Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1301 - 1325 of 1862
Deutschesfest is over for another year. By the time you are reading this column the trappings of the event will be stored away, the trash picked up and the streets cleaned. Many recipe requests came my way, for items from the bake sales. I am in the process of rounding up the recipes. One request was for Kaese Kuchen (Cottage Cheese Kuchen) That recipe I know by heart, so was able to jot that on napkins or whatever was handy, for out of town visitors. For those who subscribe...
Once you believe you have seen it all, the government steps to a new low. At the September 18 City of Sprague council meeting, the City Council passed Resolution #273 “Council meeting public comment policy.” This resolution established [that] the public may only comment at the end of the Council meeting during the “Public Comment Period,” but at this same meeting Mayor Mike Evans stated there would be no more “Public Comment Periods” during Council meetings. Thus, in one City Council meeting the public has been completely...
By this time next week, Deutschesfest will be over, and a lot of hardworking volunteers will be able to step back and heave a sigh of relief. For a little while, anyway. We need to make it known that we appreciate all the effort that goes into making our hometown celebration a success year after year. There are the people who put in hours and hours organizing the biergarten, the parade, the vendors and entertainment. There are the people who are new and leap in with both...
By DR. E. KIRSTEN PETERS As an aging citizen of Scandinavian descent, I dread this time of year. Each evening the sun sets significantly earlier. Deep in the bones of us northern people is the notion that summertime is the season of life and hope while winter is, well, cold and horribly dark. This week all of the globe enjoys roughly 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of night. The "reason for the season" relates to the Earth's orbit around the sun. During summertime, our...
Last Thursday the USDA released its September Crop Report. With the hot, dry weather the cornbelt has experienced over the last month and the 2-3% decline each week in the condition of the corn crop, the question was how much would corn yields and production drop in this report. The answer was none, in fact USDA increased yields by one bushel per acre and increased production back up to 13.84 billion bushels. While ending stocks for this year were decreased to 661 million bu, the higher production numbers pushed ending...
To the Editor: Some time ago Bin Laden was killed by a group of seals and it was reported that he was buried at sea. Mr. Obama proudly announced the well-planned attack and proudly reported that our war problems were basically over. Drones had been successful in killing some of his key followers. Mr. Obama suggested that those who hated the United States would be powerless without leadership. I believe that he has underestimated the hatred and determination of these people! Let’s stop and think! This is an enemy that will g...
As human beings, we tend to want to find meaning in just about everything. And no, I'm not just talking about the surface meaning - I mean the meaning behind the meaning. If your wife says to you, "Wow, those dishes are really piling up," you would do well to recognize the meaning behind the obvious fact that there are, in fact, dishes piling up. "It's probably time for you to wash the dishes, dear…" The words are meant to drive you to action. You've probably said, or at l...
Decades of research indicate that poverty has a huge impact on student learning. According to professor emeritus Stephen Krashen of the University of Southern California, studies show that “more poverty means lower scores on all measures of school achievement.” Many studies show that poverty negatively impacts school performance. In brief, here are some findings: - Children of poverty are more likely to suffer a lack of adequate food, resulting in slower language development and behavioral problems. - High-poverty fam...
It's Tuesday morning. I have an appointment with a dental hygienist at 9 o'clock. The Chamber of Commerce meets at noon. Want to guess which appointment I dread the most? I'll give you a hint - it's not the one that involves someone scraping my teeth. Now, I'm not deliberately trying to offend anyone here, but I really, really, really dislike Chamber of Commerce meetings. Not because I dislike the Chamber of Commerce, or because I don't see the value of the organization. I...
When my dog and I walk along the Snake River during the warm seasons of the year, we can both come home with a tick or two. I'm used to feeling those little legs on my skin or scalp and picking off the critters. If I'm lucky, I get to them before they attach and start sucking my blood. Because I've been doing this all my life I don't get stressed out about ticks, but I do know they can carry certain diseases. Recently the Shots website of National Public Radio reported that...
To the Editor: As we count down the days before Obamacare starts being enforced (10-1-13), lets review how close we were to not having it passed. Al Franken was elected in a down-to-the-wire finish, in a Senate race for a key position that put the winner in a position to decide if Obamacare would become law or would be a near miss. The Republican candidate had a narrow margin, according to news reports, until about 1900 votes were discovered. These votes turned the lead to Mr. Franken and he was the 60th vote that was needed...
Ever since Sputnik ascended the heavens in 1957, education reforms have consistently failed to improve schools. Why has there been no improvement? David Berliner offers an answer: Failure does not reside inside the schools. He states: “The sources of America’s educational problems are outside school, primarily a result of income inequality.” However, the U.S. Department of Education‘s goal is that “with better teaching, we will have more learning [higher test scores], and this will improve the economy.” As Berliner no...
Talking about war with Syria requires a brief walk down memory lane. Under our Constitution, only Congress can declare war. When did Congress last officially declare war? The last time occurred during World War 2. Congress officially declared war against Japan on December 8, 1941 (after Pearl Harbor was attacked), on December 11, 1941, against Germany, and on June 4, 1942, against Bulgaria, Hungary, and Rumania. That’s it. Did Congress declare war for these military actions? – Korea 1950, Vietnam 1964, Iran Hostage Res...
