News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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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.... Full story
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... Full story
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...
Math doesn’t care about politics, good intentions, or how badly we want something to work. It doesn’t adjust itself to feelings or make exceptions when the numbers stop adding up. Over the years, I’ve used this column to talk a lot about the growing financial challenges facing counties across Washington, including here in Lincoln County. Those challenges haven’t gone away—they’ve only gotten worse. The Washington State Association of Counties’ recent Fiscal Health Survey confirmed what many of us already knew: counties are under increasing pres...
April 3, 1860, the first official mail delivery began, heading west from the eastern terminus of the Pony Express in Saint Joseph, Missouri. William Russell, Alexander Majors and William Waddell had worked tirelessly over just a handful of months to establish over 100 stations, procure over 500 horses and enough riders to create the Pony Express. A fresh horse was needed every 10 to 15 miles, a fresh rider every 75 to 100 miles. On April 9, the first rider reached Salt Lake City, Utah. On April 12, the mail pouch reached Carson City, Nevada....
In the interest of transparency in government, the “SAVE Act” should be named the SCAM Act. It is a terrible solution to a non-existent problem. Undocumented people are in the country illegally. (A civil misdemeanor, but illegal nonetheless). They do not draw attention to themselves by registering to vote (which is also illegal). That would alert the government of their presence in this country, leading to deportation. With the exception of the formerly Confederate states, who aggressively discriminated against African Americans until President...
By any military metric, the actual ones not the rosy ones released to the media, we were winning the Vietnam war. Right up to the moment we lost. The problem was the North Vietnamese were fighting a different war than we were. It’s a shame that all Vietnam vets have aged out of the military, we could use a few. Daniel Wixman Grand Coulee...
If there was one positive thing that came out of this year’s legislative session in Olympia, it was the passage of House Bill 1960. As most of you are aware, several industrial wind and solar projects are currently being proposed here in Lincoln County. Regardless of where someone stands on the philosophy of “green” energy, there is one huge problem that should concern everyone. While these developments can significantly increase the tax base, under Washington’s current tax structure, they end up shifting a large portion of the tax burden...
The term “March Madness” was coined in 1939 by an Illinois high school official named Henry Porter, but it didn’t relate to the annual NCAA basketball tournament until 1982, when broadcaster Brent Musburger put it in play. Musburger was referring to the drama that comes with 68 teams competing in the single-elimination event, now underway. But here’s the real madness: Americans will legally wager an estimated $3.3 billion on the men’s and women’s tournaments. According to the American Gaming Association, it’s an increase of 54% in just the p...
March 26, 1997, San Diego County Sheriff deputies discovered the bodies of 39 members of Heaven’s Gate UFO Religious cult in Rancho Santa Fe. The members had participated in a coordinated series of ritual suicides that coincided with the closest approach of Comet Hale-Bopp. Their website had been updated with the message: “Hale-Bopp brings closure to Haven’s Gate. Our 22 years of classroom here on planet Earth in finally coming to conclusion, graduation from the Human Evolutionary level. We are happily prepared to leave “this world” and go wi...
In our current social climate, it is too easy to allow political concerns to overpower the sway of the most important values that hold us together. As The Star’s deadline day this week falls on St. Patrick’s Day, a remarkably pertinent message for us comes by way of a bit of timeless Irish wisdom, in a toast, as written in 1908. Come, send round the wine, and leave points of belief To simpleton sages, and reasoning fools This moment’s a flower too fair and too brief, To be wither’d and stain’d by the dust of the schools. Your glass may be pu...
First off, hello Grand Coulee and surrounding area; I would like to introduce myself. Tony Jaksa is my name and Safety/Environmental officer on a large project over at the Dam is my game. I’ve been working in this capacity for more years than I would like to admit but keeping workers healthy, injury free and alive is my Mission. The sad facts are that as hard as I and other safety folks work at an injury-free workplace, we still lose some 5,000 workers a year to incident fatality, for too many years. There is nothing more impactful and s...
When I was a kid growing up in Palouse, someone built a gym on Main Street. I was more interested then in what was scheduled in the gym than who built it. Lately have wondered who built the gym. My interest was in the events that were scheduled there. We had a town basketball team. All the towns had one, and they traveled around playing each other. I always thought that the members of our Palouse team financed the building of the gym so they could control how it was used. And most of them were farmers, so they could secure a loan for the...
Protecting the people’s right to know in Washington state is a constant battle that is getting even harder. That’s a tough message to deliver, especially during Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is recognized nationwide from March 15-21 this year. It’s meant to educate, recommit and celebrate the fight for openness in government, believing it is the best way to ensure accountability and preserve public trust. It coincides with the birthday of James Madison, March 16, 1751. Madison was a driving force behind the constitutional convention in 1787...
March 23, 1776, Patrick Henry delivered a speech to Virginia’s Second Revolutionary Convention. He argued for his resolution to raise a militia to defend the colony. Henry said, “This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery…” Henry, in part, closed his speech with, “Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! Is life so d...
All four local towns are suing each other. You could be forgiven if you didn’t know this; the biggest beef between them involves the spectacularly uninteresting subjects of their shared sewage treatment plants, which are spectacularly expensive by your and my standards. Which is sad, because that’s who has to pay for them. That seems obviously unavoidable, as sewer plants are one thing we don’t want to do without. But making them even more expensive than they already are by deciding to sue each other over disagreements regarding them just rubs...
Just as many November 2024 general election President Trump voters express that Trump’s cruel, lawless, racist tyranny is “not what I voted for,” the same is likely true of many voting for Michael Baumgartner as our 5th Congressional District Representative. Watching Baumgartner suck up to Trump lapdog Attorney General Pam Bondi during her histrionic, unhinged performance at Congressional hearings on opening the Jeffrey Epstein files was nauseating (Spokesman-Review 2/12/26). Then Baumgartner, always lapdog to House Speaker Mike Johnson, in tu...