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This holiday season, will you be among 83 percent of consumers who plan to do some portion of their holiday shopping at a small, independently owned retailer or restaurant? These types of businesses are what keep our small communities thriving. Up and down rural main streets, shopkeepers are readying their stores for the season. They welcome shoppers from their communities and those who are just visiting. Business owners are even stocking rolls of wrapping paper to provide added value when you spend your money with a local re...
When I was growing up a long time ago there was a presumption of prudential integrity for politicians. Yes, I suppose I was naïve, but as a boy from Minnesota I came to think of politics as a clean game in my formative years. This may explain why I am nonplussed now with the acceptance of such low standards by so many, and frankly, at this time most of them with the lowest standards seem to be aligned with President Trump out on the right. The voters rejected Trump for the most part in our midterms, but this is normal and...
The mid-term election results could have been much worse. The Democrats got control of the house, but the results were far short of the predicted overwhelming blue wave. Actually, I think it is good that neither party is in total control of government. It will be interesting to see how Nancy Pelosi plays the role of obstructionist to presidential initiatives. The Republicans haven’t been able to blame Democrats for government shutdowns. Now they will have the chance, and it will be interesting to watch. My wife and I saved a...
Each time I get to write this column for the Thanksgiving edition I like to relate some sort of story about why I am thankful. Thankful not just this year, but in all years. This year is no different, mostly. It has been an interesting year for me in many ways, at times testing the boundaries of happiness and sadness. The latter began early this year with the passing of my mom at age 92. She lived a long life and was blessed with relatively good physical health and definitely good mental health. For that I am thankful, and I...
On June 27, 2013 the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan immigration reform bill by a veto-proof 68-32 margin. With a bipartisan House of Representatives majority in favor and President Obama’s signature assured, the bill was destined to become law until the Republican House leadership, including our own Cathy McMorris Rodgers, violated majority rule by not allowing a vote of the full House. The bill included a nationwide employment eligibility verification system (E-Verify) and stricter border control, along with a path to citiz...
We’d like to extend a sincere thank you to Cheney Middle School for their Veterans Day ceremony on Friday (Nov. 9). My husband is a veteran and we attended as guests of our son, Mike, and our great niece, Madison. In the current atmosphere of political divisiveness and criticism, the ceremony was a most welcome breath of fresh air. The ceremony was a wonderful example to our youth of true patriotism and love of country. It exemplified honor, dignity and the necessity of showing gratitude to the men and women who have s...
I was raised around strong women. My 4-foot-10-inch grandmother was one of the strongest human beings I have ever known. My mother’s sisters worked on the farm along with my uncles and me. My sister could whip any kid in school and was one of the finest athletes I have known. They didn’t ask for special consideration, nor did they carry protest signs. They certainly don’t consider themselves victims and dislike militant feminists as much as I do. I have a good friend who is an ordained minister in his church. I was proud...
You may be a bit surprised as you walk down the hall at Davenport Middle School. What you will not see are many students in the classrooms, hallways or common areas. If you were to drive around the homes surrounding our school, what you will see are students in yards raking leaves and cleaning up for a few our beloved Gorilla senior citizens. This is just one of the many ways our Gorilla middle schoolers show citizenship throughout the year. PACE defines citizenship as “positively contributing to society and community as well...
Last week, the White House took a rare step and suspended the credentials of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after an intense exchange with President Trump at a press conference, later relying on a heavily-edited video to justify Acosta’s removal. Over the weekend, the president threatened to revoke the credentials of other White House reporters who failed to “treat the presidency with respect” and in an unprompted statement, criticized several specific reporters personally. The incidents angered press freedom groups, but more...
As parents of a daughter who played on the Medical Lake Varsity volleyball team this season, we have followed the program for the last six years. Over those years we saw the ups and downs, the wins and losses, the joys and heart aches. We saw this year how they improved and worked together as a team to go further than any other ML volleyball team in recent memory, making it to the district playoffs. We would like time to thank coach Harr and Cromer for sticking with the program and getting the team to where It is at today....
You did it again, Cheney. It will be a warmer winter for many thanks to the hard work and generosity of the Cheney community. A total of 478 coats were donated to this year’s coat drive, the second largest donation ever. Of those, 353 were given away at three separate distributions. The remaining coats have been donated to the Cheney clothing exchange. A special thanks goes to the Cheney Kiwanis without whose work this event could not happen, Big Wash for laundering many of the coats, Copy Junction for printing the p...
When our military is viewed as an employer, it has the same problem as the private sector; attracting qualified people to fill jobs. In today’s vibrant economy, there is an abundance of “Help Wanted” signs. Even though our armed forces have stepped up their enlistment bonuses, they still fall short of their recruitment goals. There are just fewer qualified people in the employment pool to fill jobs which require higher educational standards, more skills, a willingness to wo...
By FRANK WATSON I did my student teaching at Shadle Park High School several years ago. I was a nontraditional student in that I had a full Air Force career behind me and was significantly older than most teacher candidates. I walked into my assigned class and introduced myself to my mentor teacher. He took one look at the mature guy with a full beard and said, “You got it.” I never saw him again. I was left with 15 advanced students who were as leery of me as I was of them. The text book had “Current World Problems” printed...
