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Democrats are sometimes faulted for not having a positive policy message — just anti-Trumpism. But how can one discern whether that’s true when reliable mainstream news is so dominated by President Trump’s bizarre, dishonest, vindictive and narcissistic behavior. Important news hardly gets a word in edgewise because of non-stop coverage of Trump, and this only encourages additional drivel from him. Curiously, this is how James Comey, in his excellent book, “A Higher Loyalty,” describes his meetings with Trump. Comey sel...
Cheney Hawks Little Guys Wrestling Club just concluded their first-ever, two-weekend Christmas Tree recycling fundraiser, which has been deemed a great success. This would not have been possible without the generous support from our neighbors in Cheney and the surrounding area. We were so grateful for every donation of trees and in awe of those folks who said they didn’t have a tree but donated to our cause anyway. Because of you, we are well on our way to purchasing much needed new singlets for the upcoming season. What a r...
I don’t see any major crisis on our southern border with Mexico. In my strongest opinion, I see the crisis itself, as D.J. Trump. People who are a danger to themselves or to others are in need of psychiatric intervention and possibly being committed. I have no doubt (my opinion) that D. J. Trump is becoming a danger to the American people and to our country as a whole. His perpetual vocabulary of nonsensical superlatives gets worse everyday along with his flailing hand waving. In my strongest opinion, he is becoming more a...
While many eyes are on trade talks between our country and China, America’s port leaders are positioning their seaports to compete for increasing volumes of container traffic. After container shipments surged in November — primarily from pre-tariff contracts —they plunged by year end, an impact of the U.S. and China trade war. Outbound container volume at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell 11.8 percent in November from the same month in 2017. It was a...
It looks as if the current government shutdown will set a new record with no end in sight. President Trump has avowed that he will not end the standoff unless there is funding for his wall. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is just as adamant that there will be no funding for the wall. Neither side shows any sign of budging. So, who is to blame? Is it the President’s fault for sticking to his campaign promises, or is it the Democrats’ fault for standing on their ideology? Maybe a bit of both, and maybe this budget confrontation is...
We Americans like to think of ourselves as problem solvers of a sort. If something is wrong, or needs fixing, we feel we can get to the heart of the matter and figure out a solution that is best addressed to solve it. There is a problem with immigration in this country — legal and illegal. Always has been, and if we don’t figure things out, always will be. Spending $5.7 billion to build a great, big, beautiful wall — even a not-so-big and beautiful steel barrier — is not a solution. Never has been, never will be. There a...
In the United States, most residents are covered under private health insurance about 67.2 percent. Employer-based health insurance continues to be the most prevalent with 56 percent receiving coverage through work. 19.3 percent of the population was covered by Medicaid and 17.2 percent was covered by Medicare in 2017. Healthcare coverage in the United States is not universal, 91.2 percent of the population was covered for all or part of 2017 under a health insurance plan. In Sweden and Norway residents have universal...
Healthcare systems are the organizations of people, institutions and resources that provide health care to individuals all over the world. It is important to individuals that they have good quality healthcare that they can afford. We often hear that healthcare costs in the United States are skyrocketing and we should use examples of other country’s healthcare systems to improve the delivery of our healthcare. The purpose of this article is to see exactly how the United States healthcare systems compares to other countries. T...
The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009. Even though 96 percent of gainfully employed Americans earn more than the minimum, there is a push to increase it to a “living wage.” Minimum wage is a bad idea for several reasons, it ignores the concept of entry-level jobs, it forces mechanization and/or elimination of low skilled jobs and interferes with the free market. I got my first job off the farm before I was in the eighth grade. I bagged groceries at Bob’s Market for 75 cents an hour. A few months later...
My first real lessons of fairness came on the hardwood. My opportunity to play basketball from high school through college taught me to respect the rules of the game, to demonstrate good sportsmanship and humility regardless of the score and to treat teammates and opponents with equal respect. Though every leader on the court is competitive, I was fortunate to play for coaches like Wendy Schuller, who led with integrity and stressed fair play and conduct over a win-loss record. But members of our team did not have the same ta...
The second annual Cheney Festival of Trees raffle was a success, raising $3,250 for Cheney Historical Museum programs. Congratulations to the raffle winners who were drawn Saturday, December 22nd. We thank the entire Cheney community for their support. We thank our tree sponsors: CHAS Health, Chet’s Flowers & Gits, DCI Cable, EWU, The Mason Jar, Jackie Scholz State Farm Insurance, and Yokes Fresh Market Thank you also to our local merchants for the items they donated to the two community trees: BannerBank, Barrelhouse Pizza a...
It’s been a joy to see downtown Cheney all dressed up for the holidays this year. I’m especially enjoying the lights on the kiosks and the painted windows in the downtown businesses. Thank you to the participating businesses and to the Cheney Merchants Association for engaging Medical Lake artist Denny Wuesthoff of “A Brush Stroke Away” to paint the windows. I hope these will become Cheney traditions. Christie Bruntlett Cheney...
I have about quit watching football. I did watch the Army/Navy game, and was pleased when my old alma mater made it three wins in a row. The only other college game I watched was the Apple Cup. I don’t watch the pros since some players decided to make a political statement and refused to stand for our National Anthem.I’m not sure whether their cause was just or not, but their actions not only slam our country but dishonor every veteran who fought for their right to protest. I also have no sympathy for Mark Rypien and his cam...
