Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 27 - 51 of 1962
Dusty paperwork, half a dozen ball caps, a few miscellaneous tools, a discarded sweatshirt or three, not to mention some baling twine, equipment parts, and six pounds of dirt in the bed of the pickup. This could be any number of farm or ranch pickups in Washington state. Some might be six months old; others might be 15 years old. When it is time to replace them, based on price and weight, the next one might well be considered a luxury. The Washington State Department of...
Three years ago, voters overwhelmingly signed onto Initiative 2081 to solidify a parent’s access to and oversight of their children’s educational records. The “Parents’ Bill of Rights” was so popular that 454,372 registered voters signed on – about 130,000 more than necessary to put the measure on the ballot. Liberal lawmakers saw the writing on the wall. And rather than let it go to a vote, the Legislature passed the initiative into law in March 2024, then “revised” it 2025....
Elected officials should honor their commitment to making America more affordable for working families, seniors, students, people with disabilities and rural communities. They should support policies that: • Protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, while strengthening access to quality health care, especially for rural communities and people with disabilities. • Invest in quality education. • Work to make college more affordable for students and families. • Safeguard ever citizen’s right to vote and ensure fair, acc...
When Oregon enacted the nation’s first bottle bill in 1971, it was intended to reduce litter on beaches, along roads and in parks. It has! Oregon’s redemption rate on empty bottles and cans is 85% compared to 30% in Washington. Over the years, the states took vastly different approaches to litter cleanup and recycling. A large part of the Oregon program’s recent success is that lawmakers in Salem doubled the payout to 10-cent a container in 2017. People, not always Orego...
Unfortunately, the wildfire situation in Eastern Washington has gone from bad to worse in the past week. Last Saturday, the Old Trails Fire ignited and burned more than 900 structures in northwest Spokane. A few days ago, law enforcement arrested a former convict who is suspected of starting that wildfire. It is one of three wildfires in Spokane County that have burned a combined total of over 10,000 acres. With so many people suddenly left homeless by recent wildfires in...
As an American, you should be able to move about the country freely, without having to show papers and without being tracked by law enforcement agencies without a warrant. You should be able to traverse highways and byways without being monitored by “Big Brother.” But not if you live in Washington state. Here, there at least 2,000 license-plate reading cameras currently in operation – most owned and leased by a single company, Flock. And they’re not just photographing crime-r...
Data centers use a lot of energy. So, it isn't surprising that people believe they are resource hogs that drive up energy costs. This sentiment has driven communities, such as Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma, to enact data center moratoriums, either temporarily or permanently.But for all the furor over electricity cost increases, the numbers tell a different story. Both nationally and in Washington state, data center development has correlated with slower electricity-price...
The primary duty of any government is to protect its citizens. Yet Olympia's current leaders aren't meeting that basic standard, by failing to secure our data systems and enforce our laws. Intelligence reports recently declassified by the federal government show Chinese cyber-actors have targeted and stolen the voter-registration data of up to 220 million Americans. Although national-security experts say this theft has not altered actual votes, the threat is still very real....
Millions of people across America and Canada are choking from wildfire smoke. Unfortunately, it has become an annual occurrence. Currently, thick smoke from hundreds of active Canadian wildfires has triggered widespread air quality alerts across at least 20 northern states. Wildfires are a natural part of forests – of which Canada (and U.S.) have vast swathes. Those massive infernos have worsened in recent years. For example, in Canada in 2023 fires razed 37 million acres– an...
Washington state boasts one of the strongest credit profiles in the nation, but the warning lights are flashing. Moody’s recently affirmed the state’s AAA rating while slapping it with a negative outlook indicating the organizations lack of faith in the Olympia leadership to right the ship. Fitch rates the state AA+ ( a good but lower rating) with a negative outlook. S&P holds it at AA+ with a stable outlook. In plain English — the golden AAA status that has kept Washington’s...
I, too, was disappointed that our governor chose not to represent Washington at the Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C. It was a golden opportunity to showcase our beautiful state with its outstanding features (i.e, lakes, rivers, mountains and flatlands). Record-Times Editor Olivia Harnack is be commended for writing and excellent column on the subject. Marsha Smith Ritzville...
Immigrants and refugees are a valuable asset to Eastern Washington. Americans who welcome and interact with immigrants and refugees gain so much in broadening their world views by learning about their cultures, experiences and history. Immigrants and refugees also benefit so much from being in the U.S. Recently the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Trump administration could end temporary protected status for Haitians and Syrians. Many of these people have settled in Spokane and are actively participating in our community....
We continue to read about rising electricity rates exacerbating inflation and making our lives more expensive and difficult. ¬¬ While some states have been proactive in addressing the problem, a national solution is needed. Our existing grid can be made more efficient, but in the end, we will need to build new transmission lines and create stronger connections between each of the regional grids. A major problem is that it takes too long to build these lines due to outdated regulations. The cost of solar and battery storage h...
The Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., is something every American should experience at least once. While Uncle Sam still had me on the clock most of the holiday, I was lucky enough to catch the incredible fireworks celebrating our nation's 250th birthday. And what a show it was. As darkness settled over the Capitol, fireworks lit the night sky well into the midnight hours. Every few seconds, another booming shell exploded overhead, showering the skyline in brilliant reds,...
A new Washington Small Business Economic Trends report delivers sobering news for the state’s small business community. The data reveals that small businesses are underperforming the national average on nearly every key measure of economic health, with state policies on taxes, regulations and labor costs emerging as primary culprits. The report’s Small Business Optimism Index for Washington sits at 94.5, 4 points below the U.S. at 98.5 and 3.5 points below the long-term nation...
As we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, soccer fans from around the globe are flocking to the USA for the World Cup. They marvel at what our America has to offer. Meanwhile, socialists focused on government control have hijacked the Democrat Party and are gaining a foothold in national and local elections. It is like America has trains heading in opposite directions on the same track racing toward a head-on collision. Today, people who risk their homes, savings and reputations are viewed by critics as the “evil inc...
Imagine being told you have to leave your home, perhaps forever. You only have a couple of hours to pack, and you can only take what fits in your car. Calista Christiansen, a seventh-grader from the Columbia River Gorge community of Lyle, didn't have to imagine. That's what happened to her, her family and her neighbors last summer when the Burdoin Fire burned through the community, destroying 14 homes and threatening more than 250 others, including her own. Christiansen spoke...
Around Eastern Washington, Old Glory is proudly flying. Red, white and blue bunting is on display. And fireworks are booming. It's a sign that the Independence Day holiday is quickly approaching. Patriotism here is at peak attention. Indeed, if you're in one of the 20 counties east of the Cascades, you're in one of most patriotic areas of the country. Even the WalletHub website lists Washington as the seventh "most patriotic" state in the nation. I guess the patriotism on our...
Our Christian Heritage Should Not Be Forgotten As we approach the 250th anniversary of the United States, our communities are entering a historic season of reflection. Puyallup will host "Voices of Valor," a program exploring the diverse stories of those who built and shaped our early nation. Simultaneously, across the Cascades in Walla Walla, citizens will gather to honor that region's legacy as the "Cradle of the Northwest." From the shores of Puget Sound to the rolling hills of the Palouse, I encourage all Washingtonians t...
Summer in Eastern Washington is a beautiful thing. The sun is shining. The lakes are calling. Campers are dusting off trailers. Kids are riding bikes until dark. Someone, somewhere, is already standing in line for ice cream. It’s a season we’ve all been waiting for. It’s also the season when common sense quietly packs its bags and takes a vacation. Every year, it happens. A person who wouldn’t dream of jumping off their roof decides it’s perfectly reasonable to ride an inner...
In Washington, this year we will again deal with water shortages because of insufficient mountain snowpack while escaping the historic droughts plaguing other parts of the world. The Columbia River system has not flowed at normal levels in recent years, which is problematic for agriculture, hydropower generation, barging, local water supplies, fish and wildlife. However, 20 years ago we faced the same severe drought. That water scarcity forced factories to close, farmland to...
The Oval Office Meets the Octagon There are a lot of things I expected to see during my time in Washington, D.C. Monuments, museums, motorcades and tourists accidentally standing in bike lanes all made the list. A UFC fight on the White House lawn did not. Yet somehow, here we are. Apparently, one of the most recognizable pieces of real estate in the world got an octagon. Because if there is one thing I've learned about Washington, it is that eventually you stop asking "Why?"...
The tassels have been flipped, the diplomas handed out and another class of graduates has crossed the stage. Over the coming weeks, many of these young adults will leave home for college, enroll in trade schools or step directly into the workforce. For the first time, they will begin making decisions with real consequences. They will sign leases they are legally bound to honor. They will open credit cards. Some will take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt before they are...
A messy redistricting battle is breaking out all across the country. In states like Mississippi, Virginia, and Missouri, political maps are trapped in an endless loop of court fights and mid-cycle changes. Political parties are treating voting boundaries like a game of tug-of-war. They adjust the lines constantly to guarantee a specific political outcome, leaving voters feeling disconnected and ignored. For decades, Washington state avoided this kind of chaos. Our state...
This year's legislative session featured proposals to "modernize" agriculture through the forced creation of collective bargaining units. Many activists and legislative advocates persistently implied farmers and ranchers were backward and uneducated, going so far as to cast food producers as "plantation owners." These aspersions are beneath the open-minded, liberated state Washington believes itself to be. Home to tree fruit orchards, grain growing operations, hop farms,...
