Sorted by date Results 1555 - 1579 of 3216
As a former educator who has authored grant proposals seeking funding for after school programs, an important component has been the statewide comparison of county unemployment rates. Having tracked those statistics for Washington since 2004, when Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was first elected to office, the numbers speak for themselves. Ferry, Pend Oreille and her home, Stevens, counties had the state’s three highest February 2016 county unemployment rates, following a general trend throughout the last decade. And although S...
On April 12, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers released a statement on equal pay. The following quote is the conclusion of the press release: “This can only happen through a national conversation about how we can level the playing field, so women — and everyone — have every opportunity to succeed in the workforce regardless of their background or walk of life.” I disagree. This can happen only when our representative votes for equal pay; conversations with Cathy are ineffective. At a “Conversation with Cathy” event in September 2...
Last week’s (March 31) “In Our Opinion” seems out of character from Free Press’ usual concern over bias and fact. While not an apologist for Trump and Cruz, I look at six issues raised in the column. 1. Constitution. One shouldn’t insist that Muslims in America accept our form of government, culture, and values? Over 60 percent of American Muslims and over 90 percent of Muslims from Islamic countries prefer Sharia to our Constitution. Emigration Jihad taught by Muhammad: emigrate, procreate, dominate. Our historic immigrati...
April is Alcohol Awareness Month. Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in the United States: 17.6 million people, or one in every 12 adults, suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence. More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking, and more than 7 million children live in a household where at least one parent is dependent on or has abused alcohol. During Alcohol Awareness Month, Washington State Al-Anon District 2 is sponsoring a free community information event on Monday,...
I come from a family with a long history of Alzheimer’s disease, and see so many other families struggling with it as well. Today one in three seniors in Washington State and across the country dies of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Nearly one in five Medicare dollars is spent on patients with these diseases. By 2050, that will rise to one in three Medicare dollars, unless we find a cure to treat and prevent Alzheimer’s. In Eastern Washington, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is playing an important role in finding a cure for Al...
With spring already here and summer approaching, it’s more common to see kids running around the neighborhood playing with friends. Some folks refer to this as “free range parenting” but there have been stories popping up here and there about parents who were arrested for letting their children roam the neighborhood or businesses without their supervision. One recent incident was in Spartanburg, S.C. According to an April 3 WYFF News 4 story, Tiesha Hillstock was arrested for unlawful neglect of a child after she let her 9...
On April 16, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was sitting in a stark jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama, where he had been arrested for engaging in nonviolent direct action. An ally had smuggled a newspaper into the jail that contained the recently published piece, “A Call To Unity,” written by eight local white clergymen who thought civil rights should be won in the courts, not in the streets. King began drafting his response on the margins of the newspaper — the only paper he was allowed at first. Later, a black trust...
Cheney Kiwanis thanks the following groups for joining us in providing the annual egg hunt at Salnave Park: Kappa Delta Chi Sorority and Omega Delta Phi fraternity at Eastern Washington University for providing several prize baskets and volunteers to help with set up and clean up, Cheney High School Key Club for volunteering at the event, Cheney Assisted Living residents who placed wrapped candies into several thousand plastic eggs, Cheney Fire department for bringing the fire truck and giving the starting signal, city of...
Some thoughts on this year’s presidential campaigns, so far. A friend of mine told me he was listening to a local, conservative talk radio show the other day and the host asked the question, essentially, how it was that Donald Trump has emerged as the front runner for the Republican Party’s nominee for president. That’s a good question. I’ll give you one of many answers, and it’s short. Look in the mirror. Harsh? Maybe, but really, Trump and the whole Republican process so far has been a case of reaping that which has been...
Boeing’s new cost-reduction plan has deep ramifications for Washington because the bulk of the 4,500 job cuts are likely to land here. CEO Dennis Muilenburg asked investors to view the savings initiative as “playing offense in a competitive marketplace” even though Boeing has a $431 billion backlog of 5,800 aircraft orders. Translated, Muilenburg means the aerospace giant needs to find ways to lower the price tag of its airplanes. Boeing leaders worry because Airbus’ A320 sc...
Eunice V. Pallviny Greener, born to Armand Victor Pallviny and Lydia Issak Pallviny in Leola, S.D. on March 26, 1923, passed away on Feb. 25, 2016. She exemplified the love of Jesus throughout her life with kindness, compassion, generosity, hugs, radiating smile, prayers of praise, thanksgiving and concerns, words of hope and encouragement and letting others see the beauty of God’s creation through her eyes and heart. Eunice was a loving devoted wife to her husband Walter Greener. They married July 3, 1943 and celebrated t...
It’s time for the truth concerning Cathy McMorris Rodgers. She is part of the most dysfunctional Congress ever. She is paid $174,000 a year by us to work for the 5th District of Washington state. This is what she has done: voted over 60 times to stop all of us from getting affordable health care, voted to cut millions of dollars from food programs for children and the disabled, voted against our veterans health, voted for cuts to Medicare, voted for raising the eligibility age for Medicare to 67, privatizing our Social S...
