Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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While media focus was on Joe Biden's decree putting a tiny plot of land within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off limits to oil and gas exploration, reporters ignored the bigger story. Biden's other proclamation forbids tapping more than 10 million acres within the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a 23-million-acre area on Alaska's North Slope. That is the area which should replenish the crude oil drawdown stemming from Biden's oil withdrawal from strategic wells...
As the cost of the state's climate law continues to increase gas prices, members of the Inslee Administration are upset when the cost of the CO2 allowances are referred to as a "tax." The governor and others have resorted to convoluted language and logic to avoid using that politically powerful word. For example, the governor's spokesman Mike Faulk recently wrote, "the cap and invest program is not a 'carbon tax'," but "requires emitters to purchase ... permits for their emiss...
The phrase “first-world problems” has become a punch line – a throwaway statement because it is uttered by people with plenty of gadgets, a reliable food supply and a secure roof over their heads. It has also dulled our experience of a world in which seasonal food is the reality and some products are hard to get. When everything is available, regardless of season or effort, it is easy to voice shallow moral judgments when it comes to food production and consumption. Animal rig...
It’s been a pretty nice season to go to the fairs around the region—in most cases not too hot and not too cool. Always nice to be able to connect with both our adult and youth producers. The fairs are certainly an American tradition and it’s great to see that people are out supporting them. When I talk with producers, I’m always happy when topics of conversation come up that lend themselves to an article. A recent conversation highlighted that concerns about mRNA vaccine...
Pullman Washington-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories recently published its 2023 Index of Freedom report. The report ranks all 50 states based on government efficiency, regulatory freedom and energy resiliency. The top-performing states for 2023 are Utah, South Dakota, North Dakota, Idaho and Nevada. New Jersey, California, Maine, Vermont and New York are the worst-performing states, according to the report. Washington came in at 32 on the list (an improvement from 36...
Over the past few years, our state has witnessed a steady rise in several types of crime. This has caused serious harm in many communities on both sides of the state, and many Washingtonians continue to live in fear that their families and homes and businesses will be touched by crime at some point. One key reason for the crime hike is the state’s low number of law-enforcement officers per capita. Washington ranks dead last among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. B...
With students returning to college campuses, it is time to consider other ways for them to pay for tuition, books and living expenses. Too often, they resort to borrowing. Now, student loan forgiveness is spotlighted as the solution when it is only part of the answer. There are other ways. Student indebtedness is mounting. It is exacerbated by rising “total costs to attend” college (COA). The growth rate exceeds inflation and interest rates on student loans are often hig...
As you shop for back-to-school supplies for your kids, consider this: The clerks, shelf stockers, truck drivers and factory workers who make that possible can all be legally forced to pay money to a union or else be fired. You see, Washington is currently one of the 23 forced-unionism states in America. Why? Since Washington doesn't have a right-to-work law to guarantee union membership and financial support are strictly voluntary for workers, a union boss can legally have a...
For several months, drivers and businesses have had to endure the sharp increase in fuel prices since the state’s cap-and-trade program – or “cap-and-tax,” as I like to call it – went into effect Jan. 1. But consumers, especially those who rely on natural-gas furnaces for heat, soon will feel pain in their wallets thanks to cap-and-tax. The state Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission recently approved a request by Puget Sound Energy to increase its natural g...
The state held its special auction for CO2 allowances two weeks ago. When the results were announced, they indicated higher gas prices may be coming. As part of the state’s new tax on CO2 emissions, known as the Climate Commitment Act, organizations that emit CO2, like BP or Washington State University, must purchase permits for every metric ton of CO2 emitted by their operations or products. There are a limited number of permits available. So, the price is set at an a...
Apparently, the Pac-12 wasn’t the only thing that University of Washington left behind for more money. As the state senator for a legislative district that includes two four-year universities (Washington State University and Eastern Washington University), I take great interest in our state’s higher-education system. I make it a point to stay in contact with the presidents at Washington State and Eastern and keep up on key developments at these campuses in Pullman and Che...
If you’re like me, you find life often leading you from one thing to the next. Sometimes it takes years, sometimes just months. You often get to a place in your life think “how could things change, everything is good.” And then just when you’re settled, the changes are inevitable. It can take you by surprise or you somehow know it was coming. Sometimes it seems life doesn’t stay the same very long. With those many changes I have found that I have gained great power to adapt...
On Friday afternoon, Aug. 18, spirits were high. I’d just finished up work for the day, and I was planning to grill up some brats and baked beans for an enjoyable BBQ summer dinner. The summer weekends were running out, and we wanted to make them count. Little did we know, that naïve plan was about to go out the window. After resurfacing from my home office on the north side of Medical Lake, I noticed a massive plume of smoke emitting from the south. I instantly knew it wa...
