Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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The meltdown at the state Department of Employment Security ought to teach us a lesson. It's easy for government to create problems, not so easy for the Legislature to come back in and clean up the mess. We ought to keep this in mind as the Legislature debates some of the big, bold ideas our liberal colleagues are bringing to the table this year - for an income tax, big increases in gas prices, greater government control of industry, and many, many more. Many of these...
Interesting fact: In the last Legislative Session, a bill was passed creating the “Washington State Office of Equity Task Force.” This task force was given the responsibility to create a vision to establish and fund a permanent “Office of Equity.” The legislature specifically designated who would sit on this task force. It included 4 legislators and a representative of a myriad of groups including the LGBTQ community, the Governor’s Office and the Commission on African A...
For a young man, Conner Mertens has had quite an impactful life. Most people know Conner as the brave, vocal activist who made headlines by being the first openly LGBTQ college-football player as a freshman kicker at Willamette University in Oregon. But I came to know the Tri-Cities native when he showed up at my door with an idea for saving the lives of students at risk of suicide, bullying and various other forms of school violence. That idea - a tip line and mobile app to...
The Record supports the passage of all three levies, two proposed by the Odessa School District and one by Lincoln County Hospital District #1 (which is the Odessa Memorial Healthcare Center). Voters in the Odessa area have received their ballots requesting approval of three different levies supporting the local school and the local hospital district. Odessa’s school and medical facilities are important to those living here or thinking about living here. The Educational Programs and Operations levy requested by the Odessa S...
The culture, heritage and history of Eastern Washington — indeed all of Washington and Oregon history — is under fire again in Olympia. I’m talking about an effort this year in the House to erase Marcus Whitman’s significance from the halls of the Capitol building in Olympia and the national statuary in Washington, D.C. Pushed by lawmakers, who obviously lack a full understanding of Whitman’s significance, House Bill 1372 seeks to replace the bronze Marcus Whitman statues w...
DAVENPORT – Your Lions Club has been as active as possible in these restricted times through virtual means, social media activities or small group meetings within the restrictions. We were unable to have our major fundraiser, Turkey Bingo, which is not only a financial resource for the club, but also a time for the community to get together for a fun filled evening for a chance at prizes, turkeys, hams, potatoes and pies. While the active bingo could not be held, the raffle ticket sales conducted was as successful as possible...
British historian Thomas Macaulay famously said, "The best government is one that desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy." That standard is clearly not what people are experiencing in Washington state. For years, leaders in state government have been increasing the tax burden and imposing ever-tighter regulations that limit personal opportunity, lower household incomes and fall hardest on working people, middle-class families and small business...
British historian Thomas Macaulay famously said, “The best government is one that desires to make the people happy, and knows how to make them happy.” That standard is clearly not what people are experiencing in Washington state. For years, leaders in state government have been increasing the tax burden and imposing ever-tighter regulations that limit personal opportunity, lower household incomes and fall hardest on working people, middle-class families and small business own...
Protests are nothing new in Olympia. Each year, thousands of protesters converge on legislative sessions to rally for special causes, object to government activities and generally just remind lawmakers who they work for. I cannot recall a time that the Capitol Building, other legislative office buildings and the state library weren’t available for public access. Indeed, each year I wander the Capitol campus during session to personally deliver a newspaper to those who r...
There’s an old story about Elizabeth Willing Powel, the wife of the Philadelphia mayor, asking Benjamin Franklin, as he left the Constitutional Convention, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Ben Franklin supposedly answered: “A republic, if you can keep it.” This legislative session, which started on Jan. 11, will require you as a citizen to work harder than ever to keep our representative democracy…well…representative. Access to democracy is a majo...
School Board Recognition By proclamation of the governor, January is School Board Recognition Month. It’s a great time to recognize our elected community members who selflessly give their time and energy in support of high-quality public schooling for our youth. School boards are charged with making decisions that can sometimes be quite difficult, or require sifting through a great deal of information. They also bear responsibility for developing a vision that will guide the school district for years to come. Through c...
With COVID-19 vaccines being widely dispensed, will an end to this pandemic halt “work from home?” Will workers return to downtown offices at pre-pandemic levels? Not likely! However, it is not an either/or question, said Stanford Professor Nicholas Bloom, who is co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s productivity, innovation and entrepreneurship program. “Working from home will be very much a part of our post-COVID economy,” he added, “so, the sooner poli...
