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July 4th, 2019, Independence Day – is a day to celebrate our freedoms. What many people of Washington state don’t know is that our senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, voted to limit our freedoms – freedom to boycott, divest and sanction (BDS).They supported Senate Bill 1, “Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act.” This bill contains “Combating BDS Act” which encourages states and local governments to deny contracts to any business, nonprofit organization or individual boycotting for Palestinian fre...
Frank Watson is wrong. He is writing in the Opinion section of the paper, so like anyone else, he has a right to express his opinion. That’s what he’s doing in his Aug. 15 piece on guns in America. Unfortunately, his premise is incorrect; the Second Amendment right to “keep and bear arms” is not absolute, no matter what Col. Watson “feels.” “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment right is not unlimited.... [It is] not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whate...
I’m still looking for an alternative for Donald Trump in 2020. I agree with almost everything negative that has been said of him. He is obnoxious, he makes unnecessary enemies, he is undiplomatic, he does not command loyalty, he generates hate, etc., etc., etc.… BUT, and it is a big but, many of his initiatives are spot on. We have allowed our friends to take advantage of us. China doesn’t play fair. Border security is both a matter of law and a matter of national interest. We must do what is best for America. We don’t...
By DON C. BRUNELL Contributor While drones are coming of age in firefighting, they are also establishing a foothold in restoring fire-scorched forests. Firefighting drones grabbed the spotlight last April 15 as viewers around the world watched Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris go up in flames. It has stood for over 850 years, through wars, natural disasters, and everything in between including the fire. At first, it appeared the iconic building would be completely destroyed; however, French firefighters used thermal vision drones...
The Swedish climate activist 16-year-old Greta Thunberg recently set sail across the Atlantic on a solar and wind-powered racing yacht to attend climate summits in the U.S. She was offered the use of the yacht because she refused to use a transportation method that would further contribute to global warming. That got me thinking about what-ifs. What if there was no more oil to power planes or ships? Our modern world came into being because of petroleum, which has allowed...
Spokane County Fire District 3 and the city of Cheney co-hosted a 40-hour week long Fire Inspector 1 class last week (July 29–Aug. 2) that incorporated 29 firefighters from 12 different agencies within the state of Washington and as far as Whidbey Island. These 29 students had one of the best classes around! They had a variety of different occupancy classifications from Eastern Washington University academic facilities to the newly constructed Amazon warehouse that they were able to walk through and gain knowledge of d...
More battery operated cars and trucks are making their way on to streets and highways, so why not trains? That may not be too far off if Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) tests are successful. BNSF and Wabtec (formerly GE Transportation) are developing a battery-electric high-horsepower road locomotive — the type that moves freight trains between Seattle and Chicago. Once all the equipment and support systems are in place, the plan is to run tests between Stockton and B...
The way we produce, consume and discard food is no longer sustainable. That much is clear from the newly released UN climate change report which warns that we must rethink how we produce our food — and quickly — to avoid the most devastating impacts of global food production, including massive deforestation, staggering biodiversity loss and accelerating climate change. While it’s not often recognized, the food industry is an enormous driver of climate change, and our current global food system is pushing our natural world...
In late April, communities across Washington State welcomed back their local legislators from Olympia after the conclusion of the 2019 Legislative session. The 2019 session was a long, 105-day session and the Legislature finished their work on time concluding at midnight on the 105th day. While many issues were resolved over the course of the session, a major issue for the city of Airway Heights this session was to identify funding to help complete the Highland Village Housing project. The project is designed to remove an enc...
I was disappointed to learn that only 1 percent of Medicare beneficiaries with dementia have received a personal care plan that has been available to them since 2017. Apparently many physicians are unaware of this code and service that can help their patients. Alzheimer’s Association advocates have asked members of Congress to cosponsor the Improving HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act, which will give doctors information about how they can develop a care plan for each patient who has dementia. I am grateful that Congresswoman Cat...
Let’s say this first, just to get it out of the way. Most of the problems facing this country brought once again into the limelight from the two mass shootings over the weekend were not created by the current occupant of the White House. The same can be said about the issues Donald Trump’s apologists are trying to steer us towards in order to deflect blame he may bear for exacerbating them. But the inconvenient truth is that Trump bears a lot of responsibility for making things worse. Indeed, he and his followers take pri...
By FRANK WATSON Contributor When our legs began to complain about the climb into the overhead bunk of our camper, my wife and I bought a year-round cabin on the Pend Oreille River. It has become our get away when the normal pressures of life need release. One such day last March, we decided to go to the cabin and take a day trip to the Kalispel Swan Festival. The newspaper told us the ice was still on the lake where the swans normally stop. We were a little bummed but decided to come anyway. To our delight, the swans had...
Thank you to the Cheney Free Press and the terrific Cheney community for supporting the high school band clothing drive! Because of your generosity, publicity and donations the band kids collected about 8,000 pounds of usable clothes and bedding and earned $2,000 for the band programs. Many of the kids earned significant money towards their marching band fees. We partnered with Value Village, so your donations went to local neighborhoods as well as overseas. The staff at Value Village was very impressed with our group’s d...
