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It is that time of year when people put up their outside holiday lights and displays. Judging from our neighborhood they are decorating more than usual. In our country 90 percent of individuals say they plan to celebrate the holidays this year. Total retail sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas are projected to reach $957 billion. The setting for the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation is reminiscent of bedecked suburban communities. Clark Griswold decorates every foot o...
Antidiabetic medications have been given a lot of attention lately. In the Age of Information, some subjects take over every screen, while others gather dust in the basement. The Human Genome Project got plenty of attention in the 1990s. It captured our imagination - the thought of unveiling the blueprints for life. Unwinding the DNA. Hope for humanity and our many ailments seemed within reach. Born with bad genes? We’ll be able to fix that soon. So far, the Project yielded few answers and left us with many new questions. M...
‘BIG WIRES’ Act provides power benefits The Building Integrated Grids With Inter-Regional Energy Supply (BIG WIRES) Act is a promising bipartisan bill in Congress that offers a wide range of benefits: reducing the risk of electrical power outages, lowering carbon emissions and energy costs, and increasing national security. The recent gas pipeline rupture in our region gave many of us a taste of how a blackout in winter would feel. Extreme weather events damaging power stations and overloading the grid are on the rise. The bi...
By As soon as the turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes are put away on Thanksgiving, it’s officially time to turn the holiday calendar to Christmas. Notice I didn’t mention mashed potatoes in the list of Thanksgiving foods. That’s because mashed potatoes are the worst dish served in a classic Thanksgiving meal. Think that’s a controversial opinion? Good. That was just a setup for this column that leans into the Christmas spirit by sharing the 10 best and 10 worst Christmas songs. You may think I, a true Christmas lover, took t...
We had a great crop of apples this year and more pumpkins than we could give away. Blackberries from the Westside and home canned cherries from early summer and have we got our pies! America is a land of plenty and we love to eat at ball games, movie theaters and other community gatherings. For some, this lifestyle is catching up to us and we’re dealing with extra pounds, which is leading to health problems. We have to find a way to help people stay healthy and avoid terrible chronic diseases associated with obesity. I...
As we prepare for the upcoming holidays, we must be grateful for what we have and focus on our needs rather than fixate on what we want and crave. Being thankful starts with an appreciation of why our families came to America in the first place---our freedoms and opportunities. Legendary singer-song writer Neil Diamond hit single; “America” was performed in 1981 to help welcome home 52 American hostages that Iranian militants held for 444 days at the U.S. Embassy in Teh...
Last month, I attended joint meetings for the National Association of State Conservation Agencies and the National Watershed Coalition in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the request of Washington state conservationist, Roylene Comes-At-Night. Just as in previous annual meeting in Spokane two year ago, this was an opportunity to build relationships with national U.S. Department of Agriculture leadership, understand programs and funding opportunities better, and to work together for...
Aren’t you sick and tired of hearing Gov. Jay Inslee and his ilk routinely blame Columbia and Snake River dams for the decline in Puget Sound salmon and orca populations? Despite voluminous information to the contrary, Inslee, Sen. Patty Murray and other extremist environmental politicians continue to push a narrative on salmon decline that is patently false. There should be penalties for being so disingenuous. While there isn’t a penalty for false statements made to app...
While the last veterans who survived the “surprise” Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are dwindling rapidly, we cannot let their sacrifices and the memories of that horrific day which propelled America into World War II fade into history. On December 7, 1941, 350 Japanese aircraft descended on Honolulu’s military installations in two shocking waves. More than 2,400 Americans were killed, and 21 ships were sunk or damaged. Our Veterans who fought and won WWII are now 90 or older...
In 1992, a single male sockeye salmon managed to swim 900 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River to Redfish Lake located deep in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains---the end of his migratory journey. Biologists dubbed the sole survivor, “Lonesome Larry.” By 2010, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council happily reported record-setting runs for sockeye —387,000 had climbed the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam. Last year, 751 sockeye were trapped at Redfish Lake Creek and taken t...
What’s the hourly wage of a Paid Family and Medical Leave recipient in Washington state? It’s higher than I’m comfortable with. Lawmakers should explain to all workers why they think it is good policy to take money from low-income workers and give their money to people with ample resources. Using hourly wage estimates from the state Employment Security Department, here are the earnings of people who took the program’s tax dollars in the past fiscal year (July 2022 through June 2023): • Up to $18/hour: 12% • Between $18...
Thirty-five attorneys general throughout the nation, including Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, have banded together in opposition to a proposal by the American Law Institute that would put an end to sex offender registries, notifying communities of a sex offender’s presence, and restricting their places of residence. You read that right: the American Law Institute wants to do away with sex offender registries. Although a proposal of this nature has yet to pass through the Legislature here, several attempts have a...
The Interstate 405 and state Highway 167 toll lane experiment is losing money. Now, the state Transportation Commission is considering increasing tolls by up to 80% to $18 each way on I-405. The increase will cost an I-405 commuter, using the lanes at peak toll periods, around $720 per month or $8,640 per year. If you travel the entire Highway 167 and I-405 corridor you could see a toll of up to $54. The state Department of Transportation fiscal report for the tolling project shows a loss of $1.4 million in 2022 and is...
