Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 3557
We shouldn’t need a date on the calendar to remind us to be thankful. I am thankful all year long for my family. While they are scattered from Louisiana to north of Everett, it is like they are with me all year long. On Thanksgiving there were a dozen who made it home to have a great dinner and report on a lot of the things they did since we were last together. They brave the weather to come, and make the long and sometimes tedious drives so we can be together. It isn’t often that we are all together at the same time, but frequent calls kee...
Last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that distillate inventories (which include diesel) were at their lowest levels since 1951—currently we only have a 27-day supply remaining. That means if all production is halted and we maintain our current usage, we will run out of diesel fuel in 27 days. And while this shortage impacts folks in rural communities the most, every single community will feel the effects. Farmers rely on diesel to fuel the equipment to harvest your food. We rely on diesel trucks to transport the f...

The good news is, despite higher prices, inflation and safety concerns, more Christmas shoppers are browsing on-line but making in-store purchases. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported this year an estimated 166.3 million people visited stores from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday----an 8 million increase from last year. It is the highest estimate since NRF began tracking this data in 2017. The good news extends to on-line sales. E-commerce retail revenues this year are projected...

The powers that Google and Facebook have over economic and political power in society - especially over the news industry - has caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington, DC. After a close election and many worries over the quality of public debate, many ask if social media have played a role in the misinformation that erodes our free press and plagues our democracy. Nowhere is this power more daunting than in the social media giants' use of news organizations' reporting, which the...
As a longtime resident of Coulee Dam, I have concerns as to why the town of Coulee Dam and the Police Department are negotiating to take over the handling of police services for the Electric City area. Coulee Dam is already down one officer and will have to hire another one to cover Electric City. Crime is now rising in the Coulee Dam area. I unfortunately found this out the hard way over (the weekend before last), as my home was burglarized. In the early hours of Monday morning, while I slept, person/s broke into my house and went through my...
I agree with Janis Heuvel’s letter to the editor from Nov.16th concerning Dollar General. I feel it would be detrimental to our community and especially our local businesses to allow a Dollar General to come to our area. It would essentially put the Coulee Wall Variety Store and the local residents who own and operate it out of business. There would also be a negative impact to our grocery stores, Coulee Hardware, and even take business away from our gas stations for convenience items. If anyone local cares to shop at one, they are now as c...
We’ve been visiting the area for 15 years and recently purchased land for our retirement home. The culture of the GC community is reminiscent of the small towns we grew up in and we intend to get involved. Reading about the plan to allow Dollar (General) to invade the area was dismaying! Not only do these stores undermine local merchant stability (just like Walmart) but they are notorious for L&I infractions! Corrine Behme...
While I was at the Citizen Newspaper in Bothell we were purchased by the Persis Corporation. They owned a number of newspapers and we were placed under the daily paper they owned in Bellevue. It was 1987. It created a lot of problems and opportunities. Instead of printing on our own small press, we started printing our paper in Bellevue. That’s where the opportunities came in. One of the Persis executives, Phil Gialanella, who was headquartered in Hawaii, would come over about once a month and hold a big show and tell time. He was instrumental...
In Central Washington, we have so much to be thankful for. This Thanksgiving, as we come together with our friends and family, don’t forget to take a moment to give thanks to our hard-working farmers, processors, and food bank workers throughout Central Washington who work to provide the food on our plates. From the turkey to the stuffing, our farmers probably played a part in your Thanksgiving dinners. Many of the potatoes, onions, winegrapes and other Thanksgiving favorites you consume were grown right here in Central Washington, making up a...

The 1982 Raider Volleyball Team had a terrific season this year. Front row - from left: Kim Vordahl, Janae Parker, Dawn Zimmerman, Nancy Kuiper,Deanna Hamilton, Shelley Brashears, Brenda Boyd; back - Coach L.C. Curtis, Billie Shelby, Rose Somday, Lisa Loe, Jinger Higginbotham., Not pictured Rhonda Erickson Assistant Coach, LeaAnnSnyder and Kendra McDermott....
I read the recent Star news article appearing in the October 26th issue of the Star. It was reported, at the October 18th Grand Coulee City Council meeting, during the public comment period an attendee, Darryl Hackworth, spoke. Mr. Hackworth said he had been working with “Dollar General” regarding setting up a retail shop in Grand Coulee on property located on Federal Way, behind where it intersects with Midway Ave. As an area resident, I personally feel the possibility of a Dollar General locating in Grand Coulee would be deleterious to our...
Nothing says Merry Christmas and Happy New Year like a 46-cent additional gas tax, coming January 2023, as part of the Climate Commitment Act, from the people who look out for our welfare and wellbeing. We already pay 49 cents per gallon, so what’s another 46 cents per gallon? It will be a total of 95 cents per gallon just for the Washington State tax, along with the Federal tax for a total of $1.14 per gallon just in taxes. This will be the highest gas tax in the Nation, we can’t let California be number one. I hope this makes Gov Inslee and...
Give President Joe Biden some credit for mid-term election Democratic successes when most everyone, including the media, predicted otherwise. Instead of focusing on himself, he quietly avoided states where he’s unpopular and helped Democrats win Pennsylvania where he grew up and is still popular. He presented us with our country’s greatest challenge: to save our democracy from autocratic ambitions of the MAGA faction that dominates the Republican party. He inherited a mess and time spent cleaning it up detracted from time for positive acc...
A recent column on my motorcycle days put me in touch with one of the sons of my old friend Joe Emerson. Someone had sent him a copy of my comments about his dad and of our friendship while we were both living in Palouse. He said that his dad was in the Air Force, not the army, and that Joe was not a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes. I had misunderstood when Joe told me of his family’s property along the Columbia River when the dam backed up the water submerging the family home. Joe had said that his family was given land higher up f...
For decades, Central Washingtonians have had to fight to make our voices heard over the noise of outside interest groups and government bureaucrats who think they know what is best for our communities. Unfortunately, last week’s decision by the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reopen discussions on introducing grizzly bears, an apex predator, into the North Cascades Ecosystem proves that, once again, our voices are being ignored. The debate over grizzly bear introduction in Washington state is nothing new. In 1995, W...

