Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Due to the coronavirus, there are a lot of questions on what school will look like next fall. On social media, a number of memes suggest public schools will be very different. They often cite new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations. There’s no doubt public education will be very different in the fall. But at this point, the center’s guidelines are only guidelines. As such, there is no force of law behind them. What are some of the things the CDC is pus...
Sign R-90 to regain sex ed control In March, our state Legislature voted to require comprehensive sex education in every public school. It did this despite many thousands of residents communicating their concerns and opposition through phone calls, emails, letters and online petitions. The Legislature passed this bill in a night session, taking the final vote at 2 a.m. Concerned residents immediately set in motion a plan to overturn this decision using the legal process provided in our state Constitution, the referendum. By...
Voluntary must have a different meaning inside state government offices. Last Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee and other participants in his coronavirus press conference said participation in a statewide contact tracing program would be voluntary. Except it’s really not. Under the program, anyone who tests positive for coronavirus would be contacted by the Washington National Guard, “trained” state Department of Licensing employees or other so-called “health professionals” to determ...
Sheltering in place doesn't make sense There's a lot to appreciate about farmers donating potatoes and volunteers helping to distribute them. But if one is awake, it's also deeply disturbing that farmers will soon "plow under a billion pounds of potatoes." Mind you that, this year, billions of people are forecast to starve to death around the world due to weather having caused crop failures globally and unprecedented locust migrations. Even in the U.S., the supply of food for...
Medicaid began in 1965 as a safety-net health insurance entitlement for low-income families with children, the disabled, and some long-term care. The program is financed by both federal and state governments in sort of a 50/50 arrangement. In reality, poorer states receive a higher percent of federal money than richer states. Congress established the financial match program with the idea that state legislators would not increase the tax burden on their constituents. The entitl...
I took a look at the state Department of Health non-essential business complaint list over the weekend. I didn’t really expect to see much. And I would’ve been correct if I had only looked at Adams County, where two complaints had been filed, so far. But to my surprise, there are approximately 7,700 complaints filed statewide — and counting. I noticed that several serial tattletales are at work in some communities around the state. That isn’t the case here in Adams County....
I encourage readers to support Referendum 90 repealing the new K-12 sexual education law. The Legislature recently passed this bill, Senate Bill 5395, creating new learning standards for sexuality education. It requires instruction to begin in kindergarten in 2021. The state adheres to the National Sexuality Education Standards under the advice of Planned Parenthood and the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network, but with no conservative balance. For K-3 instruction, the state offers only one curriculum: “Rights, R...
Who can deny the beauty of a crisp fall day full of late-season sunshine and laughter in the air, as gorgeous crimson leaves twirl down to the ground from stately oaks, maples and other American hardwoods? Last Wednesday, at the potato giveaway in Ritzville, the air had many of those same elements — spring air still crisp enough for winter jackets, and sparks of laughter as neighbors came together to distribute a bountiful harvest of potatoes. The locally grown spuds were originally destined for area processors to turn i...
America’s unemployment rate is suddenly approaching historic levels. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began almost two months ago, roughly 30.3 million people have filed for jobless benefits. Nearly 14 million additional people could have filed if unemployment processes were easier, Economic Policy Institute calculates. With more employers cutting payrolls to survive and skyrocketing business closures and bankruptcies, economists forecast the unemployment rate could exceed 20 perce...
As we get deeper into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are finding more Americans to thank. Until recently, truckers have been behind the scenes just doing their jobs, but join the list of unsung heroes. Business Insider reported truckers are the reason America's grocery stores, online retailers, hospitals, gas stations and even ATMs have remained stocked. They number 1.9 million. It's estimated that grocery stores would be empty within 2-3 days if truck drivers stopped working. Acco...
With all the things going wrong with our lives this spring, COVID -19 has been the most prominent. The city of Ritzville scheduled a much-needed rehabilitation of the large water tank located in the golf course more than a year ago. Work started on cleaning and re-coating the inside in early March, with anticipated completion around May 1. During this time, we've all experienced low water pressure, which was anticipated. It is critical to the city to have the tank back online prior to summer, when irrigation of our lawns is...
Athletic trainer here for local students Like many in the community during this trying time my heart goes out to our student athletes, especially those in the class of 2020. I know many of you were looking forward to this spring sports season and the fun and memories that would have come with it. Again, I am very sorry for what you have had to sacrifice during this difficult time. That being said, I want to make anyone in need aware that I am here to support our students just as I would have been if sports were in session. I...
You might say I’ve scanned the Ritzville Adams County Journal (editions dated March 18 and 25, 2020) including the Coronavirus supplement that is part of every newspaper in the Free Press enterprise. It is of no surprise that the term “coronavirus or COVID-19” appears at least 39 times. I noted that Journal Editor Katie Teachout and Davenport Times interim editor Burnham in columns for which a byline was given, used the term a combined five times while not using its colloquial name. My objection is to Mr. Harnack’s colloqu...
