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Earlier this month, state Department of Fish and Wildlife Director officials said they needed an additional $26 million to effectively manage its existing lands and programs. They said that if they didn’t receive additional money from the Legislature this coming session, they will have to reduce staffing and services. Agency Director Kelley Susewind himself said it would be “pretty catastrophic” if his agency doesn’t get more money. Why then is the agency simultaneously pushin... Full story
For more than a century, Eastern Washington has sought separate statehood. Proposals included the state of Lincoln, Columbia and Liberty. Now, there’s a different twist on independence. A Seattle columnist is metaphorically calling for creation of the state of “King.” He has revived an old idea that King County secede from Washington. Hey King County, you’ve got my vote for statehood. We should’ve gotten to this divorce at several times in our state history already. This time... Full story
At Christmas, millions watch the 1946 movie classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” While it is labeled “fantasy drama”, the show gives us a glimpse of reality and reminds us of the importance of caring local business owners. The setting is mythical Bedford Falls, N.Y., on Christmas Eve. George Bailey, a family man with a wife and four children, was dogged by a greedy banker, Henry Potter, who wanted to shut Bailey Building and Loan Association down. (George inherited the strugglin...
An ad in Washington DC reads, “Do you need to attend a congressional or judicial hearing but don’t have the time to stand in line? We provide professional, competitively priced line-standing and seat holding services for congressional and judicial hearings.” This is just sort of opportunity for the homeless and hopeless that Frank Watson promotes in his December 12, 2019, commentary for the Cheney Free Press. Lobbyists pay to have people hold a place in line for them to ensure they have a seat at public meetings — meetings th...
There is much to take issue with in James Haught’s “Our country is ill-served by having zealots in high offices.” In the limited space allotted in a letter, I’ll leave aside the smeary boilerplate that combines multiple guilt by association with dark hints regarding the “rapture” (gasp) and the shameful fact that some of our high officials attend — hold onto your hats — Bible studies. All of this neatly tied together and subsumed under the hated label of “Fundamentalist.” As a scholar in the field of American religious...
A big thank you to all who put up holiday lights. At this time of year when the days are short, dark, cold and often dreary, as is so often the news, the cheerful brightness of the lights is a gift to the community. Thank you for the delight they provide to young and old. Mary Robinson Cheney...
Bridges shouldn’t have to sink to be replaced. However, at times that’s what it takes. Too often new projects succumb to years of fighting among interest groups and endless political bickering. In 2013, opposition killed Columbia Crossings project which was formed to construct a replacement I-5 bridge across the Columbia River connecting Vancouver and Portland. We all want more roads and a bridge as long as they are in the other persons’ neighborhood and someone else pays....
Nigerian Christians celebrate Christmas in special ways. If possible, most return to the village of their ancestors, even those living abroad. Beginning early on Christmas day, goats are brought to slaughter and then the cooking and feasting begins. Children are all around, and there is a competition among grandmothers as to which “compound” is the noisiest, i.e. has the most people returning for the celebration. The day is spent in attending church, feasting, visiting, discussing and arguing various topics including pol...
By JOHN McCALLUM Managing Editor I’ve been thinking about Christmas. Right, haven’t we all. Or at least most of us in some way. According to a 2019 report by SafeHome.org using data from various Pew Research Center surveys, nine in 10 American adults will celebrate Christmas in some way. That’s not bad considering census figures put the number of people identifying as Protestant Christians around 55 percent with about 30 percent of Americans claiming affiliation with non-Christian sects along with agnostic and atheist. Accor...
In Spokane County, we have some of the best water around. As a community dentist, I had the opportunity to tour the Cheney water facility, located just three blocks from where I have served people at the CHAS dental clinic. What gracious hosts. It was fascinating to see the pumps, pipes and meters that keep our water healthy. It was clear to me the staff of the water system serve the community with pride and care every day. Because Cheney has fluoridated water, I could also tell them honestly they probably do more to protect...
How many years has Eastern Washington and Spokane county been paying higher license tab prices while the North South freeway has gone nowhere near being completed. Thankfully Eastern Washington is a dryer climate otherwise it would be buried in moss, mushrooms and ferns to be discovered hundreds of years from now by archaeologists speculating what is was meant to be. It is my understanding that Washington state ranks third in the nation in paying the highest gas taxes, fourth in the nation for combined state and sales taxes...
In times like these I think it is important for people to know how to contact their representatives and senators. Everyone has two state senators, and one district representative. One of the easiest ways to do this is use an advocacy group that is aligned with your beliefs. I believe that we can end global poverty, so I send emails through Borgenproject.org. A good advocacy group will have direct links to bills and legislature that they are lobbying for and most have prewritten emails that can be sent easily to your leaders....
