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  • Boys should compete against other boys

    Roger Harnack, Publisher|Updated Jun 8, 2020

    Boys are boys and girls are girls. There’s no in-between, at least when it comes to sports. I know it’s not politically correct to say that in this day and age. But genetically (and generally) speaking, boys are stronger and faster than girls. As a result, we have separate sports for each gender. That is, unless your young athlete competes for a middle or high school, or a non-profit organization in Washington state. Here, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association...

  • Rob Chase officially announces congressional 5th District candidacy

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Feb 27, 2020

    SPOKANE – Former Spokane County Treasurer Rob Chase has announced he will be running for Congress in Washington’s 5th District. Chase will challenge incumbent Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who is seeking a ninth term as the district’s representative in Washington D.C. Chase was county treasurer from 2011-2018, and has lived in the district since 1974. A former real estate agent, he is a graduate of Eastern Washington University with a bachelor’s of arts degree in business administration. Chase is the second challenger to file ag...

  • Mark primary ballot with most electable candidate

    Updated Feb 20, 2020

    A few years ago, I attended a workshop on politics in San Francisco. One of the main ideas taken away from that event was the importance of enthusiasm. Washington state has tried to increase voter participation with mail-in stamped ballots, yet the turnout is usually below 50 percent. So, if you are wrestling with your choice of nominee in the upcoming primary on March 10 and electability is your prime consideration, choose the candidate who is most likely to excite the most number of people, who can attract the largest...

  • Herrick missed at Feed Medical Lake

    Updated Feb 20, 2020

    With heavy heart the volunteers of Feed Medical Lake bid farewell to our fellow volunteer and friend, Roy Herrick, who passed away Jan. 23, 2020 after suffering from a stroke in July 2019. Roy was a diligent worker and our liaison with the Union Gospel Mission. We appreciate all the hard work he did for Feed Medical Lake and will miss him terribly Volunteer Staff Feed Medical Lake...

  • Rare opportunity to change districting

    Updated Feb 20, 2020

    By LUNELL HAUGHT Contributor Washington has the opportunity to review and change the Redistricting Commission every 10 years. This is the group that works in the background making sure the wheels of democracy turn smoothly and fairly. The commission decides where the lines will be drawn for legislative and congressional districts. In the next 10 years decisions about growth, energy, transportation, water, fire and quality of life issues will be made by our legislators and congressional representatives. Now is when you can inf...

  • Three cheers for the American Legion

    Updated Feb 20, 2020

    By DON C. BRUNELL Contributor The 2020 race for the White House is heating. It’s shaping up to be a referendum on America’s market-based economic system. The central question is government or the private sector going to provide our basic products and services? Last May, a Monmouth University Poll found most Americans say socialism is not compatible with American values, but that only 4-in-10 hold a decidedly negative opinion of it. Americans are divided into two dominant camps — 29 percent have a positive view of capitalism a...

  • Public records should be kept public – for everyone

    JASON MERCIER, Contributor|Updated Feb 13, 2020

    When House Bill 1888 was proposed this year to help protect state employee unions from an ongoing battle with the Freedom Foundation, the media was strong in opposition against blowing a hole in the state’s Public Records Act. Sadly, it looks like some in the “Fourth Estate” are now willing to play Solomon and cut access to public records in half by allowing some public records to be hidden from the public, as long as they are still able to receive them. The House State Gover...

  • Creating welcoming communities across America

    GLADYS GODINEZ And JORDAN FEYERHERM, Contributors|Updated Feb 6, 2020

    Across rural America, demographics are changing, and community leaders are redefining what makes their small towns successful and vibrant. Traditionally, a prosperous community is defined as economically viable, with enough housing and employment. Now, prosperous also includes having a welcoming and inclusive community. To foster a spirit of welcoming, communities can start with Civity. Civity is the idea of purposefully engaging in relationships of respect and empathy with others who are different. This helps communities to...

