Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 832 - 856 of 1893
To the Editor: I recently spent a rainy but wonderful Wednesday campaigning in Odessa for representative position #2 in the 13th District. Since my husband and I have attended Odessa’s Deutschesfest for years, I was looking forward to the visit. The people were open, friendly and clearly proud of their community, as they should be. Voters shared a variety ideas and concerns. One common concern was a feeling that Odessa, as well as eastern Washington in general, did not get the attention, understanding and respect it d...
To the Editor: Don’t pick up strangers. Yes, but are there exceptions? In Odessa, if I see a friend walking, I will pull over and ask if they are just walking or need a ride, especially if I see a woman carrying grocery bags. I pull over and offer her a ride even if I don’t know her. None of my men friends ever said yes to a ride. What about off the highway? If I see a car parked on the side of the road and then see someone walking, yes I am going to stop and ask if they need help. If I see one bicyclist or one motorcyclist,...
To the Editor: Spring is here, the grass is starting to grow and people are beginning to emerge from their winter shells to begin the never-ending lawn maintenance chores of summer. This also means that cemetery maintenance will be in full swing as well. Unless I am misunderstood, the community taxpayers provide the funds for the maintenance and equipment of the cemetery to care for the marked plots of dirt and grass that community taxpayers have purchased as the final resting place for their loved ones. People have many...
To the Editor: I was glad to attend Cathy McMorris Rodger’s “Top O’ The Morning Breakfast” on March 29 at the Davenport Grand Hotel. I was very happy that Cathy had copies of The Constitution placed at every place setting. While there, I was happy to see Sheriff Knezovich had shed 40 pounds. I told him he looks good. I was happy to hear Pastor Joe of the huge Life Center Church tell me fidelity is very important for married politicians and that he has been preaching about that lately. I was very happy Senator Baumgartner agre...
The gavel fell on the night of March 8 adjourning the 2018 legislative session. The Legislature was able to reach an agreement on all three supplemental budgets – operating, capital and transportation – to avoid a special session for the first time since 2014. It was a whirlwind of a session. We were able to pass a Hirst solution and capital budget in the second week. As the session progressed we dealt with many contentious issues and there were a lot of late nights. Like any...
When Governor Jay Inslee vetoed Senate Bill 6617 recently, he had some time to spare. But not much. The governor had until 11:59 p.m. to decide whether to sign the controversial bill, veto it entirely, partially veto it, or let it pass without his signature. He faced the prospect that Legislators might override his veto with a supermajority vote, a reasonable threat considering that the bill had been passed with an overwhelming majority on Friday, Feb. 23. It wasn’t until 9 p.m. that Inslee’s office sent out a press rel...
To the Editor: Today’s youth no longer grow up in multi-generational households where children, parents and grandparents all reside under the same roof from cradle to grave. Few die at home anymore. Most youth have no idea what death is really all about. The closest they get to it is in video games, where death isn’t real – just shoot-em-up and hit restart to start all over again. Life is not a game where you can push a button and start all over again. So instead of life and death being a natural part of life, we keep our c...
To the Editor: I really enjoyed the family movie night at the Christ Lutheran Church last weekend. It was a “food-raiser” event for the local food bank, and I was able to enjoy my first movie night out with my little Tympist, age 6. I very much enjoyed the movie as well. Another is scheduled for March 18, and I am planning on attending if I can. I hope that lots of people and kids show up with a can for donation, and I hope there are so many people there that they keep it going once a month. Tympist and I will keep com...
To the Editor: I found a card the other day that said, “I Think of You Often.” I decided Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers needed to know that I think of her often, so I sent her a note: “I think of you often. I think of how you do not listen to us, do not care for us, do not talk to us, but continually pass laws that harm us. I think of you often. I think of 12 years in Congress and you have done nothing to stop the mass murder of children and adults in our land, but you completely support the NRA and everyone’s right t...
When conservative members of Congress worked with the White House to force through a tax cut that was a huge windfall for millionaires and billionaires, many observed how this would inflate the Federal deficit. After decades of presenting themselves as the “deficit hawk” party, and warning of the danger of our national debt and of government spending, how did the Republicans come to be the party that explodes the deficit? The Republican tax plan takes $1.5 trillion in revenues out of the budget, and no serious economic ana...
To the Editor: Here is another example of phone fraud: I received a call this week from someone claiming to be from Dish Network. He said they were sending me updated equipment and needed my credit card number as “insurance”. I have autopay, so I asked him to give me the last four digits of my number. He gave two sets of numbers neither of which were correct. When I told him I would not give him the number he abruptly hung up. I called Dish and they said they will never ask for a credit card number. Paul Scheller Ode...
To the Editor: It is unfortunate that Teddy Roosevelt didn’t act on his idea of having Congress declare that English would be the official language of our Republic. We need to look at some of the problems that we would probably not be faced with. We would not have 25 million residents who can’t speak English, and we wouldn’t have 5 million school-aged children who can’t speak English. We would not have Clinton’s Executive Order 13166. We would not have a constant fight with La Raza that was formed in 1968. It took 15 years...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) has released the following statement regarding privatization of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). “Selling off BPA’s transmission system and abandoning cost-based rates would raise electricity rates and throw sand in the gears of the Northwest economy. Northwest consumers already cover the full costs, with interest, of building and operating our region’s hydropower system. I will be working with all my...
