Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1923
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...
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...
Imagine being told you have to leave your home, perhaps forever. You only have a couple of hours to pack, and you can only take what fits in your car. Calista Christiansen, a seventh-grader from the Columbia River Gorge community of Lyle, didn't have to imagine. That's what happened to her, her family and her neighbors last summer when the Burdoin Fire burned through the community, destroying 14 homes and threatening more than 250 others, including her own. Christiansen spoke...
Around Eastern Washington, Old Glory is proudly flying. Red, white and blue bunting is on display. And fireworks are booming. It's a sign that the Independence Day holiday is quickly approaching. Patriotism here is at peak attention. Indeed, if you're in one of the 20 counties east of the Cascades, you're in one of most patriotic areas of the country. Even the WalletHub website lists Washington as the seventh "most patriotic" state in the nation. I guess the patriotism on our...
Our Christian Heritage Should Not Be Forgotten As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, our communities are entering a historic season of reflection. Puyallup will host "Voices of Valor," a program exploring the diverse stories of those who built and shaped our early nation. Simultaneously, across the Cascades in Walla Walla, citizens will gather to honor that region's legacy as the "Cradle of the Northwest." From the shores of Puget Sound to the rolling hills of the Palouse, I encourage all Washingtonians t...
Summer in Eastern Washington is a beautiful thing. The sun is shining. The lakes are calling. Campers are dusting off trailers. Kids are riding bikes until dark. Someone, somewhere, is already standing in line for ice cream. It’s a season we’ve all been waiting for. It’s also the season when common sense quietly packs its bags and takes a vacation. Every year, it happens. A person who wouldn’t dream of jumping off their roof decides it’s perfectly reasonable to ride an inner...
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...
The Oval Office Meets the Octagon There are a lot of things I expected to see during my time in Washington, D.C. Monuments, museums, motorcades and tourists accidentally standing in bike lanes all made the list. A UFC fight on the White House lawn did not. Yet somehow, here we are. Apparently, one of the most recognizable pieces of real estate in the world got an octagon. Because if there is one thing I've learned about Washington, it is that eventually you stop asking "Why?"...
The tassels have been flipped, the diplomas handed out and another class of graduates has crossed the stage. Over the coming weeks, many of these young adults will leave home for college, enroll in trade schools or step directly into the workforce. For the first time, they will begin making decisions with real consequences. They will sign leases they are legally bound to honor. They will open credit cards. Some will take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt before they are...
A messy redistricting battle is breaking out all across the country. In states like Mississippi, Virginia, and Missouri, political maps are trapped in an endless loop of court fights and mid-cycle changes. Political parties are treating voting boundaries like a game of tug-of-war. They adjust the lines constantly to guarantee a specific political outcome, leaving voters feeling disconnected and ignored. For decades, Washington state avoided this kind of chaos. Our state...
This year's legislative session featured proposals to "modernize" agriculture through the forced creation of collective bargaining units. Many activists and legislative advocates persistently implied farmers and ranchers were backward and uneducated, going so far as to cast food producers as "plantation owners." These aspersions are beneath the open-minded, liberated state Washington believes itself to be. Home to tree fruit orchards, grain growing operations, hop farms,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
