News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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H.R. 5, the Parents Bill of Rights, passed the House on Friday. A recent column by Sean V. O’Brien, Eastern Washington director of right-wing Washington Policy Center (WPC), “We must affirm parents’ rights, put students first” (March 22), explained the bill. Reading the “five pillars of H.R. 5,” one senses that in normal times this legislation, though unnecessary, would seem quite innocent. But these aren’t normal times and the second pillar, “Parents have the right to be heard,” is being greatly debased by many Republicans. Perhaps the greates...
I’ve visited both the spectacular and the simplest of places where the faithful gather. A visit to Angkor Wat near Siem Reap in Cambodia is probably the place I will always remember. The complex is huge and the construction history reminds me of the pyramids in Egypt. Completed in 1110 A.D., the complex has many Hindu carvings in it, but sometime along the way it was taken over by the Buddhists. The quarry where the stone came from is 50 miles away. The earliest person to visit the site stated that it was more spectacular than anything in R...
In the United States, there are currently over 1.3 million people serving as active-duty military. These men and women are dutifully serving our nation, and when they return home, it is crucially important they have the support of a grateful nation. As your representative in Congress, I have worked hard in Washington D.C. to be a voice for the over 39,000 veterans residing in Central Washington, and ensure they are receiving the highest quality support and care they have earned. During the 117th Congress, I am proud to have sponsored and...
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was developed during the Great Depression that occurred in the 1930s. It was a federal government program that established electricity for a seven-state area, and it bolstered the free enterprise economy of the region. World War Two followed the depression era. The TVA was a source of the extensive amount of electricity needed by Alcoa to produce the aluminum needed for the 50,000 aircraft that authorities anticipated needing for the successful conduct of the war. Additionally, the TVA was the source of...
I held the last “coffee hour” that Sen. Warren Magnuson ever held. The senator had assisted me with some of my arrangements when I made my trips to the Far East. So when one of his aides called and asked if I would hold a coffee hour during his reelection campaign, I said yes. I explained to the aide that I didn’t want to advertise the event because I was a reporter and tried to stay as far away from that kind of thing that I could. So his office promoted the evening coffee hour and said that the public could come in and meet the senat...
What is going on with Tucker Carlson? In private messages unearthed by lawsuits against Fox News, the fiery host was a fierce critic of former President Donald Trump, even as he continued to praise and defend him on television. “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” Carlson wrote in one message, adding, “I truly can’t wait.” “We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump,” Carlson wro...
I got an e-mail from one of my newspaper friends wondering when old toothbrushes should be switched out for new ones. Frankly, I know little about the mouth, but I once gave an oral report. And I must admit my teeth aren’t all mine, but they will be after three more payments. Several hundred years ago, a person cleaned his teeth with a quill. But if he used that same quill to write a letter with invisible ink, the next time he picked his teeth he risked becoming a ghostwriter. The invention of nylon toothbrushes in the late 1930s led to h...
Lincoln County has always been a huge proponent of transparency. We believe, as elected officials, that we should not get to decide what the public should or should not know about how their tax money is spent. In fact, in 2016 the Board of County Commissioners passed a Transparency Resolution stating that all future union contract negotiations will be conducted in a manner that is open to the public. Not for public involvement or input but so citizens and employees alike can see how their representatives negotiate what is the single biggest...
I took a little trip down memory lane after reading Roger Lucas’ remembrance of Jimmy Carter in last week’s edition of The Star. While I never met President Carter, I did in fact spend a lovely couple of days with his sister Ruth and his Aunt Sissy in 1976 when my parents hosted them in our home in Oakley California. As I recall, Ruth had a speaking engagement in the area and my parents were acquainted with her in her ‘Inner Healing’ ministry. She authored books on this subject in the late ’60s and throughout the ’70s. Sporting my, ‘The Grin Wi...
Is your salary less than $160,200? If so, you’re among the 94 percent of American workers who pay into Social Security all year long. But there’s a privileged group that’s about to stop paying into Social Security for the rest of 2023: People who make $1,000,000 a year. Their last day of contributing to Social Security was February 28. That’s not even the worst of it. Tucker Carlson, who makes a reported $8 million a year, stopped contributing to Social Security on January 8. Joe Rogan, who reportedly makes $4 million a month, stopped contrib...
Jimmy Carter is in the news. At 98, Carter has entered hospice care. He has been counted out many times only to resurface with a hammer in his hand, building houses for other people. While having a lackluster one-term presidential record, he has distinguished himself in many other ways. If you wonder where all the true leaders and men of virtue have gone, Mr. Carter has been here all the time. I first met Jimmy Carter while in Atlanta for a Suburban Newspapers of America conference. Carter was keynote speaker and helped kick the conference...
Back on Jan. 11, Peter Funt's column appeared in The Star newspaper, titled, "Cry me an atmospheric river." The author wrote about some of the terms used in weather forecasting, and how news media have sprinkled melodramatic dust on these terms, causing some to react like the person in the painting, "The Scream," by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch. Let's take a leisurely swim into the waters of the phrase "atmospheric river." It is real, and is recognized by meteorologists. Yet, it shouldn't...
It was just a case of mistaken identity. But after all these years, I need to share my secret. That’s why I’m telling you. In my younger days, I worked in a downtown store’s advertising department. My job was to write about everything from cameras to hair clips. As a single lazy guy, I didn’t cook. I ate out every night, usually at a large “home cooking” restaurant. One night something strange happened. I went to pay my check, and the new night manager said, “Don’t worry, son, we’re buying your dinners now. How are things at the seminary?” I...