Reader supports Long for council I have known Rebecca Long for more than 20 years. In that time, I have watched her succeed in everything she puts her mind to. A fellow (Eastern Washington university) Eagle and a champion for impactful causes—always standing up to be a voice for others—Rebecca gives generously of her time and talents in our community. Cheney deserves leaders like Rebecca, who have our best interests at heart while representing our needs, and shepherding our shared resources. She knows transparency is key to...
President Biden’s $65 billion infrastructure bill contains $8 billion for regional hubs to develop ways to produce and distribute hydrogen fuel. One is planned for the Pacific Northwest and should help haulers and truck manufacturers in Renton and Portland in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, long-distance haulers need a network of hydrogen fueling stations (like today’s truck stops) along with affordable trucks and fuel. Hub researchers’ added...
When Gov. Jay Inslee’s misguided vaccine mandate ended in May, his office said there would not be an outreach effort to rehire the more than 2,000 employees lost because of the condition for employment — even with staff shortages in the state workforce. Instead, fired state workers could reapply for their former jobs or seek new careers with the state just like everyone else. Fast-forward five months? The same executive tune is being sung, even with continued shortages and only 25.6% of Washingtonians up to date with COV...
Gov. Jay Inslee inappropriately used our state’s building codes to ban natural gas in new homes and commercial buildings. Now, the Biden Administration is going a step further issuing rules that drastically clamp down on natural gas used in heating and air conditioning units. Inslee’s regulations phase out fossil fuels used for heating water and cooking in new buildings by 2030. They were the first steps to eliminating natural gas in and around the house. Biden’s Dept. of Energy (DOE) proposes overly restrictive effic...
Just as memories of COVID lockdowns and mask mandates were fading to the back of our collective minds, the hysteria is returning, and many are wondering how to react. The two new strains responsible for the surge in cases are known as EG.5, or “Eris,” and BA.2.86, or “Pirola.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers show COVID hospitalizations have increased by almost 15.7% in one week, and deaths have increased by 10.5%, although these numbers greatly fluctuate day by day. Director Mandy Cohen said up to 10,000...
Gov. Jay Inslee inappropriately used our state’s building codes to ban natural gas in new homes and commercial buildings. Now, the Biden Administration is going a step further issuing rules that drastically clamp down on natural gas used in heating and air conditioning units. Inslee’s regulations phase out fossil fuels used for heating water and cooking in new buildings by 2030. They were the first steps to eliminating natural gas in and around the house. Biden’s Dept. of Energy (DOE) proposes overly restrictive effic...
While media focus was on Joe Biden’s decree putting a tiny plot of land within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off limits to oil and gas exploration, reporters ignored the bigger story. Biden’s other proclamation forbids tapping more than 10 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a 23-million-acre area on Alaska’s North Slope. That is the area which should replenish the crude oil drawdown stemming from Biden’s oil withdrawal from strategic wells established in case of war. Allowing new Alaska explo...
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. His dream turned into one of the most famous speeches to address inequality in our country. His speech represented how optimistic he was. I, however, am not such an optimist … I have nightmares. I had a nightmare that our community gave up on our schools. In my nightmare, people were so frustrated with government and taxes they were no longer willing to support their local governments and school districts. As a result, parents began to put their children into private schools or ...
Our problem is not that there is too much “fake news.” Our problem is that too many people believe it. Fortunately, there is an “antidope” — epistemology , the theory of knowledge or “how we know what we know.” Epistemology is a good solution because it has validity tests to distinguish between justified belief and opinion. And this distinction is central to most disagreements. Epistemology has simple and clarifying definitions, e.g., Truth has the property that corresponds with facts and reality. Can you imagine how m...
It’s been a pretty nice season to go to the fairs around the region—in most cases not too hot and not too cool. Always nice to be able to connect with both our adult and youth producers. The fairs are certainly an American tradition and it’s great to see that people are out supporting them. When I talk with producers, I’m always happy when topics of conversation come up that lend themselves to an article. A recent conversation highlighted that concerns about mRNA vaccines and their use in cattle are circulating among the ind...
I was born in Spokane and raised on a small ranch west of the city. My parents were lifelong Democrats. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Democrats had a much different party. Let’s look at today. If you vote for Democrats every selection, here are a few things you should know and consider: In 2015, I paid $1.87 for a gallon of gasoline. Today, I filled up at $4.86 per gallon. You voted for that. Our cowardly president surrendered in Afghanistan, killing 13 fine young marines and abandoning thousands of Americans. You voted for tha...
The phrase “first-world problems” has become a punch line – a throwaway statement because it is uttered by people with plenty of gadgets, a reliable food supply and a secure roof over their heads. It has also dulled our experience of a world in which seasonal food is the reality and some products are hard to get. When everything is available, regardless of season or effort, it is easy to voice shallow moral judgments when it comes to food production and consumption. Animal rights policies have begun to circulate more freely a...
