Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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Older adults in America are facing a crisis. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 20% of adults over the age of 55 are suffering from mental health issues. These disorders include anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder. Millions more likely go undiagnosed, as the National Academy of Medicine. has found that less than 40% of older adults with mental and/or substance use disorders receive treatment. The ongoing opioid crisis has only contributed to this trend, and it is estimated that 5.7...
It’s almost spring! Are you familiar with the “Weed Board” and how they can serve you? The mission of the Lincoln County Noxious Weed Board is to educate landowners to be responsible stewards of the land and resources, to make Lincoln County a better place to live by protecting and preserving all lands and natural resources of the County from the degrading impact of invasive noxious weeds; and to provide quality, timely, and responsive service to the residents of Lincoln County. The Weed Board has been fulfilling that missi...
We are half-way through the state’s two-year 2019-21 budget cycle, and the latest revenue forecast shows Washington’s elected leaders have an additional $1.5 billion to spend in the current budget cycle. As expected, majority Democrats in the House and Senate yesterday announced supplemental budget proposals to spend this additional tax money. I have been reading through the two proposals and to my surprise they both include targeted cuts to charter public schools. Other pub...
Details on President Trump’s 2021 budget plan were released recently and, as it has in the past, this administration continues to put forth proposals that undercut rural communities. Among the proposed cuts we strongly oppose are those to the Conservation Stewardship Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and authorized by the farm bill. This program offers invaluable support for farmers and ranchers to build on their existing conservation efforts and the cuts would block an important path they rely on t...
Last week, we visited the Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona. It is part of our National Parks “bucket list.” The trip was a real eye-opener. The Canyon is spectacular. It is hard to believe over a billion years ago it was flat ground and covered by ocean waters. In ancient times, there was too much water. Today, it is a deep gorge with a ribbon of water running through it. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, over a mile deep and 10 to 18 miles across. The fam...
To the Editor: A few years ago, I attended a workshop on politics in San Francisco. One of the main ideas taken away from that event was the importance of enthusiasm. Washington state has tried to increase voter participation with mail-in stamped ballots, yet the turnout is usually below 50 percent. So, if you are wrestling with your choice of nominee in the upcoming primary on March 10 and electability is your prime consideration, choose the candidate who is most likely to excite the most number of people, who can attract...
To the Editor: The latest shootings in downtown Seattle reinforces all the reasons to live here in Odessa! It’s the Big City Curse. Things have changed a lot in the last 60 years since I was a child there. The stuff I did as a kid there in the 50s and 60s would be totally unacceptable, outright dangerous or illegal today! Things were so much simpler back then. Gun regulations were unheard of. As a kid, I could go to the hunting supply store, buy gun powder, ammo, even my first 22 rifle at age 12. No drive-bys or kids s...
Washington has the opportunity to review and change the Redistricting Commission every 10 years. This is the group that works in the background making sure the wheels of democracy turn smoothly and fairly. The commission decides where the lines will be drawn for legislative and congressional districts. In the next 10 years decisions about growth, energy, transportation, water, fire and quality of life issues will be made by our legislators and congressional representatives. Now is when you can influence the process for doing...
When House Bill 1888 was proposed this year to help protect state employee unions from an ongoing battle with the Freedom Foundation, the media was strong in opposition against blowing a hole in the state's Public Records Act. Sadly, it looks like some in the "Fourth Estate" are now willing to play Solomon and cut access to public records in half by allowing some public records to be hidden from the public, as long as they are still able to receive them. The House State...
Boys are boys and girls are girls. There's no in-between, at least when it comes to sports. I know it's not politically correct to say that in this day and age. But genetically (and generally) speaking, boys are stronger and faster than girls. As a result, we have separate sports for each gender. That is, unless your young athlete competes for a middle or high school, or a non-profit organization in Washington state. Here, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association...
To the Editor: Republicans are not stupid. They know that if there are no witnesses and no evidence, there is really no trial. They know that John Bolton would be the most important impeachment witness. They know that if Bolton was subpoenaed by the Senate he would testify. Jeremy Street Cheney...
To the Editor: I am writing to thank Odessa residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season. Because of the generosity of donors in Odessa and across the United States, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, collected more than 8.9 million shoebox gifts in 2019. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2019, the ministry is now sending 10,569,405 shoebox gifts to children worldwide. Through shoeboxes—packed with fun toys, school sup...
For the past 16 years, former Odessa High School English teacher Dr. Duane Pitts, now semi-retired and living in Moses Lake, has written a special piece honoring the late Dr. King on the occasion of this national holiday. We can end homelessness, but don’t. Dr. King noted that our failure of will means we “cannot enter the kingdom of greatness.” Busing a homeless woman elsewhere, tossing a coin to a homeless family, punishing a homeless veteran for sleeping in the park are neither compassionate nor charitable. Each denie...
