Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 1514 - 1538 of 1862
I did not realize that in this election cycle, Washington voters will have two education-related initiatives to consider. One is Initiative 1185. In a nutshell, it requires a two-thirds majority of the legislature to increase taxes. In other words, a one-third minority can stop any funding for education in the state if the majority of the legislature approves it, among other issues. The state Supreme Court has ruled that the legislature must fully fund education, which it has not been doing for years even though voters have...
I know most of you already think I’m a little over the edge. You’d be right. And now I’ve gone completely off the map of good decision making. I have a puppy. OH MY GOSH HE’S THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!!!!!!! That’s why I have a puppy. This was possibly one of the most impulsive things I’ve ever done. I saw a flyer on the door of the drugstore advertising puppies for sale, and I walked into my husband’s office and picked up the phone.Well, not immediately. I did talk to the h...
Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse. 10/11/12: There were no Earth-shattering revelations on the most recent USDA supply-and-demand report, however it was considered at least favorable to corn, soybeans and wheat. Corn supplies were reduced a little more than expected and in line with the drop from the stocks report at the end of September. Soybeans didin’t get as big a bump to ending stocks as traders feared they might, due to corresponding increases in projected demand. Wheat supplies w...
Being the mom of a special needs son changed the direction of my life, from the day the nurse put him in my arms to this day. I was headed my own way in life and the Lord said, "No, you are going my way now." This special child has brought tears, laughter and, most of all, love into my life, and the lives of many, many others. I always dreamed of that perfect family - me having 2 boys and 2 girls. Instead, we adopted 3 boys and 1 girl. I was a young mother with a child that never slept more than 45 minutes at a time, during t...
The next time someone counters your political view, don’t get too excited. Just tell him or her you’ll be glad to discuss politics when he or she has read the U.S. Constitution and made an attempt to understand it. And go ahead and read it, yourself. You can find a readable, printable copy of the Constitution at www.wallbuilders.com. You may say, “Well, my political opponents aren’t going to read it, and, now, I have no chance to debate the issues with them and change their minds.” Right. Someone who might be convinced...
1/3/12: Prices started the day lower once again on Wednesday. However, a sharp rally midsession brought the futures markets back to unchanged by the end of the day. Egypt bought Argentine and French wheat overnight, and there were no offers out of Russia or any of the Black Sea countries. U.S. prices were much closer this time around, however we still didn’t get any of the business. Stats Canada will be out in the morning with some updated production information for north of the border. 10/5/12: Once again Portland e...
I don’t know how I managed to reach this advanced age believing I had to do it all. Or that I could do it all. I’ve never been able to decide if it’s an inherited trait or something I learned (or didn’t) along the way. What I do know, and have already announced to all and sundry, is that I must give up my beloved pumpkin patch. It’s so easy, in January when the world is dark and bleak, to allow myself to be seduced by seed catalog pictures of cheerful orange orbs. It’s easy...
9/28/12: There were no cash soft white markets this afternoon as Portland exporters went to basis only bids for white wheat due to extreme volatility in the market. Nobody wanted a repeat of two weeks ago when the wheat market matched its high for the year only to be down 50 cents on Monday. The lack of a futures market on Friday afternoon leaves only cash sales as the outlet for market risk and when there’s no sales to be had there’s no market. Going forward I expect this to become a theme this year with soft white pri...
I always get a good laugh from Mr. Pitts’ rantings. His “facts” remind me of quotes attibuted to Mark Twain, among others. Mr. Pitts seems to “get his facts first and then distorts them as he wishes.” Mr. Pitts appears to be one of those in expressing opinions that do not confine themselve to the facts. And when it comes to his use of statistics it reminds me of “lies, damned lies and statistics” in using the persuasive power of numbers to bolster his weak arguments. Ron Peterson Colville...
After seeing the letter to Mitt Romney in last week’s paper, I believe that letter got addressed to the wrong person. No matter what Mr. Romney says or does or how you twist his words to your liking, he can do nothing. He is still a private citizen. He is not President yet. It is not Mr. Romney's fault that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on the government. It is not his fault that 23 million Americans are out of work. Nor is it his fault that 47 million are on food stamps. Who is the president now? Who spent 5 t...
How many have heard of a PBM? It’s the acronym for Pharmacy Benefit Manager, the intermediaries between your pharmacy and your insurance company. PBMs set the contract prices and conditions for your pharmacist and do field audits to ensure that private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid are not being taken advantage of. A good thing, right? Yes, until the PBMs start abusing their position to intimidate independently owned pharmacies, like those we rely on in small town eastern Washington. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers stood up t...
I am a retired handicapped educator who votes independently. I am considered to be middle-class. Therefore, I must vote for Romney-Ryan, as President Obama has done enormous harm to middle-class households. Obama signed his stimulus spending bill in January 2009 when the median household income was $54,983. By June 2012, it had tumbled to $50,964, adjusted for inflation. That is $4,019 in lost real income. Even if you start the analysis in June 2009 when the recession ended the median household income is down $2,544 or...