  • Keeping health workers healthy is key to fighting deadly diseases

    DON C. BRUNELL, Contributor|Updated Feb 6, 2020

    Keeping hospitals and health workers healthy is key to fighting diseases. With new and more deadly viruses, the job is more challenging. Although the coronavirus has captured the world’s attention, it is important to note the Center for Disease Control estimates that 80,000 Americans died of flu and flu complications in the winter of 2017-2018 — the highest flu-related death toll in at least four decades. The coronavirus outbreak is very serious. According to the New York Tim...

  • Messing with nature has consequences

    FRANK WATSON, Contributor|Updated Feb 6, 2020

    The state Legislature has directed the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to remove the catch limits on bass, walleye and channel catfish in all waters of the state where they coexist with salmon. It seems that someone in the Legislature realized the existence of a connection between bass and whales. It is about time. Everything in nature is connected to everything else. In this case, our politicians are concerned about the declining numbers of the resident Puget Sound orca pod. Orcas and bass both eat salmon,...

  • Bolton would be important impeachment witness

    Updated Jan 31, 2020

    Republicans are not stupid. They know that if there are no witnesses and no evidence there is really no impeachment trial. They know that former National Security Adviser John Bolton would be the most important impeachment witness. They know that if Bolton was subpoenaed by the Senate he would testify. Jeremy Street Cheney...

  • Copper making comeback as major disease fighter

    DON C. BRUNELL, Contributor|Updated Jan 30, 2020

    Government leaders, doctors, and medical researchers worldwide are working feverishly to stop the spread of the coronavirus and keep it from becoming a global pandemic. Wuhan, one of China’s major transportation hubs whose population approaches 11 million, is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak which is spreading like wildfire. Wuhan was put on lockdown. The fear is widespread prompting China’s government leaders to build a 1,000 bed hospital within a week. Pro...

  • It's the elected elite who reign in Olympia

    FRANK WATSON, Contributor|Updated Jan 30, 2020

    Oligarchy. I like the sound of the word. It kind of rolls off the tongue, but I don’t like it as a form of government. Winning an election does not grant the victor wisdom beyond those of us who have never run for office. Those whom we have selected to represent us in Olympia seem to believe it does. Rather than be accountable to the electorate, our elected officials consider themselves a cut above the general public. It would seem private citizens, both individually and collectively, are viewed as a source of revenue, of n...

  • Theocracy claims more about smearing Shea

    Updated Jan 23, 2020

    You write that Matt Shea wants to build a theocracy (“The theocracy of Liberty State,” CFP Dec. 26, 2019) and that is ridiculous. Obviously you have never interviewed him or researched his proposal for a 51st State. You just want to continue the smear job of others. If you were honest you would find out what he believes by listening to him on the following website: https://youtu.be/LPZrn77dj94. Barbara Green Liberty Lake, Wash....

  • Dams are the Pacific Northwest's flood busters

    DON C. BRUNELL, Contributor|Updated Jan 23, 2020

    A year ago, much of America’s heartland was inundated by Missouri River flood waters. At least 1 million acres of U.S. farmland in nine major grain producing states were under water. More than 14 million people were impacted. Damage exceeded $1 billion. With 11 dams on the Missouri, why was the flooding so severe? Why didn’t the dams absorb the excess waters? Its dams are above the flooded areas. The last impoundment is at Gavins Point Dam in South Dakota and heavy rai...

  • It's OK to be able to change your mind

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Jan 23, 2020

    In his daily commentary on Jan. 21, veteran political commentator Chris Cilliza pointed to a recent poll by Gallup that reflected an 82-point partisan gap between Republicans and Democrats over approval of the job President Donald Trump is doing. Overall, 89 percent of Republicans approved of the job the president is doing while 7 percent of Democrats feel the same way — the largest presidential approval gap in the poll’s 74-year history. Cilliza is quick to point out, correctly I will add, that this phenomenon is not an inv...

  • Far from the sea and behind unaffected doors

    Updated Jan 16, 2020

    Last night (Jan. 9) I watched the opening of “Just Mercy” with several Black American friends. After the movie, a woman in the bathroom stall next to me was weeping. A very well-educated man I have tremendous respect for said he had to be convinced to go. For these two people, the still present discrimination they face as Black Americans today is so real, it’s difficult for them to watch it unfold on a screen. Years ago, when I was trying to learn more about Native American issues, Al Frank, a Nez Perce friend of mine said “J...

