Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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It is official. Boeing will consolidate its 787 manufacturing in South Carolina. This news has many implications for the state including a direct impact on the state’s budget outlook. Although the September revenue forecast didn’t make an assumption about what Boeing would decide, a downside risk to the forecast was if South Carolina was picked. From the September revenue forecast: “The potential consolidation of Boeing 787 production in South Carolina and resulting decli...
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife already manages about a million acres of publicly owned lands statewide. Now, the agency is trying to use recent wildfires as an excuse to regulate more land use, and potentially increase its land holdings. Last week, the agency called for sage-grouse to be listed as an “endangered” species. It will be collecting public comment on the idea through Dec. 30. According to agency South-Central Regional Director Mike Livingston, this yea...
We’re only about three weeks until our ballots arrive in the mail for the Nov. 3 all-mail-in election. So far, the focus has been on the presidential race between Republican President Trump and Democrat challenger former vice president Joe Biden. Here, much of the focus has also been on the gubernatorial race between incumbent Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat from Bainbridge Island, and Eastern Washington’s own Republican challenger Loren Culp, who leads the Republic Police Dep...
First the good news. Unlike during the great recession, state revenue is still increasing overall during the COVID pandemic. According to the September revenue forecast: “Forecasted Near GF-S revenue for the 2019-21 biennium is now $50.022 billion, 8.6% higher than 2017-19 biennial revenue, and forecasted Near GF-S revenue for the 2021-23 biennium is $53.737 billion, an increase of 7.4% over expected 2019-21 biennial revenue.” The bad news of course, this revenue growth is...
About 800 miles south of my office, the leaders of North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara, Calif., are no doubt having conversations about how to move forward. The church, which was mandated to close and remain closed earlier this year due to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Santa Clara county’s decrees, chose not to comply. After moving ahead with what they believed was the mission of the church, they are now faced with more than $52,000 in fines from various g...
What happens in China, doesn’t always stay in China. We learned that a couple of years ago when the Chinese stopped buying massive volumes of the world’s used paper, plastics and textiles; and, again last March when the coronavirus escaped Wuhan and spread across the planet. Like other nations, China is struggling with the deadly COVID-19 virus and suffocating under mountains of trash its residents generate each day. Wuhan hospitals generated six times as much medical was...
Not only is the world in the grasp of the COVID-19 pandemic, but America’s western wildlands are burning up as well. Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters California has a dual crises: the massive wildfire complexes and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “At this time last year, California had seen 4,292 fires that burned 56,000 acres. So far this year, we’ve had 7,002 fires that have burned a whopping 1.4 million acres.” California reports more than 660,000 coronavirus cases....
Voices across the state continue to ask the Governor to call a special session to allow lawmakers to balance the budget and address COVID-19 related policies. A special session would provide the legislative branch of government its first opportunity in more than five months to address problems caused by the pandemic. Sen. Hans Zeiger this week also sent his colleagues a letter calling on them to support a special session. From Sen. Zeiger’s letter (in-part): “I write five and...
Not only is the world in the grasp of the COVID-19 pandemic, but America’s western wildlands are burning up, as well. California Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters his state has a dual crises: the massive wildfire complexes and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. “At this time last year, California had seen 4,292 fires that burned 56,000 acres. So far this year, we’ve had 7,002 fires that have burned a whopping 1.4 million acres.” California reports more than 660,000 coronav...
Last week, the Idaho House of Representatives approved legislation calling for Gov. Brad Little to end his state’s emergency declaration. Shortly thereafter, the Idaho Senate followed suit, albeit approving different legislation. Maybe that’s what our governor, Jay Inslee, is afraid of. Maybe he’s afraid our elected legislators will end his shutdown and tackle an ailing budget that he has yet to responsibly address. Or maybe he just enjoys muzzling other political leade...
Sunny summer weather helped restaurant owners and workers recover after they were broadsided by the coronavirus pandemic last March. However, as fall morphs into winter and diners are forced back inside, the big question will be: Are there enough customers to keep what’s left of the restaurant sector financially viable? The worst fears of many American businesses are coming true. With no recovery in sight from the COVID-19 pandemic, 72,842 businesses across the U.S. have p...
Our environmental quality strategy must be encompassing and not just focus on climate change. If Americans are to receive all of their electricity without coal and natural gas by 2035, they will need nuclear power. Even if Washingtonians, who already procure over 70 percent of their electricity from the hydro, are to be completely devoid of fossil fuel generation by 2045, they must have nuclear. Washington’s Clean Energy Transformation Act passed earlier this year by the l...
