News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 675 - 699 of 3557
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...
Remember when our elected officials represented their constituents? That was before they found it better to represent themselves. Senators Warren Magnuson and Henry Jackson come to mind. Let me explain. When living in Bothell, I bought my youngest daughter a horse and kept it at a pasture nearby that was owned by a crusty old cowboy named Homer. I would go down and stand at the fence and watch the horse and chat with Homer. On one occasion, I met a local attorney who also had become friends with Homer, another cowboy of sorts. He told me that...
My ballot for the November 8 election came Friday and is now completed, waiting to be dropped back into the mail. We're fortunate it's so easy here to contribute to the success of our community by voting. This election's school levy request is especially important to keep providing for our local kids' education needs. If the pared-down levy (half the levy we've been paying) passes, GCD School District will receive substantial matching dollars from the state to support athletics, Drivers Education, Special Education, technology classes, and...
I have worked in some form of law enforcement in Okanogan County for 31 years having started in Winthrop. The last 3 years have been a rollercoaster ride with COVID and the negative changes in the laws that were passed in WA State. Sheriff Hawley has made his way through unprecedented times and has succeeded, with more hard work to come. His education and experience have all been in the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office and living in Okanogan County which makes him the best choice. He has gone from Corrections Officer to Deputy then Sergeant a...
The upcoming levy is VERY important to our students, staff and community. To reiterate what you’ve already been reading/hearing, you are currently paying just over $4 per thousand and with a “yes” vote it will DROP almost half to just over $2 per thousand. And what’s important to know is IF the levy were to fail, we will NOT receive matching funds from the state so it’s a “double whammy” to the district. When I was a sophomore here at LR, yes long ago, the levy failed. It’s been long enough now that people don’t remember the detrimental effec...
I have had the pleasure of knowing Joey Kriete for 30-plus years and was honored to have worked alongside him in Law Enforcement for nearly half that time. Not only is Joey a true and loyal friend, but a phenomenal mentor and partner with a wealth of knowledge and experience. He is someone I wholeheartedly trust at the helm of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and is a proven leader who will continue to do great things for our county. Coming up through the ranks, Joey was one of my biggest fans. He continually provided great advice and d...
A century ago, people in the Western world were excited about the future. The automobile was coming online, and the Wright brothers put an internal combustion engine on their flying machine and were performing demonstrations flights for crowds of enthusiastic people in France, Germany, and the United States. The demonstration flights drew crowds of 200,000 thrilled spectators. The automobile offered the freedom of easy mobility, and the airplane’s defiance of gravity sent people’s imagination to soaring heights. Flying was deemed to be so com...
I had a few years as a motorcycle nut, riding a BSA. The BSA was built by the Birmingham Small Arms Company, which stopped building motorcycles and built war materials instead during World War II. I and my friend, Joe Emerson, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, bought our bikes the same day. Joe had moved to Palouse when his mother, Bertha, took a job with the Northern Pacific Railroad as a telegrapher. They had moved into a house just a few blocks away and the two of us were constant companions. Joe had an older brother, Guy, who...
To “Build Back America” key workers must return to jobsites. It is not good enough for President Biden to lean back on low unemployment numbers claiming success when employers cannot find workers. Inflation is a huge deterrent. It has been running at over 8 percent. Last April, the New York Post reported: “White-hot inflation has forced the average American household to cough up an extra $460 per month, as surging prices for food and fuel put family budgets across the nation under strain.” When Biden took office the cost of gas was $2.39 per ga...
Maybe she thought she could trust me, or maybe she just really needed to tell someone right then. We were both about 10, and our conversation then sheds light for me on a minor item in today’s report from the Elmer City Council meeting last week. She’d come over to our house with her parents, who were friends with my parents. Sally and I didn’t know each other well, but got along OK. She was with me when I fell off the cliff, but that will come a little later on in this story. This is about her, and all of us. We lived at the foot of Marshal Gr...
I want to thank Scott Hunter for his well-thought-out editorial in last week’s edition of The Star. He’s 100% correct — because the levy is asking the voters to approve a lower rate on their home values, it doesn’t mean that the school has fewer needs. Education is an ongoing mission. Community partnership with the schools is vital if that cause has any chance to succeed. This levy will fill important special and pre-K education needs, as well as driver’s ed. The levy will also allow schools to lower class sizes and fund additional support s...
I have known Melissa Chlarson for over 30 years, and I am proud to support her as our county’s next Superior Court Judge. Melissa and I both grew up in the Columbia Basin and attended Moses Lake High School together. Years later, we graduated from Gonzaga Law School and started our legal careers as young associate attorneys in the same law firm in Moses Lake. I argued countless motions in front of Melissa when she served as the Grant County Superior Court Commissioner. She was always well prepared, respectful, temperate, and conscientious of t...
Discussion and debate has always been a part of rural America. From coffee shops to the local co-op, rural residents aren't afraid to show their loyalty for one candidate or another, share their thoughts on the issues of the day, and voice their distrust of the government. Sometimes opinions can spur disagreement and raise tensions. But, in the end, most of us will agree to disagree, shake hands, and go about our day. Lately, this seems to have changed. The divisive politics of Washington have...