It’s January 3. Have you broken your New Year’s resolutions yet? I’ve never been a fan of annual resolutions. There, I said it. I won’t make them. I resolve nothing. In 2019, I’ll be the same bad-habit-having, pasta-eating, sleeping-too-late ray of sunshine I was last year, and I don’t even feel bad. I’m not against self-improvement in any way — far from it. But framing the first of the year as the magical time to make major life changes never struck me as practical. For generations, the beginning of the year has been linked...
The compromise farm bill secures several victories for conservation, beginning farmers, and rural communities, while failing to cap payments to the largest farms or secure stable long-term funding for working lands conservation. We are pleased that Congress maintained the Conservation Stewardship Program in the final bill and included policy changes to strengthen the program. Changes include increased support for cover crops, resource-conserving crop rotations, and advanced grazing management. We are disappointed that...
The Trump administration has proposed several reforms to drive down prescription drug prices. One measure would force pharmaceutical companies to mention the sticker prices of their medicines in television advertisements. The new mandate covers all prescriptions drugs reimbursed by Medicare or Medicaid that cost more than $35 a month. The administration hopes this change will empower patients to choose more affordable drugs and embarrass companies into reducing their prices. But the rule won’t achieve those goals. Instead, i...
It’s been a joy to see downtown Cheney all dressed up for the holidays this year. I’m especially enjoying the lights on the kiosks and the painted windows in the downtown businesses. Thank you to the participating businesses and to the Cheney Merchants Association for engaging Medical Lake artist Denny Wuesthoff of “A Brush Stroke Away” to paint the windows. I hope these will become Cheney traditions. Christie Bruntlett Cheney...
President Trump has “commander in chiefed” an end to the illegal U.S. role in the war in Syria. And there are reports the Commander in Chief may order a draw down in Afghanistan, the war that keeps on giving! Knock me down with a feather! Turns out it ain’t that hard to end a war! It must be a Christmas Miracle! In the lifetime of the post 9-11 generation, the U.S. has started many a war, but ended nary a one. Is this a new era? Is it evidence that this Christmas, Christ may return? I do not know how else to understand it. O...
Hello readers, I’m Lee Hughes, the newest addition to your Cheney Free Press editorial staff. Like most journalists, I’m somewhat averse to being the subject of a story. My job is to report on others, not myself. But when you’re the new guy and your managing editor assigns you a story — even your own story — you get it done. So here we are. I’ll be brief. First, I’m a native Washingtonian. And although I’ve lived all over Washington state and North Idaho during my life...
Several weeks ago, in this paper, those who support the policies of out federal government were blasted by Mr. Tom Hastings. Last week Nancy Street decided to take her shot at them. I’d like to reply to Ms. Street: 1) Do not presume that because I don’t support allowing any and everyone to illegally immigrate to the United States that I do not take care of those less fortunate then myself. There are any number of agencies that allow me to do that. You can do the same. Why are open borders the only solution that you can thi...
Christmas is a difficult time for anyone grieving the death of a loved one. It is especially hard when they were slain in the line-of-duty while protecting our country. It hit home again last month when Army sergeants Eric Emond, 39, Brush Prairie, and Leandro Jasso, 25, Leavenworth, were killed in Afghanistan. Both were experienced elite soldiers who served multiple tours in combat zones. Normally, the fallen are remembered on Memorial Day, but thanks to a Maine family and...
During our last family reunion, some of my siblings and I relived some of our childhood Christmas memories. We were not the most affluent family in town. Dad raised 10 kids on a factory worker’s pay, so to provide special holiday memories, our folks sometimes had to be creative. We all remembered the time some of us had begun to doubt Santa Clause. We drove up to Grandma’s that Christmas Eve, and when we returned, Santa had been there. We believed for at least one more year. Who could forget Mom’s silver tree? I think she f...
By admission, traditional math has never been my strong point I blame it all on the latest and greatest new-fangled educational notion from the 1960s —“New Math.” This, I swear, sent me spiraling into some calculational black hole. It made passing eighth-grade arithmetic stretch into summer school 1967 and freshman algebra do the same in 1968. And later, there came the need, and struggle of course, to pass a “math equivalency” exam in order to receive a teaching certifica...
Folks, there’s a problem with Christmas, and I’m not sure what we can do about it. Is this problem defining what Christmas is all about? Maybe. Yes, there is a religious aspect to Christmas. Christians celebrate the holiday as the birth of Jesus Christ, even though there’s little evidence outside of historical tradition that the event took place this time of year. Pagans have celebrated this time of year as a time of rebirth in that the lowest part of winter is past and the days are growing longer again. The darkness is be...
During the recent mid-term elections, Democrats campaigned extensively and at times quite successfully on health care. The specifics covered a wide spectrum. The recurring theme, however, appeared to be cost. Politicians across the board promised cheaper care. Realistically, care can only be cheaper if we reduce the quality or quantity. Twenty-five years ago, my uncle died of prostate cancer. There was nothing that the medicine of the time could do to save him. Now, however, patients have several treatment options, all of...
