 4128
I drove truck for 47 years and when the roundabout on Freya Street, north of Frances St., was installed I was hauling food products to a URM warehouse. The roundabout humps in the middle and when the trailing trailer goes over this it is tipped about 30 degrees and all the palletized goods are dumped off the pallets and scattered over the floor of the trailer and must be restacked by hand to unload. Exit 276 on Interstate 90 has two or three roundabouts, all jammed together making for a confusing mess. That serves no purpose than having some...
If you have taken your kids to McDonalds (or indulged yourself) in the last 6 months, you will have noticed the prices have increased substantially. Washington is not the only state where prices are going up, and it’s partially because of increases to minimum wage. Zerohedge is reporting another price increase, driven primarily by increases to the minimum wage, that is going to hit California in April this year. California minimum wage is set to increase to $20 an hour for fast food workers, a...
As Washington stands at a pivotal moment in shaping its energy future, it becomes increasingly clear that adopting sensible, forward-thinking solutions is crucial for a reliable, cost-effective, and environmentally sound power grid. It's time for our state to embrace energy policies that genuinely prioritize the well-being of its residents. The Power Washington plan, a comprehensive strategy I advocate for, is designed to confront and resolve critical issues within our energy landscape. The...
When Washington’s voters adopted the state’s Public Records Act under Initiative 276 in 1972, they wanted to make sure that state, county, and city governments operate openly and are transparent to the people. They recognized the best way to ensure transparency and accountability to the citizens of Washington is to require that most government records are made available to the public. The PRA, however, was never intended to help some make money at the expense of governments or other Was...
In the recent mailing of the Colfax School District, “Focus on Schools”, we learned from the two Building principals about upcoming activities and current events Colfax students are participating in. In addition there was included information regarding the upcoming enrichment levy, to be voted on by Colfax School District residents, ballots being due to elections by February 13, 2024. I encourage you to read this mailing. Every two years we have the opportunity to vote for the passage of a replacement enrichment levy. Washington State does not...
As climate disruption becomes more evident, more people are empowered to advocate for climate mitigation. This advocacy is positive, but climate advocates must choose their words carefully for their message to be most effective. Advocates need humility because we don’t have all the answers. For instance, while the climate science fundamentals are well-established, it is a relatively new field and probably still holds plenty of surprises. Humility is necessary because renewable energy development will make mistakes, just like any other t...
Each year Americans throw away more than three billion batteries constituting 180,000 tons of hazardous material. The situation is likely to get worse as the world shifts to lithium batteries to power a massive influx of electric vehicles (EV). It needs immediate attention. Everyday-green.com reported more than 86,000 tons of single-use alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C and D) are thrown away yearly. They power electronic toys and games, portable audio equipment and flashlights and make up 20 perce...
Two years ago, Washington State Parks bureaucrats in Tumwater hatched a plan to address so-called “overcrowding” at Palouse Falls. The plan was to close and relocate the campground to Lyons Ferry, require permits to visit Upper Palouse Falls and to end hiking and exploring in and around the main Palouse Falls basin. The effort also eliminated kayaking access on the upper Palouse River. And to make the effort sound legitimate, those city-dwelling bureaucrats called Palouse Falls a “he...
As I sat and read Dan Soss’ obituary tonight in the 1.4.24 Gazette, I couldn’t help but go back to June 7th, 1975, when the existing nursing home was to become a boarding home/assisted living facility with most of the staff and nursing patients being transferred by us, our employees, friends, relatives, etc. to the just finished and licensed Whitman Convalescent Center. As the administrator, I was so fortunate to have an experienced staff who had worked with our residents, some for years, so they knew and trusted each other as we all moved int...
In a mis-guided attempt to limit the amount a property owner could collect in a damage deposit for pets, lawmakers are proposing a pet deposit cap of $150, starting this July. Like much of the other legislation that has been proposed this year to reduce the cost of housing, Senate Bill (SB 6064), introduced by Senator Drew Hansen (D-23), will have exactly the opposite effect. Pet deposits are designed to cover the cost of either deliberate or accidental damage repairs to an rental property,...
“The possibility of a global environmental apocalypse has been dominating headlines and exercises a powerful hold on the imaginations of millions of people,” according to optimist and author Marion L. Tupy. Headlines of imminent catastrophe are resulting in public policy driving our nation and our state as well as many other western economies to the brink. The Clean Energy Transformation Act, passed in 2019, and the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) of 2021 form the architecture for the radical dec...
It seems like every year the Democrats, who have voting majorities in the Senate and House, in Olympia introduce legislation to raise or create taxes, no matter how much revenue the state is already collecting from you and other hard-working taxpayers. The Ds are at again this session. The latest proposal from the other side of the aisle that should cause all of us to hide our wallets is Senate Bill 5770, the Senate Democrats’ very costly and long-term property tax increase proposal. The v...
The $33 billion secret Snake River Dam plan that President Biden and friends cooked up in the White House basement needs to be exposed to the light of day and thoroughly aired by all. It is time to assess how it might work in the real world rather than wait and see what happens once it is implemented. While $33 billion may seem like “walking around” money to a President who tosses around trillion-dollar programs like horseshoes at the church picnic, the amount is equal to the yearly ope...
The state should be rethinking its Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, which often benefits people who are not in need of taxpayer help at the expense of low-income workers and employers. Instead, Washington state lawmakers are considering expanding payments to the program. House Bill 1959 has a public hearing scheduled for 8 a.m. on January 17 in the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee. The bill seeks to take away an exemption lawmakers promised small businesses back in...
There are at least 216 gray wolves in 37 packs in our state. Thirty-one of those gray wolf packs are in North-Central and Northeastern Washington. Senate Bill 5939 – relating to protecting livestock from wolf predation – seeks to give affected livestock raisers a chance to mitigate the confirmed and probable predation deaths of their animals. The bill would allow owners of livestock to monitor a depredation and kill the first gray wolf that returns. The bill lays out the livestock pro...
The $33 billion secret Snake River Dam plan that President Biden and friends cooked up in the White House basement needs to be exposed to the light of day and thoroughly aired by all. It is time to assess how it might work in the real world rather than wait and see what happens once it is implemented. While $33 billion may seem like “walking around” money to a President who tosses around trillion-dollar programs like horseshoes at the church picnic, the amount is equal to the yearly ope...
Monday featured opening-day ceremonies in the Senate and House chambers, followed by a joint legislative session in the House chamber on Tuesday for Gov. (Jay) Inslee’s final state of the state address. Because this is considered a “short session,” fewer bills will be introduced and considered than in last year’s 105-day session. The main objectives for legislators this year will be to create and pass supplemental operating, capital and transportation budgets. For me and my 9th District seatmat...
This is my reply to Nancy from Cheney’s Letter in the edition of the Gazette of December regarding her wish for peace in Gaza, the Holy Land, especially this time of year. Well, if you remember there was a solid and joyful peace in Gaza that for once as everyone, both Israelis and Palestinians could, after so many years and so many political promises, was here to stay! It was created and enforced by non-politician and pro-business President of this County, Donald Trump who used our excess in oil production to force Arabs to the peace table. U...
Persons who have dwarfism (also referred to as “little people”) frequently experience employment discrimination. Although they can perform any job task well – often needing only a stool – employers frequently reject them during interview. Bars and strip clubs exploit the resulting financial problems by hiring “LPs” for dwarf-tossing events, where bar patrons pay to physically throw an them in front of a crowd of laughing and jeering customers. LPs very frequently have skeletal (especially spinal) issues requiring multiple surgeries....
