News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 3447
Recently, my wife and I took one of our semi-grown daughters and her friend to the American Rodeo Championship Weekend at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. But we weren’t there to see the adult, full-contact petting zoo that is a championship rodeo. Instead, for around the cost of the latest iPhone, we bought four tickets to see country music heartthrob (and darn good singer) Riley Green and the almost-as-lovely-as-my-wife (in case she reads this) Ella Langley perform mid-rodeo. Because the concert was sandwiched between the final and c...
When traveling abroad, you meet a lot of people, most of them casually. Not the case with the Fujimotos from Tokyo. It all started here in the U.S. when we got involved with a student FIUTS organization. We were sponsoring a student from Thailand, and sponsors and students were having a get together to get acquainted. In chatting with a student from Japan, I mentioned that I was going there. He said if I would give him my itinerary, he would have his sister show me around. I arrived and was staying at the Okura Hotel, at the time one of the...
May 9, 1754, the “Join or Die” political cartoon appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette. Ben Franklin was the newspaper publisher and author of the article and cartoon. The cartoon depicted a snake cut into eight pieces that symbolized the British colonies. The cartoon was part of an article addressing a recent military loss to the French. Franklin’s article went on to explain. “The Confidence of the French in this undertaking seems well-grounded on the present disunited state of the British Colonies, and the extreme difficulty of bringin...
The Pacific Northwest stands at a pivotal crossroads when it comes to the future of energy. Blessed with an abundance of hydropower resources, the region has an unparalleled opportunity to lead the nation in developing a hydrogen economy. By leveraging both its hydroelectric resources and heavy industry sectors, the PNW can create a new wave of economic prosperity and develop a regional energy hub that will benefit local industry and consumers. Hydrogen is a critical component of our energy future. Clean hydrogen made from hydropower provides...
Our Representative in Congress, Dan Newhouse, has repeatedly betrayed us, his constituents, and has shown himself to be a MAGA Yes Man, and one who is anti-healthcare, opposed to the rule of law, and pro-Jim Crow. In February and again in April he voted for a devastating budget proposal that guts Medicaid/Apple Health and will lead to decreased access to care, rural hospital closures, and deaths in Central Washington. He also voted for the No Rogue Rulings Act, which limits the power of federal district courts. These courts are even more...
April 18, 1906, an earthquake struck near San Francisco, the then largest city on the West Coast. The earthquake occurred offshore at an outcropping called Mussel Rock just after 5:00a.m. Tremors were felt from Oregon to Los Angeles. The land on the eastern side of San Andreas Fault, the city and bay, moved southward. The land on the west side of fault, was pushed northward. The displacement was more than six meters (20 feet). The exact magnitude of the earthquake is disputed, most common estimate is about 7.9 – a very damaging event. Fires i...
Over the past several weeks, I have been called schizophrenic, whether it be on social media, in emails from readers or jokingly from friends who seem to think I’m all over the map on the Trump administration. I thought a little clarification was due, before I take a flight over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I am a conservative, through and through, and I have the battle scars to prove it. But being a conservative, and not a “Never Trump” liberal light, does not require I agree with everything my president does. It does not mean I have to “take one for t...
We all want to believe that a newly elected federal administration begins by working on the really critical stuff from their campaign. We are less than four months into the current administration. Evidently, there was a war on showers and water pressure, and it is high priority for the Trump Administration. On April 9th President Trump signed an executive order that will end the war on water pressure and create great showers. The executive order “…will end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure a...
The growing number of instances of biological men, who identify as women, competing in women’s sports over the last several years has led to states and the federal government taking action to protect women’s sports. Earlier this year, President Trump signed an Executive Order that would revoke federal funding for any schools that allow biological men to compete against women in athletic competitions. The House of Representatives passed, with my support, the “Protecting of Women and Girls in Sports Act” to preserve a level playing field for gir...
Al Berro had the most successful tavern in Boise. I’m sure he made a good living with it. But Al had other interests. Mainly, he was known far more as a boxing and wrestling promoter. Al carefully developed fighters, two of them eventually being rated by Ring Magazine, the bible for rating boxers. He carefully got them fights they could win, building up records. It took a long time. Roque Maravilla and George Logan were rated by Ring Magazine. Maravilla was fifth in the light heavy division and eighth for Logan in the heavyweight division. A...
Washingtonians recall Ralph Munro’s distinctive political advertisements, which featured 30 seconds of bagpipe music followed by a brief tagline stating, “This interlude brought to you by the Munro campaign.” As unusual and refreshing as the ads were, they worked! They spared voters from the merciless pounding dished out by sparing politicians and their band of campaign hacks. Munro was elected as our state’s longest-serving secretary of state in 1980 and retired, after five four-year terms, in 2000. While he often ran unopposed, Munro was tir...
April 18, 1906, an earthquake struck near San Francisco, the then largest city on the West Coast. The earthquake occurred offshore at an outcropping called Mussel Rock just after 5:00a.m. Tremors were felt from Oregon to Los Angeles. The land on the eastern side of San Andreas Fault, the city and bay, moved southward. The land on the west side of fault, was pushed northward. The displacement was more than six meters (20 feet). The exact magnitude of the earthquake is disputed, most common estimate is about 7.9 – a very damaging event. Fires i...
