Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Just as memories of COVID lockdowns and mask mandates were fading to the back of our collective minds, the hysteria is returning, and many are wondering how to react. The two new strains responsible for the surge in cases are known as EG.5, or “Eris,” and BA.2.86, or “Pirola.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers show COVID hospitalizations have increased by almost 15.7% in one week, and deaths have increased by 10.5%, although these numbers greatly fluctuate day by day. Director Mandy Cohen said up to 10,000...
While media focus was on Joe Biden’s decree putting a tiny plot of land within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off limits to oil and gas exploration, reporters ignored the bigger story. Biden’s other proclamation forbids tapping more than 10 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a 23-million-acre area on Alaska’s North Slope. That is the area which should replenish the crude oil drawdown stemming from Biden’s oil withdrawal from strategic wells est...
It’s been a pretty nice season to go to the fairs around the region—in most cases not too hot and not too cool. Always nice to be able to connect with both our adult and youth producers. The fairs are certainly an American tradition and it’s great to see that people are out supporting them. When I talk with producers, I’m always happy when topics of conversation come up that lend themselves to an article. A recent conversation highlighted that concerns about mRNA vaccine...
Our problem is not that there is too much “fake news.” Our problem is that too many people believe it. Fortunately, there is an “antidope” — epistemology , the theory of knowledge or “how we know what we know.” Epistemology is a good solution because it has validity tests to distinguish between justified belief and opinion. And this distinction is central to most disagreements. Epistemology has simple and clarifying definitions, e.g., Truth has the property that corresponds with facts and reality. Can you imagine how m...
There is an axiom: Don’t let “the perfect” get in the way of the good! That is important to remember when it comes to improving our air quality. While climate activists want to banish all fossil fuels to control greenhouse gas, it is not possible today without epic disruption to our economy, supply chains, jobs, and quality of life. Simply, getting to “zero emission” cannot happen by government edicts. It takes innovation driven by the private sector. For example, the Calif...
The phrase “first-world problems” has become a punch line – a throwaway statement because it is uttered by people with plenty of gadgets, a reliable food supply and a secure roof over their heads. It has also dulled our experience of a world in which seasonal food is the reality and some products are hard to get. When everything is available, regardless of season or effort, it is easy to voice shallow moral judgments when it comes to food production and consumption. Animal rig...
With students returning to college campuses, it is time to consider other ways for them to pay for tuition, books and living expenses. Too often, they resort to borrowing. Now, student loan forgiveness is spotlighted as the solution when it is only part of the answer. There are other ways. Student indebtedness is mounting. It is exacerbated by rising “total costs to attend” college (COA). The growth rate exceeds inflation and interest rates on student loans are often hig...
Over the past few years, our state has witnessed a steady rise in several types of crime. This has caused serious harm in many communities on both sides of the state, and many Washingtonians continue to live in fear that their families and homes and businesses will be touched by crime at some point. One key reason for the crime hike is the state’s low number of law-enforcement officers per capita. Washington ranks dead last among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. B...
Pullman Washington-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories recently published its 2023 Index of Freedom report. The report ranks all 50 states based on government efficiency, regulatory freedom and energy resiliency. The top-performing states for 2023 are Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho and Nevada. New Jersey, California, Maine, Vermont and New York are the worst-performing states, according to the report. Washington came in at 32 on the list (an improvement from 36...
As you shop for back-to-school supplies for your kids, consider this: The clerks, shelf stockers, truck drivers and factory workers who make that possible can all be legally forced to pay money to a union or else be fired. You see, Washington is currently one of the 23 forced-unionism states in America. Why? Since Washington doesn't have a right-to-work law to guarantee union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary for workers, a union boss can legally have a...
For several months, drivers and businesses have had to endure the sharp increase in fuel prices since the state’s cap-and-trade program – or “cap-and-tax,” as I like to call it – went into effect Jan. 1. But consumers, especially those who rely on natural-gas furnaces for heat, soon will feel pain in their wallets thanks to cap-and-tax. The state Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission recently approved a request by Puget Sound Energy to increase its natural g...
Early in Barack Obama’s presidency, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his most important achievement would be to make Obama a one-term president. Ever since, McConnell has opposed anything Democrats have introduced, even if originally Republican-proposed (e.g., Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health plan predating Obamacare). This includes blocking legislation Obama and subsequent Democrats continually propose to rescue lower- and middle-income workers, many unjustly left behind. Lately, McConnell has...
The state held its special auction for CO2 allowances two weeks ago. When the results were announced, they indicated higher gas prices may be coming. As part of the state’s new tax on CO2 emissions, known as the Climate Commitment Act, organizations that emit CO2, like BP or Washington State University, must purchase permits for every metric ton of CO2 emitted by their operations or products. There are a limited number of permits available. So, the price is set at an a...
