News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Regarding Carl Russell’s letter to the editor, “Democrats have gone crazy.” I suppose he means they are insane. Wonder if he has given some thought to a safer, saner place to live. Here’s why. The population of the United States is over 345 million. Of that, 189.5 million are registered voters, 44.1 million are Democrats, and 37.4 million are Republicans. The remainder are not party affiliated, or they are Independents. Forty-four million insane Democrats are on a rampage, running loose, doing all sorts of crazy things. They outnumber the san...
February 6, 1911, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, was born in Tampico, Illinois. Reagan was a skilled orator and was known as the Great Communicator. Prior to his presidency, he served two terms as Governor of California from 1967 to 1975. He was faithful to conservative Republicanism. In his speech to the nation in 1981, President Reagan said, “And to you, my fellow citizens, let us join in a new determination to rebuild the foundation of our society, to work together, to act responsibly. Let us do so with the most p...
When I left for college 70 years ago a friend said that the best thing that I would get was what I got off the walls. Of course, he was talking about the experiences that I would have, meeting people from all over the world and people who were unlike me. He was only partially right. I had some good professors, ones that I still remember. I had two survey profs, one in Old Testament studies and the other in sociology, both under class subjects. My sociology prof had used the same notes for probably 30 years but he welcomed questions. I think he...
During the 1992 presidential campaign, Bill Clinton famously intoned, “I feel your pain,” reassuring voters he understood what they were going through. Since then, similar statements of empathy have become a staple for politicians but too often they are just hollow words. Take small business owners, for example, which are the backbone of America’s economy. They are Washington’s forgotten constituency. Most elected officials have no idea what it’s like to risk everything you have or to struggle to meet payroll for your employees and their fam...
It has been said that once a kid, always a kid. I believe that, in a way. I remember growing up and some of the things I did way back then. I used to follow the railroad tracks. I always took a salt shaker because I often came across apple trees. I liked to salt up an apple; seems they taste better that way. I followed the rails in both directions. The W I and M went toward Potlatch. The Idaho line was but two miles away. The W I and M line was largely used in the early days as a logging operation. Going the other direction, I would go either...
In our local Grand Coulee Dam School District, we have and always have had amazing staff. As a community member for several decades, I’ve shown appreciation for many of their successes but I’ve barely scratched the surface of impactful differences they make in the lives of their students every day. Great school districts have staff who realize that schools must manage their funds properly, provide a safe and secure environment with sound mental wellness options for their students, among many other common-sense priorities that come before aca...
I predicted the Democrats would go crazy if President Trump was re-elected, I just didn’t realize they would go this crazy. The Democrat party has become the party of supporting criminals 100%. They support of all illegals in the United States. But worst of all they support pedophile’s, murders, rapist’s, criminal gang members, robbers, drug dealers and traffickers, domestic violence, and fraudsters. Democrats are standing up and promoting all the fraud by Illegals without regard for the damage they are doing to citizens of the United State...
If we still lived in a rational democracy, the masked thugs in Trump’s ill-trained paramilitary force would be in full retreat. By wide margins in multiple polls (CNN, Quinnipiac, Economist/YouGov, Data for Progress), Americans say the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis was not justified, that ICE is making the cities less safe, and that it needs to be reined in or even abolished. The public backlash is so fervent, according to a new Associated Press poll, that Trump’s approval rating on immigration has cratered. Trump arguably won... Full story
I met this Japanese man through a program I belonged to at the University of Washington. The program was made up of families that sponsored students at UW. When it was learned that I was going to stop over in Tokyo, he said he would like me to meet his family members there and he would give them my itinerary and where I would be staying. I was staying at the Okra Hotel. Soon after my arrival the man’s sister and mother knocked on the door. They showed me the city even though neither spoke English. We did a lot of dictionary hunting. I was i...
I studied the classical philosophers in college, including Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. But the most profound advice I’ve culled over a lifetime of scholarship has come from contemporary pop stars. The Beatles reminded me in a rather pithy way that “All You Need Is Love,” although I believe they might have stolen that from Jesus, or Burt Bacharach. The Vogues taught me that it’s a “Five O’Clock World” and not to lose sight of life’s fleeting pleasures. Bobby Sherman advised me that material possessions are irrelevant, as they “Easy Come, Easy... Full story
Last Friday, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling that, for once, I can agree with — a decision that clears the way for a long-standing problem to be addressed. That decision stems from a lawsuit brought by the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC), in which Lincoln County, along with Yakima County and Pacific County, are plaintiffs, challenging how public defense is funded in Washington. The lawsuit was first heard in Thurston County Superior Court, where the judge ruled that counties did not have standing to bring t...
My duty as US citizen is to try to stay politically informed which includes closely following my US Representative Michael Baumgartner. As such, I subscribe to his weekly, often quite lengthy, Friday evening emails and read them carefully. Unfortunately, they’re mostly filled with politically motivated platitudes, and who or where he visited. The visits are generally with Fifth Congressional District individuals and organizations, mainly supporters, although most recently Nigeria at the invitation of President Donald Trump who threatened to i...
Twice in my life I have been beaten by a door. The first time was in Houston while we were in Texas visiting my brother, some years ago. He was taking us to a fancy restaurant for dinner. We entered the restaurant through a revolving door. Just when I was in my small compartment in the door, the door jammed. Here I was trapped in my own little space. It took them some time before they could free the door and yours truly. Meanwhile, my brother was fuming because he was embarrassed. The next time, it was here in Electric City and the famous, or...