In a sign that there is hope for a better government, a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate seeks to reassert the authority over trade granted to Congress in the Constitution. The Congress abdicated (delegated is actually the word they’ll use) that responsibility to the president back in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression after the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act had deepened it in an attempt to protect American businesses. But that was back in the day when Americans expected and demanded normalcy and decency in a president, not when they c...
Norm Luther’s accusations against Congressman Baumgartner are baseless, written in ignorance, and only echo left wing talking points. Mr. Luther accuses Congressman Baumgartner of undercutting Zelenskyy by saying that he is not doing a great job. That does not undercut him. Zelenskyy has been at war for quite a while now and continues to back out of cease fire deals. The U.S. has given hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine. We are now finding out that much of that is unaccounted for. It’s our duty to be critical of where our tax money goes...
Politicians like buzz-words and phrases designed to distract, mock or deflect. The word woke is used today for that purpose. Here’s an example of woke obnoxiously used. In this case, it’s Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. “We fight the woke in the legislature. We fight the woke in the schools. We fight the woke in the corporations. We will never, ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.” Where did the word woke come from? It was appropriated from African America culture...
While living in Boise, we decided to drive up to Payette Lake, about a two-hour drive. At Cascade, we drove around and ended up on a dirt road that headed east. We kept going and ended up in what is called the Stanley Basin. Stanley is a town of maybe 500-600 people. The town has a two-room schoolhouse with kids from all grades. But the little village houses a gigantic view of the Sawtooth Mountain Range. Its ragged rocky mountains reminded me of the Teton Range in Wyoming. It was our first discovery of the Sawtooths. Stanley is about 65 miles...
Our nation offers places for us to observer, read about and digest information on a wide collection of topics and people. The places that offer this are our museums and libraries. As a nation, we are keenly aware those places of knowledge are a hallmark, indeed a symbol of free societies. Is our nation willing to continue its support of its museums and libraries? The United States, has tens of thousands of museums, right up to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. The same applies to the nation’s l...
Rep. Michael Baumgartner is, figuratively speaking, “all-over-the-map” about Ukraine — but effectively supporting Russia. He agrees that Russia clearly started the war and was/is the aggressor, and he’s assured Thrive International Ukrainian refugees that he opposes their deportation. But he completely undercuts that by his Ritzville Town Hall statement, “I don’t think [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is doing a great job,” and by his outlandish calls for Zelenskyy to resign after President Donald Trump humiliated Zelenskyy. Co...
Everybody has favorite places. Some are lucky enough to live in them. For me, I have been lucky enough to live near some of them. I guess a favorite place is a place that captures your imagination and at the same time makes you feel good. I know of places I’ve been that didn’t do that. My travel agent in Kirkland called me one day while we were living in Bothell and said he had come across a special trip. Well, it turned out to be the Cayman Islands, where the water is clear and the sun bears down on you from midday on. We went for a week and...
Washingtonians recall Ralph Munro’s distinctive political advertisements, which featured 30 seconds of bagpipe music followed by a brief tagline stating, “This interlude brought to you by the Munro campaign.” As usual and refreshing as they were, they worked! They spared voters from the unmerciful candidate pounding dished out by sparing politicians and their band of campaign hacks. Munro was elected as our state’s longest-serving secretary of state in 1980 and retired after five four-year terms in 2000. While he often ran unopposed, Munro w...
We are in a difficult and unsettling era in American History, primarily driven by disinformation in the media, on the Internet, and by word-of-mouth. The assertion that President Biden was the “worst” President or that President Trump is the “best” President displays a shocking lack of both perspective and knowledge of American History, which encompasses forty-seven presidential administrations over almost 250 years. Some presidents were genuinely great; others were base scoundrels, and many were mediocre. Only with history will we know where t...
As lawmakers meeting in Olympia wind up the 2025 session, they face a whopping $15 billion budget deficit—a situation they must address before adjourning and going home. Unlike Congress, state legislators and Gov. Bob Ferguson cannot authorize deficit spending or borrowing to fund state government. They either raise taxes and fees; or cut costs programs and people. Washington is primarily funded by sales, property, specialized taxes (such as unemployment, workers compensation and fuel), and gross receipt (business and occupation) taxes — a hig...
It’s said that a dog is man’s best friend. Not always. I’ve had a couple that wouldn’t qualify. I had a dog when I was in high school in Palouse. It was a shepherd, black, brown and white. We lived about a half mile from the school and no bus service so I had to walk. Every afternoon when I was walking home the dog would sit in the front yard and watch for me. When the dog could see me, it would race down the road to greet me. I really liked that dog. Later, someone shot it. When my wife and I married, she had a dog. We moved to Wilbur and ren...
March 31, 1917, The United States formally took possession of the Danish West Indies, now known as the Virgin Islands. The United States purchased the islands from Denmark for $25 million. The Strategic location was important given their location in relation to the Panama Canal. As European nations continued to colonize, the islands were caught in a back and forth “ownership” between Spain and France as a ruler. Danish settlers arrived and grew sugar cane using convicted criminals and later slave labor. Over time, Saint Thomas Island bec...
Thank you to the people who have supported the efforts of those who are walking in concern for the current activities of the Executive Branch of the United States. Thumbs up, horns honking encourage our spirits. Thanks to the woman buying each walker a cup of coffee, and to another person who brought water, and to yet another who brought blueberry tarts. Each one thanked us for standing up and speaking out against actions that affect so many people in our community and in communities across our country. We walk to represent all of us, no...