News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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(These were to be made at the meeting, but I was not told the date changed) For nearly a week now, I have felt as if I was living in a parallel universe. That feeling, like you cannot believe what is happening around you! Like you woke up to a changed world. The two words that best describe my feelings last weekend are shock and hurt. Now I stand so humbled before you. I realize that what I was feeling last weekend is only a small sampling of what many of the staff, inside these walls, have felt. I am sorry it took my own pain, to begin to see...
When I led the Bureau of Land Management under President Biden, the hardest part of my job was reassembling the agency after the first Trump administration had scattered its headquarters from our nation’s capital. The move crippled the agency — as intended. That experience led me to understand that the current Trump administration’s unpopular plan to move the U.S. Forest Service headquarters will be every bit as destructive. It will hurt forests, wildlife and communities that rely upon our public lands and waters. In 2020, almost 90% of the B...
The great contradiction in Donald Trump’s two terms — at least as far as covering and understanding the man are concerned — is that he is, on the one hand, the most media-accessible president in history, yet he has proved to be the most difficult for journalists to interview. This was demonstrated again the other evening as Trump toured his renovation project at the Washington Mall. ABC’s Rachel Scott asked a perfectly reasonable question: “Mr. President, you are here against the backdrop of the war in Iran. Why focus on all these projects as w...
May 18, 1927, the Bath Consolidated School of Bath, Michigan, a small town of 300, was ripped apart by a bomb. School had just started, students, teachers and staff were going about their day. The explosion caused half the structure to collapsed, killing and injuring many. The aftermath of the bombing left 43 dead - included students, 4 staff members and one bystander. The person behind the bombing was Mr. Kehoe, a school board member and treasurer. He been arguing with board members over the cost of ongoing taxes for the consolidated school....
My second-grade teacher, Sister Mary, would be shocked that I turned out to be a writer. Please allow me to explain. In recent years, many schools within the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have barred teachers from marking student papers in red. Their thinking is that correcting young students with red pens is too confrontational and upsetting for the children. Many teachers prefer to grade in more soothing colors, such as green, blue, pink and yellow. Red ink surely wasn’t banned at St. Germaine Catholic School in the ...
I sympathize with former FBI director James Comey – up to a point. It’s detestable, if not laughable, that the MAGA regime has twice indicted the former FBI director just to sate Trump’s revenge fantasies. Last week’s indictment – claiming he threatened Trump’s life because he posted a photo of seashells that spelled the numbers “86 47” – is further proof his Justice Department bootlickers are clueless as well as mendacious. Because, according to the Supreme Court, the First Amendment protects “political hyperbole” and “language in the poli...
May 10, 1869, Officials, workers and dignitaries of the Union and Central Pacific railways held a ceremony on Promontory Summit, in Utah Territory – about 35 miles form Promontory Point. The event was to drive in a Golden Spike, celebrating the joining of rails and the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. The topographical studies that were undertaken by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads was one of the first to occur in the Mid and Western United States. Today, traveling east-west on Interstate 80 closely follows m...
The forces shaping decisions about the Grand Coulee Dam School District are stubbornly calling for what one might reasonably conclude are exactly the wrong decisions. Last fall, when the process of laying out a “modified education plan” — the term in education for layoffs — members of the public were calling for the district to stem its financial losses by increasing the amount of money coming in, rather than cutting expenses. In public education, that means bringing in more students — through increased offerings, not fewer. The district...
By any honest measure, veterans have long been unintended pioneers in the advancement of medicine. The unique realities of war and military service have forced innovation that later benefits civilians for generations. Modern triage systems emerged from battlefields where medical personnel had to decide, in seconds, who could be saved. Medevac transportation by helicopter increased survival rates in conflicts like Vietnam and later became a staple of civilian emergency medicine. Advances in trauma surgery, prosthetics, rehabilitation medicine...
Survivalism and self-sufficiency are exploding across America. According to TruePrepper, a preparedness research group, nearly 23 million Americans now call themselves preppers — many fleeing big-city metros for rural areas where they can be self-reliant if calamity strikes. I offer some insight into this trend. A decade ago, I left the Washington, D.C., metro area and returned to my small ranch on the edge of the countryside just outside Pittsburgh — a place I’ll call Maybury. The people in metro Washington sure are different from the good...
May 5, 1830, John B. Stetson was born in Orange, New Jersey. He spent his early years working in his fathers hat-making shop where he learned the trade. Stetson then moved on, setting up his own hat making business in Philadelphia. It was there that Stetson became ill with tuberculosis. The popular treatment then was to send tuberculosis patients west, to drier climates. He followed the advice, and moved west to Colorado. Stetson learned that the hats worn by men in the west provided little protection from the elements. He designed a hat...
It’s no secret that this managing editor turned Army girl has found herself in a bit of an unexpected chapter – boots on the ground in Washington, D.C. And let me tell you, this concrete jungle is a far cry from the rolling wheat fields of Eastern Washington, let alone the dusty, wide-open cowboy country I call home. I like to joke that I told people I was heading to Washington and somehow boarded the wrong plane. Next thing I knew, I was living out a real-life “Home Alone 2” moment, full Kevin McCallister energy, just with less room service...
