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With COVID-19 vaccines widely dispensed and masking requirements mostly lifted, will “work from home” end? Will workers return to downtown offices at pre-pandemic levels? Probably Not! One big reason it is expensive to drive and the waste of time and fuel idling in traffic jams. Another is safety. Gas prices continue to skyrocket. Last year, the average cost at the pump was $2.62 per gallon. By the end of March, Seattle’s gasoline increased to $4.88 per gallon, according to Ga...
The Northeast Washington Wildlife Group is very concerned about the whitetail deer in District 1 of Region 1 in Northeast Washington. The harvest numbers for the area in 2019 and 2020 set record lows and the blue tongue outbreak in 2020 was worse than the very bad outbreak of 2015. The city of Colville removed over 160 carcasses from within city limits last year, in 2015 they removed 80. When asked if the state Department of Fish and Wildlife had any plans to help deer numbers rebound, the department replied: “Indeed, d...
The cult of social justice is perpetuating racism in the Clover Park School District with a new student discipline policy requiring staff to consider a student’s race and background before determining their punishment. Instead of disciplining students consistently based on conduct, as justice would require, it is mandating discrimination based on race. In other words, skin color determines whether one receives easy or harsh punishment for the same offense. Isn’t this the textbook definition of racism? This is happening in sch...
With so much rhetoric about moving the state away from gas-powered vehicles to reduce CO2 emissions, one of the strangest claims made during the legislative session was that there was no increase in “gas taxes.” Various versions of this claim appeared. At best, it is misleading, but in many cases it is false. The transportation package specifically relies on an increase in taxes on gasoline as legislative documents and the Department of Ecology admit. The $17 billion transportation package has several funding sources. The...
Sorry to break the news, Washingtonians, but Year 3 of living under emergency orders by the governor will continue without meaningful legislative oversight. The House officially killed Senate Bill 5909 before adjourning. Although that bill as passed by the Senate was essentially fake reform, several amendments were introduced for the House floor debate to bring the policy back in line with what exists in the rest of the country by requiring affirmative legislative approval...
RITZVILLE – With the close of the 2022 legislative session, Sen. Mark Schoesler is getting re-acquainted with constituents in-person back home in Eastern Washington. Last week, the Ritzville Republican hit the road, traveling to Pasco, Moses Lake and Pullman. “After spending most of 2022 in Olympia for the recently ended legislative session, it’s been great to be back home in Ritzville, where I’m focusing on farming and catching up with friends and others around town and the 9th District,” Schoesler said. On Monday, March 14,...
SPOKANE VALLEY — Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers will be visiting several communities over the next couple months to talk to constituents in public sessions. She will open her tour at 10 a.m. Friday, March 25, in the Southeast Washington Economic Development Agency Office, 1013 Bridge St., Clarkston. In April, the Spokane Republican representing Washington’s 5th Congressional District will be in Republic, Spokane Valley, Pomeroy, Dayton, Davenport and Newport. Her April schedule is as follows: April 4 —10 a.m., Northern...
Return Alaska to Russia? A month ago, such lunacy wasn’t news worthy, but after Russia shockingly invaded Ukraine, anything is possible. The assault on Ukraine has been massive and brutal. Civilians continue to be targeted and thousands have been killed. Apartment complexes, stores, and nuclear power plants are being bombed and hospitals, orphanages and children’s theaters are being shelled. Just as worrisome is Vladimir Putin threatens to use nuclear weapons. The game changer...
As predicted, there was a whirlwind of activity in the first few weeks of the legislative session related to the WA Cares Fund. That’s the name of a new social program the state’s legislative majority created in 2019 — and that voters said “no” to in an advisory vote. It will soon bring workers in our state a new payroll tax of 58 cents for every $100 of wages. A delay of the long-term-care law that mandates the program and its tax was secured in the passage of House Bill 1732. Gov. Jay Inslee and other Democratic leaders r...
There is an old saying: Don’t let the “perfect” be the “enemy” of the good! That is important to remember as we work our way out of the energy crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While the Russians are razing the country and killing thousands of innocent people, many world leaders are slapping Moscow with heavy economic sanctions. Embargoing Russian oil and natural gas are examples. With the prohibition of Russian oil imports, there is a crude shortage in...
It’s not often that we see an athlete at the top of his (her) game walk away from a multi-million dollar payday to go home and fight for his (her) country. However, that is exactly what world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk did after Russia invaded Ukraine. Usky postponed his championship rematch with Britain’s Anthony Joshua and returned to war-torn Ukraine. He enlisted in the homeland defense force; however, he’s not alone. Fellow boxers Vasiliy Lomachenko and K...
Washingtonians now pay nearly $17,000 per student, per year, for K-12 public education, more than tuition at most private schools. That is more than $400,000 for a classroom of 25 students. What are the results? The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction reports most schools fail to meet the standard in teaching math (70% of students failed) and fail to meet the standard in teaching English (52% of students failed.) More than 41,000 Washington students have left public education since the COVID-19 lockdown orders...
