Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 21 - 45 of 1891
Last Friday, the Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling that, for once, I can agree with — a decision that clears the way for a long-standing problem to be addressed. That decision stems from a lawsuit brought by the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC), in which Lincoln County, along with Yakima County and Pacific County, are plaintiffs, challenging how public defense is funded in Washington. The lawsuit was first heard in Thurston County Superior Court, w...
More than two years ago, the Eastmont School District serving East Wenatchee took the lead in trying to protect girls sports from gender-confused boys. Then Kennewick, Moses Lake and other districts joined in. There was enough pressure last year to prompt the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to discuss rules to prevent boys from competing in girls athletics. But WIAA administrators balked; school representatives were only presented a non-binding straw ballot....
Public transportation features prominently in city, county and regional plans. The Legislature has been very accommodating and has enabled five different types of transit authorities, each with dedicated revenue sources (also known as taxes). The most common is a Public Transportation Benefit Area. These agencies are governed by boards usually comprised of nine city and county council members appointed though a caucus process. Twenty-two such agencies have been formed and their taxing districts encompass more than three and...
This year’s 60-day legislative session opens Jan. 12. When legislators gather in Olympia, the No. 1 issue facing us will be the state operating budget problem. If this sounds familiar, you are correct. When the Legislature entered last year’s session, there was a budget shortfall. As they are prone to do, majority Democrats chose to balance the new two-year operating budget with a record four-year tax-increase package. The problem is, even after the Ds’ new taxes kicked in a few months ago, the state budget is still hurti...
Editor’s Note: The following column from the Washington Policy Center’s Todd Myers has been abbreviated for space. To read the column in its entirety, log onto www.washingtonpolicy.org. Judging by the discourse in Washington state, many progressives believe the political value of environmental rhetoric supersedes the value of delivering results. On the right, too many treat every environmental concern as a Trojan Horse for socialist policies. That divisiveness has made productive environmental efforts extremely difficult and...
Health care has become a major policy issue in Congress. The recent government shutdown was caused by the minority party insisting on extending the deadline for the COVID-era, generous taxpayer subsidies in the Obamacare exchanges. That was in spite of the fact that when in the majority, they were the ones who set the deadline for Dec. 31. Obamacare has been an abject failure. It has not provided universal health insurance coverage as was promised, nor has it controlled the ever-rising cost of health care. All Americans, exce...
The Holiday Season is an especially tough time for anyone grieving lost loved ones. Evergreen wreaths placed on veterans' graves across America help to ease that pain. On December 13, an ISIS shooter killed two members of the Iowa National Guard and their American interpreter while they were serving in Syria, causing another tragic loss. More than 3.1 million red-ribboned wreaths were placed by thousands of volunteers, including many family members, on December 13. Those...
State government is entitled to a fixed portion of what you earn, even if it is wasted or isn't needed to fund important programs. That is the crux of the argument being made to justify yet more tax increases. Leadership of Washington State Senate Democrats have circulated a document arguing Washington's tax code is "broken." They assert the state is being "defunded" because revenue as a percentage of "total personal income" has declined over 20 years, from a historical 6-7% to approximately 5%. The document's main argument i...
A state agency and two different legislative commissions had meetings last week in which they discussed health care issues in Washington state, legislative priorities and federal health care reforms. “The sky is falling” was the tone whenever federal reforms were mentioned and doom was predicted, despite remaining unknowns and failing to mention the many state-level actions harming Washington's health care landscape. ( Worse than trying to pin all our health care woes on federal Medicaid reforms and the likely and rig...
As we finish the 2026 Lincoln County budget, the same themes I've consistently written about, continue to be front and center: the 1% property-tax cap, runaway insurance costs, unfunded mandates, and a revenue system that simply can't keep pace with reality. Washington law limits counties to a 1% increase in property-tax collections each year. That may have sounded reasonable back in 2001, but 1% doesn't keep up when inflation, wages, utilities, equipment, and basic operating...
As we close out 2025, I wanted to provide you with an update about current projects we have been focusing on and it can all be summed up with the word, “technology.” Technology has always been at the forefront of the law enforcement tool belt but keeping up with latest tech and associated costs are almost always a hardship for smaller agencies. Because of this we have put our focus on upgrading communication systems, and providing deputies with a new tool in technology in hop...
Washington voters have rejected state income tax proposals 10 times. But Democrats still haven't gotten the message. Sen. Noel Frame of Seattle, who serves with me on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, has become the latest Democrat to push the idea of a state income tax. She's also behind the Democrats' multi-year effort to treat certain investments as taxable property – meaning you would get taxed simply for owning them, just like a piece of land. As reported by the m...
President George W. Bush’s eulogy of Dick Cheney, his vice president, brought back memories of a kinder, gentler America—a time when those elected to office did what was best for our country not their political party. Bush reassuring words came after an unthinkable government shutdown (39 days) which paralyzed essential functions and threatened to stop flights during our country’s busiest travel time—Thanksgiving. The shutdown underscored how angry and bitterly divided...