Note: This is Part 2 of a 2-part Beef Cattle Mythbuster series. Now back to the discussion of nutrients. Those of you that have heard me give presentations on forage quality and nutrition will probably remember that I emphasize protein being the “first limiting nutrient” when dealing with low quality forages. That means until the deficiency of protein is corrected, performance (keeping up body condition and milk production) will not be very good in those cows. During dro...
Imagine for a moment there was a small brush fire creeping towards your house and you call 911 only to be told the fire department was not allowed to put out your fire. While this might sound preposterous to you, it is not far off from what the Washington Legislature is slowly doing to law enforcement in our state. To illustrate this frustration, I'd like to share a legal update with you on a few recent changes to the state law. As you are probably aware the Supreme Court of...
Note: This is Part 1 of 2 in this Beef Cattle Mythbuster series. Check out next week’s paper for Part 2. Hi everyone, I hope your summer is going well. A couple of months ago, we all thought the pastures in our region were in pretty good shape moisture-wise, but wow has that changed in a lot of places. Recently, I was invited to give a couple of talks to cattle producers. The presentations dealt with pastures and cow nutrition management within the current dry conditions a...
Today, good works are often brushed aside or ignored – especially, if done by one of the world’s largest mining companies. However, Rio Tinto deserves kudos for its half-billion-dollar mine cleanup in Holden., a remote village in the North Cascade mountains just south of Lake Chelan. Rio Tinto did not mine an ounce of copper or other precious metals at Holden. It acquired the site as part of a larger purchase. It gathered interested stakeholders together and ironed sol...
It’s been a tough week around the farm with equipment failures that have delayed harvest a few days. I’ll get back on track. But while repairs are underway, I can’t help but think about others who won’t recover so easily from hits to their budgets – setting them back further and further every time they fill up at the gas station or get a paycheck. Many of our friends on the West Side of the state disregard rural folks in communities like ours. We see this every session t...
New data reported by the State Board of Education reveals that private school enrollment in Washington state has jumped by 25 percent in three years. In 2019-20, total K-12 private school enrollment was 65,270 students. In 2022-23, this number rose to 81,434 students, an increase of 25 percent. The number of homeschooled students has also grown, from 20,844 in 2019-20 to 29,798 in 2022-23, an increase of 42 percent. Over 110,000 parents in Washington state have decided that...
There’s no question the governor misled the people last year when claiming his cap-and-tax scheme would add “pennies” to the cost of gas once it took full effect in 2023. Gov. Jay Inslee has a degree in economics, as he reminded everyone at a news conference last week. And, yet, he assumed oil companies would simply absorb the added cost of complying with cap-and-tax? Inslee came up with a new lie at that news conference, as part of a feeble effort to claim his scheme has n...
By virtually all key metrics, Washington’s environmental policies are failing. And yet, when was the last time politicians, environmental activists or the media expressed concern about policy failures? Speeches and news stories are filled with demands that we save the planet, describing threats to salmon, orca, forests and the climate. And yet, there is a remarkable lack of curiosity when real-world efforts fail to address those problems. One common thread is that environmental policy generally, and climate policy in p...
Hydropower is an important source of reliable and clean energy for everyone in the. However, with the recent debate surrounding the Snake River dams concentrated on the benefits for and support in Washington state, we want to emphasize just how significant an effect these dams have on Idaho and why we must continue to protect them. As a U.S. Senator and the leader of an independent free-market research organization, we are unified in our effort to protect the Snake River dams...
“It’s not an election year.” A common remark used conversationally in both a serious and satirical matter, including, admittedly, by yours truly. Why was the Pioneer Days Parade smaller than last year? “It’s not an election year.” Why don’t we currently seem to see politicians catering to whatever seems to be the popular groupthink at the time as much as we did, in say, 2020? “It’s not an election year.” But while we may not be casting our votes for President of the Un...
The good news is this state’s cherry crop looks good—a marked improvement over 2022. It is sweetening our farm economy especially for cherry growers who have struggled over the last five years. “Last year’s cold, wet April brought down the cherry crop,” Wenatchee World writer Gabriel Garcia recently reported. “But this year, the Washington state cherry harvest is in full swing, and the industry is optimistic about it.” Washington’s cherry growers expect to pick 21 million...
Let’s Go Washington is taking aim at the WA Cares Fund and a payroll tax that workers started paying this month with an initiative campaign. Initiative 2124, an Initiative to the Legislature, would make participation in WA Cares optional instead of mandatory and allow workers a way out of the state-imposed, insurance-like program at any time. That would be welcome news to many people who have other life needs that demand the attention of their monthly incomes. This should be i...