There’s an old story about Elizabeth Willing Powel, the wife of the Philadelphia mayor, asking Benjamin Franklin, as he left the Constitutional Convention, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Ben Franklin supposedly answered: “A republic, if you can keep it.” This legislative session, which started on Jan. 11, will require you as a citizen to work harder than ever to keep our representative democracy…well…representative. Access to democracy is a majo...
While the coronavirus and its devastating effects on people and economies worldwide were unfortunately the top 2020 stories, the massive impact of western wildfires can’t be ignored. It was catastrophic. The National Interagency Fire Center’s western states tally shows a record 8.6 million acres were incinerated in 2020 compared with 4.6 million acres in 2019. In Washington just over 700,000 acres were burned; however, California and Oregon were not as fortunate. By com...
The Sept. 21, 2017, Davenport Times had a headline that read: “Harrington’s 2017 Honored Citizen — Scott McGowan: If you need help, this is who you call.” In this story, the Harrington Lions Club honored McGowan with the following depictions: “He typically knows the best way to fix anything; he will help out anyone. He is Harrington’s fix-it man.” Randy Behrens praised McGowan for his assistance saying, “He provided knowledge and manpower in addition to the tools and parts. Without his assistance, our golf course would no...
Finally! The last week of 2020. I’ve been looking forward to the end of this year almost from the beginning. I know it’s completely unrealistic, and probably tempting fate, but I can’t help but believe 2021 will be better. Now it is nearly here, and even though COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed and administered, it’s going to be a very long time before it will make a significant difference in the progress of the pandemic. In the meantime, the latest batch of restric...
Protests are nothing new in Olympia. Each year, thousands of protesters converge on legislative sessions to rally for special causes, object to government activities and generally just remind lawmakers who they work for. I cannot recall a time that the Capitol Building, other legislative office buildings and the state library weren’t available for public access. Indeed, each year I wander the Capitol campus during session to personally deliver a newspaper to those who r...
Key findings include: 1. Farmers and ranchers have been negatively affected by the lockdowns, despite being deemed essential services. Median farm households in Washington lost $821 in 2019. 2. Washington farms generate $10.2 billion for our economy. 3. To earn a 20 percent profit margin, farms must earn more than $5 million annually. Only 324 farms in Washington did that in 2017. 4. When lawmakers increase taxes on farmers and ranchers, the immediate effect is a reduction in...
Now that vaccines are available, we hope our lives will return to the way they were before the coronavirus pandemic blanketed the globe. That is not likely to occur. Last March our booming economy was clobbered by COVID-19. A worldwide pandemic ensued. There was no vaccine to counter it and even though vaccines were developed at “warp speed” lots of things changed and have become imbedded in our daily lives. Futurist Bernard Marr, columnist in Forbes, believes employers qui...
Hello readers of The Times. You may know me as Drew, the scrawny, 14-year-old-looking reporter who has been covering Reardan news and education, Lincoln County preps sports and miscellaneous news and community features over the last seven or so months. You may know me from before that as sports editor and co-managing editor of Eastern Washington University’s student newspaper, The Easterner. And you may know me from before that if you are related to me. For local readers, t...
It has been 286 days since Governor Inslee first declared a statewide emergency relating to COVID-19. Since that time, the Governor has continued to extend emergency declarations and issued various economic restrictions. Despite repeated bipartisan calls for the legislature to be included in these decisions, the Governor refused to call a special legislative session in 2020. In contrast, Democratic Governors in Oregon, California, Nevada and Colorado (the members of the...
Despite the budget being balanced, billions in reserve, and projected revenue growth of 7.2%, Gov. Jay Inslee is yet again proposing an income tax on capital gains in his new budget. The Governor, however, claims that this type of tax isn’t an income tax. What does he know that the IRS and every other state across the country doesn’t? IRS: “You ask whether tax on capital gains is considered an excise tax or an income tax? It is an income tax. More specifically, capital gains...
While the coronavirus and its devastating effects on people and economies worldwide were unfortunately the top 2020 stories, the massive impact of western wildfires can’t be ignored. It was catastrophic. The National Interagency Fire Center’s western states tally shows a record 8.6 million acres were incinerated in 2020 compared with 4.6 million acres in 2019. In Washington just over 700,000 acres were burned; however, California and Oregon were not as fortunate. By com...
