Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1451 - 1475 of 1862
Thank you for getting us in touch with Lydia and Helmut Kieß, our German cousins who visited in Odessa last summer. We have been enjoying their correspondence, and maybe we can help each other in researching the history of our ancestors. We appreciate the coverage in The Record. Larry and Della Kiesz Ritzville...
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 1/22/13: Chicago wheat fell 12 cents, posting a larger trading range than Friday and then closing lower. This seemingly puts a stop to our rally, as it gives off a pretty negative technical signal on the price charts. There wasn’t much news driving prices down today, but Northern Plains forecasts are a little wetter than they were last week. Corn was unchanged on the day and soybeans strongly higher on drier weather forecasts for Argentina. 1/25/13: W...
We are still trying our best to figure out what transpired at the Inland Empire Oilseeds facility just prior to Christmas. Well, actually, what transpired was that the workforce was laid off and the plant was shuttered. Chapter 7 bankruptcy was filed. What we don't know is the why. And with many issues to be resolved in bankruptcy court, the principals, on advice of counsel, are not yet talking about the why question. We attended this week's meeting of the Odessa Public Development Authority. We learned that there is at least...
Lately I’ve been thinking about what advice the old me (that is, the me I am today) would give the young me. The first thing that popped into my head was, “Don’t wear shoes that hurt your feet.” Right after that came, “Don’t wear shoes that make you walk funny.” And right after that came, “Why would I listen to the old me when I wouldn’t listen to my parents?” I’ll admit, I have an obsession with shoes. So did my mother. It may be because, shaped the way I am, the only clothe...
A few weeks ago I lost the use of my toilet and learned first hand just how much I missed it when it wasn’t there. My plumbing went out of order when the pipe between my house and the city’s sewer line in the street collapsed. It was about 60 years old and made out of compressed fiberboard of some sort – I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did. Pipes like that belong to the homeowner, so it was my responsibility to get it fixed. It took about a week for the workmen to come...
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire reflected on her eight-years in office in her State of the State address at the Capitol Tuesday morning, her last official act before relinquishing the reins of that office to Gov.-elect Jay Inslee. Among the issues she touched upon were her administration's achievements and involvement in industry, education, transportation and economic recovery. Gregoire also offered advice to the legislature, outlining her suggestions for the next administration. Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks...
I have a genuine concern about the young men and women of America! We have tens of thousands of young people in our state looking for work. However, the Washington State Patrol is facing a crisis because they can’t find enough good candidates to fill a class. They prefer to have 60 people in each class, as that is the optimum size for their facilities and instructors. They recently advertised extensively, and they did not get enough candidates to fill a class. The chief of the WSP said in a recent interview that they had e...
Personally, I blame it all on Walt Disney. Seriously. Before Walt came along, fairy tales tended to be not just cautionary, but downright terrifying. I’m pretty sure that prior to being introduced to the happy-ever-after brand of storytelling perfected by those at the Disney company, I was too scared to do anything wrong. After all, being baked in someone’s oven or eaten by a wolf didn’t sound particularly pleasant. Then here came Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinde...
On Monday, January 21, we celebrate both Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and the inauguration of Barack Obama. Much has happened between the Civil Rights Movement, which began in 1954 with Brown vs. Board of Education, to the election of America’s first bi-racial president to another term in office. In April of 1968, King went to Memphis, Tennessee, to support the sanitation workers striking for better working conditions and a living wage. Not only had he fought discrimination against all minorities in this country, he also c...
After the recent theatrical charade about the fiscal cliff given to us by the people elected to lead this country, I would like to inform them what Winston Churchill said regarding what they accomplished. “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." Joe Wollman Odessa...
In light of Duane Pitts’ piece about labor unions, maybe we should tell the rest of the story. I am including something I found in the Jewish World Review by Thomas Sowell and please note the place where he points out that labor unions do not create wealth. Dave McClanahan Odessa Union Myths By THOMAS SOWELL The biggest myth about labor unions is that unions are for the workers. Unions are for unions, just as corporations are for corporations and politicians are for politicians. Nothing shows the utter cynicism of the u...
When I lived in Portland, I had (what I considered to be) a glorious garden. My house, which was quite small, sat on a standard city lot. In the eight years I lived there, I dug out most of the lawn and planted things that bloom. I planted heirloom roses, daylilies, bearded iris, crocus, tulips, daffodils and peonies. I planted daphne, heather and creeping phlox in the rock garden, along with basket of gold and clove pinks. Delphinium, coreopsis and echinacea bloomed all...
Wow! It's a whole new year! Again. Well, it's not actually a whole new year as I'm writing this, since my deadline is Monday, but I'm projecting a bit here, trying to sound like the me I think I'll be on Thursday, when you might be reading this. That's right. I'll still be me. When I was a very young person, and even a not-so-young person, I still believed that if I tried hard enough, I could reinvent myself on an annual basis. I don't believe those things anymore. It's not...
