Your Hometown News Source
Your Hometown News Source
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 697
There are things right in front of you, as you navigate life, that you don’t realize until time, growth and maturity brings them into focus. As a parent, you do your best to train up your kids and set them on the path to a productive and fulfilling life. Along the way, unbeknownst at the time, you temporarily hand them off to people who, as it turns out, go on to have a profound impact. Easily said about a number of people I’ve encountered in the numerous orbits I’ve made around the sun. One of them was Jerry Scott, a Dayton guy, though me an...
By Loyal and Charlotte Baker DAYTON–We got out of Algebra II to watch the Watergate Hearings in the spring of 1974 (fifty years ago!) but were more concerned with other things as sixteen-year olds. Later in August, my vacationing aunt and uncle and cousins paid a visit to me on the job at the Green Giant Cannery, mentioning, oh, by the way, Nixon resigned. Except for it being my birthday, which was usually celebrated in the harvest field with birthday buddy Wincel Abel, August 9 was not that momentous to me that summer of 1974. I heard Nixon h...
By Bob Cox POMEROY––We have lost too many good people lately in Garfield County to sickness and illness – people who devoted their lives to Garfield County. Working on Main Street for 20 years, I saw the hard-working people that kept Pomeroy alive and well. All were volunteers who helped make Pomeroy a better town to live in and who honored those who gave back to our community. Whether it was the Chamber or Pomeroy Partners or SWEDA, they all worked for the good of our special place to live....
To the editor, I was fortunate to have served on the Columbia County Health Systems Board of Hospital Commissioners for two 6-year terms, from 2003 until 2015. It was a rewarding experience during some challenging times for the hospital district. We had a strong Board of Commissioners who oversaw the management and future planning for the Health System. The Touchet Valley Café, the on-site cafeteria at Dayton General Hospital, was a welcome respite for staff, visitors, and local high school stud...
To the editor, When faced with controversial issues, it is my belief that a person should form their own opinion based on facts and research. When I became aware of the Appaloosa Solar project being planned in Garfield County, I researched the company and renewable energy in order to find facts and build an opinion based not on arguments but on research. Appaloosa Solar LLC., is a subsidiary company of HQC Solar Holding 1 LLC., which is governed by Hanwha QCells Co., Ltd. Although QCells has man...
Editor's Note: This article is continued from the June 6, 2024 edition. Author Gerald Barron of Save Family Farming (savefamilyfarming.org) presents data that contends the condition of the chinook salmon fishery is impacted by numerous factors and that "habitat," such as the four Lower Snake River dams, is not doing the most harm. By Gerald Barron Save Family Farming –Continued from June 6 The report quoted Katie Howard: "She says between nutrient deficiencies, disease, and heat stress, it's har...
By Eric McKeirnan POMEROY––When I occupied a younger body, and all the troubles of the world were my parents’ concern, movies and TV shows played a role in how I would see the world in future days. Since the recent verdict delivered in New York, a memory sparked from the past. It was a movie titled, “The Devil and Daniel Webster.” This land of the lost we now live in made me recall the gist of that movie. The story is about an honest and well-known lawyer (Daniel Webster), who takes on a client who has sold his soul to Satan. If memory se...
Is it possible that the most popular solutions proposed to recover Chinook salmon will fail if implemented? Most proposed solutions to Chinook recovery focus on habitat. Advocates seek to remove dams, convert farmland into large, inflexible stream buffers, and restrict or eliminate water access. This paper will introduce science studies important to this discussion. It will show: 1) Why most salmon species are flourishing 2) The causes for Chinook decline and failing recovery efforts 3) The prop...
Pam Lewison published an opinion in The Seattle Times on April 15, 2024 sounding the alarm of diminishing farms and food producing land. By Pam Lewison Special to The Seattle Times Fourteen farms a week vanished from Washington state every week during the last five years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently released data from the U.S. Census of Agriculture and the numbers are shocking. Between 2017 and 2022, our state lost 3,717 farms and ranches. It also lost more than 102,000 food-prod...
To the editor, I'd like to give a shout out to Melissa Gemmell for her article on the "Stand by Me" mural. It was timely, in my opinion, to have Padraic Slattery explain what his thoughts were. He is thinking outside the box, but going in the direction of bringing more people to Dayton. There has been some talk about the mural being painted over of Historic Dayton. Painting over the mural did NOT suddenly erase Dayton's history, like a pencil eraser. The history will always be here. This will...
OLYMPIA–The function and administration of the federal H-2A farmworker visa program is one of the most utilized yet least understood employment programs in Washington state. The H-2A program provides visas to foreign-born workers to legally find temporary farm work in the United States for up to 10 months a year. Washington state is among the top five users of the program. House Bill 2226, and its companion Senate Bill 5996 – concerning collecting data on the H-2A worker program and from cer...
OLYMPIA–This Earth Day, I am reminded of the words of a judge’s decision regarding Seattle City Light’s claim that it is the “nation’s greenest utility.” After finding the utility wasn’t living up to its environmental promises, the judge admitted the claim was “mere puffery.” It could be said about so much of today’s environmental rhetoric. Washington’s governor Jay Inslee claims the state is a leader in cutting CO2 emissions. In fact, CO2 emissions have increased every year he has been in o...