By the time these words are read by those other than editing eyes, one of the most bitter mid-term elections in our times will have thankfully been finished. Forgotten? Not at all. Whomever claims victory in the “Mudstock 2018” will crow until the cows come home. And the loser, well that all depends. Just hope most of it can wash off. There are probably any number of ways to either celebrate or commiserate, some of those taking place at one’s favorite watering hole. I hope...
I have tried to be open minded and evaluate the candidates for Congress from the 5th Congressional District in a reasonable manner. In addition to extensive research, I have attended live town hall meetings for both candidates. I also participated in three telephone town hall meetings with Cathy McMorris-Rodgers. During my last telephone event with CMR, I was thrilled to be selected to ask her a question on the air. Unfortunately, in order to ask a question, I was required to share it with her staff person first. You know...
So let me get this straight. Lisa Brown supports universal health care, free education and all the other entitlements now on the books of the federal government, which represent the majority of the U.S. budget. And she is adamantly against the federal deficit, stating she wants to reduce it. Has she explained how she is going to pay for all those beloved entitlement programs and reduce the federal debt? Lisa Brown claims to be an economics professor. But it is doubtful she could be an economics professor at Hogwarts, even...
Once again, Cathy McMorris Rogers is attempting to lower the allowable PCB pollution standards for the Spokane River. Does the importance of our river’s health vary depending on which party is in power? Apparently so…especially if it’s the GOP. Protecting and valuing earning capacities of businesses rather than environmental considerations is the GOP method of operation. Under Obama, the EPA set the higher standard at seven parts per quadrillion. This standard, embraced by environmental groups, the state’s native tribes...
In 2010, the Affordable Care Act was passed. People with diabetes, folks previously priced out of the health insurance market by their pre-existing condition, were able to afford insurance. As an ophthalmologist I was able to save or restore the sight of many of these newly insured people before it was too late, people who were then able to continue to work, to drive, to read and to see their wives and children. Over the next eight years I watched in dismay as our U.S. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers voted time and...
So far, I have watched three of the four debates between Lisa Brown and Cathy McMorris Rodgers. The moderators largely ignore how McMorris Rogers has been voting against the welfare of women, children and families. Back in 2014, at a town hall meeting in Cheney, when in a response to an EWU student’s question about her votes against equal pay for women (Lilly Ledbetter and Paycheck Fairness), McMorris Rodgers defended her vote by saying these bills cause lawsuits. Later, an audience member (me) asserted that obviously any t...
All candidates should be consistent in their views and no candidate should accept support when the person endorsing her has admitted to a dubious past when they were a teenager. It is best to put distance from these types of people with a troubled past. Certainly Lisa Brown would never be associated with someone with this type of history judging from her remarks about Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Lisa when are you going to disavow the endorsement from Barrack Obama, or have you not read his biography? Mike Cloke...
Please don’t be fooled by a recent mailer urging voters to write in Joe Pakootas instead of voting for a very qualified candidate, Jess Lewis, in the upcoming 6th District senate race. Pakootas was shocked to see this false mailer, and has stated he is “100 percent behind Jessa Lewis.” He also has not completed any paperwork to be a write-in candidate. Lewis has shown herself to be a great candidate for this senate seat. She supports affordable health care coverage for pre-existing health conditions, schools, infra...
When you live in Eastern Washington, particularly outside of the city, you spend a lot of time in the car. Driving long distances is a necessity here, whether for business or just to see friends and family. That’s why I dug into the facts on Initiative 1631, and am voting NO. The research proves this measure will cost us billions and have no impact on reducing our emissions. I-1631 is a deeply-flawed energy tax that would force Washington farmers, small businesses, families and consumers to pay billions more in taxes for g...
As I write this I am still in a state of shock. We recently had a yard sale in our rural neighborhood. I was told that a “conservative” person declined to come to the sale because we were “too liberal.” We don’t have a sign at the end of our driveway saying “liberal people live here” — all we have is a Lisa Brown for Congress sign. I think it is a very sad indicator of the times we are living in when someone wouldn’t go to a yard sale because we have a sign on our property which differs from their political persuasion. The s...
The new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in October was a wake-up call to countries all across the world. The report describes the continued rising seas, wildfires, and more frequent and extreme storms we have been facing, which are happening at a frequency and intensity that is higher than scientists had earlier predicted. That means we now have to work even more quickly if we hope to keep climate change from stealing our health and our children’s future. But the report didn’t stop there. It...
In his 2011 book “Republic Lost,” author Lawrence Lessig relates a story told him from a member of congress, who was faced with returning phone calls from his hotel room after a hard day of campaigning. Lessig said that upon returning to his hotel room, the candidate had close to 100 calls from constituents about a variety of issues, but just one call from a large campaign donor. Which one do you think the candidate chose to call back? Dumb question but yep, the campaign donor. Lessig’s must-read book is about how money...
