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New York City can feel far away from us here in Eastern Washington. But, this past week, history was made there in the steps along the road to an international 2015 global warming agreement. World leaders gathered at the United Nations on Sept. 23 to energize negotiations and build momentum for a global climate treaty in Paris in 2015 to prevent the consequences of global warming, and to contain global warming by the end of the century to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). This meeting was preceded by the largest...
We all know the story of Pinocchio and how his nose grew when he told a lie. Wouldn’t it be great if that would happen to members of Congress every time they lied? Cathy McMorris Rodgers would seek a nose reduction immediately. Her strategy to climb the political ladder is to spin the truth, or simply not tell it. On the issue of children, she voted to give huge subsidies to the farming industry but voted to cut $8.6 billion from food stamps. Her spin, “By making common-sense reforms…savings are reached without remov...
For the first time in years, I rooted for the Green Bay Packers as they played the Detroit Lions on Sunday. After the Lions beat the Packers, 19-7, I shared my angst with the rest of the Cheeseheads across the country. No, I haven’t joined the Packer Nation, my loyalty lies with the Minnesota Vikings — though Adrian Peterson’s actions don’t sit well with me, but that is a conversation for another day. Actually, my support for Green Bay revolves around Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is not only the star of his team,...
The Cheney School District and its supporters face some difficult decisions in the next few months. On Feb. 10, 2015 voters will go to the polls and decide the fate of a $44.8 million bond issue that would pay for a much-needed renovation of Cheney High School. Also on the ballot that day is a three-year maintenance and operations levy. The 48-year-old Cheney High School, like its human counterparts born nearly a half century ago, is showing its age. Like its human counterpart it needs a makeover so it does not suffer a...
What if we could peer into the future and see the consequences of the decisions we make today? In a way, we can. According to Washington state economists, a carbon tax high enough to achieve Gov. Jay Inslee’s stated climate change goals would increase gasoline prices almost 60 percent over time and raise natural gas prices — currently our most affordable energy — nearly 35 percent. The carbon tax is only one part of Inslee’s climate change agenda. How much will the rest of...
Wake up and smell the landfill. Let’s talk trash. As I understand it, both Cheney and Medical Lake continue to deliberate whether or not to sign with Spokane County’s new solid waste system services. Prior to 1991, Spokane County’s garbage was land filled within the county. As populations and industries flourished, more coal slag, plastics, leaded paints, pesticides, oil, as well as more food wastes, paper, packaging, and other disposable consumer items mixed together to form oozing leachate. Eventually, the leachate perco...
I refer to these types of commentaries as “lazy man’s columns.” Meaning, I ran out of time, too much stuff on my plate, and was a little late in addressing the subject so I used a bit of cut and paste to help me attain my word requirements. But it’s a topic I’ve always wished to discuss, so why not start it this way? Yesterday, Wednesday, Sept. 17, was the 225th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Usually the day goes fairly unnoticed, with the exception of various groups dedicated to all things American, suc...
For the last 20 years, technology has changed the way we communicate with each other. While phone calls were once the most popular way to reach out and touch someone, email seems to have surpassed it as a communication channel to connect with others not only in business, but also in personal use. According to a study released by the technology marketing firm Radicati Group Inc., there were 3.9 billion personal email accounts in 2013. That number is expected to increase 6 percent, to 4.9 billion by the end of 2017. Business...
A picture of you standing in front of your dirty car doesn’t mean that your car has always been and always will be dirty — or that it’s dirty because of some personal failure of yours. Nor does it mean you’re the only person around whose vehicle may become less than sparkling. But that is the impression many have of people living in poverty in the U.S. because of the oft-cited 15 percent figure: that the minority of people with little to no money who are captured in a yearly government income and poverty report are the sam...
In the early 1960s, I attended grade school at St. Anthony in Renton. Catholic schools attracted students from quite a large area, so a number of kids in my class were from the Kent valley. I well remember a classmate whose family owned a dairy in the Kent area telling me that his family had just sold their dairy for over a million dollars. The amount made quite an impression on me and even then, the idea of a local farm being worth so much money was confusing. I was too young to understand that correctly zoned land that was...
If you feel every time you get up in the morning there’s a new foreign policy crisis facing the nation, you’re not alone. It can be dizzying how a confrontation in one area of the world is quickly replaced by conflict in another area. Often these seem to happen simultaneously. Russia’s invasion of the Crimea has now turned into a near-civil war in the Ukraine. Israel invades the Gaza Strip — again — and while there is currently a cease fire, we all know how long those tend to last. Battling terrorism in Iraq and a civil war...
Cathy McMorris Rodgers’ canned email response to my concerns about the current Israeli-Palestinian armed conflict reflects her alarming lack of understanding of the basis of the conflict and a callous attitude toward the sanctity of human life. Her assertion twice that the Palestinian rocket attacks are “unprovoked” indicates a fundamental ignorance of the strangled economy and dire poverty inflicted on Gaza Strip Palestinians by the Israeli (and Egyptian) blockade. And her refusal to mention the over 2,100 Pales...
