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COLFAX — A local lawmaker is co-sponsoring a pair of bills that would give some workers in Washington state a reprieve from the long-term care tax. Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, is co-sponsoring the bills with Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia. The bills would reopen a limited opt-out period for WA Cares and let individuals who have paid into the program transfer benefits to a spouse. WA Cares deducts 58 cents per $100 earned for every worker to fund a limited lifetime benefit – up to $36,000 – for long-term care costs. Befor...
SPRAGUE — A local farmer, volunteer and supporter of the community and area schools has been named Sprague Days grand marshal. Maureen Bourne will preside over the Sept 14-15 weekend of activities including the parade. “I appreciate living in a small town, the caring of community members helping take care of others,” Bourne said, noting she’s grateful for the honor. “This very heartfelt, humbling honor is greatly appreciated.” She was selected for the honor by the Sprague Chamber of Commerce in advance of Sprague Days. Other...
To write a book about my life. Where to begin? If one believes in the theory of evolution, one might consider going back to when the spark of life present in me began. If it truly was passed down through mutations from past organisms, one should go back pretty far. To the beginning. Simple living cells began around 3.5 billion years in the past. The oldest actual fossil record of them found on earth were in stromatolithic rock in Greenland which dated to 3.8 billion years ago. Three billion years ago photosynthesis begins,...
It is with a mix of encouragement and disappointment that the Senate majority leader says four of the six citizen initiatives to the Legislature "might" have public hearings scheduled before the end of the 2024 session. But don't hold your breath. We are now nearly two-thirds into a 60-day session, with only a handful of committee meetings remaining before adjournment March 8. Despite repeated efforts by Republicans asking for majority Democrats to hold hearings on the initiat...
RITZVILLE – Ninth Legislative District lawmakers are planning virtual meetings to hear from residents. Republican Reps. Joe Schmick of Colfax and Mary Dye of Pomeroy will host a virtual meeting at today, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15. Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, is planning a virtual session for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21. The 9th Legislative District includes Eastern Adams and Franklin, Southern Spokane, Whitman and other counties. The district includes the cities of Cheney and Medical Lake, among others. Reps. S...
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 gov...
SPRAGUE-The local Chamber of Commerce awarded local man John Fraser the title of 2023 Citizen of the Year at the Chamber's Annual Meeting Monday, Jan. 15. Fraser's community service accolades are expansive. He spends several days per week picking up food donated to Feed Sprague and Manna Monday Meals, has occasionally volunteered to cook for Manna Mondays, picks up donated clothes and Meals on Wheels for community members in Sprague and Lamont and hauls refuse to Gina...
SPRAGUE – Two local women have combined their efforts over the last five years to keep a restaurant open in the wake of COVID shutdown mandates and challenges finding employees. Sheila Martin and sister-in-law Linda Johnston took over The Viking Drive-Inn in 2019, following the death of Martin's husband, Gary Martin. You can find them at the 209 E. Fourth St. restaurant daily. Sister Barb Shafer also helps out. The biggest challenge since the end of the pandemic shutdowns, a...
Antidiabetic medications have been given a lot of attention lately. In the Age of Information, some subjects take over every screen, while others gather dust in the basement. The Human Genome Project got plenty of attention in the 1990s. It captured our imagination - the thought of unveiling the blueprints for life. Unwinding the DNA. Hope for humanity and our many ailments seemed within reach. Born with bad genes? We’ll be able to fix that soon. So far, the Project yielded few answers and left us with many new questions. M...
TUMWATER – The state Department of Labor and Industries is proposing a 4.9% increase in the workers compensation tax effective Jan. 1. Director Joel Sacks said the tax increase is lower than what the agency expects to pay for 2024 claims. The proposed tax increase is a direct result of higher wages in the state, he said, noting it will cost employers and workers jointly about $65 annually per full-time employee. The proposed tax hike has Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, fire up. “It’s an understatement to say I’m unhappy...
PULLMAN – A $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will help Washington State University researchers determine if new drugs used to treat COVID-19 may be linked to hearing loss. There are no reports of COVID-19 medications causing hearing loss, but with more than 900 new drugs to treat the virus available or in clinical trials, side effects can occur. “We already know some antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs can cause hearing loss. What we don’t know is what other medications are out there that can cause...
OTHELLO – A local man was arrested Thursday, Aug. 31, after allegedly attempting to light a trailer on fire. Isabel Junior Rocha III, 38, of Othello, was booked into the Franklin County Jail at about 6:53 a.m. Thursday, jail records show. As of press time, he remained behind bars without bail. He is being held on charges of fist-degree arson, harassment and resisting arrest on a contract with Adams County, records show. Rocha was arrested early Thursday morning after deputies dispatched for a disconnected 911 call d...
SPOKANE – The Junior Livestock Show of Spokane has announced its meetings and auctions schedule, and changes being planned. The organization that allows aspiring young farmers to show and sell their animals will host its annual membership meeting on Sunday, Nov. 12. A time and location has yet to be announced. The organization has scheduled its Junior Show Benefit Auction for Feb. 17 and its 89th annual Junior Livestock Show for May 1-4, both at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center. The rules for next year’s shows are sti...
