News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Rural Americans with an eye for renewable energy recently received promising news—the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $464 million in solar, wind, and other renewable energy projects benefiting small businesses and farming operations. Of the total investment, more than $128 million will be distributed through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Designed specifically for agricultural producers and rural small businesses, REAP provides loan and grant funding for these entities to invest in renewable energy systems o...
While in Thailand, I was lucky enough to pick up 3 that sell rubbings. One features two Thai women dressed in ancient Thai costumes. The other is a Thai warrior on an elephant. The two rubbings are about 17 inches square. Dennis King did the framing, his usual outstanding work. I didn’t get to see the actual rubbing, although you can catch it on the internet. My rubbings were done on rice paper, which is very flexible, but strong, and accepts ink well. They folded well and placed in my suitcase and when opened up were good as new. In Chiang Mai...
The White House and local politicians have something in common: They are all in the thrall of a trend, evolving over a couple decades or more, to keep more secrets from the people they serve. Last week The Washington Post reported that President Joe Biden was “leaning toward” releasing information that Congress has requested. Congress has a duty to provide oversight over the executive branch. Giving information to Congress that it needs to perform that constitutional duty should be a given unless blocked by the third branch of government, the...
For the entire year, the Columbia Basin Development League has been pushing to ensure the White House infrastructure plan would include water infrastructure for agriculture. Drinking water infrastructure was a given, but funding for aging reservoirs, dams, canals, and pipes that deliver irrigation for crops was more elusive. So was funding for new infrastructure desperately needed by the Odessa Ground Water Replacement Program (OGWRP) that will replace water coming from a declining aquifer with reliable Columbia Basin Project water. The same...
United States armed forces have superior morale, leadership, training, and weapons systems. After the Vietnam era, the U.S. military resolved to never again become engaged in that type of quagmire. Efforts were made to develop procedures making it difficult for Congress or the president to commit U.S. military forces to a task not appropriate for military force. The U.S. Army reoriented to maximize effectiveness when deployed against a conventional enemy military force fielded by a nation-state that has a capability to present a serious threat...
These airline incidents threaten the lives of everyone aboard. The other day a plane two hours out from a flight from Honolulu to Seattle had to turn around and go back because a passenger acted up and interfered with a flight attendant. They need to put a stop to this before there is a disaster. These people need to be on a no-fly list for all airlines, suffer a stiff fine, and look at a mandatory jail sentence. It has been a few years since I’ve been flying, but it would have been unheard of back then. It isn’t just airline passengers who bec...
As I’m writing this letter, 15 of our students or staff in our school district are positive with COVID-19 and 70 students (10% of our student body) are in quarantine because they have been exposed. At the same time, a large portion of the school staff remains unvaccinated: that’s the elephant in the room I would like to address. On October 18th, by state mandate, all school staff and volunteers working in contact with children must be fully vaccinated. That is, unless they have a medical or religious exemption. In our school, we likely hav...
I never thought I’d have to be writing this but let me be clear: The Constitution and Declaration of Independence, our nation’s foundational documents and declaration of beliefs, are not controversial – period. I will always stand to protect, defend, and follow our Constitution. Unfortunately, in the latest showing of “cancel culture,” the Biden Administration’s National Archives Task Force has labeled our country’s records – including seminal documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the U.S. Constitution ...
Never been a crop failure in the Palouse, I think, never! The area abounds in deep, rich soil and an abundance of rain at the critical time in the spring. Not this year. Of course, the soil hasn’t changed. But the rains didn’t come. One farmer I know reported only about 60% of normal yields. The only good news about the harvest is that the wheat prices were up. When I was a student in high school there, in one class we were sent out to measure the rich, black topsoil. We took our augurs and were surprised to find that where we measured the top...
If you have contacted my office in recent years, you know that I pride myself in delivering personal responses to you. My office staff and I work very hard to make sure you receive prompt and detailed information related to your questions and concerns. Despite the high volume of communications my office receives, I still try to respond personally to each. Unfortunately, I was unable to respond personally to thousands of inquiries last month following Governor Inslee’s statewide mask and COVID vaccine mandates. In an effort to provide you w...
During the past 18 months, the pandemic has had significant impact on our lives. However, small businesses have the greatest impact on our livelihoods. Whether self-employed or the employer to dozens, small businesses are the engine that keep our economy and our communities running. They are the providers of goods and services; and, also the providers of incomes and sustenance. Being a small business owner is difficult even in the best of economic times, so to say small business ownership has been a challenge the past year and a half is an...
In recent years, the cost of solar energy has plummeted, and demand has escalated due to consumer support for clean energy and the value it adds to a property owner’s land and rural communities. However, in the U.S., solar energy provided less than 4% of the country’s electricity in 2020. Last week, the Biden administration announced a plan to procure 45% of the country’s electricity from the sun by 2050. However, the pathway to achieving the set goal will be up to Congress as the administration has only released a general outline for the p...
Myanmar (Burma) has its own way of storing gold. The Shwedagon Pagoda is one of the premier Buddhist temples in the world and dates back some 2,500 years. Here in the U.S. we think of things 200-300 years old as really old. Not there, nor in most of the world. This huge monument wears thousands of tons of gold, like a coat in cold weather. As if this isn’t rich enough, it has thousands of diamonds on its top, including one of over 70 carats. I like to think of myself as a contributor to the country’s wealth. While there, I patiently wat...