I have news for you, people! Mitt Romney is not going to single-handedly restore the American economy. Neither is Barack Obama. Or any other politician, economist, businessman, corporation or political party. No, I’m afraid that what it all comes down to is us. We the people. I’ve been convinced for some time now that our system is broken. “Broken” might not be the right word, though. “Corrupt” might be more accurate. We the people have allowed our voice to be, if not silence...
Lots of us have observed that foods that are good for us - broccoli and bean sprouts - don't trigger intense cravings. In the late afternoon, when my energy is low, I want a cookie or a piece of chocolate, not a green pepper. Similarly, when I walk around the grocery store, I go through the meats and produce section without feeling deep cravings for the food I see. But when I get to the bakery, all bets are off, even if I'm not hungry. These patterns of cravings are...
You may not have noticed this. I like words. Actually, I love words. I love searching for, and especially finding, that exact word that can make my meaning clear. Clear to me, anyway. Everyone else, not so much. Lately, I’ve been thinking about words to live by. “Could,” “should,” “can’t” and “won’t” are just a tiny part of that particular lexicon. “Could” is such a hopeful word. When I was young, I could be anything I wanted. I could grow up to be a forest ranger or an arche...
Let’s get this straight. First, Governor Romney created an affordable health care program for all citizens in the state of Massachusetts. Then, for all Americans, the federal government built the Affordable Care Act based on Governor Romney’s health care plan. Once Congress passed the ACA and President Obama signed it into law, Governor Romney was against the federal health care plan modeled on the Massachusetts plan he built. Now, as of this past Sunday, Governor Romney likes parts of the ACA and wants to keep those par...
9/10/12: Our recent pattern continues, as we seem to stall out as white wheat prices rise to near the $8.30 level locally, then falls back to just below $8. Monday'’s slide took us back to the middle of that range. Again, there wasn’t anything in particular that caused today’s slide, just retracing the same pattern we’ve been in recently. Egypt liked it and tendered after the close. Whether we’re higher or lower tomorrow probably hinges on whether or not Russia feels like doing any more business with them. There’s a...
I’ve been thinking about the founding fathers quite a bit lately. It seems to me that some of us practically worship those men, without really understanding them. Before I go any farther with this line of thought, I need to say that I find the founding fathers to be a pretty impressive bunch of guys. But they weren’t gods, or even demi-gods. I think that we like to cherry-pick from among all of the things they believed, wrote or said until we find those things that justify wha...
We are living in a precarious time! We are about to elect a president who hopefully will guide us out of this financial disaster that is partially caused by too much government. According to the government accountability office the following are some of the examples. We have 82 federal programs to improve teacher quality; 80 programs to help disadvantaged people with transportation; 80 programs for economic development; 47 programs for job training and employment; 20 separate programs to help the homeless; 15 different...
Perhaps you would care to print a rebuttal to the hyperbole-laced article by Wendell Potter (Aug. 23 Record) regarding Rep. Ryan’s medicare plan? The enclosed analysis appeared on Yahoo! Finance on Aug. 23, and presents the other side of the argument. Jim Els Harrington “THE MYTHS AND REALITIES OF THE RYAN MEDICARE PLAN” By ANDREW G. BIGGS Gov. Mitt Romney's selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate has turned the 2012 presidential election into a referendum on Medicare reform. Ryan has s...
It’s commonplace to observe that we live in very partisan times. Red versus blue factions dominate our public discussions, and there often seems very little room made for agreement in the middle. It’s surely not easy to get environmental groups to agree on a policy that industry endorses. And if you add organized labor, consumer groups and the state of California to the mix, you might think agreement on one particular course of action would be impossible. But the imp...
It didn’t surprise me when President Obama started talking about forgiving loans that college graduates have created to earn their degrees. But, it made me angry as it is a slap in the face of every graduate who had to work to pay for their education. He has various ways that he wants to create for borrowers to avoid repayment including declaring bankruptcy. Bankruptcy should be used as a last resort after someone has had extreme misfortune! With roughly $1 trillion in outstanding student loans, close to $900 billion is f...
The next time you have a saltshaker handy, you might want to remove a few grains. If you have a simple magnifying glass, you’ll see the salt is really tiny cubes. Salt is a mineral and each grain is a well-formed crystal that breaks into cubic shapes. Salt in your saltshaker looks like a simple solid, just another bit of sturdy matter that doesn’t flow or deform. But salt that’s under pressure is different. Salt far enough underground behaves like Silly Putty, oozing and f...
I have a dream. No, this isn’t another recitation of what occurs during my REM sleep cycles. This is a dream of what I think America could (and should) be. I know it’s a dream, and that there is absolutely no chance of it ever coming true, but I dream it nonetheless. I dream of a country where every employee is treated with respect by the company he or she works for. And vice versa. I dream of a country where every employee is not only happy to have a job, but realizes that every job has merit, whether it is washing windows o...
If Americans who are embracing Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Path to Prosperity” — and that now includes Mitt Romney — spent a few minutes reviewing a few recent research reports, they just might conclude that the Wisconsin Republican’s plan to reduce the deficit might better be renamed the “Path to the Poorhouse” because of what it would mean to the Medicare program and many senior citizens. Ryan’s proposal, which will get new scrutiny now that Romney has made him his running mate, would end the current Medicare program for every...