Last week, I received this card and wanted to share it with all of you. “Hello Mayor Kadlec… My name is Loraine, and I am traveling across the U.S. with my friend, and we stopped into your quaint town. Our first stop was the Railroad Station (the museum was closed), but we really appreciated the placards with descriptions! The history of the building posted was AMAZING! The folks at your drugstore (where I purchased this card) were so friendly & helpful!! I also happened to meet the lady that is in charge of the Senior Cen...
Apparently, the Pac-12 wasn’t the only thing that University of Washington left behind for more money. As the state senator for a legislative district that includes two four-year universities (Washington State University and Eastern Washington University), I take great interest in our state’s higher-education system. I make it a point to stay in contact with the presidents at Washington State and Eastern and keep up on key developments at these campuses in Pullman and Che...
A quip on a social media post said it all: “Harrington has never been so busy.” That tongue-in-cheek post was in reference to a decision to divert Interstate 90 traffic between Spokane and Sprague through Airway Heights, Reardan, Davenport and Harrington as the Gray Fire encroached on the highway over the weekend. The fire broke out Friday afternoon near Eastern State Hospital and Medical Lake. As it grew toward Four Lakes and Cheney, authorities decided to detour traffic at...
Soon the 2023-24 school year will begin. This will be the third school year after Gov. Jay Inslee and state public schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal imposed longer COVID-19 school shutdowns than most of the country. The shutdowns began in March of 2020, lasted the entire school year of 2020-21, and continued to interrupt schooling the fall of 2021. Yet, last week, Reykdal published a piece on the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction website reporting...
Washington is home to 65 fairs featuring everything from livestock and horse events to “still life” entries like photography and fresh vegetable displays. The bounty on display is remarkable. August and September are when the bulk of our county and state fairs are hosted. These fairs are an ideal time to consider purchasing locally raised meat. Many consumers are concerned about how their meat is raised and by whom. County and state fairs give consumers a direct conduit to the...
The National Weather Service predicts we will see the hottest temperatures of the summer this week. It’s even gone so far as to declare an “excessive heat warning” until 11 p.m. Thursday. Granted, 100 degrees is hot. But in our neck of the high-plains desert, that’s not excessive. Even if we hit 105 degrees, it’s not excessive for Eastern Washington. Eastern Washington has a track record of hot daytime highs in June, July and August in modern years. The hottest day on record...
Today, good works are often brushed aside or ignored – especially, if done by one of the world’s largest mining companies. However, Rio Tinto deserves kudos for its half-billion-dollar mine cleanup in Holden., a remote village in the North Cascade mountains just south of Lake Chelan. Rio Tinto did not mine an ounce of copper or other precious metals at Holden. It acquired the site as part of a larger purchase. It gathered interested stakeholders together and ironed sol...
If you are unaware of what happened July 17 or the scope of the tragedy, take a short road trip up West Main Street onto VanVleet Road and down Gun Club Road. Look all around you and across the freeway. It is hard to believe our Ritzville Volunteer Fire Department, with the help of other fire departments, the employees of the city of Ritzville, the police from our city and county, and countless others were able to control and put out that fire. The next time you see a person who works for the city, volunteers for the Fire...
It’s been a tough week around the farm with equipment failures that have delayed harvest a few days. I’ll get back on track. But while repairs are underway, I can’t help but think about others who won’t recover so easily from hits to their budgets – setting them back further and further every time they fill up at the gas station or get a paycheck. Many of our friends on the West Side of the state disregard rural folks in communities like ours. We see this every session t...
There’s no question the governor misled the people last year when claiming his cap-and-tax scheme would add “pennies” to the cost of gas once it took full effect in 2023. Gov. Jay Inslee has a degree in economics, as he reminded everyone at a news conference last week. And, yet, he assumed oil companies would simply absorb the added cost of complying with cap-and-tax? Inslee came up with a new lie at that news conference, as part of a feeble effort to claim his scheme has n...
New data reported by the State Board of Education reveals that private school enrollment in Washington state has jumped by 25 percent in three years. In 2019-20, total K-12 private school enrollment was 65,270 students. In 2022-23, this number rose to 81,434 students, an increase of 25 percent. The number of homeschooled students has also grown, from 20,844 in 2019-20 to 29,798 in 2022-23, an increase of 42 percent. Over 110,000 parents in Washington state have decided that...
By virtually all key metrics, Washington’s environmental policies are failing. And yet, when was the last time politicians, environmental activists or the media expressed concern about policy failures? Speeches and news stories are filled with demands that we save the planet, describing threats to salmon, orca, forests and the climate. And yet, there is a remarkable lack of curiosity when real-world efforts fail to address those problems. One common thread is that e...