In the race to reshore manufacturing and stay ahead of foreign competition, America needs an abundance of added skilled workers and electricity sources. “Electrify Everything” has been our recent political mantra as key politicians race to replace natural gas and coal-fired generation with vast fields and wildlands of wind turbines and solar panels. However, that strategy has glaring glitches, which could derail our economic recovery and job creation. For example, it is bureaucratic nightmare siting power lines and reliable power plants. “Am...
January 16, 1917, German Foreign Minister, Arthur Zimmerman sent a telegram to the General Minister to Mexico, von Eckhardt, offering United States territory to Mexico in return for joining the German cause of World War 1. British cryptographers deciphered the telegram. The British government waited to present the deciphered telegram to President Wilson, as there was an ever-growing anti-German sentiment in the U.S. Late February 1917, President Wilson received the encrypted telegram from the British, it was published widely in the press on...
Righting the record on the Affordable Care Act by George Ochenski, Washington State Standard December 16, 2025 With the Affordable Care Act subsidies on the chopping block in the Republican-controlled Congress, it’s no surprise the Lee newspapers did an interview with Montana’s former senator Max Baucus. As the chairman of the Senate’s powerful Finance Committee, Baucus “was chief architect of the Affordable Care Act known as “Obamacare.” According to Baucus: “For 15 months, I had the committee work on health care, and it was totally nonpo... Full story
This year, Christmas packages were available for pickup for seventy-one children in 32 families at the Grand Coulee Dam Area Senior Center on Saturday, Dec. 20 thanks to this community’s participation in Trees of Sharing 2025. Many thanks to contributors and volunteers who supported this project by making cash donations or purchasing and wrapping gifts for children who might not have otherwise received one this season. Trees of Sharing cannot happen without your active involvement. Each year we count on and extend special appreciation to S...
As a longtime community member and taxpayer, I hope that it is now obvious to others in our area that the crisis the Grand Coulee Dam School District is in was totally preventable. This should be unacceptable to all of us. The crisis is much bigger than very poor fiscal decisions. It is a culmination of multiple systems in the organization being mismanaged due to a significant lack of expertise, best practices and on-going reactive management instead of successful preventive collaborative leadership. The upper brass and their hired hand have ne...
Leave it to MAGA Republicans to ring out the old year with one last blast of craven stupidity. Mike Johnson’s House crew apparently assumed releasing Jack Smith’s recent secret testimony in the midst of holiday festivities would somehow ensure nobody would notice the ex-special counsel eviscerated his hapless inquisitors, leaving no doubt he had abundant ammo to paint Trump as a criminal in a federal court of law. Trump and his House toadies tried everything to stack the deck against Smith. He wanted a public hearing, but was refused. Mea...
January 10, 1861, delegates of the Florida Convention voted to secede from the United States of America. In February 1861, Florida was one of six Deep South states to form the Confederate States of America. Though, during the Civil War, Florida witnessed little military action. The least populous state below the Mason-Dixon line, Florida played an active role in the Civil War. Approximately 17,000 Floridians fought in the war between the states. The state’s coastline provided blockade runners safe harbor. Florida’s products like sugar, por...
Congratulations. You’ve just lived through one of the most unpredictable years in at least six decades, so you might already be primed to accept a little advice about the coming months: stay loose. The country has had enough political tension in 2025 for each of us to snap a whole box of Sharpies. That’s by design and not something any of us can control, so don’t let it control you. Instead, look for the bright side and the humor in the absurd, right after you decide to do something about it. You’ll live longer and think better when you let...
I intend here to discuss MAGA handmaiden Bari Weiss, the CBS News assassin, and to suggest ways we can combat corporate media corruption. But first I need to share a story from my rookie stint in journalism. You’ll see why. In 1975, while covering the cops in New London, Connecticut, I got a tip the boys in blue had screwed up. The first paragraph of my subsequent piece gives you the gist: “Bank Street was left unguarded by city police early Monday when a break-in occurred at Roberts Electronic. Thieves escaped with an estimated $1600 in ste...
January 1, 1892, fifteen-year-old Anne Moore became the first immigrant to pass through the doors of Ellis Island Immigration Station. Over twelve million more immigrants would follow in Anne’s footsteps. Ellis Island would operate as an immigration station for sixty-two years, sitting in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Immigrants completing their Atlantic Ocean journeys, would disembark at Ellis Island. There, they were screened by doctors for obvious physical ailments, and by officers who reviewed their legal d...
Here are a few reasons I feel foratunate. I appreciate those involved with the Center Senior Living proyject. Looking forward to future updates. Very exciting! Persistence, hope and unwavering commitment pays off for CMC’s Leadership. The $3 million innovative workforce federal funds they received for an on-site “tiny village” to house rural health care workers is necessary and long overdue. Once again, thanks for showing your critical employees they are valued. It’s great to see all incumbents back on the Board after recent elections. They al...
I am announcing that I will not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. Serving the Fourth District of Washington has been the honor of my life, and this decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress. After over 25 years of public service, including more than a decade in the House, I am grateful to the Washingtonians who put their faith in me, as well as the colleagues I have served with on both sides of the aisle. Public service takes...