  • REAL life in these United States

    Updated Jan 16, 2020

    In response to Nancy Street’s letter on Jan. 9, I’d like to give a positive look at our lives in the United States. Yes, we sit in our comfortable houses watching TV, read the sports pages, tailgate with our friends, go to the gym, shop and use our smartphones. But, let’s look at our lives positively. We go to the gym to work on bettering ourselves, even when we overindulge. We drive our SUV’s full of kids to soccer practices and baseball games where we volunteer coach, cheering on our kids, building them up and teachin...

  • Shielding public employee birthdates isn't about privacy

    FRED OBEE, Contributor|Updated Jan 16, 2020

    The Washington State Legislature once again is attempting to make government records more obscure, this time by trying to shield public employee birthdates from disclosure with the introduction of HB 1888. Rep. Zack Hudgins, of the 11th Legislative District and Javier Valdez from the 46th Legislative district, both Democrats, are the sponsors. While proponents say they are most concerned with privacy rights and identity theft, this bill is really about a fight between public employee unions and the Freedom Foundation, a...

  • Matt Shea says 'domestic terrorist' claims are lies

    MATT SHEA, Contributor|Updated Jan 16, 2020

    Under our Constitution, anyone accused of a crime has right to see all the evidence against them, to face their accusers, and to call witnesses in their defense. I have been falsely accused of being a “domestic terrorist” by a private investigator who never spoke to the principals involved in the incidents she described and relied instead on anonymous sources. Based solely on this investigator’s dossier, the Speaker of the House of Washington State said I “engaged in an act of domestic terrorism.” This is a lie. The Speak...

  • True impacts of Suleimani killing not considered

    Updated Jan 9, 2020

    On Friday, an American drone fired missiles into a convoy leaving the Baghdad airport and killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, who for decades has led Iran’s Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Several officials from Iraqi militias were also killed. President Donald Trump, speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort, said, “Suleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks…” He did not provide any details or evidence of such. Given the President’s propensity for lying, the credence of Trump’s rationale can certain...

  • A healthy community expresses itself

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Jan 9, 2020

    It’s the New Year, and with that come the traditional New Year’s resolutions. I’m not a proponent of New Year’s resolutions. I’ve tried them in the past a couple times and they never last more than a few weeks. And as my wife says, if something is so important that you feel the need to change it, why wait until the beginning of the year? Just get busy and do it now. But it is the New Year and a chance for a new start here at the Cheney Free Press. To help that along, I am asking your help in setting a resolution to make a ch...

  • Fish and Wildlife must live within its budget

    Updated Jan 2, 2020

    The Department of Fish and Wildlife needs to live with in the budget they have or make cuts. They need to stop buying land (“Access to public lands too expensive,” CFP, 12/19/2010) and restricting the pubic use of state lands. Quit buying more land, there is no need for it whatsoever. If they need $26 million, sell the land that they have spent the public’s hard-earned tax dollars on and quit wasting it. Why does the state need to buy more land? There is no reason whatsoever. Live within the budget or make cuts to your over...

  • Fish and Wildlife plays important state role

    Updated Jan 2, 2020

    Eastern Washington is noted for the recreational activities it offers, including — hunting, fishing, hiking, boating, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding and many others. People come from all over to enjoy the natural resources and not just from Western Washington. These recreational visitors bring much needed funds to the groceries, gas stations, motels, campgrounds and many of the resorts that specialize in meeting their needs to have a reason to travel to Eastern Washington. And many persons come from the crowded c...

  • Free Press article on hate crime lacks cultural sensitivity

    SHARI CLARKE, Contributor|Updated Jan 2, 2020

    On behalf of the EWU campus community, I express my heartfelt thanks to the citizens of Cheney who support the diversity of people and perspectives throughout our community. Recognizing that we are all different and all persons have value is the first step toward an engaged and enlightened society. Eastern Washington University and the City of Cheney have a long history together creating a community where we all love to live, learn, work and play. In fact, our birthdays are only a year apart! We hold true to the belief that...

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