Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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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...
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...
For the past eighteen years, I have had the privilege of serving the patients and families of Odessa at Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center. This community has been my second home, and caring for its people has been the most meaningful part of my career. I have been honored to share moments of joy, offer comfort during times of loss, and work alongside dedicated nurses, nursing assistants, providers, and staff who strive every day to provide quality care close to home. As I prepare to leave my role at the hospital, I feel...
Letter to the editor, I would like to give a shout out to the doctors, nurses and staff at our Lincoln County Hospital! Years ago, when my kids were growing up, my husband and I frequently & unfortunately had many visits to the emergency room. You know kids, whether a bad flu, stitches, or anything that can worry a parent enough to travel for an emergency. As the kids got older and visits became fewer, I had forgotten how lucky we truly are to live close enough to a community with a smaller hospital. On August 11th I had an...
When I was running work for my subcontractor boss in the construction field, he gave me some very good advice. He said, “Keep a journal of everything that happens every day. Just take fifteen minutes at the end of every day and log everything important that anyone did or said. Don’t discuss it with anyone, keep it private but be sure to keep it. Then if you need to make a claim about what the General told you to do or not do or when things were ordered and delivered etc., you will have a record which you can refer to at tha...
Michael Baumgartner is hostile to his constituents and generally all Washingtonians. He claims to be a “state’s rights guy”, as Republicans used to be until most congressional Republicans now cowardly won’t stand up against President Donald Trump’s wannabe all-powerful dictatorship. Accordingly, Baumgartner fell in line with House Republican colleagues by recently joining a letter from the House Judicial Committee to Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown. The letter, in effect, claims that Trump’s extremely c...
Michael Baumgartner is, figuratively speaking, “all-over-the-map” about Ukraine—but effectively supporting Russia. He agrees that Russia clearly started the war and was/is the aggressor, and he’s assured Thrive International Ukrainian refugees that he opposes their deportation. But he completely undercuts that by his Ritzville Town Hall statement, “I don’t think [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is doing a great job”, and by his outlandish calls for Zelenskyy to resign after President Donald Trump humiliated Ze...
Has U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, no nation-wide condemnation and world apology for how President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance humiliated Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Feb. 28? Baumgartner’s subsequent call for Zelenskyy’s resignation makes no sense, given his statement that Russia clearly started the war and has been the aggressor. On second thought, it makes great sense considering his already evident cowardice in standing up to Trump, Vance and Elon Musk. Baumgartner certainly lacks the spine of P...
I was absolutely appalled to see a smiling Rep. Michael Baumgartner post about his “good week” on social media just days after voting to approve a budget resolution that would cut $880 billion from Medicaid- a program that 54% of children in Washington’s 5th congressional district rely on for healthcare. The budget also increases spending for immigration enforcement, increases the debt ceiling, and directs budget cuts for the education and workforce, agriculture, and transportation and infrastructure committees. It looks...
We are writing this message to publicly give a huge thank you to the staff at Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center for the wonderful and compassionate care for our mother December 13, 2024 through January 7, 2025. We want to acknowledge the Administrator Barbara, Dr. Heath, and Social Services leader Kennedy, and many wonderful nurses (Aimee, Lori, Christine, to name a few, and many others) who were so caring and supporting of mother and our family during her stay there. It is difficult enough to lose someone so dear, but...
Spokesman-Review’s February 2 lead article described the deafening silence from congressional Republicans, true of our new US Representative Michael Baumgartner, in their response to Donald Trump’s unprecedented destructive and dangerous executive orders during his first two weeks in office. This silence was especially evident in Baumgartner’s long January 31 Email message, his first to constituents since Trump’s orders commenced. So is Baumgartner closely following in the steps of his predecessor, Cathy McMorris Rodgers...
The 2024 election is the most consequential election in our lifetime. It will, starting with the next 4 years, determine the path America will take nationally and globally. We vote for politicians, who’s agendas are conflicted, and we think/hope they are working in the best interest of the people. Many are not. Nationally, we’ve lost many of our freedoms, privacy and are being overrun with people who are not American and will over time change our culture, values and way of life. Whether you live in the city or county, it is...
