Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1946
For years, Seattle's environmental establishment has delivered a remarkably consistent message about fish: No sacrifice is too great. Tear down dams. Replace billions of dollars in infrastructure. Find replacement electricity. Replace barge transportation. Figure out what happens to agriculture and irrigation. Spend billions more doing all of the above. Why? Because salmon are sacred and dramatic action is not only justified but morally necessary. Unless, apparently, the... Full story
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. It has to be fought for and defended by each generation.” On July 6, 1987, President Ronald Reagan addressed the Kiwanis International Convention and warned that America’s way of life based on freedom is fragile. “It is the mind of man -- free to invent, free to experiment, free to dream -- that will shape the economy and the world of the future,” Reagan added. Our system of government of the people with a co... Full story
The recent news that our national debt has swollen to $40 trillion should be the “bucket of ice water” America needs to finally address our financial woes. Our nation is on an unsustainable borrowing trajectory, and it is getting much worse! If left unattended, we will drown in red ink. The federal debt is larger than the entire value of the goods and services produced in our country. Our economy, as measured by gross domestic product, was valued at over $32 trillion in the se... Full story
When striking workers receive unemployment insurance benefits in Washington state, they are now expected to search for work. Imagine that! This makes perfect sense to me, and luckily it does to the feds, too. The United States Department of Labor has warned the state Employment Security Department that its current work-search rule is "out of conformity with federal law and must be immediately remedied." If it isn't, it could lose federal funding for administration of the...
Why do people vote against their best interests? This age-old question is relevant for many Michael Baumgartner voters. My father many years ago opined that people so dreamt of joining the rich that they closely related to them and voted with them. But economic mobility has greatly diminished, including by the billionaire-friendly “One Big Beautiful Bill” championed by Baumgartner, so those dreams should be rudely awakened by reality. Hard work now may not ensure economic security. Vowing to make Democrat Barack Obama a one... Full story
Thankfully, more Americans are saying “Thank You” again and more frequently. It is the best way to offer your sincere appreciation. A 2026 StudyFinds.com national survey of 2,000 U.S. adults found that the average American says “thank you” more than 2,200 times a year, equating to about six times per day studyfinds.com. Importantly, 57% of respondents reported saying “thank you” more frequently than the year before.” The survey also determined that Americans are feeling more...
When I'm not working as the 9th Legislative District's state senator, I focus my time and energy on my other job as a wheat farmer. Many farmers in Eastern Washington are finishing their harvest for the year. In fact, my crew and I wrapped up our wheat harvest just a couple of days ago. It was a good harvest this summer. The long hours and hot days were worth it. Wheat is just one of many crops that our state's farmers and orchardists grow each year. Other crops include apples...
I have discussed in previous articles about how risk insurance in the State of Washington is out of control. But how did we get here? In the 1960's, Washington lawmakers waived something called sovereign immunity for the state, counties, cities, and other local governments. Sovereign immunity is legal protection that generally keeps government from being sued. Back then, Washington lawmakers chose to remove that protection so people harmed by government negligence could seek...
Dusty paperwork, half a dozen ball caps, a few miscellaneous tools, a discarded sweatshirt or three, not to mention some baling twine, equipment parts, and six pounds of dirt in the bed of the pickup. This could be any number of farm or ranch pickups in Washington state. Some might be six months old; others might be 15 years old. When it is time to replace them, based on price and weight, the next one might well be considered a luxury. The Washington State Department of... Full story
Three years ago, voters overwhelmingly signed onto Initiative 2081 to solidify a parent’s access to and oversight of their children’s educational records. The “Parents’ Bill of Rights” was so popular that 454,372 registered voters signed on – about 130,000 more than necessary to put the measure on the ballot. Liberal lawmakers saw the writing on the wall. And rather than let it go to a vote, the Legislature passed the initiative into law in March 2024, then “revised” it 2025.... Full story
There are plenty of things I expected to sacrifice during my deployment to D.C. Quiet country roads? Obviously. Having my own car? I knew that was coming. But I was not prepared to discover that grocery shopping would become an endurance sport. After months of living in hotels, I finally moved into an apartment with a full kitchen. A stove! A microwave! Actual counter space! I was ready to cook real meals again and stop treating DoorDash like a food group. There was just one...
