Dear Friends, While I spent hour after hour this week debating and voting on legislation in the budget committee and in the Senate chamber, a woman from the town of Snohomish was out in front of the Capitol conducting what she calls a “fast in...

On April 9th, we said goodbye to a hero of the Greatest Generation. Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, the last surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders, passed away at the age of 103. In the aftermath of the devastating sneak attack on...

I recently submitted an Easter article to The Journal that was mistakenly printed early in last week’s edition – and with the incorrect title. When I emailed editor Brandon Cline about it, he apologized and offered to reprint it in this edition...

The Bob’s TV and Appliance store at 208 N. Division will permanently close in the next 60-90 days. No worries though, I will still provide repair services from my home, in addition to other service calls to the community. My work phone number,...

Dear Friends, One of the many flaws in the 2019-21 budget proposed a week ago by the Senate’s Democrat majority was that it lacked new funding to allow 20 more students at WSU’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine in Spokane. When the budget came...

The old saying, “the customer is always right” may hold true as a best practice for business, but it just rarely seems to apply to services provided by the government. In my many conversations with farmers in Central Washington, it is clear that...

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...

One of the most famous – or infamous – sermons in American history was preached in 1741 by a Massachusetts minister named Jonathan Edwards. The title was “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” It was the quintessential “fire and...

Dear Friends, A couple of weeks ago we started using a catch-all term—“Taxapalooza”—to highlight the sheer number of tax proposals put on the table before and during this legislative session. If you were to visit my office at the Senate,...

According to the Yakima Herald Republic’s special series, “The Vanished:” “A report from the National Institute of Justice found that more than four out of five Native American women have experienced violence in their lives. In 2016, the...

Dear Friends, This week brought some happy news for those in the Legislature who like to spend, spend, spend. The year’s first state revenue forecast, released Wednesday, basically predicts there should be another $860 million available for the...

Dear Friends, To get a good sense of how the priorities differ this year between the left side of the Senate aisle and our conservative side, let’s look at what happened Wednesday. That was the “house of origin cutoff” day, meaning bills that o...

This week, the Tri-Cities community will come together in honor of U.S. Marine Sergeant Dietrich Schmieman of Richland. In a formal ceremony, community members, family, friends, Marine Corps brothers-in-arms, and local leaders will designate the U.S....

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,...

Dear Editor, Re: Downtown businesses employee parking. I have hesitated writing about this topic, but after run-ins with a few elderly people having difficulty caused by this issue in the past couple weeks I have felt compelled to do so. I have notic...

Recently we were faced with the decision to need swing bed care. It was fortunate to have such a facility at East Adams Rural County Hospital in Ritzville. The overall care was exceptional. The effort put forth by the traveling nurses and NAC to...

Throughout this Lenten season the focus of our weekly soup suppers is “Community.” The question you may ask though might be, exactly what is “community”? The dictionary definition is pretty simple: community is a group of people who live in...

Dear Friends, You won’t find me sending a ton of text messages, or using the “LOL” kind of shorthand when I do. But if I had to describe this past week in a text, the abbreviation “SMH” – for “shaking my head” – would be a good choi...

A member of Congress makes a hateful remark, and House congressional leaders of the same political party respond by swiftly condemning and then strip that representative of all committee assignments—a severe punishment. If you think I’m...

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...

We would like to heartily commend the County Department of Public Works for the yeoman work they do every year in keeping our roads passable. Both the drivers—who are out long hours in bitter weather—and the office staff— who schedule and...

Dear Friends, We’d been hearing a rumor that Governor Inslee would make an announcement today about his presidential aspirations. When the Democratic majority in the Senate tried to force a final vote yesterday on the renewable-energy legislation...

‘Gridlock’ might seem to be the best word to describe divided government in Washington D.C. these days. However, last week, despite the partisan differences in the nation’s capital, bipartisanship and pragmatism won in what can only be...

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 bankruptcy...