CHENEY—Several Free Press Publishing staffers will receive Better Newspaper Contest awards in October. At the Cheney Free Press, graphic artist John Myers, sports journalist Paul Delaney and Owner/Publisher Roger Harnack will be receiving awards. Part-time journalists Byrne Bennett at the Lincoln County Record-Times and Dale Brown at the Ritzville Adams County Journal have also been named as award-winners. The staffers will be receiving awards in reporting, photography and digital efforts. The company’s Whitman County Gaz...
Good old U.S. 50 is a great alternative to cross the Colorado Rockies rather than the mind-numbing Interstate 70 where “no stopping any time” signs accompany you to the designated stopping points for a view. I was standing on the continental divide in the Colorado Rockies. Monarch Pass (11,3112’ elevation). On a convenient forest road, I had gone a short distance off the highway to absorb the beauty of the spot. A large wet meadow area straddles the divide, which is clearly visible as a gentle slope dropping east and west fro...
House and Senate budget writers released their 2023-25 state operating budget proposals recently. It was a reminder that taxpayers have been very kind to the state’s coffers as revenue forecasts over the past few years have continued to increase. As a result of taxpayer largess and the majority party’s proclivity to spend every dime available, state spending has more than doubled over the past 10 years. Has our population doubled? No. According to the Washington State Off...
Do patients have a right to know if an insurance plan is going to force them to use a mail-order pharmacy or the insurance-owned mail order system during open enrollment? Do patients have a right to chose who they receive medical and pharmaceutical care from? As a pharmacist at a local independent pharmacy, I have been fielding questions from patients using Kaiser Permanente insurance, who began receiving letters indicating they must transfer their prescriptions to a Kaiser pharmacy for continued coverage. Starting in...
Growing up on the farm, I heard grandma’s sage advice in just about every situation imaginable. “A trouble shared is a trouble halved.” “This isn’t my first rodeo.” “Many hands make light work.” When hearing about Kaiser Permanente’s change in how its customers could get their prescriptions refilled, what came to mind was this: “It doesn’t cut the mustard.” Last summer, the Public Employees Benefits Board (PEBB) and the School Employees Benefits Board (SEBB) voted to allow Kaiser Permanente to proceed with new rural pharmacy...
CHENEY — The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Service), in conjunction with the Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program, is seeking volunteers to assist with tree potting events throughout the month of April at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). Volunteers are integral to completing the Service mission of “working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.” During the month of April, refuge staff will be hosting singl...
RITZVILLE — The Palouse Chapter of the Ice Age Flood Institute has a new secretary. Cecilia Cochran of Pomeroy was appointed to fill the vacancy, replacing LeeAnn Blankenship. The organization which promotes education on the geology of the Palouse and Eastern Washington also has an opening for memberhship chairman, officials said. Institute officers for 2023 include President Lloyd Stoess, Vice President Jacqui Hair, Treasurer Kara Harder, Secretary Cochran, Program Chairman Chad Pritchard, Publicity Chairwoman Michelle P...
OLYMPIA — As workforce issues continue to garner local, state, and national attention, the state is one step closer to addressing critical shortages in nursing care. Legislation to enact the Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact passed the House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee last week. House Bill 1417 was approved, 11-3. “We are seeing workforce shortages across a broad spectrum of industries and occupations for a variety of reasons,” sponsor Rep. Mike Volz, R-Spokane, said. “However, shortages in the health ca...
We are back at the state Capitol for the 2023 legislative session, which began Jan. 9 and is set to last 105 days, ending April 23. After being forced to endure a virtual legislative session in 2021 and last year due to restrictions caused by COVID-19, we’re encouraged that the Legislature has returned to near-normal in terms of how committee meetings and floor sessions are conducted. In the two previous legislative sessions, citizens weren’t allowed to attend committee meetings or floor sessions in person. Instead, they had...
We are celebrating a new year on our Gregorian calendar, 2023. This number counts the duration of our particular Western European culture. The bigger the number, the longer we have lasted. It is, though, just a number. If it wasn’t for Pope Gregory, that number would be different. Until then we were operating on the Julian calendar initiated by Julius Caesar. On that calendar the dates of the Solstices and Equinoxes drifted over time. The Pope was most interested in keeping Easter near the Spring Equinox and the old pagan r...
POMEROY — A 9th Legislative District representative has been selected to lead Republicans on the House Environment and Energy Committee. Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, represents Whitman, Adams, Lincoln and southern Spokane Counties, among others. As the ranking Republican, she said she will be working on environmental policy, grown management, shoreline protection, air quality, recycling and other topics. The committee considers issues related to energy availability, production and conservation. Dye has been the lead R...
POMEROY — A 9th Legislative District representative has been selected to lead Republicans on the House Environment and Energy Committee. Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, represents Whitman, Adams, Lincoln and southern Spokane Counties, among others. As the ranking Republican, she said she will be working on environmental policy, grown management, shoreline protection, air quality, recycling and other topics. The committee considers issues related to energy availability, production and conservation. Dye has been the lead R...