Washington state, a beacon for innovators and entrepreneurs, is witnessing a troubling trend: a steady outflow of its wealthiest and most entrepreneurial residents. High taxes, burdensome regulations and an anti-business climate are pushing the wealthiest and high-earners to sunnier, lower-tax havens such as Nevada, Texas and Florida. Far from the progressive narrative of a booming millionaire class, recent data reveals a selective exodus among the wealthy, threatening the state’s economic vitality. Consider the numbers. A 2...
In regard to the possibility of the East Adams Rural Healthcare public hospital in Ritzville closing and the meeting of concerned residents, I would like to add a few thoughts: First of all, I would like to ask if each of you were on the board, would you have done anything differently? Second, we here in this area have taken the care services for granted, not realizing what a phenomenal asset it has been for our community. And third, let's get behind those who are working on a plan to save our health-care services. I believe...
As working families, elders and disabled folks worried about how they would eat if SNAP benefits were not issued in Novembe, Repr. Michael Baumgartner posted about his staff volunteering at Second Harvest. While volunteering is lovely, that’s not what we need from our elected representatives, not when they hold the power to either strengthen or dismantle the social safety net. Volunteering at and donating to food banks, filling little free pantries, spotting neighbors grocery money, hosting community meals — that is what goo...
I am one of millions of Americans who love our nation's public lands. These are places where we go to breathe fresh air, to enjoy time with our families and communities, and to learn about our history, culture, and the natural world. As an enrolled Nez Perce tribal member who hunts, fishes and gathers per our 1855 Treaty, I feel protecting of public lands is critical to our rights as Tribal members. For far too long, extractive industries like oil and gas, mining and logging were prioritized for most of the 245 million acres...
My current read is “Patriot,” by Alexei Navalny, who courageously tried to save Russia from Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship. That raised at question: Who is currently the U.S. patriot playing the same role as Navalny was in Russia? I immediately thought of former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and her courageous dedication to saving our democracy from wannabe dictator President Donald Trump. At the bottom end of the courage scale, my recent read was the Aug. 18 Time magazine featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. Notably, our f...
Many Eastern Washington residents are experiencing deep fear, anxiety, frustration and depression over proposals to place commercial-scale wind turbines near their homes. These emotions are not political tactics; they reflect real human impacts that deserve recognition from local officials. For rural families, our homes represent stability, identity and often generations of history. When 700-foot industrial turbines are proposed close to where people live, it is natural to worry about safety, property values, noise and how...
The state has a protocol for the removal of wolves that have repeatedly attack cattle. When activist groups or others disrupt that protocol, it erodes trust in the policy and the agencies implementing said policy. In the Sherman Pack territory in Stevens County, along with much of the northeastern region of the state, the federal government has already de-listed wolves from the endangered species list. It’s time the state does the same. The wolf population in the region is significant enough to be stable and treating the a...
As working families, elders and disabled folks worried about how they would eat if SNAP benefits were not issued in Novembe, Repr. Michael Baumgartner posted about his staff volunteering at Second Harvest. While volunteering is lovely, that’s not what we need from our elected representatives, not when they hold the power to either strengthen or dismantle the social safety net. Volunteering at and donating to food banks, filling little free pantries, spotting neighbors grocery money, hosting community meals — that is what goo...
“The U.S. market-based economic system where people, not government, decide what is produce and marketed is still the world’s “beacon of hope!” Poland and the United States are like two trains passing each other heading in opposite directions. Poland embraced our market-based economic system while America is drifting toward socialism and more government control which tend to stifle job growth, business opportunities, and prosperity. It comes down to affordability. Policies and government decisions impact peoples’ ability t...
A recent breach once again underscores the tension between age-verification requirements and data privacy in laws seeking to protect children online. When I wrote a few months ago about the unintended consequences of the UK’s data-privacy law, I warned that the very effort to protect children online can compromise their data. A new example has now emerged: a third-party vendor used by Discord was breached, resulting in the leak of private user details, including government IDs. Discord is an online platform where individuals...
The disconnect between the farm gate and the dinner plate has long been a concern for “ag-vocates” who’ve noted more people are unable to connect directly with reasons why agriculture is important. The recent announcement from Lays Potato Chips that 42% of consumers did not know that chips were made of real potatoes should maybe not surprise anyone. Yet, it is a shocking statistic. The data comes from a survey conducted by PepsiCo, Lays’ parent company, as part of a consumer and brand study. In our state, the nation...
During his first year, President Trump has been globetrotting attempting ink trade deals, repair tattered relationships, and attract manufacturing back to America. However, no mission has been more crucial than his recent trip to South Korea, Japan and China. Behind the bluster of new “reciprocal” tariffs was the simple fact that China is not only a manufacturing, trading and military challenge but it is our primary supplier of strategic metals. Not only is America short of RARE minerals, but metals such as iron, copper and...
