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Education choice is the biggest civil rights issue of our time, and the Nov. 5 general election results in Idaho and many states across the nation show broad support. At the federal level, President-elect Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail to expand choice options nationally — and with Republicans set to control both houses of Congress, that looks more possible. Polling done shortly after the election shows nearly 70% of voters approve of allowing families access to tax dollars to fund the education that best fits t...
Washington’s agriculture is a $12.8 billion business with 33,000 farms — and it runs on gasoline, diesel, and natural gas. The hundreds of big rigs hauling crops and food products are not electric. Even though new trucks have reduced CO2 and other pollutants, some politicians are hastily charging ahead to replace fossil-fueled trucks with unproven technology. According to 2021 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, transportation was responsible for 30 percent of gre...
Were the Seattle legislators who said that farmers could afford to pay the state’s new CO2 tax right after all? A recent report from the Washington State Department of Licensing shows just 6.5 percent of funds set aside for farmers to collect a rebate on fuel taxes assessed by the Climate Commitment Act have been accessed. State Senator Joe Nguyen (D-Seattle) mentioned the low number of farmers applying for the rebates recently, highlighting it as evidence that the impact of the CO2 tax was small. It is, however, a bit glib...
Suicide has rocked my family. In memory of my child, Katie Thew, who battled chronic pain and died by suicide on Oct. 6, 2022, I offer this article to help other families avoid this grief. Rampant mental health challenges including depression, with more and more communities recognizing they lack adequate resources to help, inspired the creation of a month (September) devoted to suicide prevention which recently passed. Now our family is mourning another milestone, the two-year anniversary of Katie’s death. Each of us can l...
Four measures on the Nov. 5 general election could make a difference in your lifestyle and your wallet. Here’s what you need to keep in mind when you cast your ballot: Initiative 2066 This initiative would repeal regulations that attack your ability to use nature gas use dryers, stoves, heating systems and more in your home and business. It would also restrict government agencies from implementing policies and programs that promote the use of electric appliances over n...
The 2024 election is the most consequential election in our lifetime. It will, starting with the next 4 years, determine the path America will take nationally and globally. We vote for politicians, who’s agendas are conflicted, and we think/hope they are working in the best interest of the people. Many are not. Nationally, we’ve lost many of our freedoms, privacy and are being overrun with people who are not American and will over time change our culture, values and way of life. Whether you live in the city or county, it...
What image comes to mind when you hear “rural Washington?” Fields, farms and forests. Small towns. Flyover country. The frontier. Tribal homelands. Rangelands and desert. Public lands playground. Home. Welcome to the WREN, where rural means all of these. Our goal at the Washington Rural Environmental Network is to bring a diverse chorus of rural voices to the table when public policy discussions impact our rural communities. We want a voice in sharing the development of our homelands. You can follow and support our work at...
When President Biden warned FEMA does not have enough money to finish the hurricane season let alone the entire year, it was surprising. Suddenly, we discovered federal disaster relief money may be insufficient for future hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes relief. The frequency of major hurricanes and massive wildfires is draining federal accounts, and replacement funds only add to our soaring national debt. That debt is weighing on our ability to operate our national...
Vote for Kohlmeier for 9th District legislator Remember that proposed bike trail between Colfax, Albion and Pullman? It’s been talked about for a decade, but it remains nonexistent. Rail traffic on the corridor stopped years ago and it hasn’t been used for anything productive since. Federal rail-banking law not only allows, but encourages the right-of-way to be converted into a public trail and bike path. The Chipman Trail has been rail-banked in this manner. Here’s the kicker: We the people already own it, but it langu...
Is Critical Race Theory being taught in Washington public schools or not? In 2021, the Legislature passed, and on May 5th that year Gov. Jay Inslee signed, Senate Bill 5044 to require the teaching of "...equity, cultural competency, and dismantling institutional racism in the public school system." This is the academic description for Critical Race Theory. The bill was implemented through the Washington state learning standards using the "Ethnic Studies Framework." Academic...
Motorists in Washington state are sometimes handing over hundreds of dollars for licensing of their vehicle, but only receiving paper plates in return. According to an Aug. 28 legislative report, the state is had a backlog of at least 230,000 standard license plate orders, 10,000 specialty orders and 5,000 personal vanity orders. More than 20 counties (30 counties now) statewide are out of or nearly out of license plates. Still, the state is collecting money for plates it...
Recently, state schools superintendent Chris Reykdal announced that he plans to ask the legislature for another $2.9 billion for public education. This would be on top of the current $20.1 billion education budget. Like the changing leaves of Fall, every year around this time Reykdal asks for more money. Let’s ask ourselves, Will pouring in more money make a difference to children? The data shows the answer is “No.” For years the state has increased education spending, and t...