BELLEVUE—With the Republican State Convention in Spokane fast approaching, three NEW common-sense initiatives to fix what’s broken in Washington are inspiring a renewed sense of optimism among conservatives and Washingtonians of all political leanings. The new initiatives would repeal HB 1589 that phases out natural gas, put an end to squatters’ rights, and eliminate sanctuary state policies that prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration agencies. The recent death of Washington State Patrol trooper Chris...
As Washington’s CO2 tax, known as the Climate Commitment Act, heads to the ballot this fall, this logo highlighting projects that received funding from that tax will become more prevalent. And you are paying for it. The use of taxpayer-resources to promote the CO2 tax follows the decision by the legislature to send one-time checks of $200 to utility customers funded by the Climate Commitment Act just two-months before the November election. It is part of a pattern we are likely to see a...
By Eric McKeirnan Special To the East Washingtonian If you read my stuff, you might remember that a group of people, some from Waitsburg, Tekoa, Pomeroy and the Tri-Cities joined about an equal amount from the wrong side of the state and went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2018. I will give you the” Boys in the Boat” version of that journey. If you saw the movie the “Boys in the Boat”, you probably watched a young man go to college, get a scholarship by rowing for the U of W, then go to Germany and win an Olympic Gold medal. “Yea!...
To the editor, I am just recovering from a month of agony with shingles. The most painful thing I have ever been through, and the very worst part, it could have been prevented if I had only had the shot. So, I am writing to encourage any of your readers who have not had the shingles shot to run, not walk, to the nearest health provider and ger the shot! Zonia Dedloff Starbuck, Wash....
Spring, oh sweet spring, how your splendor bades me, with spectacle of green emerging from winters arms, bending into an explosion of color. Spring, oh sweet spring how your rain awakens what was once benumbed, welcome home birds red, yellow, green, blue, all afresh. Spring, oh sweet spring how you birth life anew, preparing for longer, warmer days of porch sitting and ice tea sipping. Spring, oh sweet spring how you tenderly sing of life renewed, to open the gate of hope, winding through all, near and afar. Spring, oh sweet spring, how you...
Spring, oh sweet spring, how your splendor bades me, with spectacle of green emerging from winters arms, bending into an explosion of color. Spring, oh sweet spring how your rain awakens what was once benumbed, welcome home birds red, yellow, green, blue, all afresh. Spring, oh sweet spring how you birth life anew, preparing for longer, warmer days of porch sitting and ice tea sipping. Spring, oh sweet spring how you tenderly sing of life renewed, to open the gate of hope, winding through all, near and afar. Spring, oh sweet spring, how you...
To the editor, Have you noticed the up grades of our county fairgrounds of late? For example, gravel in parking areas, upgrades on youth and exhibit buildings, the rodeo arena has some new work done to the sorting alley and a new timed event chute, golf course looks great, tree trimming. We are proud of our county fairgrounds and consider its use a privilege. Kelly Gallaher Dayton, Wash....
By Sen, Mark Schoesler, Rep. Joe Schmick, and Rep. Mary Dye OLYMPIA–The 2024 legislative session is now in the history books. After 60 days, in which 201 House bills and 180 Senate bills passed the Legislature, we can report a mix of great successes and disappointments. We fought hard for public hearings on all six citizens' initiatives to the Legislature. Closer to the end of the session, Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate reluctantly agreed to hear three of the measures but s...
As a farmer's daughter, and later during the first five years of my previous 19-year-marriage, a farmer's wife, the standing rule was to never say anything about how things were going, such as "How's harvest?" The answer to that was always "I'll tell you when it is over." I broke that rule. In a recent column in this space, I reported that I was finally well after living through one illness after another from last September through February, compliments of some of my music students. I spoke too...
By Roger Harnack Let's take a few words that should be on the minds of all Eastern Washingtonians concerned over efforts to breach Snake River dams - agreement, restoration and sovereign, to name a few. Recently in the White House, President Joe Biden signed onto the "Commitments in Support of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative and in Partnership with the Six Sovereigns" agreement. The so-called "sovereigns" refers to the states of Washington and Oregon, and four tribes - the Yakama in Wa...
To the editor, I've looked at life from both sides now..." by Joni Mitchell A story told in our community is an older adult female went to CC Rural Public library and was immediately confronted by a large display featuring a book opened to a page with sexual images. She was upset, especially for the children. The library had been a place she enjoyed going to. Being of a similar generation I understand her shock at seeing a book with sexual content on display. It didn't happen when we were...
OLYMPIA–Back in February 2020, I met Puddles, Washington state's first mussel detection dog, and her handler, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Pam Taylor. A rescue dog from a shelter in California, Puddles, a Jack Russell terrier mix, was brought to Washington state in 2019 and trained to sniff out zebra and quagga mussels. The mussels are smaller than a thimble. In 2020, while working the boat check station on the Washington-Idaho border near Spokane, Puddles discovered i...
To the editor, [To] Port of Columbia Commissioners Seth Bryan, Mike Spring, and Johnny Watts: Because all three of the Port of Columbia commissioners are new to the business of the Port, we think they should look into the past accomplishments made before their service began: 1-Improvements to and maintenance of the Lyons Ferry Recreational Area. 2-Fiber-Optic broadband internet to the City of Dayton and to parts of the county. 3-The planning and development of Blue Mountain Station, an incubator...