To the Editor: Nate here. I have never felt so optimistic as today for the Town of Odessa that I love. We just stepped up to local and regional deliveries. We are actually looking and talking about franchise opportunities. Contact me if interested. Harrington, Wilson Creek, Lind, Wilbur (call me). We are expanding, and the Car Show this year is looking great! The races are coming! Odessa is doing great. You can, too! I know this because of all the new people and families moving into town. The school class numbers are even...
In 2013, the federal government shut down for 16 days. What that meant for those of us wishing to access our very own Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area at that time, was nothing short of unbelievable. Operating under a contingency plan for a lapse in funding developed by the director of the National Park Service (a presidential appointee), in conjunction with the Secretary of the Interior (a presidential cabinet post), the Park Service spent untold taxpayer dollars to ph...
The staff of The Odessa Record would like to thank our readers for their loyalty over the past year, their patience in dealing with late papers now and then and the many kind words and compliments from so many of you. Although we sometimes feel that our role as the voice of Odessa is being usurped by Facebook, we have heard from many, many people that they do not want The Record to disappear. We would certainly like to retire one of these days, but we need to find someone to take over who will do justice to our small town...
To the Editor: Can anyone explain President Trump’s and the Republicans’ hostile positions on immigration? Several of our country’s leaders have/had foreign-born wives, think Trump (Czechoslovakia, Slovenia), McConnell (China), Mnuchin (Scotland). At least one of these wives came to this country under questionable legal status. Melania Trump has several immigrant relatives living in the U.S. What is their citizenship status? Did they benefit from “chain immigration?” Furthermore, Trump’s mother was foreign born (Scotland) and...
Will a minimum wage of $15 an hour lift a full-time worker of a family of four out of poverty? Yes and No. Yes, it will; $15 an hour equals $25,923 yearly income. The poverty threshold for 2017 was $24,257. No, it won’t, because the threshold will increase over time, as it historically has, but the hourly wage income will remain the same. Crossing that imaginary line is easy. One visit to the hospital or one major problem with the car will return the whole family to poverty. We should want all families to feel secure with a l...
To the Editor: When I think of how the new tax bill is being sold to the public, it reminds me of my years in Liberia, under President William Tubman. Tubman was dearly loved by the poorest in the country, which actually didn’t make any sense at all. But, needy citizens would ask him for financial help – for a funeral, a wedding or just hard times. He would gladly oblige with a gift of up to $500. In fact, Tubman had envelopes marked with various amounts of money already prepared to distribute. Yet, he neglected to sup...
To the Editor: Changes, changes, changes. Amendments, appeals, initiatives, etc. in politics, the culture/media/society of our state/county/country/world. Voting is just the first step. Now we need to communicate, directly (phone, townhall meetings, lobbying) or indirectly with a letter, telegram, electronic means. Perhaps your editorial letter(s) and your group (Lions Club, Grange, Eagles, school board, etc.) will make a difference. Get the media behind you!! Sometimes changes can be bad or not so good. It wasn’t until 1...
To the Editor: A hundred or more Grant County voters in Zip Code 988 were disenfranchised because their ballots were postmarked after November 7. County and state election officials recognize this problem, as apparently some, if not many, ballots were mailed on November 7. Since these local ballots went to the Wenatchee postal processing center, they apparently were postmarked after the 7th. This unintentional disenfranchisement punishes many people throughout the state. People believe that if they mail their ballot on...
As we move towards Thanksgiving, obviously our “thankfulness quotient” goes up. While it’s in the forefront of our minds, we are more ready to remember to be thankful for the many blessings God has given us. But what about being thankful the rest of the year? Or what about when life is hard? The Bible makes reference to living a life of thanksgiving not just once a year, but always and in every circumstance. And even our prayers and requests and complaints to God need to be...
To the Editor: The GOP tax plan will crush the middle class, and it will decimate students’ educations. Cathy McMorris Rodgers won’t even address the bill with her own constituents. She certainly won’t address education because of the damage she is inflicting on our next generation. Currently, student loan interest deduction allows students to lower their taxable income by $2,500. Cathy supports a tax bill that will take away all student loan interest deductions. One student illustrated how, with the current plan at 15%,...
To the Editor: Avista spends THEIR money advertising OUR electric service cost as “33% lower than the national average.” Duh!; so what? Here’s what! A more local comparison puts our residential cost nearly 300 percent HIGHER than Wenatchee’s (9.3 vs. 3.2 cents/kwh, respectively). But, so much for the ridiculous comparisons. Let’s do this more reasonable comparison: My own Avista cost “consumption rate” is more than 200 percent HIGHER than it was in 1999 (9.3 vs. 4.5 cents/kwh respectively). Yup! Right here! And that 200 perc...
To the Editor: This is what web MD says about marijuana. Also a study out of New Zealand on young adults 17-21 showed that after 40 years the teens who continued to smoke pot had an IQ of 10% less than the teenagers who did not smoke pot. Marijuana reduces your incentive to achieve and work. To me, the bad far outweighs the good. Read on what the medical journal, Web MD, has to say about marijuana. Marshall Roberts, Wenatchee [Owner and pharmacist at Odessa Drug for 37 years] From WebMD: If you’ve ever smoked a joint or e...
