Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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When Oregon enacted the nation’s first bottle bill in 1971, it was intended to reduce litter on beaches, along roads and in parks. It has! Oregon’s redemption rate on empty bottles and cans is 85% compared to 30% in Washington. Over the years, the states took vastly different approaches to litter cleanup and recycling. A large part of the Oregon program’s recent success is that lawmakers in Salem doubled the payout to 10-cent a container in 2017. People, not always Orego... Full story
Millions of people across America and Canada are choking from wildfire smoke. Unfortunately, it has become an annual occurrence. Currently, thick smoke from hundreds of active Canadian wildfires has triggered widespread air quality alerts across at least 20 northern states. Wildfires are a natural part of forests – of which Canada (and U.S.) have vast swathes. Those massive infernos have worsened in recent years. For example, in Canada in 2023 fires razed 37 million acres– an... Full story
As we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, soccer fans from around the globe are flocking to the USA for the World Cup. They marvel at what our America has to offer. Meanwhile, socialists focused on government control have hijacked the Democrat Party and are gaining a foothold in national and local elections. It is like America has trains heading in opposite directions on the same track racing toward a head-on collision. Today, people who risk their homes, savings and reputations are viewed by critics as the “evil inc...
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 system has not flowed at normal levels in recent years, which is problematic for agriculture, hydropower generation, barging, local water supplies, fish and wildlife. However, 20 years ago we faced the same severe drought. That water scarcity forced factories to close, farmland to...
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...
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...
Who would believe that millions of trout, charr and salmon thrive in pristine water pumped from deep inside West Virginia abandoned coal mines? They are creating a burgeoning aquaculture industry offering vital economic support to impoverished communities in the Appalachian Mountains where coal-mining jobs dropped from a peak of 883,000 in 1923 to 44,060 in 2024. In the last 25 years, many developed countries have seen growing resistance to coal-powered electricity...
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 rel...
The Holiday Season is an especially tough time for anyone grieving lost loved ones. Evergreen wreaths placed on veterans' graves across America help to ease that pain. On December 13, an ISIS shooter killed two members of the Iowa National Guard and their American interpreter while they were serving in Syria, causing another tragic loss. More than 3.1 million red-ribboned wreaths were placed by thousands of volunteers, including many family members, on December 13. Those...
President George W. Bush’s eulogy of Dick Cheney, his vice president, brought back memories of a kinder, gentler America—a time when those elected to office did what was best for our country not their political party. Bush reassuring words came after an unthinkable government shutdown (39 days) which paralyzed essential functions and threatened to stop flights during our country’s busiest travel time—Thanksgiving. The shutdown underscored how angry and bitterly divided...
“The U.S. market-based economic system where people, not government, decide what is produce and marketed is still the world’s “beacon of hope!” Poland and the United States are like two trains passing each other heading in opposite directions. Poland embraced our market-based economic system while America is drifting toward socialism and more government control which tend to stifle job growth, business opportunities, and prosperity. It comes down to affordability. Policies and government decisions impact peoples’ ability t...
During his first year, President Trump has been globetrotting attempting ink trade deals, repair tattered relationships, and attract manufacturing back to America. However, no mission has been more crucial than his recent trip to South Korea, Japan and China. Behind the bluster of new “reciprocal” tariffs was the simple fact that China is not only a manufacturing, trading and military challenge but it is our primary supplier of strategic metals. Not only is America short of RARE minerals, but metals such as iron, copper and...
The mood of the nation is ugly and getting worse. Deadly violence from guns, knives, fire-bombings and vehicles is rising. Social media is toxic. Things have to change for all of our sake. The tone of the discourse is hateful. For those of us who started as journalists in the late 1960s, we are left wondering if public trust can be restored and civility is again possible. Over the last 40 years our family has vacationed at the same place on the beach. While the buildings have been refurbished, the complex is still largely...
Water engines and sand batteries are novel ways to cut CO2 emissions and reduce China and Russia’s grip on vital energy materials. China, the world’s top miner and refiner of 17 rare earth metals (RARE), can chock off our supply whenever it feels it can leverage our country and allies around the world. It did so last June. Meanwhile, Russia cutoff natural gas and oil to the European Union (EU) when its army invaded Ukraine. To combat those embargos, Japanese automakers are devising ways to reduce the dependence on lit...