My daughter Kim lives in Louisiana. She likes it there, just a ew miles from Denham Springs and on the banks of the Amite River. Two main reasons she likes it there are that most of the storms you hear about go around where she lives, and her neighbors are such caring people. The other morning, the humidity there was over 90%. This allows you to breaststroke from the bed to the kitchen in the morning. After a few minutes, she can go out on the deck and have a bug the size of a half dollar land on her arm, and then looking down, you can see a...
The reduced amount elected school board directors at the Grand Coulee Dam School District are seeking in the upcoming levy should be an easy yes for voters. Sensitive to the times we’re in and emerging from, the board changed course in July after getting feedback on an earlier proposal. In essence, they cut their ask in half. That doesn’t mean the needs are fewer, but it does show there’s flexibility in meeting long-term needs for maintenance and upgrades. Unless your property was assessed this year at more than twice what it was before (high...
My name is Mark Nash. I don’t have children at Lake Roosevelt Schools. But I do have Grandchildren and a Great Grandchild who attend school there. I have some questions for the voters. Who paid for your elementary and high school education? I know the answer to that question and so do you: your parents, grandparents, and the communities where you lived as a child. Just like their parents, grandparents and the people in the communities where they lived paid for theirs. The cost of your education may not have been as expensive then as the cost o...
Grant County Democrats thank the hundreds of friendly people who stopped by our building during the fair in August. Forty-five filled out our survey. It revealed participants’ top concerns: 1st (a tie), healthcare and sensible gun control; 2nd, protecting Social Security; 3rd, women’s rights. If these issues are important to you, we urge a vote for Doug White for Congressional District 4 Representative. Louis Logan Secretary, Grant County Democrats...
On page 42 of the recently sent Voter’s Pamphlet there is an error or typo. This involves the race for Grant Superior Court Judge between Anna Gigliotti and Melissa Chlarson. Judge Gigliotti’s statement says that she was appointed in 2011 when in fact it was 2021 by Governor Inslee. I am sure that this was unintentional, but it is an unfortunate oversight. Just trying to keep the playing field level! Thank you Kevin Danby Ephrata...
The Thai student we sponsored at the University of Washington while living in Bothell keeps coming back to me. His name is Khien, and I have mentioned him in previous columns. He was a college professor in Bangkok and already had his master’s and at that time was working on his doctorate. He had already written a half dozen books and was considered an expert on issues dealing with Mainland China. When I told him I was going to Thailand, he said he would have his nephew take me wherever I wanted to go. His nephew was taking care of his house a...
Over the past few years, there has been an uptick in crime across the nation. Unfortunately, Central Washington has been no exception to this trend. Indeed, the total number of homicides in Tri-Cities for 2022 is already at a record high compared to recent years, according to the Coroner's Office. In Yakima, drive-by shootings are becoming a regular occurrence. And that's on top of the exponential increase in carjackings and fentanyl overdoses. Much of this uptick is a direct result of "defund...
As a community, we are facing a significant decision between now and November 8th, Election Day this year. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, the outcome of this decision will affect everyone in our extended community — young and old alike. The result of this community-wide decision will clearly have an impact on the quality of education received by our school-aged children. As voters we must decide whether we will continue to financially support the public schools in the GCDSD area by approving a school levy…or not. The successful edu...
Recent letters to the editor accusing The Star of bias ring hollow to me. After all, the editorial page regularly runs columns by Republican Representative Dan Newhouse and conservative business leaders. Editorial pages are for everyone to express their opinions — including the publisher of The Star. Opinions as to who was the “best” or “worst” President are as varied as there are presidents, and have been around for all 246 years of the republic. All should be respected for what they are — opinions. It’s history that will make the final det...
With Russian President Vladimir Putin cutting off natural gas supplies, Northern Europeans are scrambling and reverting to firewood to heat their homes, boil water and cook. It is rapidly becoming a hedge against skyrocketing energy prices and uncertain fuel supplies. Cuts in shipments of Russian natural gas, used to power electricity grids and heat homes, is the biggest factor driving rates higher. Suddenly, Europeans are facing firewood scarcities and bulging orders for wood furnaces. West Ber...
My boss at the Idaho Statesman in Boise told me when he hired me that when his reporters traveled, they went first class. True to his word, he would always ask me where I was going to stay when assignments took me out of Boise. If he thought of a better place he would ask the lady who made arrangements to change mine. I remember when I was sent to cover the Rose Bowl he changed my hotel accommodations to the Hollywood Hotel, a small but rather luxurious place near Hollywood and Vine. I came to understand that my boss was talking about land...
Wondering why NASA sent a car-sized satellite to crash into an asteroid? Let’s take a look and see why. An “impact event” is when an astronomical object, like an asteroid, causes measurable effects on impact. When an asteroid hits Earth, depending on its size, it will, and they have, caused measurable results to many things, including the weather. Earth is regularly hit by meteoroids, the things we call meteors. Meteors are a meter or less (over 3.3 feet) in size. We see them shooting acros...