Are you concerned about the number of fires we experienced last summer? Does the number of dangerous, mile-long trains, especially oil trains that come through Cheney blowing their horns and blocking intersections, bother you? Have you noticed that our summers are hotter and drier? Are you concerned about climate change? Then you should vote for Bernie Sanders in the upcoming Democratic Caucus. He is the only candidate for president, either Republican or Democrat that has consistently considered climate change as a major issu...
For the last 20 years, Lt. Gov. Brad Owen (D) has served Washington well. Now, he is retiring and leaving the state senate as he found it — a dignified place to debate and enact public policy. Owen, a former convenience store owner in Shelton, will not seek re-election. It will be the first time in 40 years that his name will not be on the November ballot. He was elected to the state house in 1976 and then to the senate in 1983. Owen is currently the longest serving l...
Thank you, Cheney Free Press, for highlighting the taxation issue out-of-town residents are having with their city of Cheney utility bills. Like many others, I was surprised to see new taxes of $25 added to my February statement. The ladies at the city were very pleasant, but couldn’t offer much help. To put it into more perspective, in the three years we’ve lived outside of Cheney we have replaced windows, added insulation, changed pellet stoves, added wood heat, replaced an old refrigerator and replaced sliders and ext...
There’s an effort in place that’s long overdue and will be ongoing over basically the next decade. The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the Secretary of Defense to conduct a program to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The observance extends until Veteran’s Day 2025. Spokane’s Daughters of the American Revolution, Jonas Babcock Chapter, are at the forefront of the effort to recognize both living and deceased Vietnam veterans locally. And to date, on a statewide basis, there were dozens...
What would an effective congressional representative do to improve lives in the 5th District? Be available, answer letters personally, attend important rallies and EIS hearings concerning the oil and coal terminals, visit the homeless, attend city council meetings, visit schools and colleges, and live in the district instead of visiting the Spokane area a few times a year. Cathy McMorris Rodgers votes straight along Republican lines and does very little to help our people. Instead, her recent activities include cavorting with...
During an idle day for the Big Sky Conference men’s basketball tournament March 10, and an off day for Eastern Washington, the Eagles still crept into the news. Make that newsmaker Eastern head coach Jim Hayford, the fifth-year Eagles basketball boss. In a San Francisco Chronicle story from Steve Kroner about the firing of University of San Francisco head basketball coach Rex Walters, Hayford was one of two names mentioned as Walters’ possible replacement because of his Bay Area roots. Hayford was in some pretty good com...
I figured events like political rallies can get heated when you have people with differing opinions gathered into one place, but I’ve never expected them to turn into something like a hostile school playground or a soccer riot. During a March 11 campaign rally for Republican frontrunner Donald Trump at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Trump’s supporters clashed with protesters. Trump said he canceled the rally after consulting with law enforcement, but the Chicago Police Department and university police said they never...
For this month’s PACE (Partners Advancing Character Education) character trait, we will discuss the trait of diligence. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines the term diligence as “persevering application.” Ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius noted “The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” American icon Mark Twain once said “Diligence is a good thing, but taking things easy is much more restful.” Founding Father Benjamin Franklin used diligence...
Recently, former Congressman George Nethercutt said that if Donald Trump got the Republican nomination for president, he would leave his selection box blank. As a former conservative Republican turned Independent, this is exactly what’s wrong with today’s Republican Party. They never do what they say they are going to do, and that’s why you’re seeing the voter’s revolt and the turn to Trump. Voters are fed-up with the do nothing Congress on both sides, as proven by their lowest ratings ever! I voted for George on his stanc...
I’m a word guy, and subsequently, a language guy. Arguably, language is the greatest invention man has ever produced. We wouldn’t be here without it, written or spoken. I’ve recently dusted off a set of language discs I hope will help me learn enough Spanish to get around and into trouble — and out of it — on my fifth mission trip to Guatemala this summer. Listening to the introduction, the narrator made the statement that most experts consider the spoken word language more so than the written. We learn most from the spoke...
It may only be early March, but by now, most of us should be starting to have concerns about who our choices for president will be when November’s election rolls around. Let’s take a moment to reflect on the campaign season so far — if “campaign” is the proper word to use. It’s difficult to refer to any of the Republican debates to this point as “debates,” at least according to Webster’s simple definition of the word, which is “a discussion between people in which they express different opinions about something.” Much of what...
Until Feb. 18 I had never visited a so-called “Third World” country. It may have seemed as though after experiencing the crazy driver who passed me in the center turn lane while I was slowing to the 40 mile-per-hour speed limit while approaching Four Lakes? Or when I was behind the wheel and bouncing over those wonderful unpaved, pothole-strewn dirt streets in Spokane. The term Third World, now synonymous with many struggling poor nations around the globe, was originally use...
Any law becomes ineffective when punishment for violating that law fails to act as a deterrent. Or, to use the more colorful phrase, a law’s “got to have teeth.” Two weeks ago the Washington Senate decided to do something it hasn’t done in 45 years by unanimously approving “putting teeth” into this state’s Open Public Meetings Act. At the request of state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, those teeth took the form of increased penalties for knowingly violating the law, upping individual fines from $100 to $500. Senate Bill 6...