Last weekend I had the distinct joy of attending StageWest’s production of “Miracle on 34th Street” performed in live radio readers theatre style. Along with several seasoned StageWest actors, there were two actors making their live theatre debuts — and all of them gave stunning performances. StageWest has been around Cheney for many years now, yet too many West Plains residents don’t seem to be aware of them. It’s community theatre, which means they’re all volunteers — they do this because they love doing it. But it’s ev...
Back in 2003, in a top-secret international phone call, former President George W. Bush urged French President Jacques Chirac to join America in invading Iraq on grounds that Christian nations must thwart the Satanic forces of Gog and Magog. Chirac was baffled by such crack-pottery. A few French newspapers wrote derisive sneers about the born-again U.S. leader. Today, it’s déjà vu all over again. Religious kooks in high office are an absurd facet of the Republican Trump administration. Vice President Mike Pence is a hero of t...
It seems life imitates art. In the big screen adaptation of the seminal Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien there is a scene where a council of the various inhabitants of Middle Earth — elves, dwarves, men and hobbits — are debating what to do with the troublesome One Ring of Power. Meanwhile, a former ally, the powerful White Wizard Saruman, has jumped ship and taken up with the evil Dark Lord Sauron, who is intent upon getting his ring back, taking over Middle Ear...
I read an essay not too long ago that claimed income disparity as the biggest danger to our democracy. The author could just have easily said that the gap between the very rich and very poor is a near and present danger. I thought about that for a few weeks and decided that the author was misguided. The difference between the wealthy and the not so wealthy is not a bad thing. It is a normal, healthy part of a society based on capitalism. I had a discussion with a very smart young teenager the other day. I usually find it...
Every year Nancy and I start vegetables indoors in little cups. Within a few months we take them outside to plant. We have gotten very good at nurturing our plants from sprouting to harvesting. And, come planting time, we love the fact that we chose exactly which vegetables to grow and are not limited to what some store business plan decided is best. Our vegetable garden gets better every year. Sometimes it seems attractive to have a neighbor take care of our seedlings if we want to take a little vacation. Doing this,...
Earlier this year, in the midst of a trade war with China, President Donald Trump announced a $16 billion agriculture bailout, telling Americans, via Twitter, the biggest beneficiaries would be “our great Patriot Farmers.” Recent news reports, however, indicate foreign companies are getting a substantial amount of the bailout dollars. New statistics show JBS, a Brazilian company and the largest meat producer in the world, has received $78 million in government subsidies through the pork bailout program. The company has rec...
In early November, I had the unique opportunity of joining 22 Spokane civic leaders on a two-day tour of Air Mobility Command (AMC) at Scott Air Force Base, in Illinois. This event was a part of the Air Force Civic Leader Tour Program, which is an Air Staff-level program whose membership is comprised of community leaders from across the country. We took a KC-135 Stratotanker to Scott AFB. During the three-hour trip, we were invited to sit in the cockpit and talk with the pilots commanding the aircraft, and also the boom...
We seem awash in political and moral polarization in the world today. Elected officials, sports figures and coaches, actors and other high-profile public figures are caught lying, cheating, becoming entangled in webs of betrayal, malfeasance and sexual scandals of every sort, or simply being rude in a continuous cycle. The new norm is pundits talking over one another, even yelling to get their points across. Cyber bullying has become commonplace. World leaders use words like...
Shopping at a locally-owned and operated business is truly a unique experience. The atmosphere surrounds you as soon as you step out of your car. Sometimes, holiday music flows through the main thoroughfares of your small town. Almost always, twinkling snowflakes line the streets. Large storefront windows decorated for the season beam welcoming lights onto the sidewalk. These windows offer a snapshot of what you can expect when you enter the small business. Upon taking that step inside, chances are you’ll get a friendly ...
In America, our Thanksgivings range from large family-gatherings to Good Samaritans volunteering in soup kitchens serving turkey dinners to the hungry. Now think about what it is like in other parts of the world where people are lucky to have a few slices of bread and some rice to eat. For example, before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it was that way for people living in Poland and Eastern Europe. Communist dictators tightly controlled everything from the farm to kitche...
Washington, D.C. October 3, 1863 By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually...
The Washington Bankers Association has taken the mantle on an issue all state taxpayers should be outraged over — the Legislature’s use of title-only bills. In the waning days of the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers in Olympia used their “title-only” stunt to enact new taxes without proper debate, public review or comment. Indeed, Democrats even had the galleries cleared and the doors barred to prevent the public from watching the shenanigans. Title-only bills are just th...
OLYMPIA – Bankers are suing the state Legislature for enacting unlawful taxes under a “title only” bill. On Nov. 5, the Washington Bankers Association, represented by former State Attorney General Rob McKenna, filed suit over House Bill 2167, a title-only tax increase passed in the waning hours of the 2019 legislative session. House Bill 2167 was introduced April 10 and only included one sentence: “The legislature intends to enact legislation concerning tax revenue...