It’s time to vote, if you haven’t already. Among many important issues on the Aug. 6 ballot is a request from the Spokane County Library District seeking a majority YES vote to sustain and enhance currently available services at Cheney and the other 10 libraries in the county library district. The current county library levy rate is 43 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. The voter request would increase this levy amount by 7 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. For a home value of $235,000 the annual cos...
A few years ago, I had occasion to examine potential threats to our democracy. The national debt, exportation of wealth and our economic dependence on foreign countries headed my list of concerns. My list was unchanged until recently. I believe our national march toward socialism is now more of a threat to our future than the debt. I cannot believe than anyone who has taken even a cursory look at world history would suggest we embrace socialistic ideals. At no time in the life of the known universe has it been successful....
One would think a small-town garlic festival would be the least-likely candidate for the site of unspeakable violence. But that illusion was shattered Sunday, July 28, when three people were killed by a gunman at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California. Two of those murdered were children. At least 12 more were injured. The incident is yet another tally mark on the long list of mass shootings that have plagued the U.S. in recent years. It’s to the point where they don’t rattle the public anymore; news consumers sig...
In the past year the Trump administration has been applying increasingly restrictive policies to block asylum seekers from pursuing their claims in the U.S. The most recent measure, now temporarily barred by a federal judge’s injunction, would have required migrants traveling through another country such as Mexico to show proof that they had applied for, and were denied, asylum in that country. That policy would most likely have barred almost all migrants from Central America, as well as many Africans, Haitians and Cubans t...
On behalf of the 24-Hour Tennis-a-Thon committee, we would like to thank our sponsors, our volunteers, and the communities of Medical Lake, Airway Heights, Cheney, and Spokane. The Medical Lake Community Outreach Program and the Medical Lake Food Bank benefited from the generous donations of many local businesses. Without the support from these local businesses, the end product of our fundraiser would not be possible. The love and support given to the community of Medical Lake is and always has been unending and is greatly...
Every day, the United States and Iran continue to move closer to war. As tensions escalate between our nations, the risk grows of accidents and miscalculations tipping us into another deadly conflict in the Middle East. I am particularly concerned by casual talk about a so-called “limited military strike” that could be carried out at an “acceptable” human cost. In truth, there is no such thing as a quick and painless war — not for any side in a conflict. An American attack against Iran will lead to incalculable death, de...
A recent Washington Post analysis of a University of North Texas study found a 226 percent increase in reported hate crimes in counties where President Donald Trump held a rally compared to those where he didn’t. Few escape his verbal hate speech — Mexicans, African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Muslims, Jews, immigrants; women and gold star military families. Even people with disabilities are a target. But is there a correlation between the president, who cam...
After working for Spokane County Fire District #3 from 1981-2016, I believe the annexing of the two departments together is a positive move for the citizens of both entities. It would fiscally impossible for the city of Medical Lake to provide the equal resources that Fire District 3 can offer to the city due to its size and assets. Medical Lake offers a population base to recruit volunteers from as well as a group of highly trained and dedicated volunteers and some firefighting equipment/facilities. Finding volunteers today...
On July 4, at a Starbucks in Tempe, Arizona, six police officers were asked to either move out of a customer’s line of sight or leave the establishment because they were making a patron uncomfortable — for being police. As a progressive-minded American who believes certain (unjust) laws are meant to be broken and who strongly opposes any manner of police abuse or overreach, I am not particularly comfortable around police myself (although, admittedly, I am white and tend to get the benefit of the doubt during confrontations)....
Technology firms portray themselves as bastions of equality and progressive values — but in reality, they frequently discriminate against female workers. Sixty percent of the time, tech firms offer men higher salaries than women for the exact same role. And that’s assuming firms even interview female candidates. More than 40 percent of the time, firms exclusively interview men. Once they accept job offers, 65 percent of female tech workers say they’ve faced discrimination due to their gender, compared to just 11 perce...
I spent the Fourth of July sitting on the porch of our cabin on the river thanking God we had a cabin on the river. I tried to ignore the roaring jet skis and speedboats pulling kids on inner tubes. I groaned inwardly as they churned the water of my favorite fishing hole into a white froth. One interesting boat towed an inflated contraption that looked like a large living room couch. It carried three or four riders in a sitting position, no training or effort required. You could even include the family dog if you wanted. I...
Shortly, after Apollo 11 landed on the moon and astronaut Neil Armstrong took his famous first steps on the dusty lunar surface, some comedian in our army unit at Ft. Knox, Ken., posted a sign in our barracks: “Sorry, Drill Sgt., No Green Cheese!” Our basic training drill instructor was already “highly agitated” because President Richard Nixon ordered a “training holiday” so we could watch live television coverage of landing. On July 20, 1969, our unit was supposed to...