Hopefully, American and Chinese leaders' meetings to resolve trade differences will not breakdown and result in a new rift over reciprocal tariffs and export restrictions. Central to those discussions is China's worldwide dominance of rare earth minerals markets. China currently controls over 60 percent of global rare earth minerals mining and more than 80 percent of refining. Rare earths are important for their unique magnetic, luminescent, and electrochemical properties,...
As salmon restoration ramps up on the Columbia River above Chief Joseph Dam, it is important to establish balances between those fish already in reservoirs behind dams and salmon being introduced. Completed in 1942, Grand Coulee Dam became the largest U.S. hydropower plant. It generates enough power to supply about 2 million households with electricity for one year. Water stored in Lake Roosevelt, which is 150 miles long and as deep as 375 feet, reduced downstream flooding....
With high school and college commencements over, employers now worry about the graduates’ preparedness to enter the work world. This year, 3.9 million students graduated from our high schools, marking the largest class on record. An additional 4.6 million scholars earned college degrees. Their expertise was graded from A to F. Grades are supposed to indicate accurate achievement, competence and knowledge. Employers are losing confidence in education assessments. Dumbing d...
The Polish people are perplexed by some Americans lack of appreciation for our market-based economic system where consumers, not government bureaucrats, decide what to buy, manufacture and consume. For example, they do not understand why New York City voters would elect Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old socialist, as mayor when he advocates a network of government stores to replace the wide variety of retailers from supermarkets to corner grocers. One trip to the Poland's...
Although President Donald Trump and Harvard’s recent spats make headlines, key issues in question affect all higher education. Harvard, our nation’s first college (1636), is a center of current civil disruption and antisemitic behavior. The timing is bad because high school graduates are finalizing their college choices or deciding to forego college altogether. Last year, Boston Magazine’s Jon Keller described Harvard as suffering from “A crushing cancel culture, accusat...
Too often, elected officials overlook the cumulative costs of regulations, taxes, and fees on taxpayers. However, those added costs come back to bite them hard when people pack up and move, businesses close, or take matters into their own hands and pass an initiative or referendum. Consider what has happened in high tax and cost of living states, such as California, New York, Illinois, and Connecticut. In 2023, the National Association of Realtors broke down migration data...
Before the Columbia River flood control system, spring blooms often coincided with large muddy floods inundating communities and farms. While the Midwest still faces threats from swollen rivers due to heavy rain and rapid snowmelt, the Columbia River basin does not. Our abatement efforts started with the completion of Grand Coulee Dam in 1942. Although flood control was its primary purpose, Grand Coulee Dam also provides water to irrigate 670,000 acres of farmland....
Washingtonians recall Ralph Munro’s distinctive political advertisements, which featured 30 seconds of bagpipe music followed by a brief tagline stating, “This interlude brought to you by the Munro campaign.” As unusual and refreshing as the ads were, they worked. They spared voters from the merciless pounding dished out by sparing politicians and their band of campaign hacks. As usual and refreshing as they were, they worked! They spared voters from the unmerciful candi...
As lawmakers meeting in Olympia wind up the 2025 session, they face a whopping $15 billion budget deficit—a situation they must address before adjourning and going home. Unlike Congress, state legislators and Gov. Bob Ferguson cannot authorize deficit spending or borrowing to the fund state government. They either raise taxes and fees; or cut costs programs and people. Washington is primarily funded by sales, property, specialized taxes (such as unemployment, workers compensat...
Dusts ups with our North American trading partners pop up periodically especially when there is global financial trouble. They can be acrimonious and strain relationships as President Donald Trump is learning. Trump, faced with excessive federal spending and our skyrocketing national debt ($36.6 trillion), re-launched his “Make America Great Again” initiative. It is a blueprint to stimulate job creation in America’s private sector and government efficiency. He wants inves...
In August 2002 during one of the worst fire seasons to that point in recent history, President George W. Bush launched the Healthy Forests Initiative aimed at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. It was a solid, common-sense plan intended to remove wood debris which fuels infernos and rehabilitate diseased, dying, and dead forests. It would generate revenue from wood sales which would be used to pay for healthier timberlands. The impetus came from the severe wildland...