[Editor’s note: Pat Gamache of Odessa continues the story of his dealings with the medical profession and battles with addiction and illness. This series concludes this week with an intro message from Pat and a shared email from his son Shaun.] Continued from last week. My son Shaun works for Apollo Video, a video surveillance company out of the Seattle area. He’s a programmer, software designer and manages 60-plus service personnel in the field. He started with schools and buses, presently working on facial recognition pro...
Jalen, aged 12, from North Carolina asked Dr. Universe whether babies have ways of communicating. Dr. Universe responds: Dear Jalen, Babies can communicate in a few different ways. For the most part, they use their emotions. Humans come into the world crying, but that’s actually a good thing. In a way, babies start communicating from the moment they are born. Of course, it can be hard for their caregivers to know exactly what they mean with all those cries. It takes some time, but caregivers can learn to pick up on what d...
To the Editor: Life in these United States in 2019. We sit in our comfortable living rooms or dens, watching TV. We read the sports pages and enjoy drinking and partying at tailgate parties. We overeat and try to lose weight by buying Weight-Watchers subscriptions and enrolling in well-equipped gyms. We drive our gas-guzzling SUVs from one store to another to shop. We love to call, text and search on our smart phones. Wow. What a hard life we have. In the meantime, our country, supported by our tax dollars, has rounded up...
To the Editor: We Americans have more that unites us than divides us. The majority of Americans, regardless of political persuasion, ethnic background, race and economic status, agree on the following: Make health care more affordable. Reduce poverty by guaranteeing families access to health care, food and housing if their wages are too low. People without health insurance from an employer should be allowed to buy into a public plan. Pharmaceutical companies should be penalized if drug prices increase faster than the rate of...
To the Editor: As a citizen and member of the Old Town Hall Rejuvenation Society, I want to acknowledge Brady Haase for designing and making the beautiful star sitting atop our community Christmas tree. It is special and beautiful. The perfect touch! Marlene Kramer Odessa...
To the Editor: Nigerian Christians celebrate Christmas in special ways. If possible, most return to the village of their ancestors, even those living abroad. Beginning early on Christmas Day, goats are brought to slaughter, and then the cooking and feasting begins. Children are all around, and there is a competition among grandmothers as to which “compound” is the noisiest, i.e., has the most people returning for the celebration. The day is spent attending church, feasting, visiting, discussing and arguing various top...
To the Editor: At this time of Thanksgiving, we pause to give thanks to those who enrich our lives. At the University of Washington School of Medicine in partnership with Gonzaga University, we are especially grateful for the growing community of friends, professionals and partners in Odessa and Davenport who help us deliver top-ranked medical education every day. Thank you to the Davenport and Odessa communities and physicians for warmly welcoming our medical students and enriching their education experience. You are...
To the Editor: Every year Nancy and I start vegetables indoors in little cups. Within a few months we take them outside to plant. We have gotten very good at nurturing our plants from sprouting to harvesting. And, come planting time, we love the fact that we chose exactly which vegetables to grow and are not limited to what some store business plan decided is best. Our vegetable garden gets better every year. Sometimes it seems attractive to have a neighbor take care of our seedlings if we want to take a little vacation....
In response to Traig Weishaar’s letter to the editor this week, we would like to call attention to our original reporting on May 23, 2019, in which we covered the presentation by the HempTech Consulting, Inc. team to the Odessa Economic Development Authority on May 21, 2019. The five team members mentioned then and again in last week’s article concerning the most recent OPDA meeting were identified in a full-color pamphlet distributed to the attendees at the May meeting. If the information taken directly from the pam...
To the Editor: Check the facts before you publish, please. I’d like to offer two corrections to your article in the October 24th paper, “Hemp plant deal falls through at last minute.” First, your statement “HempTech consulting, a team consisting of Mathew Mandel....and Traig Weishaar....” is untrue and misleading. HempTech did use my name when submitting their bid as a local contact and as a farmer that would be growing hemp crops, but I have no business association with HempTech and absolutely no involvement in the purch...
Addiction comes to us in many different ways, some of which we have very little control over! I’ve been addicted to a few different things in my day, while living with some cognitive deficiencies from a severe head injury from a baseball at age 5. Being around animals was addictive and soothing! The first of many addictions. So I got a job working at a pet shop. My addictions were then work and money. I had a paper route and sold greeting cards door to door. I bought my first bike at age 7. At age 8, I got the job at the p...
Nearly three weeks have passed since the 49th annual Deutschesfest. It was, by most accounts, a successful one. Great weather, no conflict from the Spokane Fair, and strong marketing efforts by our local businesses and chamber volunteers certainly helped with attendance which always translates into success for all. That said, there have been some issues that continue to come to my attention that I feel should be addressed as your chamber president. The first issue is the presence of vendors on First Avenue. Multiple times...
