1 years ago Challenger Greg Wilder garnered 67% of the primary vote ending Tuesday night to place himself solidly in the general election race against Coulee Dam mayor Quincy Snow. The school board we’ll meet tonight in an i... — Updated 8/2/2023

Last week I came across a number of old letters written to me from my three older brothers who served in various theaters of war during World War II. They were written in the 1940s, some nearly 80 years ago. The question I am facin... — Updated 8/2/2023

The ground has shifted beneath community journalism, and the new landscape has a different feel. These days, good cameras in almost everyone’s pocket and the emergence of social media turns the possibilities around from what e... — Updated 8/2/2023

We are all different. If we were not, it would be impossible to recognize people we know, including our close friends and relatives. Sometimes we don’t like people who are different, whose beliefs differ from ours, or whose b... — Updated 7/26/2023

Everyone knows Scott. In fact, he might be the best known man in our coulee towns. He owns The Star newspaper, and you might say he is The Star newspaper. You would have to have Gwen Hilson to take a bow. She has worked there for... — Updated 7/26/2023

Ten years ago The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board passed it’s budget Monday night after a public hearing on the matter. No one showed up to question the $9.5 million budget. The Colville tribes has announced plans to c... — Updated 7/26/2023

No better example exists of congressional Republican degeneration than comparison of Liz Cheney with Harriet Hageman, who trounced Cheney in the 2022 Wyoming Republican Primary by more than 30 points. Cheney occupied the... — Updated 7/26/2023

For the past decade, the media has been obsessed with the idea of a growing divide between rural and urban areas, often portraying it as a deep chaasm separating the nation’s citizens. A recent example of this coverage took it a st... — Updated 7/26/2023

While pondering the pathetic fates of three Trump legal eagles – Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Lin Wood – I’m reminded of a line from an old Jackson Browne song: “The strangled cries of lawyers in love“ Plus, this old cliche: ... — Updated 7/19/2023

Heat-related deaths are one of the deadliest weather-related health outcomes in the United States. WHAT IS HEAT- RELATED ILLNESS? Heat-related illness, also called hyperthermia, is a condition resulting from exposure to extreme... — Updated 7/19/2023

I recently returned to Palouse to say goodbye to my final classmate. Bob Olson and I were born in 1930, at the beginning of the Great Depression. We entered the first grade together in 1936, midway through some very hard times. In... — Updated 7/19/2023

Native communities are disproportionally impacted by the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIW). Having engaged with the tribes and law enforcement officers throughout Central Washington; it’s clear t... — Updated 7/12/2023

While taking a walk recently I had the opportunity to visit with my neighbor, Brad McConnell. Brad has lived next to me for nearly five years and this is the most extensive visit we’ve had. As we were talking about travel, he s... — Updated 7/12/2023

Recently, while in Coulee Dam visiting family, I had the opportunity to visit the Colville Tribal Museum. Having grown up in the area, this is something I have wanted to do for some time. I was not disappointed. Upon entering, we... — Updated 7/12/2023

Mel Johnson is an oil painter I first met while living in Bothell. I used a framer in Lake Forest Park to frame pictures I liked. Knowing I was a reporter, he said that I ought to do a story about Johnson. He had a couple of... — Updated 6/28/2023

Wind, solar, and other renewable energy projects offer a significant opportunity to revitalize rural communities and diversify the local economy. Increased tax revenue from renewable energy projects enables school districts,... — Updated 6/28/2023

Several years ago, the Grand Coulee Dam School District decided to fence off its “bus barn” near the baseball field in Coulee Dam due to repeated thefts happening at night. Earlier this month, as city officials gathered at the Del... — Updated 6/28/2023

That shaking you feel is not an earthquake. It is our country’s founders rolling in their graves. Here in Florida, on the front burner of the next presidential election, politics is all about how we use the bathroom. At M... — Updated 6/21/2023

When we used to return to Southern Idaho to visit my wife’s family, we were usually treated to something special by her brother, Robert Compton. He is still known affectionately as “Uncle Bob.” This particular time we got in his c... — Updated 6/21/2023

The federal debt ceiling crisis was averted but tax cheats benefited. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 contained $79 billion for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); $45 billion of it was to audit individuals or businesses... — Updated 6/21/2023

I understand the old “why should I have to if they don’t have to.” I’m talking about the police officers assigned to the USBR. I wouldn’t think they need protection inside the project grounds. Security is for the perimeter... — Updated 6/21/2023

Sometimes, there’s a gap between what is right and what is legal. Government is good at falling into those. Locally, the four mayors who comprise the Regional Board of Mayors are asking their councils to consider a problem: an E... — Updated 6/21/2023