We know President Trump’s four-year track record — no wars, secure borders, energy independence (selling oil instead of buying from our enemies), lowest unemployment in decades, highest employment of black persons, fulfilled promise to bring U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, built up our military, initiated Space Force to help protect America and still fighting for America despite getting shot and a second attempt on his life by Democrat operatives. And that’s only a partial list. We also know Kamala Harris’ track record. As Cali...
We have an unparalleled opportunity to elect someone amazing to the House of Representatives in the 5th Legislative District. Carmela Conroy is this candidate and she comes with training as a lawyer, experience as a prosecuting attorney and years serving in the U.S. Foreign Service. It is our important outreach arm for building good relationships with other countries of the world. She has served in Japan with Tom Foley, Pakistan, Oslo, Norway, and Afghanistan, as well as having other international experiences. With the...
Those of us who drive Hawk Creek Road on a daily basis by necessity were grateful when Lincoln County paved about 5.5 miles of the road between Gunning Road and Miles-Creston Road in 2023. We were mystified as to why the remaining 1.5 miles of the road were left unpaved, but we thought perhaps the County just could not find the money to finish the job. Now, after the county has repaved the same 5.5 miles of the road, leaving the same 1.5-mile stretch in a dusty, washboarded state of dirt road, we don’t know what to think. I...
In the 1840s, Irish Catholics immigrated to America in huge numbers and provoked a secret protest movement known as the Know Nothing Party, founded in 1844 as a precursor to the eventual Republican party. Know Nothings told of a conspiracy by Catholics to overthrow Protestant-based American government. This was an early version of today’s Republican claim that Hispanic Catholic immigrants will kick whites and other native-born Americans out of jobs and power in America. MAGA, or Know Nothing II, is thus really a Make A...
The Olympic Games is the mountain top of the athletic realm. After all, when you consider the thousands of young people who dedicate their lives to become a participant in those games and the millions of spectators who eagerly wait every four years to watch these wonderful athletes perform, it must be a world event. Then came Paris. In the opening ceremony, when then mockery of the “Lord’s Supper” — which in my mind had nothing to do with the Olympics — it avalanched the entire ceremony into the cesspool of humanity....
One of six initiatives introduced by Republican-allied group Let’s Go Washington, Initiative 2081 gave parents and guardians of school children certain rights, including the right to examine textbooks, curriculum and any supplemental materials used in their children’s classrooms. Although that’s innocent language, the 2024 Democratic-majority state Legislature was understandably suspicious. So, it passed a similar parental “bill of rights” that removed the initiative from the upcoming Nov. 5 ballot. Two other initiativ...
I wonder if any farmers who signed up for wind turbines did any research of their own or if they have taken serious note of WHY others are raising objections to wind turbines? Research shows that wind turbines have many serious negatives. I also seriously question why farmers in this area consider themselves “poor” when they have so many government subsidies supporting them. How many subsidies do nonfarmers get? So, people, how much is enough? And why is Mill Canyon being targeted? At least half of Mill Canyon is now sur...
I have read all your articles in the paper and I find that you are doing a very good job trying to balance both sides of the issues regarding the wind turbine proposal. I am on the side that is totally against them. I think the citizens of this county need to hear from others who have opinions very contrary to the farmers who have signed leases and the wind turbine companies. Plus I find it troubling when the wind turbine companies can’t answer simple questions directed their way. I am the one who asked them about the use of...
Two years ago I wrote a letter to the Odessa School Board asking them to remove my picture from our 1967 class graduation picture. I wasn’t given the respect of a response to my letter. Our class picture was damaged, by another class mate, who tore his picture out of the frame. I was willing to pay for that damage and the change I requested. I’m asking again that my picture be removed as I’m motivated to end my association with Odessa. Seems three out of four of you don’t believe in keeping our Democracy and the Democra...