Elected officials should honor their commitment to making America more affordable for working families, seniors, students, people with disabilities and rural communities. They should support policies that: • Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while strengthening access to quality health care, especially for rural communities and people with disabilities. • Invest in quality education. • Work to make college more affordable for students and families. • Safeguard ever citizen’s right to vote and ensure fair, acc...
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
Unfortunately, the wildfire situation in Eastern Washington has gone from bad to worse in the past week. Last Saturday, the Old Trails Fire ignited and burned more than 900 structures in northwest Spokane. A few days ago, law enforcement arrested a former convict who is suspected of starting that wildfire. It is one of three wildfires in Spokane County that have burned a combined total of over 10,000 acres. With so many people suddenly left homeless by recent wildfires in...
As an American, you should be able to move about the country freely, without having to show papers and without being tracked by law enforcement agencies without a warrant. You should be able to traverse highways and byways without being monitored by “Big Brother.” But not if you live in Washington state. Here, there at least 2,000 license-plate reading cameras currently in operation – most owned and leased by a single company, Flock. And they’re not just photographing crime-r...
Data centers use a lot of energy. So, it isn't surprising that people believe they are resource hogs that drive up energy costs. This sentiment has driven communities, such as Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma, to enact data center moratoriums, either temporarily or permanently.But for all the furor over electricity cost increases, the numbers tell a different story. Both nationally and in Washington state, data center development has correlated with slower electricity-price... Full story
The primary duty of any government is to protect its citizens. Yet Olympia's current leaders aren't meeting that basic standard, by failing to secure our data systems and enforce our laws. Intelligence reports recently declassified by the federal government show Chinese cyber-actors have targeted and stolen the voter-registration data of up to 220 million Americans. Although national-security experts say this theft has not altered actual votes, the threat is still very real....
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
Washington state boasts one of the strongest credit profiles in the nation, but the warning lights are flashing. Moody’s recently affirmed the state’s AAA rating while slapping it with a negative outlook indicating the organizations lack of faith in the Olympia leadership to right the ship. Fitch rates the state AA+ ( a good but lower rating) with a negative outlook. S&P holds it at AA+ with a stable outlook. In plain English — the golden AAA status that has kept Washington’s...
I, too, was disappointed that our governor chose not to represent Washington at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C. It was a golden opportunity to showcase our beautiful state with its outstanding features (i.e, lakes, rivers, mountains and flatlands). Record-Times Editor Olivia Harnack is be commended for writing and excellent column on the subject. Marsha Smith Ritzville... Full story
Immigrants and refugees are a valuable asset to Eastern Washington. Americans who welcome and interact with immigrants and refugees gain so much in broadening their world views by learning about their cultures, experiences and history. Immigrants and refugees also benefit so much from being in the U.S. Recently the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Trump administration could end temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians. Many of these people have settled in Spokane and are actively participating in our community....
We continue to read about rising electricity rates exacerbating inflation and making our lives more expensive and difficult. ¬¬ While some states have been proactive in addressing the problem, a national solution is needed. Our existing grid can be made more efficient, but in the end, we will need to build new transmission lines and create stronger connections between each of the regional grids. A major problem is that it takes too long to build these lines due to outdated regulations. The cost of solar and battery storage h...
The Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., is something every American should experience at least once. While Uncle Sam still had me on the clock most of the holiday, I was lucky enough to catch the incredible fireworks celebrating our nation's 250th birthday. And what a show it was. As darkness settled over the Capitol, fireworks lit the night sky well into the midnight hours. Every few seconds, another booming shell exploded overhead, showering the skyline in brilliant reds,...
A new Washington Small Business Economic Trends report delivers sobering news for the state’s small business community. The data reveals that small businesses are underperforming the national average on nearly every key measure of economic health, with state policies on taxes, regulations and labor costs emerging as primary culprits. The report’s Small Business Optimism Index for Washington sits at 94.5, 4 points below the U.S. at 98.5 and 3.5 points below the long-term nation...