The Ritzville Adams County Journal publishes letters of civic nature relating to area, state and national issues and politics. Letters should be limited to 250 words, and any cited facts should be attributed to the source of information. Letters may not contain personal attacks, profanity or cite other media. Please keep letters to a single subject. We do not publish “thank you” letters; contact our advertising staff. Writers will be limited to one letter per month. No chain letters — those are letters written by one perso...
Shop locally and help out our businesses We all need to pitch in. Buy your groceries, gardening supplies, and take-outs here in our towns to help out our hard-working businesses and families. It’s vital for our communities’ well-being. And when this virus subsides, our town will be able to get back on their feet again. Let’s do more to support our local economy: get your car washed, buy a newspaper, support the drugstore....shop local. Marsha Smith Ritzville Quarantines have been used to saved lives Publisher Roger Harna...
My ninth-grade health class is finishing up a drug/alcohol unit through Google Meet that was disrupted by the current crisis and school closure. We are having some great discussions about tobacco, vaping, alcohol, marijuana, opioids and other drugs. It has brought some things to light that I want to remind everyone about: • Some of the more commonly abused drugs today are actually prescription medicines. I encourage all parents to check their medicine cabinet and secure t...
In this time of the coronavirus pandemic, we at The Ritzville Adams County Journal and Free Press Publishing are asking readers to send in community news. We'd like to publish more of those good news milestones - births, weddings, anniversaries and others. The fact these life milestones are occurring during such strange times make them no less significant; in fact, more memorable. While they will likely not be accompanied by the usual fanfare and family/community get-togethers, they will certainly have distinctions that are h...
The Ritzville Adams County Journal publishes letters of civic nature relating to area, state and national issues and politics. Letters should be limited to 250 words, and any cited facts should be attributed to the source of information. Letters may not contain personal attacks, profanity or cite other media. Please keep letters to a single subject. We do not publish “thank you” letters; contact our advertising staff. Writers will be limited to one letter per month. No chain letters — those are letters written by one perso...
Government overreach needs to be reined in Gov. Jay Inslee’s house-arrest order for the populace, Proclamation 20-25, is in conflict with the Bill of Rights. Our rights of the free exercise of religion, of the people to peaceably assemble, of due process of law, as well as our Ninth Amendment rights to pursue happiness by earning a living and to travel freely outside of our homes are sacred. These individual rights are enshrined in the Constitution of the United States. Under the Supremacy Clause, the Constitution p...
More than 230,000 small businesses across our state have been shut down since March 25 by order of Gov. Inslee. While the executive branch does not view these employers as being essential, I and my Senate Republican colleagues recognize the value of these businesses to the families they support, the communities they serve, and the economic activity they generate. We recognize how these employers have already suffered from being forcibly closed and how offers of government...
Our nation’s founding fathers were no strangers to pandemics. They knew of many viruses and diseases — yellow fever, smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, to name a few. Yet, when the Constitution was written and signed, our founding fathers chose not include a caveat for a health emergency as a reason to suspend the inalienable rights of U.S. citizens. Indeed, they took steps to prevent such an effort in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exerc...
We don’t need to be reminded these are strange times. Anxiety has increased exponentially with the lifestyle changes we are all experiencing. The city of Ritzville has made some difficult choices concerning our service to you, the residents. We declared a city-wide emergency March 13. We closed City Hall to the public March 16 and asked staff to stay home. Our Public Works crew and police officers will continue to provide services with no disruptions during this time. We held an emergency City Council meeting March 20 by p...
Given the ongoing shutdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, like nearly all local businesses, we had to make some difficult decisions last week. Among those was the decision to reduce the number print pages. At the same time, we decided to continue to provide the same amount of content. So in balancing our lack of print “real estate” with increasing news and feature coverage, we’ve opted to put more on our webpage, www.ritzvillejournal.com. For our subscribers, acces...
Some years back, in the biggest town in a small county outside our 9th District, there was a clothing store. Upstairs was the office of the area’s weekly newspaper. Week after week, year after year, the clothing store published the same advertisement in the newspaper, displaying its name, address and a drawing of a coat rack, to signal what people could buy there. No brand names, no sale prices, nothing else. The message this ad sent was clear and reassuring: “We’re still...
It has been said many times that we are in uncharted waters. Frankly, it is daunting and somewhat scary for many. So, I wanted to write a little bit to everyone in our community about this evolving situation with COVID-19 and our response. As a foundational partner to caring for this community along with other private healthcare entities, the department of health, schools and other agencies local and distant, it is imperative to be united and to communicate. With so many closures of businesses and gatherings this becomes... Full story