The collapsed Interstate 5 bridge across the Skagit River (photo/Washington Department of Transportation)  Maybe 100 yards from our house, a bridge we use regularly was replaced across a narrow river fork. The bridge was showing some signs of cracking and crumbling, and the need to do something about it was fairl

BARRETTRAINEY Second Thoughts A few miles from our little burg-in-the-Oregon-woods, we’re witnessing an act of economic, civic and politically assisted suicide being committed by residents of Curry County. It’s a deliberate failure to shoulder local fiscal responsibility unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Especially

MARKMENDIOLA Reports The Idahoans who called into U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo’s town hall teleconference Wednesday night, May 22, virtually all expressed concerns about the federal government’s increasingly intrusive actions that they fear are eroding their constitutional rights. The nation’s debt crisis, the Internal R

RANDYSTAPILUS The View from Here Here’s one that sounds like a feel-good deal on the surface, and maybe will never be more than that … but opens the door, just a crAck, to something much larger. As John Lennon exhorted, imagine … For-profit corporations set up under a legal framework in which they are

BOEING CUTS This is rough, and Boeing knows it – CEO Jim McNerny even compared himself to Darth Vader in making the announcement. It plans to end about 1,500 IT jobs in the Seattle area over the next few years. The larger picture isn’t looking wonderful, either; from the Patch.com: “McNerney said the compa

GBAD STADIUM A baseball stadium on the edge of downtown Boise? Show me the parking … But there could be some potential. Portland has long had such a facility on the west side of its downtown (although that one has become a soccer venue) and Seattle long has had sports facilities on the south side [...]

RANDYSTAPILUS West ofthe Cascades Among the many lessons of the Portland flouride vote concluding Tuesday was, as the Oregonian pointed out, this: Money does not always win elections; it more often follows a likey winner than dictates who one will be. The movement in favor – led by a city council that decided to

Northwest Reading What’s it like to live in Idaho on the minimum wage? The people who actually have to do that don’t get a lot of media attention; they don’t heavily populate the ranks of broadcast spokesmen and interview subjects. We don’t hear from them much. Should be the job of news reporters to

CHRISCARLSON Carlson Chronicles “Where have you gone. . . .? Hum these lines to the tune of the Simon & Garfunkel song that became the theme music to that 60’s classic movie, The Graduate: “Where have you gone Junketing Jim?/ Idaho turns its needy eyes to you?/ What’s that you say, Junketing Jim?/ Hard wor

JAMESWEATHERBY  Idaho is one of only two states that taxes Girl Scout cookies. How could a heartless legislature turn its back on a tax relief request from this very worthy organization? And how could they deny a tax exemption on goods purchased by homeless shelters? In 1988, the Governor’s Tax Study Committee ex

 ALGAE BLOOM: This is a red-orange algae bloom spotted at Edmonds on May 16. (Photo/submitted to the Department of Ecology by Jeri Cusimano)  In Washington and Oregon both (most notably in Oregon), state tax revenue reported as rising, and unemployment dropping – one of the best weeks of economic news in more th

BARRETTRAINEY Second Thoughts My Fox Friends: Because I know you operate with limited “fact” checking folk – relying instead on GOP in-house “research” and the Heritage Foundation for that – I’d like to pass along some old fashioned, shoe leather research Ben Cesca of Huffington Post recently did. All fro

MARKTRAHANT Austerity Indian Country has already been hit hard by the sequester. Lacey Horn, treasurer of the Cherokee Nation, recently told National Public Radio that the tribe had been planning for the impact for some time with cost-cutting measures, a hiring freeze for all non-essential positions, and canceled train

Northwest Reading From testimony prepared for delivery by Sal Peralta, secretary of the Independent Party of Oregon, about a bill amending Oregon’s public meeting law. I am here today to testify on behalf of the Independent Party of Oregon in opposition to HB 3513. Before addressing the substantive provisions of the b

