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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...
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...
Working in ticketing at the Spokane County Fair, I met a gentleman with a “Vietnam Veteran” cap. After I thanked him for his service, we had a pleasant conversation. He told me when and where he had served and added that he’d been diagnosed with cancer. When I asked if he was getting treatment at the VA medical center in Spokane, his eyes lit up. He said yes, and that his VA doctor had referred him for a specialized treatment in Seattle. He’d had no way to travel to Seattle, but they’d arranged a special flight to his appoint...
As a practicing attorney and member of the West Plains community I encourage everyone to vote to retain Judge Shelley Szambelan for Spokane County Superior Court Position 10. Judge Szambelan has the patience, intelligence, integrity, ethics, judicial demeanor and experience that makes her uniquely qualified to serve the people of Spokane County. Prior to her appointment to the Spokane County Superior Court bench, Judge Szambelan served on the Spokane Municipal Court bench for nine years. While serving the people of the city...
Recently, a group of concerned private citizens formed an organization called “People For Effective Government” or “PEG.” We come from all walks of life with one common goal: to bring more civility to public discourse and to encourage less partisanship in the body politic. We believe that most people’s political beliefs fall somewhere between the 30-yard lines and do not reflect the inflexible ideology of the extreme left nor right. We believe that those in public service need to find common ground in order to meet the challe...
I am sure I’m not alone in being stunned at how much Lisa Brown was paid by Washington State University. She earned more than $1 million in three years working for WSU in Spokane. On top of her $364,000 salary, it recently emerged that Lisa got an extra $40,000 a year just for staying in her job. It’s an amazing amount of money, especially when median household income in Eastern Washington is a little over $50,000. Lisa Brown’s bonus was more than many families earn in a year! Lisa Brown had no experience in managing any k...
The tax increases and policies that Lisa Brown has supported throughout her political career clearly show she believes in bigger government. Citizens must remember that every dollar the government takes from us is one less dollar of our own hard-earned money we have for ourselves to save or spend. We also must realize that the larger government becomes, the more it controls our personal lives. Cathy McMorris Rodgers has fought her entire time in office to protect our personal freedoms by limiting the size of government to...
What would you do if your child was found hanging out with thugs? I imagine first sitting the child down to attempt to uncover how it happened. Setting some limits and seeking help. Perhaps even moving depending on how severe the situation. What if it didn’t work and your child was like a “thug magnet,” every where you went thugs seemed to be at the hem of your family? You may give your all again and seek more help. Then what if you find out your child is a thug? Lying, stealing, hiding financial data and proud of it, having...
I was reading a book the other day with the television as background noise. The book wasn’t very good, so I was waiting for something other than a political ad when a statement caught my ear. I can usually ignore statements I disagree with, but this one was a bit much. It told the listening audience that we need to get big oil to pay for the pollution they caused. I guess it caught my attention because it is illogical twice. First, big oil won’t pay for anything. They are not the source of money. The customers who pay for...
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...
In March I wrote about the visit to Washington of Saudi Arabia’s new leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. At the time most of the media were reporting uncritically about him and his regime. In fact, most were glowing in their praise of Salman as a “reformer” and “modernizer,” citing his allowing women to drive and his openness to pro-Western cultural change. I thought such views were near-sighted and failed to see not only that Salman was pulling the wool over people’s eyes about reform but also that Trump’s hea...
By FRANK WATSON Contributor I got my voter’s pamphlet in the mail this week. I have more than ample time to study the issues and fill out my ballot before the November deadline. Once I have my ballot filled out and mailed, I no longer need to pay any attention to the irritating political ads. That is the only benefit of voting by mail. I miss going to the polls. I voted by absentee ballot when I was in the service. I was usually stationed several hundred miles away from my precinct polling place, so I had no choice. That c...
I never thought I would be a dog person. Growing up, my mother was afflicted with devastating allergies that prevented us from having pets. As a teenager, I liked other people's animals, but was more confused by them than anything else. (Why is your cat always hiding under the bed? Why does your dog bark at the ketchup bottle?) Then I got my first dog. It's amazing how animals can change our lives. Not only medically - though pet ownership is shown to reduce blood pressure,...