Three months after the worst terrorist attack on an American diplomatic outpost since the 1998 Embassy bombing the state department is trying to clarify what happened in Benghazi this past September 11th. Congress was to be briefed by an advisory board on security in Libya. Two deputy secretaries were to testify in open hearings in the House and Senate. Fuller disclosure on Benghazi is supposed to set the record straight. However, the critical piece of the puzzle will still be missing. Hillary was scheduled to testify but...
We know that the House of Representatives has been unable to reach a sensible deal to avoid unnecessary fiscal trouble at the first of the year because of right-wing Republicans’ aversion to tax increases. But there is another issue on which conservatives are creating needless difficulties for themselves and the country: It’s harder and harder for politicians on the right to think straight about health care. Conservatives once genuinely interested in finding market-based ways for the government to expand health insurance cov...
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 12/26/12: I suppose I could make a stupid joke about Santa leaving the wheat market a lump of coal but I just don't have the energy. For now the path of least resistance is lower until export volumes improve or investment money decides that grains are once again the place to be. Going into the end of the year doesn't look like it will be any fun. 12/27/12: Blah blah fiscal cliff, blah blah investment money, blah blah export demand, blah blah labor...
To a geologist like me, it was most notable by its absence in the political campaigns that lurched to their conclusions in November. I’m talking about an energy plan with real teeth, one that addresses everything from national security to the cost of energy to greenhouse warming of the planet. The best-known geologist in the country is T. Boone Pickens. He’s been in the energy business for decades – he’s now in his 80s – and he is still tirelessly devoted to pointing...
Could someone please tell me the difference between a Wal-Mart employee working at minimum wage and enrolled in Medicaid and state or federal employees drawing a salary of $70,000 to $250,000 a year whose health care and pension is totally paid for by the taxpayer? Why are we complaining when we have 47 million people on food stamps and half that number of unemployed and some who don't want to work who are totally supported by the tax payer? Seems like Wal-Mart employees are at least working and paying taxes. Joe Wollman...
Through tears we try to attach meaning to tragedy. The how and why troubles us. Yes, it would be nice if there were no guns, stones, clubs, cudgels, bows and arrows, crossbows, knives, spears, cannons or bombs. Legislation cannot prevent tragedy, mental illness or criminal intent. Nor does the answer lie in security unless it affects every facet of our lives, but Americans value freedom too much to put up with inspections and containment, even at great cost. And there are those who fear “Big Brother” more than the occasional...
If you are reading this, it is apparent that the Mayan calendar was not accurate! However, I can't help but wonder if a large percentage of our population thinks that I might as well use my credit to have one big Christmas before the "cliff and Obama care". Many people including myself are frightened by the unknowns that they will create as it is obvious that a lot of money is going to leave middle-class pocketbooks. The spending that I alluded to pushed the end of October tally to $2.75 trillion. This figure covers credit ca...
You must be stunned. I know I am. This week I wanted to write some humorous thoughts about how a family Christmas can go awry. But history intervened. It was bad enough to see news coverage of a multiple shooting incident at Clackamas Town Center, one of my favorite shopping destinations when I lived in Portland, and where I very nearly took a job. I could picture that scene, because I’ve been there. That incident hit close to home. Friday, I was at home all day, doing l...
We are not having a debt crisis. It’s important to make this point, because I keep seeing articles about the “fiscal cliff” that do, in fact, describe it — often in the headline — as a debt crisis. But it isn’t. The U.S. government is having no trouble borrowing to cover its deficit. In fact, its borrowing costs are near historic lows. And even the confrontation over the debt ceiling that looms a few months from now if we do somehow manage to avoid going over the fiscal cliff isn’t really about debt. No, what we’re having...
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 12/17/12: Wheat prices continue to trade a lower range that was established after the USDA monthly supply-and-demand report last week. Chicago futures fell 6 cents on the day and white wheat dropped 3. The HRW belt is supposed to receive some needed moisture this week. However, what they really need is a change in the long term weather pattern and not one rain/snowstorm. 12/18/12: Wheat prices finally got low enough to entice Egypt into a tender on Tuesday...
goodjobsfirst.org reported the following data about the hidden cost to taxpayers of companies whose employees earn so little that they have to apply for state aid to make ends meet. For the state of Washington, the figures are from 2006. Nothing current seems available, but given the trend nationwide of more and more companies' paying their workers a minimum wage, the cost to taxpayers averages around $1,000 per employee, according to Alan Grayson, newly re-elected congressman from Florida. No wonder the working man and...
I’ve always been one of those annoying Christmas people. You know, when you’re feeling all growly and grumpy, they’re the ones almost skipping down the sidewalk. They have a goofy smile on their face, and if you’re close enough, you can hear the Christmas carols they’re humming. I used to love finishing up my shopping on Christmas Eve. I loved hanging out with all the other desperate people at the mall, trying to find the least embarrassing gift for that last hard-to-s...
