Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1911
For many people, the railroad running through the northern part of Lincoln County along Highway 2 is just part of the landscape. But for the communities it serves, it is something they experience every single day. The sound of locomotive horns late at night. Grain cars banging together during loading. Waiting at crossings while another train moves wheat toward market. For towns along the route, the railroad has long been part of everyday life. Not to be confused with one of...
It wasn't too many years ago that I would complain about paying an extra 45 cents credit/debit card fee to fill up my gas tank at ARCO convenience stores at the pump. Rather than spend more, I would head to a nearby station to avoid having to pay the fee. It was the principle, not the price. Oh, how I wish it was still that simple today. With the price for a barrel of oil down more than 10% over last month. I was looking forward to filling up my gas tank a little cheaper this... Full story
It's time to think about potential summer hazards for our livestock and pets. It is quite common for me to get inquiries about algae poisoning during the warmer months. Here's some practical guidance for keeping animals safe: Summer risk and causes Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) thrive when water is warm, calm, and high in nitrogen and phosphorus - conditions common in late spring through early fall. Hot weather, longer stratified seasons and inputs from fertilizer, manure... Full story
Retired Washington firefighters and police officers are suing the state to stop one of the most dangerous pension raids in American history. They should win, and the courts should not have to work hard to get there. House Bill 2034, passed during the 2026 legislative session, strips billions of dollars out of the Law Enforcement Officers’ and Fire Fighters’ Plan 1 (LEOFF 1) pension fund and redirects that money to unrelated state spending. The state calls the maneuver a “te... Full story
More than six years ago, the world came to a standstill. Schools closed. Churches went quiet. Restaurants darkened their dining rooms. Streets emptied. Families stayed home and waited for life to return to normal. At the time, Americans were told the sacrifices would be temporary. Flatten the curve. Wait a few weeks. Give it time. But somewhere along the way, temporary changes became permanent realities. Even now, half a decade later, it still feels as though much of the... Full story
In Washington, this year we will again deal with water shortages because of insufficient mountain snowpack while escaping the historic droughts plaguing other parts of the world. The Columbia River water system has not flowed at normal levels in recent years, which is problematic for our agriculture, hydropower generation, barging, local water supplies, fish and wildlife. However, 20 years ago we faced the same severe drought that is afflicting the world’s major river d...
Anthropic’s newest artificial intelligence model “Mythos” is already making waves. Anthropic claims the model has found thousands of severe vulnerabilities in major software and operating systems, prompting a partnership with major companies to work on a major cybersecurity initiative dubbed Glasswing. In the digital age, there are potential gaps in all security infrastructure. This underscores the critical importance of new data center development, which will be needed for t... Full story
Four years ago, state bureaucrats claimed there was a need to end camping at Palouse Falls because of overcrowding. They promised to add camping at Lyons Ferry, just a few miles away. At the time, they didn't tell the public that it would take at least a decade to add campsites because they had to negotiate with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I have to wonder if that shutdown was a trial run for the closures taking place this year with several publicly owned, state-managed... Full story
It’s filing week for political hopefuls here in Washington state. And this year, candidate filing comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that creating voting districts based on race is unconstitutional. That ruling came April 29 in Louisiana v. Callais, a case about creating of a black voting district. If you didn’t know, Washington also has race-based districts created for a similar reason – carving out two Hispanic legislative districts and eliminating at-la... Full story
In 2024, then-governor Jay Inslee warned that "We have this epidemic of asthma in our state," saying that funding from the state's CO2 tax would help fund projects to reduce air pollution. The next year, the Department of Ecology distributed $8.5 million in grants to improve air quality in "overburdened communities" and improve "health disparities." An examination of the 21 projects they funded shows that only one is likely to reduce air pollution. Most of the funding went to...
I was asked the other day if I was concerned about the recent bill in Olympia giving a citizen committee the right to remove an elected sheriff from office. This bill (Senate Bill 5974) was passed by both the House and Senate and recently signed into law by the governor. Am I concerned? Yes. I've been concerned about this bill for several years since it was first introduced, but not for the reasons some may think. My concerns are not about the job I currently hold, but rather... Full story
Imagine standing at a gas pump in Lakewood, Vancouver or Spokane, watching the numbers climb with agonizing speed, and knowing that thousands of miles away, the Strait of Hormuz—the world’s most important oil transit point—is once again a geopolitical tinderbox. When tensions flare in the Middle East, the entire world feels the squeeze. But there is a bitter irony for those of us in the Pacific Northwest. While the global market sets the base price of energy, the “Olym...
