News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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When asked about airports, one official stated: “There’s all the airports in the world, then there is Hong Kong.” Of course he was referring to Hong Kong’s Kai Tak airport. Kai Tak is a thing of the past, having been replaced by a new airport situated miles from the dangerously high number of high rise apartment buildings right in the path of the approach to the runway. Planes then had to come in right over dozens of huge buildings as tenants were subjected to unspeakable noise. I have mentioned coming into Hong Kong a number of times amidst...
Jimmy Carter turned 100 Tuesday. When I think of the former president (Jan. 20, 1977-Jan. 20, 1981) I think of Abraham Lincoln. He is the most selfless man that I have ever met. I first met Mr. Carter in 1976 while attending a Suburban Newspapers of America conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Carter was governor of Georgia at the time. He was the keynote speaker. I remember I was pleased because I had followed Carter’s career, and like others, I thought he would make his mark in politics. Carter talked for about 45 minutes, left the stage and c...
The motion picture “The Bridge on the River Kwai” had more of a jungle setting than the real bridge. I made the trip in an elongated canoe to reach a mango plantation owned by the family of a student our family sponsored at the University of Washington. His name was Khien, and he became a real member of our family. He was loved by everyone. Khien already had his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and his law degree. He was at the UW to get his doctorate. He had already written several books. His specialty — Communist China. Khien had a cubbyhole...
A number of years ago while living in Bothell my personal doctor and I became close friends. When I moved there, our clinic had about half a dozen doctors, and I chose the youngest as the one I wanted to go to. When my visit to see him came to a close, he would always take about five minutes to learn what I was interested in. It probably was not the best thing to allow, by either of us. One time, at the close of my visit, he said he intended to go to the Pavarotti concert and wondered if my wife and I would be interested in going. He got...
It was at the end of World War II that I became fascinated with cars. During the war, auto manufacturers were busy making tanks and ammo carriers. The public had to get along with some early 1945 models and people were lucky to find one. Those were the days when you could look at a car and know what make it was and the year it was manufactured. It was still a few years before I was old enough to drive and make enough money to purchase a car. We didn’t have driving classes then. My dad wasn’t anxious to let us drive the family car. My first exp...
This story has been corrected to reflect a witnesses statement that Sen. Schoesler backed into the same vehicle twice, not into two separate vehicles. An additional sentence was added, noting the legal blood-alcohol limit is 0.08. RITZVILLE - The local 9th Legislative District senator was released on his own recognizance Saturday night, Aug. 31, after being arrested for allegedly driving drunk and striking another vehicle twice. Sen. Mark Schoesler, 67, of Ritzville, was arrested by citation...
Ever wonder where your sense of humor came from? I got mine from my dad. He was always pulling pranks on the family, sometimes in a very creative way. When we lived on the farm and my dad came out of the house, all five of us kids in unison shouted, “Can we go with you?” That was a sore spot with my dad, so he told us to go in and get cleaned up. We raced inside because we thought we would be headed to town. We came out raring to go, but then my dad went to the outhouse. It taught us a lesson about asking to go all the time. That little trick h...
My friend Will Chausee had a sapphire mine in Montana about 35 miles east of Hamilton. He was an unlikely friend. Will owned a high-class cedar lumber operation, catering to high-end builders. He was a burly chap, probably 200 pounds if an ounce. Over time we got thrown together through the Rotary Club and other endeavors. Will kept inviting me to vacation at his Gem Mountain sapphire mine. So, my wife and I decided to do just that. The mine was located high up in the mountains, a fun and scenic drive, if nothing else. He spent time there in a...
It’s almost impossible today to buy something off the rack that fits. Gone are the days when better clothing stores had a tailor on staff to make minor adjustments so clothes fit better. The biggest issue is fitting the length of trousers. All too many times I have bought pants that needed tailoring so they fit. Yet the service isn’t offered at the store. I have pants hanging in the closet that have been bought, paid for, and just hang there. You end up in double jeopardy if you like a cuff. I guess stores expect you to grow your legs to fit...
While preparing for one of my trips to the Far East, I learned that Myanmar (then Burma) had opened up its borders to allow 72-hour visits. I jumped at the chance. Burma had been a British colony. I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be any strings attached. I asked Pan American Airlines officials if it was a good idea to stop over there. I had booked my trip with Pan Am since they had route privileges everywhere I was planning to go. My contact there was Willard Marsh, who said things were a little strained but a visit might be i...
Soon you will see homemade signs popping up in areas where we have had major wildland fires. It’s difficult to find a way to adequately share our thanks to firefighters who man the fire lines and in many cases risk their lives to protect homes and properties of those they have never met. High temperatures these past weeks have made the woods and grasslands tinder dry. We have been spared of major fires here for a couple of years, but fires at Swawilla Basin and Bridge Creek on the reservation and the brief fire that started near Sunbanks r...
Plan to travel? Then read everything you can find about your destination. I was asked recently about my favorite place among my travels to Asia. That was easy after I gave it some thought. Hong Kong is probably my favorite. I spent a year reading about the places I planned to go. It’s easy to travel to Hong Kong. There’s no language barrier. English is the second language. After many years under British control almost everyone spoke English. The colony is now under Communist Chinese control and many of its attractions have been changed. Eve...
A friend in Woodinville once visited with me about a job therapy program in the state prison at Walla Walla. Basically, it was a program designed to make it easier for prisoners to be ready for a job after their sentence was up. I got on the phone and called B.J. Rhay, the warden at the prison. I was a little surprised when he took my call and indicated he would be happy to explain what they were doing at the prison, and invited me to Walla Walla to chat with him. He explained that the prison was partially run by the prisoner’s council. It w...