It sounds like science fiction when you first hear about it, but some people see it as a way of addressing both animal welfare issues and environmental concerns. I’m talking about growing meat cells for human consumption from stem cells harvested from a cow. This so-called “cultured beef” recently was unveiled in London by a group led by Mark Post, a physiologist at the Netherland’s Maastricht University. It’s been known for a while that an anonymous donor contributed money toward an effort to grow a hamburger patty in...
Today is Labor Day, so of course I’ve spent it laboring. I’ve moved a few hundred bolts of fabric. Some of them more than once, since I don’t really have a plan. Now I’m tired. Even though it’s a holiday, as long as I was at the shop, I plugged in the “OPEN” sign, and a few people stopped in. One was a regular customer from the Harrington-Davenport area. Another was a woman with local connections who was on her way home to the west side. Just taking the scenic route. And fi...
So many recipes, so little space. Over the next few weeks, I will get all the submitted recipes published. This weeks column will focus on the most summery recipes, and of course, zucchini. Kathy Ratkowski brought UnPotato Salad to a recent community potluck picnic. Cauliflower is used in place of potatoes to create a low-carb salad. Kathy made note on the recipe that she uses a little less mayonnaise than the recipe calls for, and substituted the light version. UnPotato...
In 1943, Professor Abraham Maslow of Brooklyn College proposed that human behavior is guided by five basic needs (in this order): 1) physiological, 2) safety, 3) belongingness, 4) esteem, and 5) self-actualization. People, children included, are motivated to fulfill the basic needs (1-3) first before moving on to the last two needs. In other words, food and shelter (1), safety and protection (2), love and affection (3) come before learning or achieving on test or in school (4 and 5). Individuals will not move on to higher...
Dear Odessa and surrounding community, We would like to take the time to thank you for your incredible support; it is our honor and privilege to be back home! We are grateful to Odessa for supporting our adventure to try a larger school district. Many of you visited, sent notes, cards and care packages along the way and continually checked in on how we were doing as a family. Although our journey was exciting, and we learned a lot about a larger educational system, it certainly did not fit either Jeff’s style of teaching o...
“Knowledge is a big subject. Ignorance is bigger. And it is more interesting.” So begins Stuart Firestein’s book Ignorance: How It Drives Science. Part of the core message in the book about how science should work is wrapped up in a brief story about a physicist named Isidor Isaac Rabi. When Rabi came home from school each day his immigrant mother didn’t ask him what he learned, but rather whether he had asked any good questions in class. That approach to thinking about l...
Over the last month the price of wheat has been in a fairly narrow trading range. That relative calm has belied some of the powerful forces that have been influencing the grain markets both globally and locally. The futures markets are the backbone of the grain markets, for better or worse. And over the last month the speculative funds have had a major influence on the market by acquiring a record short position in wheat and a very sizeable short position in corn, largely based on the anticipation of a record corn harvest. Up...
Oops. I didn’t get around to writing a column last week. It was probably because I was out sweeping the cobwebs off the storefront. Or maybe washing my feet. At any rate, time got away from me. My apologies. This week, I’ve been thinking about one of those things we learn as children, although perhaps not always intentionally. I’ve been thinking about “Practicing What You Preach.” I tend to think of this particular topic in capitals, because somehow I grew up thinking it was i...
Getting ready for school means getting school supplies and back packs. It’s also the perfect time to make sure children are up to date on their shots. Getting all of the recommended shots is one of the most important things parents can do to protect their kids’ health. Vaccines are among the safest and most cost-effective ways to prevent disease. Protecting children from preventable diseases will help keep them healthy and in school. The shots that are recommended and required to enroll in school are available at your doc...
I have been hard at work in recent years combating a significant disease of wheat. Stem rust is caused by a group of nasty fungal organisms that can infect wheat plants and devastate yields. In some cases up to 100% of the crop can be lost. That’s a disaster for farmers, obviously, but it’s also potentially an enormous problem for those of us who eat bread, hotcakes and muffins, and who want to keep such foodstuffs in our diet. The battle between stem rust and agr...
Many students in high-poverty schools perform poorly on state tests already. With Congress’s plan to cut food stamps for the poor, elderly, and disabled, schools nationwide will face much greater difficulties in educating hungry children. Then add the cost for technology to make Common Core testing possible. Many schools have trouble now connecting to the Internet, and others have many connections but terrible WiFi infrastructure. Systems have been known to crash on the day of testing, forcing students in mid-keystroke of a...
To the Editor: We have a huge problem that needs to be addressed. We have 31 million veterans in the United States and most of them are eligible for benefits. That means we have a huge unfunded liability! There ae 774,000 unemployed veterans and the most help they are getting comes from the business world and wealthy individuals. We have a high percentage of suicide among our group of veterans and many of the stories that have been told go back to not getting necessary care. There are 613 forms that have to be filled out. It...