RANDYSTAPILUS The IdahoColumn The norm in campaign finance, traditionally at least, goes like this: The candidate files and sets up an account for campaign spending, receives funds for campaign purposes, then spends it, presumably to around zero by election day, on such as ads, printing and mailing, salaries, office sp

BARRETTRAINEY Second Thoughts Nearly all our lives, we adults take great pains setting ourselves apart from each other – our individualism, if you will. Whether in appearance, style of dress, cars we drive or books we read, we spend our lives expressing our differences rather than our shared sameness. Then a commonal

Northwest Reading States like Idaho wondering what’s going on with other states that got fully on board with the Affordable Care Act, might take a look at Oregon. The latest update on its progress, out today: A report presented to the Oregon Health Policy Board today provided information on key health and financial me

MARTINPETERSON  I have always been extremely optimistic about Idaho and its future. Several years ago an Idaho journalist wrote a piece about being so depressed about living in Idaho that he was moving to another state. I was incensed and wrote a strong rebuttal that was picked up by several papers and brought me an [.

BARRETTRAINEY Second Thoughts The question of “a gun or a badge” for security in school classrooms seems to have been answered this week with the very successful testing of a WiFi-based system in a Nampa, Idaho, high school. (See “A gun or a badge” column below) The equipment – made by EKAHAU – replaces bad

MARKTRAHANT Austerity The U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a vote Thursday to repeal the Affordable Care Act (including the permanent authorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act). House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, tweeted: “It just keeps getting worse. I am scheduling a vote for ne

BARRETTRAINEY Second Thoughts Armed police in every school. Every teacher packing a gun. The NRA’s outrageous ideas for school safety. Just how outrageous will be even more evident if a little test going on at a high school this week in li’l ol’ Nampa, Idaho, works as everyone thinks it will. Imagine each teacher

CHRISCARLSON Carlson Chronicles Noticed a few weeks back where you climbed Old Rag Mountain in the Shenandoah National Park on a Sunday with your press aide, a reporter from the New York Times, and some National Park Service personnel. It certainly befit your image as a hard-charging executive into vigorous outdoor act

MARKMENDIOLA Reports A version of this article originally appeared in Green Markets. The Bureau of Land Management has given Monsanto until the end of May to submit a corrective action report in regards to an earthen holding pond leaking three million gallons of water onto a meadow near its new Blackfoot Bridge Mine in

RANDYSTAPILUS The IdahoColumn Contrary to many expectations, Idaho has a good many Democrats, more than a lot of people suspect. More than 200,000 Idahoans voted for Barack Obama for president last year, and more than 200,000 votes in the two U.S. House races in the state went for the Democratic candidates. Of course �

RANDYSTAPILUS The View from Here On of the advantages of watching the whole Northwest region is the exposure to a range of arguments – and when it comes to Congress, exposure to not just what one side side, and one member, has to say about something, but counterpoints as well. People who stay in the news [...]

BARRETTRAINEY Second Thoughts The election of South Carolina’s Mark Sanford to Congress raises some questions at our house. But his victory answers only one of them: there IS no moral minimum to be elected to Congress. Statistically, Republican Candidate “X” would be the odds-on favorite in Sanford’s district,

CHRISCARLSON Carlson Chronicles In April I listed ten suggested reforms that would assist learning by students from the student perspective. This week I’m offering thoughts on suggested reform actions from the standpoint of teachers and school administrators. 1) Allow teachers to maintain discipline. Teachers are in

BARRETTRAINEY Second Thoughts Wayne LaPierre is a driven guy. Finishes what he starts. No quitter. He’s single-handedly determined to become the most hated S-O-B in America. With one more NRA national convention under his belt – or maybe one more appearance before a congressional committee – he’ll likely achiev

MARKTRAHANT Austerity Wall Street celebrated last week’s jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that unemployment fell to 7.5 percent and that 165,000 new jobs were added in April. The report also revised its numbers from the past couple of months, saying that the job creation was stronger than first gl