Welding in progresson the installation of an 18-foot diameter steel penstock liner section. The scaffold is used by the welders to makethe circumferential seam joining this section with the one previously installed. - Dec. 1939...
This week half the country will be upset by the midterm election results and half will be elated. Regardless, politics is causing every one of us more stress than it ought to, but, believe it or not, there is, hopefully, still some humor that we can all enjoy. Since Congress has a lower approval rating than polio, here are some fun lines to share: It’s so cold today, the congresswoman had her hands in her own pockets. The opposite of “pro” is “con,” so the opposite of progress is: Congress. Q: What did the corrupt congressman order for lunch...
Lowering our flags to half-staff is a solemn act that recognizes our fallen heroes, whether they be men and women in our armed forces or police officers killed in the line of duty. It is a vivid reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by those who serve us. Unfortunately, after those flags return to the top of the pole and time passes, we tend to forget that the suffering for the friends and families continues. The loneliness, financial stress, and emotional strain lives on. That is when those husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and parents need...
Lloyd Meeds represented Washington’s 2nd District in Congress for a number of years and was a frequent visitor to our newspaper in Bothell. He spent a lot of time in the district and would come by the paper for interviews and to report on what he was doing back in Washington. Quite often, his wife, Mary, would accompany him. I told the two, on one occasion, of my plan to travel to the far east, and they quickly suggested that I include Taiwan as one of the countries to visit. Mary Meeds was Chinese and a personal friend of Madame Chiang K...
Central Washington is lucky to be home to over 33,000 veterans. As our nation observes this upcoming Veterans Day, we reaffirm a solemn promise to remember and honor the men and women of the United States Armed Forces — past and present. Although Veterans Day was established to remember and revere the sacrifices of so many, our veterans deserve to know their country is looking after them and their families each and every day. I have spent much of my time in Congress meeting with veterans across Central Washington and learning about the i...
I didn’t believe my wife when she told me there were 80 students at the elementary Raider cheer clinic last week. So, I went to the game and once again she was correct – darn it! It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. Totally awesome! A fan by me said the mini cheerleaders were adorable. Great job Coach A. and Coach Tufts. My wife said she could not have done it without her wonderful assistant coach and hardworking high school cheerleaders. Appreciated the simple fun, enthusiasm and tremendous energy so much! John M. Adkin...
“Police spoke to a man at Safeway who was reported as acting strangely and not speaking. The man did speak to police, saying he wanted a drink. Police told him he wasn’t welcome at the store, and then found that he was wanted on a felony warrant out of Okanogan County for assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, theft, and another assault charge. Officials in Okanogan were unable to speak to the officer, who was told to call back in 30 minutes. The officer found this to be an unreasonable amount of time to detain the man outside of Safeway, so...

Join me on a deep dive into the limited use of Tactical Nuclear Weapons. You ask, why this subject, it’s just unthinkable! Unthinkable yes, though it is plausible. The questions I wanted answered are: What effects these weapons may have on both short-term weather and long-term climate. Tactical nuclear weapons are generally characterized by “their size, their range, or their use for limited military targets.” For nine months, a war has been ongoing in Eastern Europe. Lately, the leader of the a...
Transitioning from military to civilian life can be challenging for veterans. As they contemplate what’s next on their career path, the answer may lie in a rural community. Returning veterans are a perfect fit for the next generation of rural small business owners, farmers or ranchers. Some, however, face challenges, including difficulty accessing capital and acquiring training. But with the help of programs offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), veterans can access the financial and educational resources they need to get a...
Demand for Electric Vehicles (EV) is soaring---accelerated by climate change concerns. EVs reduce tailpipe emissions from cars, trucks and buses which are responsible for 30 percent of our greenhouse gas pollutants. The switch to EVs is worldwide and growing. The Simply Insurance website projects that by 2040, 58 percent of global vehicle sales will be electric. In 2021, China’s EV sales jumped to 3.3 million. Chinese government officials told automakers that electric vehicles (EVs) will make up 40 percent of all sales (39.78 million) by 2...