I am so glad that the state mask mandate will be lifted soon. No, I am not against masks. I am actually very grateful for the caution and care our state and in turn Cheney School District has exercised during COVID. I am glad it will be lifted because maybe now our school board can get back to the critical work entrusted to them of overseeing the education of our children. Maybe they won’t have to be subjected to disrespectful disruptions to their work. I am a glad the mandate will be lifted because now maybe the Free P...
Washington’s Board of Natural Resources is considering banning timber harvesting on state lands. That is extremely unwise. Instead, the Board must insure its healthy forest policies incorporate all management tools including planting, thinning and logging. The board, established in 1957, sets policies to manage Washington’s 5.6 million acres granted by Congress in 1889. More than 3 million acres were designated as trust lands to support various public institutions of whi...
Freedom requires the politicians “to be dependent on the people alone,” (Federalist Paper No. 52, ¶2). When politicians are dependent on political parties, which are controlled by “a handful of tyrannical nobles,” government becomes the servant of the billionaire class, (Federalist Paper No. 39, ¶4). Lately, the state has laid claim to having the authority to control every aspect of an individual’s life. On any trumped-up pretext, the state has assumed the power to place the people under house arrest, to close the church...
By The United States has a unique health care delivery system. Unlike other industrialized countries which all have some form of top-down, government-run system, the structure of medical care in the U.S. has evolved organically over the past 80 years. Half of all Americans receive their health insurance from their employer or their spouse’s employer. Over 40 percent of Americans receive their health insurance from the government through Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare. Advocates of a single-payer system in the U.S. b...
When St. Patrick’s Day rolls around March 17, the Irish have lots to celebrate. Ireland is still clean and green. Now, it is spending $15 million to bring visitors back. Irish tourism officials are targeting 35 million people living in the U.S. with Irish heritage. They are key to generating $3 billion in pre-coronavirus yearly revenue. Ireland is an island nation roughly one-third the size of Washington state with 5 million people. It is no longer an agrarian country. T...
I am so glad that the Washington State mask mandate will be lifted soon. No, I am not against masks. I am actually very grateful for the caution and care our state and in turn Cheney School District has exercised during COVID. I am glad it will be lifted because maybe now our school board can get back to the critical work entrusted to them of overseeing the education of our children. Maybe they won’t have to be subjected to disrespectful disruptions to their work. I am a glad the mandate will be lifted because now maybe t...
“Wear masks!” “Social distance!” “Wash hands!” “Do not gather!” “Don’t be a danger!” “Quarantine!” “Vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate!” “Follow the science!” “Listen; do not speak!” “Stay in your lane!” “No room for rebels!” That was the narrative in the beginning. It was void and without form. But the narrative grew – and quickly. While it still had little form and virtually no substance, somewhere in its early growth, the narrative developed its own self-perpetuating energy supply called “agenda.” Later, adherents to the...
February 17, 2022...
Washington Sen. Patty Murray and Gov. Jay Inslee announced in October, they’ll listen to diverse viewpoints with open minds to recover salmon and potentially breach the four Lower Snake River dams. Their focus on restoring Snake River salmon and steelhead runs is too limited. It needs to be expanded to cover the entire Snake River drainage. Currently, the four lower dams---all in Washington---are targeted to determine if they should be torn down to improve ocean-going fish r...
At a recent press conference, Gov. Jay Inslee was asked several questions about the state’s nursing shortage, a problem that existed long before the COVID-19 era. Reporters were stabbing around at various solutions being proposed in the Legislature. Should we regulate hospital working arrangements? Should we limit what contract nurses are paid? How does the government protect nurses from burnout? Gov. Inslee summed up the concerns well: “The best solution is to produce more nurses that are available for our hospitals.” He’s...
Last year, Gov. Jay Inslee attempted an end run around the legislature by banning natural gas in new homes and commercial buildings via the state’s building codes. It was a bad idea. Now, some fellow Democrats who control the legislature are working on legislation trying to do the same—also a bad idea. Inslee’s proposed regulations forbid the use of fossil fuels for heating and hot water in new structures. Prohibiting natural gas is expensive for home and building owner...
Palouse Falls has long been one of my favorite places to hike. Over the years, I’ve hiked the mile or so trek to the top of the main falls on numerous occasions. I’ve hiked it by myself, with friends and even my daughter when she was very young. I’ve meandered along the Palouse River to the upper falls and descended the basalt rim to the pool at the base of the falls about 189 feet below. For those of us who grew up in Eastern Washington, hiking Palouse Falls trails has long b...
Last week, I wrote that two bills addressing the state’s flawed and controversial long-term care program (nicknamed the “short-term care program”) and the costly payroll tax (dubbed the “long-term tax”) funding it had come over to the Senate after being passed by the House. The Senate fast-tracked these two measures this week, as the Ways and Means Committee held public hearings on them Monday and then approved them Tuesday. The full Senate yesterday passed the two bills, sending them to Gov. Jay Inslee for his likely si...