When we talk about public safety in Washington, the conversation rightly begins with the men and women in blue. The crisis in recruitment and retention of law-enforcement officers remains a paramount concern; we cannot have safety without a proactive presence on our streets. However, a mission isn’t completed just because the first phase is successful. If an officer makes an arrest but the case languishes in a broken system, we haven’t achieved justice—we’ve only created...
For many people in our state, especially in Eastern Washington, hunting is a popular and beloved activity. Every fall, we go out in search of deer, elk, bear, pheasant or other game. Some of my best memories come from hunting deer and elk with friends. If the hunt is successful, I have large amounts of meat and sausage to enjoy or share with family and friends for months to come. However, hunting season next fall might be much more difficult for many, thanks to the state. I...
I’m jealous of Idaho. Lawmakers there passed a bill that would stop public school employers from collecting union dues through government payroll systems. Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little had the choice to sign it, veto it or let it become law without his signature, joining six other states with full or partial bans on dues collection by public employers. When it comes to protecting the rights of public employees, Idaho is moving in the right direction. Washington state is no...
A lawsuit was filed April 9 in Klickitat County Superior Court challenging the unconstitutional income tax adopted in Washington. The lead attorneys are former state attorney General Rob McKenna, a former Democratic state lawmaker and Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge, and Jackson Maynard of the Citizen Action Defense Fund. Discussing the lawsuit, Rob McKenna said: "For nearly a century, Washington courts have been clear: income is property, and property taxes must be unifor...
Washingtonians are living through a relentless affordability crisis. From the grocery aisle to the gas pump, the cost of living has moved from "concerning" to "unsustainable." Our state consistently ranks among the top three most expensive for gas, often a full dollar above the national average. Meanwhile, the average household income is roughly half of what is required to qualify for a median-priced home. In this environment, every policy coming out of Olympia should be able...
Math doesn’t care about politics, good intentions, or how badly we want something to work. It doesn’t adjust itself to feelings or make exceptions when the numbers stop adding up. Over the years, I’ve used this column to talk a lot about the growing financial challenges facing counties across Washington, including here in Lincoln County. Those challenges haven’t gone away—they’ve only gotten worse. The Washington State Association of Counties’ recent Fiscal Health Survey confi...
Easter Lilies are now appearing in churches just as poinsettias do at Christmas. Both adorn the altars and pulpits during Christianity’s two most important holidays. Over the years, both continue to be the centerpieces of seasonal decorations. They are unique potted plants which aren’t suited for cut-flower arrangements and disappear when churches move back to ordinary times. While both are the icons, poinsettias have a longer self-life---Thanksgiving to Christmas. Easter Lil...
It’s basketball season, so I’ll borrow a term from that sport to describe how one of the most important bills of this year’s session for the Spokane area ended up winning approval from the Legislature: The supporters put on a full court press. The law created by House Bill 2416 exempts Spokane’s Waste-to-Energy plant from complying with emission-reduction targets created by the state’s Climate Commitment Act and gives the plant a longer period of time to reduce pollution...
Before the new state income tax passed by Democrats was even proposed as legislation, many of us who oppose such a tax predicted the supporters would engage in a game of bait-and-switch. They'd market an income tax as applying only to the wealthy, knowing all along the real goal would be to have everyone pay. Do they think the people of Washington are fools, I asked – and now that the income tax is through the Legislature and awaiting Governor Ferguson's formal endorsement, i...
Washington state received troubling news from a recently published economic report. The 2026 Competitiveness Redbook, a study conducted by Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy, found that the state's business climate is in alarmingly poor shape. The Redbook examines 61 different economic indicators to take the pulse on the health of Washington's economy. This includes various data such as electricity prices, unemployment insurance payments, minimum wage, taxes and...
Serving the people of the 13th Legislative District has been the greatest honor of my professional life. I grew up on a dairy farm and ran my own small business long before I ever stepped into the Capitol. When I first arrived in Olympia in 2006, I came with a simple, unwavering goal: to ensure that the hardworking families, farmers, and ranchers of Central Washington finally had a seat at the table. After nearly two decades of advocacy—first in the House and since 2015 in t...
If there was one positive thing that came out of this year's legislative session in Olympia, it was the passage of House Bill 1960. As most of you are aware, several industrial wind and solar projects are currently being proposed here in Lincoln County. Regardless of where someone stands on the philosophy of "green" energy, there is one huge problem that should concern everyone. While these developments can significantly increase the tax base, under Washington's current tax...
In the final weeks of a legislative session, it becomes easier to see the broader direction in which public policy is moving. Two recent bills passed by the Legislature illustrate a trend that should concern every Washington resident. Both expand government authority in ways that weaken important safeguards that protect citizens. The first measure, Senate Bill 5974, alters how county sheriffs may be removed from office. Under the bill, an unelected state commission would gain...