This Labor Day weekend offered up a little bit of everything. There was some family and fun time. I tinkered and got caught up on all kinds of nagging little projects. Worked a little, too, getting up close and personal — as much as the side judge at Eastern Washington University’s football game Saturday would allow — to shoot photos. The weekend concluded Monday, however, on a bit of a somber note with a memorial service for the mother of a friend. She had recently passe...
Fans dressed in red from head to toe fill the bleachers of Roos Field every home game in a show of support of the Eastern Washington football team. Football lovers who cannot make it to Roos Field will watch the game and cheer the Eagles from their tailgating spot, home or restaurant. There’s no doubt that Cheney is passionate about the Eagles when they’re playing. However, we feel that passion should go beyond game time. To show support for the football team, it has been somewhat of a tradition to wear red every Friday and...
Since the beginning of this year, more than 50,000 children, mostly teens, but others as young as nine or 10, some younger, have swarmed across America’s southern border. Officials expect the number to exceed 70,000 by yearend. They are escaping from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico; countries in turmoil, where drug lords terrorize neighborhoods and whole regions, bribe officials, force kids into gangs, and brutalize and kill anyone who opposes them. The kids are escaping from terror, abuse, abject poverty and h...
The death of comedian Robin Williams sparked many pleas for people to seek help if they feel like they want to take their own life. Everyone, from children to adults, experiences some sort of depression. Getting through it depends on the depth, how they handle it and if they have someone to reach out to people who have gone through some of the same traumatic experiences as others, yet they find a reason to live. But there are those who go the other route and when we learn that someone close to us took their life, you feel...
CHENEY Aug. 11 Tessa Adams, 18, and a 17-year-old female were arrested on the 2300 block of University Lane for fourth-degree assault. Marcus A. Nolan, 23, was arrested on the 800 block of West First Street for fourth-degree assault/domestic violence. Aug. 13 Angela L. Andreas-Miller, 43, was arrested on the 2700 block of North Sixth Street for third-degree driving while license suspended/revoked (DWLS). A multi-colored bicycle was found on the 2400 block of First Street. Second-degree burglary was reported on the 100 block...
One of the first things you learn as a reporter is not getting directly involved with the story you are covering. This is easy, especially when it comes to sports. Other than taking a couple of steps into the end zone in hopes of snapping a few photos of a touchdown — as long as one of the referees isn’t screaming at me or a group of 22 football players are running in my direction — we tend to stick to the sidelines or the warm comfort of the press box. When we’re covering a story — particularly an event — we mainly obse...
This Saturday an estimated 120 million households could be getting eyestrain from their first glimpse of the red turf of the Inferno at Roos Field. Thank goodness it’s a little less bright than when it was first installed back in 2010. The gaze and curiosity of a significant number of football fans will be focused on Cheney as ESPN televises the Football Championship Subdivision rivalry game between The Sports Network’s top-ranked Eastern Washington University and Sam Houston State University. That’s the only place you’l...
Regarding John LaForge’s column regarding censorship of the use of American atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, he got it tactically correct, but strategically wrong. The atomic bombs were used strictly for strategic reasons. Let me explain. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, the Allies agreed that the Soviet Union (i.e., Stalin) would attack Japanese forces in Manchuria on Aug. 9, 1945 — which it did. However, by then, we did not need the Soviet’s help against Japan, but an agreement was made and kept. So, we wante...
We would like to send a heartfelt thank you to all of our sponsors and especially to our volunteers who worked tirelessly to make sure everything went well for the kids during the Cheney Junior Rodeo. You people are awesome. Sherry McNall Cheney...
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” Plato, Greek philosopher, 427 – 347 B.C. “Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, U.S. poet, essayist and lecturer, 1803-1882. I never realized how fearful a culture we have become until I left for a while. To be sure, there are things to be afraid of in our country, especially on a personal level. But for the most part, much of what we’re afraid of we shouldn...
Mary Jane Booth passed away Sunday, Aug. 10. She is remembered as a driving force on a number of community actions, and as a 56-year member of the Tilicum Club and the Cheney Historical Museum. Mary Jane had a way of cajoling people to volunteer in activities and organizations with humor, a touch of guilt, and persuasion. She was never shy about offering suggestions or her opinion, and she was a positive force for change in those organizations, from the Faculty Wives Club, Tilicum Club, Cheney Gun Club, to the Friends of...
A.A. Milne, author of “Winnie the Pooh” wrote, “Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.” As much as “Winnie the Pooh” has its origin as a children’s story, it wouldn’t hurt for everyone to go back and re-learn the lessons the friendly yellow bear and his friends taught us when we were younger. In light of recent events, a focus on August’s PACE character trait “gratitude” seemed fitting. PACE defines gratitude as “feeling and expressing thankful app...
A recent email had us thinking of Mark Twain, John Adams and Stephen Colbert. Let’s start with Twain who wrote: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” That’s the right sentiment to describe the email which claims that Col. Oliver North warned then Sen. Al Gore about Osama Bin Laden during congressional testimony in 1987. The hoax spread like wildfire after the Sept. 11 attacks. It was so popular that North debunked it himself by pointing out (among other th...