I was surprised that they were charging $90 a ticket. I had never paid that much for a concert. My doctor, Dr. Jim, got tickets for different events and then I would pay him for my wife’s and my tickets. We had gone to a number of plays and a couple of concerts with Dr. Jim. He bought three tickets and gave us he two closest to the stage. We had almost the best tickets in the house, slightly elevated and only about 30 feet from the stage. Pavarotti was performing in the round. That is, he had people all around him. If at first I thought the p...
Farmers across rural America are facing an affordability crisis. As a third-generation farmer in the Yakima Valley, I know firsthand the challenges facing farm country and the importance of passing the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026, otherwise known as the farm bill. This legislation is an investment in our producers, our families and the rural economy across Washington’s Fourth District. This Congress, I have worked as a member of both the House Agriculture Committee and the Agriculture Subcommittee on Appropriations to help ensu...
The 40+ billion dollars already spent on the Iran war, endorsed by our own Republican US Representative Michael Baumgartner, has only made our world’s democracies much more vulnerable. Instead, that money should have been spent on Ukraine’s war effort against Russia that’s made our world’s democracies much less vulnerable. Norm Luther...
Shortly after high school I got into motorcycles. My friend Joe had a brother who was living in Spokane, so we went to the city to visit him. He was hanging out with a bunch of bikers so we heard nothing but talk of bikes. We ended up at a British-American motorcycle shop on East Sprague. Before we knew it, we both had purchased bikes. Neither of us had ever ridden a motorcycle, so we were in for some interesting times. We rode home to Palouse. In a couple of weeks, we were back in the bike shop too buy bigger bikes. We both bought BSAs. The...
April 16, 1788, The Doctors’ Riot occurred in New York killing about 20 people. There was general respect of physicians by most Americans. Though, in New York, an anger rose regarding a dark side of medical training. The acquiring of bodies for anatomical dissections at medical schools was unregulated. At this time, New York had only one medical school, Columbia College. In the winter of 1788, newspaper stories appeared about medical students robbing graves to get bodies for dissection, mostly from potter’s field and the blacks only cem...
Eric Swalwell has plummeted to earth faster than Artemis II. If you weren’t familiar with Swalwell, you’ve missed your chance. Mere days ago he was a rising national Democratic star, vocal U.S. congressman, cable TV fixture, and aspiring California governor. Today he is toast, having been outed by the press as a serial sexual harasser and credibly accused rapist. After the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN shared damning cringy details, he pledged to stay in the gubernatorial race and fight the “false” allegations. Naturally, his stateme...
There was a time when our family controlled newspapers in Palouse. My oldest brother, Richard, had the franchise for years in Palouse. There were four paper routes, and my brother hired my two older brothers and my sister to take routes. Richard took the fourth route. He said I was too young for a route. However, I had a route for the Moscow paper, five days weekly. Richard had an agreement with the Spokane paper people to fill the routes and see to it that they were delivered properly. For that he was paid pretty well, and my sis and two...
Today, people who risk their homes, savings and reputations are viewed by critics as the “evil incarnate,” the roots of all that is wrong with America---a nation celebrating its 250th birthday. Unfortunately, critics of our country ignore the fact that people historically came to America to escape oppressive regimes and for the opportunity for a better life in a free and open society. In the USA, our constitution protects our citizens’ rights of expression, to practice their faith or atheism, and freedom to create and innovate. Americans are i...
It’s hard for me to describe how much I once loathed Richard Nixon. As a college student during the Watergate scandal, I celebrated when he quit on the cusp of impeachment. I firmly believed, along with millions of others, that Nixon was the lowest human being ever elevated to our highest office and his track record of anti-constitutional crimes would never be surpassed. Jeez were we naive. Despite his serial abuses and aberrant behavior – bugging his own office, ordering the Watergate coverup, ranting on tape about “the Jews” will stain h...
April 11, 1900, the United States Navy acquired its first submarine. The vessel was designed by Irish immigrant John P. Holland. It was propelled by gasoline on the surface and by electricity when submerged, and was named the Holland. This type of vessel inspired naval fleets across the world. Submarines became more common in the nineteenth century, with a period of intense development occurring at the end of the century as nations worked to established sea power. The Turtle was a submersible craft used briefly during the American Revolution....
From the people who are adopting the Gerkhe Windmills for restoration to those volunteers who picked up a ton of trash around Osborn Bay this weekend, or those dedicated folks working to bring about assisted living homes, it seems there is no shortage of people eager to make this a better place. That goes for those preparing to put on events, too, whether it’s fixing up the Colorama Rodeo grounds, or working to boost the next Festival of America with extra oomph for America’s 250th birthday. It just feels like we’re all leaning toward somet...
When I read the Star article about the Vlachos building slated for being torn down, it brought a flood of GCHS memories. Not many people will remember the name Constantinos Vlachos, but many people will remember his Tri-Phibian automobile, though — the invention of Vlachos back in the mid 1930s that was purported to be able to driven, flown, and was boatable. His demonstration of the craft was in 1935 in Washington DC, as he was hoping to draw the attention of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was already immersed in what was to be the secon...
Easter Lilies are now appearing in churches just as poinsettias do at Christmas. Both adorn the altars and pulpits during Christianity’s two most important holidays. Over the years, both continue to be the centerpieces of seasonal decorations. They are unique potted plants which aren’t suited for cut-flower arrangements and disappear when churches move back to ordinary times. While both are the icons, poinsettias have a longer shelf-life — Thanksgiving to Christmas. Easter Lilies have a three-week window — late Lent and Easter Week. Each ye...