The U.S.-Canada border will remain closed for non-essential travel until at least Sept. 21. President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau mutually agreed to seal the world’s longest non-militarized border back in March to slow the spread of COVID-19. But while cross-border road trips and shopping excursions have come to a halt, commerce has continued as usual. That’s a good thing — Canada is one of our most important trading partner. Now more than ever, we must strengthen this...
California lawmakers addressed their COVID budget situation back in June. Oregon lawmakers are meeting this week in a special session to do the same. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), COVID related special sessions are also scheduled or have already occurred in: CT, ID, IL, KS, LA, MN, MO, NV, NM, SC, TN, UT and VA. Several other states are also reconvening regular sessions this summer. With other states across the country acting to balance...
That actually happened in the course of the last month. The result would undoubtedly please the legendary U.S. Senator Henry ”Scoop” Jackson (D-WA) – the master problem solver. In March, President Trump signaled he supported legislation that would fund the backlog of National Parks and natural resources maintenance work. The money would come from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) which was established in 1964 when Jackson, a prominent Democrat, sponsored legislation...
One of the great benefits of living in a rural community is our ability to enjoy food grown locally. Families appreciate easy access to high quality nutrition. Many farms and ranches depend on these local sales. Like so much of our daily life, this system was disrupted by COVID-19. When work is interrupted at industrial processing facilities, commodity producers flood local meat lockers with their product. With already limited reservation space being taken up by large...
Hopefully you’ve already voted or are soon heading to ballot drop box. Now let’s work to reduce the number of statewide elected offices. At present the people of Washington elect officials to nine statewide offices (not counting justices to the state supreme court). These offices are Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commissioner of Public Lands and Insurance Commissioner. Yet for man...
Dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers provide an appropriate balance between the economic needs of Eastern Washington and fish protections. While we already knew that here in Eastern Washington, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers came to that conclusion, too, after completing yet another environmental study this spring. The results of that new study were released last Friday, and they support keeping things essentially the way they are on our rivers. The dams will stay, for...
Records obtained through the public records request process show that officials in the Governor’s office knew on May 1st that the Employment Trust Fund balance would be eventually depleted but did not admit this publicly until June 30th. Prompted by an article published by Washington Policy Center on May 1st, Senator Christine Rolfes, who serves as Chair on the Senate Ways and Means committee responsible for overseeing the state budget, forwarded the WPC article to the G...
Gov. Jay Inslee may order quarantines and business shutdowns, but he cannot enforce them. In agreeing with that argument – presented by attorneys for the governor – U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled last Friday that Gov. Inslee cannot be sued for the “unconstitutional” quarantine of healthy residents, shutdown of otherwise viable businesses or mask mandates. According to the judge, state officials can only be sued if they are connected to enforcement of an alle...
DAVENPORT - "9-1-1 What is the location of your emergency?" This phrase is used multiple times a day in the Lincoln County Communications Center, where nine full-time dispatch/corrections deputies and two supervisors provide 24/7 coverage. At least two dispatchers are on duty at all times in the Communications Center, working days, nights, weekends and holidays, responsible for answering all 911 calls made within Lincoln County or transferred from neighboring counties and agen...
Gov. Jay Inslee continues to extended the state of emergency related to the COVID pandemic and is re-issuing his prior coronavirus emergency orders. I initially believed that under state law, the "four corners" of the Legislature (House and Senate majority and minority leaders) were required to give consent to any extension of an emergency proclamation lasting longer than 30 days. That legislative check, however, is limited to only certain types of actions taken by the...
The Odessa Record publishes letters to the editor of civic nature relating to area, state and national issues and politics. Letters should be limited to 250 words, and cited facts should be attributed to the source of information. Letters may not contain personal attacks, profanity or cite other media. Please keep letters to a single subject. We do not publish "thank you" letters; contact our advertising staff. Writers will be limited to one letter per month. No chain letters...
Welcome to the segregated public schools of Washington state. According to the “Reopening Washington Schools 2020 District Planning Guide,” some public school students are more equal than others when it comes to returning to the classroom in the fall. The previously released guide from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has come under fire on social media for its discriminatory approach to restarting schools this fall in the wake of the coronavirus sca...
What once seemed inevitable is now growing unlikely – a special session to balance the state’s budget. This is why it was so important to act before the new spending increases took effect on July 1. Once we started the new fiscal year, the likelihood of a special session dropped. By waiting until August, the September revenue forecast is just around corner. Then after September, the November election is just a jump away. Then the temptation to delay until January becomes eve...
