Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1083 - 1107 of 1862
Years ago I purchased a headlamp , a small flashlight that straps around your head to light your way. It’s really useful because it leaves both your hands free as you work or walk. I used my headlamp during the dark half of the year to exercise my dog in dark pastures and an undeveloped No Man’s Land on a steep hill near my house. My headlamp used an old fashioned light bulb and a fairly heavy battery to run it. I used it for years but it finally stopped working, so I rec...
Zucchini squash have just about run their course for the season, so you may want to tuck this recipe for Zucchini Pineapple Bread in your file for next year. You may make it with fresh or frozen grated zucchini, so if you filled space in your freezer with grated zucchini, you are set to make this moist, but not sticky, quick bread. I found the recipe on the Taste of Home website www.tasteofhome.com. Zucchini Pineapple Bread 3 eggs 2 cups finely shredded zucchini 1 cup vegetabl...
To the Editor: In the 12 years I have been active in politics, I have been blessed to work with a positive group of Lincoln County Republicans. Through two spirited presidential primaries, we’ve shared common values while making room for many opinions on how to advance those values. In the end, we support the shared goals of the Republican party and the candidates who will carry the battle forward. What we don’t have is a process for making endorsements in an all Republican general election, such as the one we face in the...
Wheat markets have enjoyed a little bit of a bounce over the last 10 days. Cash markets are about $.20 off their lows and future markets are about $.30 off their lows. Part of it has been a correction from oversold technical conditions, part of it has been a stabilization of world wheat prices, but most of this correction has been due to the weakening of the U.S. dollar. The dollar has had an impressive rally since July and that in turn pressured commodities in general and wheat in particular. Last week Chicago wheat futures...
From time to time I give public talks on climate change – those large-scale changes geologists have been studying since the 1830s. At those talks I’m often asked a basic question about climate that, until now, has stumped scientists. Here’s the background. In the 1830s, a Swiss naturalist named Louis Agassiz started promoting the idea that Europe had once been enveloped in a cold time in which large areas had been covered in glacial ice. He called that interval “the Ice Age...
Russet potato harvest is in full swing, and these huge, processing style potatoes make a luscious soup. Swiss chard, a dark green leaf vegetable has come into prime sweet flavor now that nights have turned cooler. Pair these two readily available ingredients with chicken, broth and seasonings for a savory fall or winter season soup. Potato, Chicken and Chard Soup 6 cups peeled, diced potato 1 cup diced onion 2 Tbsp butter or cooking oil 2 large Swiss chard leaves, cut into...
My word processor is set up to deal with the errors I make when writing. The programmers who wrote the computer program knew I’d screw things up, so they built in corrective functions like spellcheck and the ability to simply backspace to delete typos. Those of us old enough to remember manual typewriters still sometimes marvel at the ease with which corrections in documents can now be made. Mother Nature also has a built-in corrective function, one at work in organisms as s...
To the Editor: Tom Dent has great knowledge of agriculture and a true friend to farmers, related industries and companies. After all, isn’t that almost all of us in Grant County and the 13th legislative district? We are blessed with natural resources to feed much of the world. Tom has proven leadership for many years. He’s proven himself successfully as the chair of the Grant County Republican Party. As a result he’s gained respect throughout our entire state. He is also involved in other leadership positions and sits on ma...
To the Editor: A letter printed in the 10-2-14 Columbia Basin Herald (Editor’s note: and The Odessa Record) by Rick Heiberg was given the title of “ Setting the Record Straight.” Not so fast! Heiberg, a previous one-term mayor of Coulee City, implies previous letters were “Opinions based upon hearsay, rumors , or gossip” and were written by people who were not even there. WRONG! The only recent letters on that topic were written by Kevin Moore and myself. Both of us were duly elected precinct committee officers of the Grant...
To the Editor: I am a resident and business owner in Moses Lake. I have had the privilege of knowing Tom Dent for about 15 years. I have had many discussions with him over the years, and I have been very educated on issues that are often the topic of great debate and interest. He is a very intelligent and well-versed man on most all topics I bring up. Tom has taught me that one needs to understand all sides in order to have an intelligent discussion. He is a natural leader and educator. Leaders need to be able to get...
Wheat markets, especially the futures markets, have remained under pressure the last few weeks. Increasing world supplies, a record upcoming corn harvest and a stronger U.S. dollar have encouraged speculative funds to increase their short positions in the Chicago wheat futures to nearly 400 million bushels. World wheat prices have also been pressured by aggressive pricing out of the Black Sea, as the unrest between the Ukraine and Russia has weakened both of their currencies, making their exports even cheaper, relative to the...
Plants are not as dumb as they look. At least to me, plants have never seemed like the brightest bulbs in the box. They stand around, looking green, hoping for a sunny day but not able to walk, talk or turn on the TV. However, due to a recent university press release, I’ve got to rethink my attitudes about vegetation. Two scientists at the University of Missouri, Heidi Appel and Rex Cocroft, studied a plant called Arabidopsis. That’s a common experimental plant, used by res...