We take a lot of risks in our everyday lives. Some are more worthy than others. From assuming we know how to navigate that ice during a thaw to getting behind the steering wheel, life is full of them, some warranted, some not. Last week, two such risks stood out. On Friday, the Bureau of Reclamation started pumping water from Lake Roosevelt up to Banks Lake, an annual beginning that primes the Columbia Basin Project’s food-raising abilities. It also warms Banks Lake’s water slightly when winter has been cold enough to freeze it. The risky busin...
There is nothing like learning about betting on the ponies at the top. I was introduced to betting on race horses at Santa Anita Park, one of the premium race parks in America. I was in Los Angeles covering the Rose Bowl for my paper, the Idaho Statesman in Boise. The paper had a liberal policy for sending reporters out to cover major stories. It was the game between UW and Wisconsin, which the Huskies won, 44-8. My boss JimBrown had a habit of going to LA for a month or two each year. I later learned to bet on the horses at Santa Anita race...
While the coronavirus clobbered many businesses, pharmacies were not among them. In fact, since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, local pharmacists have become vital cogs in dispensing crucial medical advice. Pharmacies adapted their businesses quickly after the pandemic outbreak three years ago. According to the December issue of Pharmacy Times, drug stores increased their accessibility to curbside service, traditional drive-through windows, and home deliveries....
At a family reunion, I went outside to play catch with a cousin. “I’d rate your baseball skills below average,” he said. “Does that surprise you?” That didn’t shock me one bit. I score below average in most sports, with the exception of “spitting for distance.” Coaches generally took one glace at me, then decided I was not a leader. My natural facial expression is “confused.” And when I concentrate, I look positively disoriented. In school, I attempted all the standard games. But I was too skinny for football, and in basketball my verti...
Every month we hear of a new “record-breaking” disaster under the Biden Administration. Whether it be record-breaking inflation, gas and grocery prices, crime rates, illegal border crossings, fentanyl deaths — the list goes on and on. This will continue to grow so long as the Biden Administration continues to turn a blind eye to the pressing issues that are hurting all Americans. These “record-breaking” figures are seriously hurting Central Washingtonians. It’s past time to take action to put our country back on the right path — and I am work...
To whom it may concern: It has come to our attention that the Bureau of Reclamation is currently constructing a new fire department facility at the Grand Coulee Power Office in Grand Coulee, Washington. Along with this, we are excited to make you aware of an opportunity the Bureau has to recognize and pay tribute to Toni Jean Godsil, the first Bureau-hired female firefighter, hired as part of a controversial 1989 pilot program, who tragically lost her life in the line of duty. Before she did, though, she proved that men and women can...
It’s past time for an energy reality check. If we are to meet our soaring demand for electricity and produce it without coal and natural gas, we must double down on nuclear power. Today, U.S. nuclear plants generated enough electricity to power more than 70 million homes. It’s the most reliable source of electricity operating at full capacity over 90 percent of the time. It is “greenhouse gas” free, yet many activists are pushing to close, not build, nuclear power plants. If President Biden a...
We were in Baltimore visiting our daughter Kathy, who lived there at the time, and did the town. One of the highlights was touring the USS Constellation, a three-mast sailing man-of-war. It was the last ship in the fleet commissioned by the United States that moved under sail power. Named after two other ships by the same name, the ship was commissioned in the mid 1850s, was 181 feet long, and had a crew of about 350. The Constellation had several decks, with 16 large cannon and four smaller guns, all on the same deck. In the hull, where the fo...
We are now two years into the Biden Administration and the crisis at our southern border has only gotten worse. Recent figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show record levels of border crossings with no sign of improvement while fentanyl is flooding into our communities. Moreover, the American people have not seen any signs from President Biden that he is serious about addressing this worsening crisis and bringing forth solutions to get it under control. The crisis at our southern border is a crisis that affects every...
It’s easy, and human, to get pulled into negative thinking about the state of world, which, after all, is never the way it used to be and therefore must be headed for nothing good, and fast. Don’t fall for it. I get reminded of this every time I have the privilege of spending time near today’s young people. They’re usually wiser, more self-aware, less selfish, and more ambitious than I expect them to be. Admittedly, that says something about my own sometimes-negative rut. But it’s also reflective of an all-too-ready, knee-jerk reaction...
To be specific, my wife let her little dog of 50 years out with a very short leash and held up a rolled-up newspaper as if to whack my backside if I didn’t behave. She put a muzzle on me until the latest GCDSD levy passed and took it off only for kibbles and bits. I’ve been a good boy so I didn’t have to sleep in the dog house. She’ll tell you my bark is much worse than my bite. As a longtime community member and taxpayer, no one has been a bigger fan and loved our local school district more than me until the upper brass and their hired hand co...
For several weeks we’ve read comments by John Adkins, who serves as Superintendent of Wellpinit schools, although he focuses at the local school scene. We know that students at Wellpinit are accomplishing noteworthy studies, and we’d like to know what Adkins thinks about the Spokane Tribal Community. A longtime Elder from the Reservation was recognized for her Life’s work. A new school in Spokane was named Pauline Pascal Flett School for Pauline’s initiation of means to retain the Spokane Salish Language. All levels of Wellpinit student...