There are a number of reasons why I am now afraid to fly. My first flight was with an Alaskan “bush” pilot who emphasized “local” conditions. He said conditions can change quickly and you have to be ready for change. He pointed this out as we approached the small airfield in Orofino, Idaho. The airfield is surrounded by high hills. He said many pilots go over the hills and try a direct line to the airfield. He said that you should come over the hills and circle the space before you line up to the single runway. So we did. He said that it puts...
Later this month the Olympic Games will begin. We have been treated the last few weeks with the preliminary track and field events and swimming events. It is the beginning of the end for a lot of very skilled athletes who after years of effort will fail to make it onto the United States team. The preliminary trials for track and field events are being held at the University of Oregon in Eugene, no stranger to these events. While living in Boise some years ago on South Orchard our closest neighbor had a 17-year-old boy who ran the mile for...
I’ve tried a number of times to milk cows. No luck. Rather, no milk. I was making my first trip down to southern Idaho to court my wife. It was a 550-mile overnight drive from Potlatch, Idaho, where I worked, to Buhl, Idaho, where my future wife Dorothy lived on a farm. I left at 5 p.m. and arrived at milking time. I was born on a farm and lived my first six years out in the country. Just one cow, and my dad did the milking. Anyhow, I was directed out to the barn where Dorothy and her brother Bob were in the process of milking 27 cows. I w...
It used to be that if you wanted to get the government’s help all you had to do was call U.S. Senators Warren Magnuson or Scoop Jackson. I did on numerous occasions, and they came through. A lawyer friend in Bothell had sponsored a Chinese couple and the man’s wife developed problems with her immigration status. She was born in Mainland China and fell under a different quota status. When my lawyer friend learned that I was going to be in Hong Kong, he asked me to check at the U.S. Consulate there and see what I could learn about her cur...
My son Paul is a month into a five-month trip to Alaska. He called Sunday from a small campsite near Prudhoe Bay, where you can get to the gate but you can’t get in unless you have a permit or work there. There are about 2,000 workers at the oil site, mostly Eskimos who reside in nearby villages. The oil-and-gas site is expansive and the living quarters are huge, allowing for an influx of temporary workers. It is claimed that the oil companies are highly sensitive to environmental issues since the big Exxon Valdez oil tanker issue in 1989. A n...
Dreams did come true for Colleen Leskinen of Nespelem. Last week Colleen had an open house for her new daycare center. The daycare, just 50 yards from Colleen’s house, will be fully operable when state licensing officials make their official visit and signoff on the 2,400 square foot daycare building. Colleen is licensed for 35 children. She currently has 28. Building a new facility has long been a dream of Colleen’s. Her dream has come true. Her home and new daycare building is at the end of a long lane. If her dog Duke doesn’t announce your...
Last Friday I received a phone call from Wir Smith, the adopted son of the late Dr. Pat Smith. I knew of Wir and his older brother Det from my trips to Vietnam in the period between 1968-1970. I had read about Dr. Smith in an article in the Seattle Times. She graduated from the UW School of Medicine and responded to a challenge to go to Vietnam and open a hospital in the Central Highlands. That was in the 1950s. It was not known at the time that in a few years there would be a war in the area. The article told of a group in the Seattle area tha...
Service people catch the brunt of angry people. They have to take it out on somebody, I guess. You constantly read of incidents of anger interrupting airline travel. Usually, it is some small inconvenience brought on by someone who is having a very bad day. Incidents that you read about would have been unheard of in travel 50 years ago. I have traveled a lot, flying all over, and I never saw anger that you read about today. Airlines need to develop a D.B. Cooper drop from 30,000 feet to cool off some of these characters. Airline attendants are...
It’s true; apples don’t fall far from trees. Over the years I have been fortunate to travel quite a bit. Now it’s my oldest son Paul’s time to travel. He retired a year ago and started planning a near five-month trip to Alaska. He is the Daniel Boone member of the family. His travels are outdoor treks, living in the great outdoors. He has a half dozen canoe trips on Yellowstone Lake, living along the shoreline in all kind of situations, most of the time alone. On his last trip there, he had a grizzly bear in his camp only a few feet away. When...
Last Saturday was my 34th Colorama Parade. I will likely remember this one more than the rest. I had sat at my vantage point for over an hour before the parade started. It was really hot out. Just as the first part of the parade reached my location the heat got to me and I passed out. This is really about our local healthcare providers and how they help us when we have problems. On the scene almost immediately was Rick Paris and his ambulance crew. While I wasn’t tuned in to much, I remember how pleased I was that Paris was on the scene. I h...
We honor our mothers this week. This, of course, is something we should do all year long. I was born at the beginning of the Great Depression. My mother was a depression mother, the kind that is made of kindness and steel. She was the rock of the family. During the 1930s jobs were scarce. My father often had to work out of town and returned home for the weekends. I remember he worked one full year at Moses Lake. The depression is what brought my parents and siblings to Palouse. My father, who was born in Palouse, was discharged out of the army...
I decided to quit my job with Potlatch Forests and move to southern Idaho so I could see my future wife more easily and not have to drive 500 miles on weekends to see her. I guess that’s when I came in contact with Idaho potatoes. If you are in Idaho you wouldn’t be served anything but. Wherever we went and ate out I would ask the waitress if these were Idaho potatoes. I did it as a lark and would get the funniest looks. The answer was usually yes, they were, or I don’t know I will ask the cook. I really didn’t care, I was just having a littl...