This September 11 remembrance fell at a time when America is bitterly divided. It is also a time when we are more acutely worried about where and when terrorists will strike next. Our hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan — the place where terrorists orchestrated the 9/11 carnage in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville killing nearly 3,000 fellow Americans — was fresh in our minds. We needed words of reassurance again. We needed to be reminded of the way our country came together after 9/11 — an epilog — and a hopeful path forward—a prolog....
Sometimes, to stop fires, you have to start them. Democrats like President Biden often point to the West’s devastating wildfires as evidence of climate change, and while that’s certainly contributed to some of the events we are seeing unfolding across the country, it’s only part of the picture. The rest? Burdensome government regulations inhibiting proper forest management and “sue-and-settle” lawsuits that prevent any actionable plans from being implemented. In Central Washington, if you step outside today, you’re bound to be inundated b...
Remember way back at the beginning of the pandemic, about a zillion years ago, when all we knew is that it could be bad for a while, but then schools actually closed? That’s when we knew this was going to be inconvenient as hell and hoped it would not last too long. Back then, there was some limited discussion about whether it was possible to come up with a vaccine, or whether that was even the right approach. The majority of scientists, and just as importantly politicians, decided the new coronavirus was probably lethal enough that taking t... Full story
It’s that time of year again when we dust off our boots and compete against our neighbors in all sorts of animals, crafts, cooking and what-not contests at the Okanogan County Fair. The Okanogan County Fair Advisory Committee would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to join us at our 74th annual fair, Sept. 9-12. As we prepare to celebrate, we reflect on the many challenges we have faced leading up to this year’s event. From wildfires to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are “Okanogan County Strong.” Like many, we look forward to the fai...
On August 31, 2021, I injured myself when a 400-pound welding table fell off a cable, knocking me down, causing a severe laceration to my right leg requiring surgery. I have lived in this community since 1969 and have had limited encounters with our local hospital. I had formed a somewhat passive opinion of the emergency medical care available, however this injury gave me a new and more definite perspective. From admittance to discharge, my care was excellent and complete from the all members of the medical team. I was so impressed with the...
I’ve seen a mountain of big attractions. But little things do matter, and sometimes they are embedded in your memory. A few years ago, I took on a consulting job in Kodiak, Alaska. The owner wanted to clean up some of her business practices so she could sell her newspaper. I made several trips there and twice my wife accompanied me. On one trip, I had the weekend free and decided to fly to Anchorage and see a healthcare practitioner who lived just up the block from us in Bothell. She showed us around and we made a drive to Denali National P...
September 11, 2001: a day that no American who lived to see will ever forget. I was recently asked about where I was that day, and I remember it keenly, deeply. I think it’s a question every American has an answer to — a moment engraved in time. Since it was early September, it was right in the middle of hop harvest. My cousin and I were working to unplug the picking machine, a more-than-common occurrence for hop farmers, when his wife called, crying. Those first moments that morning were ones of disbelief. Then, justification — it must have...
On August 31, 2021, I injured myself when a 400-pound welding table fell off a cable, knocking me down, causing a severe laceration to my right leg requiring surgery. I have lived in this community since 1969 and have had limited encounters with our local hospital. I had formed a somewhat passive opinion of the emergency medical care available, however this injury gave me a new and more definite perspective. From admittance to discharge, my care was excellent and complete from the all members of the medical team. I was so impressed with the...
A little-noticed initiative by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, and six other senators would boost local jobs, accelerate sales, and improve economies. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, S. 2434, is designed to help local news media support their newsgathering missions. One provision goes far beyond offering aid to community newspapers, local news websites and other news-gatherers. It would help small businesses to dig out of the economic doldrums by supporting their advertising costs in local news outlets, which in turn will help...
Our daughter Kim is in the thick of Louisiana storms again. Five years ago, their home in Denham Springs was flooded, with up to four feet of water in the lower floor. They had experienced 30 inches of rain in a couple day’s time. That’s about three years of rain around here. She and her husband, Bruce, had to strip wallboard and insulation from the lower floor and replace the floor, appliances and furniture. It was a three-month long project. Kim and Bruce live on the river, and with that amount of rain the river overflowed its banks and the...
Before we examine what scientists are expressing about our upcoming 2021-22 winter, I want to share a recap of 2021 summer weather data. Let’s take it month by month. June — six days over 100˚F, 16 days over 90, high temperature of 113.8˚F and 0.49 inches of precipitation. July — four days over 100, 14 days over 90, high temperature of 104.1 and 0.08 inches of precipitation. August — five days over 100, 10 days over 90, high temperature of 104.1 and 0.42 inches of precipitation. For the three...
As Washington state and the rest of the world continues to process through the COVID pandemic, governors throughout our nation — Republicans and Democrats — have utilized their offices and authorities in a variety of ways. In Washington state, the Emergency Powers Act (RCW 43.06.220) authorizes the governor to declare emergencies and issue orders in response to those declared emergencies. The original version of this law was enacted in 1969, at a time when likely no one would have anticipated any emergency lasting multiple years. On Feb...