To The Editor: Voters in the 13th Legislative District! You have the opportunity to elect someone in November who cares about our issues and wants to make our lives better. I have known Tom Dent for 25 years and found him to be a compassionate, caring person with enthusiasm and energy. He has been active in our area’s issues all of his life. Being a commercial pilot and flight instructor, Tom has acquired many of the skills he will need for public service (a clear thought process, communication skills, caution, and a w...
To the Editor: In recent weeks, I’ve watched as several letter were submitted regarding a Grant County Republican Party executive board special meeting that was held at the request of then GCRP chairman Tom Dent. Some who have voiced opinions were not even there when it happened but have seemingly developed opinions based upon hearsay, rumor or gossip. As a result, I write this letter with the hope of clearing up some of the facts. At the time, I was the Commissioner District 1 Chair for the GCRP and as such was a member of t...
As a kid, I read the Sherlock Holmes stories and the mysteries of Agatha Christie. As an adult, I wrote four mysteries that focused on a Quaker heroine solving crimes she happened across in her religious community. (I published them using my grandmother’s name, Irene Allen, as a pseudonym.) And, as a geologist, I’ve read about real-life criminal investigations that involved samples of sand and soil. But it wasn’t until I talked with Dr. Nathalie Wall of the chemistry depar...
I was talking to a senior lady and we were focusing on how sad it was that as each generation passes they seem to be less interested in politics and voting. Ida has great grandchildren who are of voting age and she is sad to think of how the younger people take too much for granted. Ida and her husband (who served in World War II) were children of immigrants who always voted after they became citizens. They were homesteaders who had to work very hard to support their families during the depression and the rationing caused by...
To the Editor: Around three years ago, T-Mobile received a little more than $19 million in Federal FCC grant money to build multiple towers around the United States. More to the point, they received approximately $3.3 million to build five 300-foot-tall telecommunications towers in Lincoln County. The purpose of the FCC grant was to increase cell phone reception in rural areas. Now, T-Mobile and their tower builder 52 Eighty, are applying for Conditional Use Permits (CUP) in Lincoln County to erect those towers. The five...
Deutsches Fest has come and gone, and after several weeks of preparing, serving and eating German food, most folks are ready to return to lighter fare. Most Odessa gardens seem to have escaped the mid-September freeze, so there are vegetables and fruits still available. Debbie Buscher shared her much requested recipe for Peach Pudding. Perfect for late Elberta peaches, the recipe fills an 8-inch baking dish, but Debbie reports that she usually doubles the recipe and bakes in...
To the Editor: On Thursday, September 18, House Speaker John Boehner (R) made his first direct comment about those who do not work: “This idea that has been born [not working], maybe out of the economy over the last couple years, that you know, ‘I really don’t want to work. I don’t really want to do this. I think I’d rather just sit around.’ This is a very sick idea for our country.” If it is now safe for the first time for House Speaker Boehner to dis those who do not work, then all Americans can now also safely dis th...
Letter to the Editor: There are two candidates running for 13th District State Representative. I ahve met them both, as I was an active member of the GOP and even an elected Precinct Officer. I no longer belong to the Republican party. It was under the GOP Chairmanship of Tom Dent that I, and many others, left the GOP. The final straw was his holding meetings on his private property and then calling the sheriff and threatening unwanted GOP members with Trespass, if they did not leave his property I found candidate Dani...
A good friend of mine checks each morning on the web for the final “Jeopardy” question. It’s the last question on the taped “Jeopardy” program to be broadcast later that day. I don’t go to movies or follow sports, so I’m often at a loss when it comes to many quiz show questions. But recently I was in a position to answer the “Jeopardy” question because of my early training in geology. The category of the question I got right was “to ‘dum’ it up.” That means, in Jeopardy-s...
Zucchini are still at peak production and several great recipes have come in over the past week. Kendall Fisher shared his recipe for Stuffed Zucchini, bursting with savory taco and cheese flavor. Stuffed Zucchini 6 large (7-8 inches each) zucchini, sliced lengthwise and the middle scooped out with a melon ball tool (save the middle) 1 pound ground turkey or beef 1/2 cup chopped red/yellow/green peppers in any combination 1/2 cup diced onion 1/3 cup water 1 packet taco...
A friend of mine recently shared this story: When asked if he would be willing to volunteer for a shift in the Deutsches Fest Biergarten, a local resident reportedly asked where the money made at the Biergarten would go. He was told that it went to the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, followed by some information about that organization and what it does (or attempts to do) for the community. At that point, he replied, “I don’t see what’s in it for me,” and declined to volunte...
Alex Waroff had a fantastic summer job this year. The veterinary student at Washington State University worked with faculty members as they tested just how clever grizzly bears are. What’s at issue is the use of tools. “Besides primates, scientists know that certain birds, dolphins, elephants and some other animals use tools,” Waroff told me. “Tool use might seem to be more common in social creatures. Bears are a little hard to categorize in that regard, because they live with...
I was hospitalized for ten days in late July. In August, to rebuild my strength, I took my dog on increasingly long walks around town. We went virtually every day; the exercise was good for both Buster Brown and me. Buster is such a mongrel it’s hard to be sure what breeds have contributed to his makeup. He retrieves sticks thrown into the water and he looks like he has some Labrador in him, but he has the tail of a German Shepherd. His wide head makes me think of a pit bull....