Sure, big city media printing the same diatribe you see on television is declining. (That’s because the city media moguls have forgotten their place in society.) And sure, with the Googles of the world, cellphones and social media have impacted our advertising, which, by the way is how we pay our bills. But in our community newspapers, we haven’t forgotten our place. Our reporters shop in the same stores, eat in the same restaurants and attend the same community functions as y...
There’s a disturbing trend among tax-payer funded agencies that needs to be nipped in the bud. If you haven’t noticed, public agencies like hospital and utility districts, school boards, city councils, and others have been taking steps to insulate — dare I say isolate — elected board members from the public. Have a concern about something in your local school district? Don’t like a utility rate increase? Want to know if your local public hospital is making a profit? Have ques...
We already know workers with middle and upper incomes most often benefit from the state’s paid family and medical leave fund. It’s also true that many beneficiaries are repeat users, and that those benefiting more than once have higher wages than one-time users. I asked the Employment Security Department how many people have filed more than one claim for taxpayer-paid time off, work given the pattern I know with childrearing — kid one and kid two usually come within a few y...
In the 1840s, Irish Catholics immigrated to America in huge numbers and provoked a secret protest movement known as the Know Nothing Party, founded in 1844 as a precursor to the eventual Republican party. Know Nothings told of a conspiracy by Catholics to overthrow Protestant-based American government. This was an early version of today’s Republican claim that Hispanic Catholic immigrants will kick whites and other native-born Americans out of jobs and power in America. MAGA, or Know Nothing II, is thus really a Make A...
America needs a statesperson of the stature, capability, and perspective of Daniel J. Evans as our next President. Dan Evans died on September 20 at the age of 98 after serving as our state’s three term governor, two term U.S. Senator, a state legislator and in many prominent civic and public positions beginning in the late 1950s. He was political and partisan, but Evans was pragmatic, tough and a problem-solver. He was a visionary who was not afraid to take a risk even if it...
In 2021, the Biden Administration passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included a provision to give $42.5 billion to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program to provide under-served and rural areas with internet access. To date, it has connected nobody. The plan required U.S. states and territories to submit plans for investment and deployment by the end of 2023, which all have done. Expected roll out won’t occur until 2026 by most optimistic deadlines. It’s better than nothing, right? May...
Airport, Spokane need to step up As you know the city of Spokane is 50% owner of the Spokane International Airport and President Wilkerson sits on the Spokane Airport Board. As such, they are just as liable and responsible for the PFOA water contamination that has contaminated hundreds of private water wells out here on the West Plains. I find it strange that the city of Spokane has been very quiet about all this? Yes, this is also a county problem, but as 50% owners, it is also your problem. Why did it take a whistleblower...
You shouldn’t be surprised the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council last week voted to accept a site application for construction of more wind turbines atop Horse Heaven Hills. It’s all part of Gov. Jay Inslee and his financial supporters plan to breach our dams and replace them with unsightly, unpopular and unreliable wind power. The council was pushed by Gov. Jay Inslee, who didn’t like the fact Tri-Citians outright rejected his plan to supplant dams with the unsigh...
Whether you call it a ban or a significant deterrent to future natural gas consumption, voter approval of Initiative 2066 (I-2066) in Washington may be only the first giant pothole to fill. The next one in the road ahead may be a hefty tax on natural gas. In 2019, Berkeley, Calif., became the first city to prohibit natural gas connections in new buildings. San Jose, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and others followed. However, last year the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal...
All the increased costs Washingtonians experienced during the past year were accompanied by a $1.3-billion hit on workers’ paychecks. The widespread pay decrease in Washington state was compliments of a new payroll tax that began in 2023 to fund a program called WA Cares. In a recent meeting, the Employment Security Department told the Long-Term Security and Supports Trust Commission not to get used to higher-than-expected income, in case wage and employment information c...
School Districts in Eastern Washington are again starting to see boys and girls differently, especially when it comes to sports. The Kennewick School Board got the ball rolling back in July, following boys participation and victories in girls track events. Only a month or two before, a Methow Valley boy won a girls event in Cashmere, claiming he is “transgender.” Then an East Valley boy also competing under the transgender caveat, beat a West Valley girl to win the girls sta...
Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have joined in an agreement to award their Electoral College votes in a U.S. election to the winner of the national popular vote. The National Popular Vote compact, NPV as it is called, has gained steam over the past 25 years, lead mostly by liberal leaning states eager to work around the Electoral College. The legislation, which is identical in each state, requires the state to award its electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes nationwide. This could...
My family’s farm received a letter last fall seeking interest in leasing land for another wind project down along Union Flat Creek in Whitman County. When I returned home from the harvest field on the evening of Aug. 27, there was a message on my answering machine asking the same thing, yet again. People, it is well past time to make your voices heard. If Whitman County is to remain an agricultural area and not become a wind/solar industrial catastrophe, the masses must rise up and fight. Contact the commissioners and tell t...
