Sorted by date Results 906 - 930 of 3214
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...
Nancy Street recently suggested that building walls is hypocritical. Do you have locks on your doors Nancy? Do you invite anyone and everyone into your living room? Let’s rethink where hypocrisy lies. As for Jesus, he had no cause to ask for a wall to be built: Jerusalem already had TWO! Sadly, when you and I went through Cheney High School, economics was not required. It should have been. Perhaps you might better understand the tradeoffs. Paula Thornton Spokane...
On behalf of the Cheney High School Cross Country program, we would like to thank the community of Cheney for their support of our 11th annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. There were over 530 walkers, joggers or runners present for this community event which benefits not only the Cheney Food Bank, but also our cross country program at Cheney High School. We would like to especially thank our sponsors: Stadium Sports, Cheney Federal Credit Union, Owl Pharmacy, State Farm Insurance, Snap Fitness, Hilton Realty,...
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...
The good news is Washington’s revenues continue to grow and projections for the next couple of years appear promising. That is welcome news, but it is sprinkled with caution about introducing new taxes. Our state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council (ERFC) quarterly update shows a whopping 17.3 percent increase in state income for the current biennium. That welcome announcement comes just in time for Christmas. For background, Washington’s budget is on a two-year cycle...
Hypocrisy. When I was eight years old, I wrote a poem after attending church one Sunday: ”Eleven o’clock on Sunday Morning, Many hear that age-old warning, Boast about their adoration, Then forget their obligations.” Even now, I still see so much hypocrisy — in churches, meeting houses, mosques, temples and synagogues. For Trump-supporting Christians, I wonder what they don’t understand about Matthew, Chapter 25 in the Bible. To paraphrase a portion: Water to the thirsty, Food to the hungry, Care for the sick, Visits to...
I’m writing in response to the opinion published in the Nov 22 edition by Tom H. Hastings, “If you want to find corruption, just look to the right.” I also grew up thinking that politics was a clean game. I’ve discovered it isn’t and it’s tainted on both sides, not just the right. I am an independent voter and have voted both sides in many elections. But I was offended by the assumptions that any voter that didn’t vote Democratic was supporting sleaze, lies and corruption. Have you even looked at the corruption that has happ...
The President’s methods and manner usually leave much to be desired, but once in a while he gets something right. He is spot-on when he calls the growing crowd on our southern border a “migrant invasion.” I can’t understand why this concept seems new to anyone or why the national press objects to the title. Migrant invasions are as old as recorded history. When Moses led his people out of Egypt seeking the Promised Land, it was a migrant invasion. After 40 years wandering in the desert, they became strong enough to take up...
The holiday season and caring go hand in hand. I feel it is a safe assumption that for many of us the act of caring comes rather naturally, and we rarely look at the act itself as something extraordinary. But in a world that can be harsh and ugly at times, recognition, not for the sake of recognition, but rather as inspiration is needed to maintain a semblance of balance. My work family is made up of some of the most caring and generous people I know. I reached out to them to share their stories about caring: “Seven years a...
Women in the workplace have come a long way in terms of opportunities, respect and equality in the last 50 years. Heck, up until 1974 a woman couldn’t get a credit card in her own name without a husband’s signature. But a new study recently released by sociology professors at the University of Illinois at Chicago found that Americans’ are far more likely to believe in gender equality at work than they are at home. The study, based on national survey data from 1977 to 2016, is set to be published in the journal “Gend...
The Internet has revolutionized the way we interact, study, research, and do business. As a technology non-profit in Washington, we use the Internet to reach users across the U.S. and the world. Our ability to reach those users is threatened by the repeal of net neutrality rules, which prohibited large broadband providers from blocking and slowing web traffic or creating pricey priority fast-lanes online. Launched in 1991, the Inland Northwest Technology Alliance is an organization comprised of technology professionals,...
(Editor’s note: The “Man from the North” is a fictional character from Rivera Sun’s first series of novels. She has him offering essays beyond her novels.) The time is up. The time is now. Gather the people to do the work: the healing, transformative, deepening work of building community, solutions, understanding, skills, knowledge, and hope. You must be the one to make a change, to step out of the rutted tracks of the looming train wreck that is our culture. You must have the courage to walk into the wilderness of what yo...
Dear CNN, I watched your broadcasts protesting the revocation of Jim Acosta’s White House press pass. You have now turned to the courts in order to bolster your continued feud with President Trump. I will agree that the president is pompous, rude and undiplomatic. He certainly carries much of the blame for your conflict. You should, however, acknowledge that you are at least partly responsible. In the case of; Jim Acosta, you are just plain wrong. Your network, and to a degree the national press in general, have come to b...
It was the perfect ignition point for discussion on the devastating, and oddly titled, Camp Fire that torched the ironically named community of Paradise, Calif. On Halloween, just days before the Nov. 8 start of the fire that killed scores and leveled much of the community of some 17,000 in the Sierra Nevada foothills, there came another in a long line of scary reports of pending doom from man-made climate change. Published in the journal “Nature” and widely distributed to...
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...
