If anyone was still holding out hope that Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick would have a last minute change of heart and cast a vote for health care reform this weekend, those hopes can be permanently laid to rest today.
U.S. House Republicans, in a last-ditch effort to derail reform, attempted to [...]
Speaking of F-35s, did you know that the estimated cost per copy has gone from $50 million to more than twice that, $113 million, in less than a decade? Or that the various Services are talking about ordering up thousands of them? (It'll be more than just Boise buzzing' [...]
One fascinating question that will be answered tomorrow is whether the Idaho Constitution Party has a life after 2010.
The party has two candidates for State legislator last time the Secretary of State Office posted a list that included State legislative candidates. (Hopefully, the Idaho Secretary of State will get the [...]
OLYMPIA – As the Legislature crawled through its fourth day of a special session without a solution to its budget problems, Gov. Chris Gregoire was among those expressing frustration with the progress, or apparent lack of it.
The session could be done by Sunday, which would be the absolute last day [...]
I mentioned our backyard bonanza (as I often do this time of year) on Facebook (that's new to me), and someone asked for a picture. Reviewing previous episodes, and being reminded that they're edible, I thought I'd combine two timely subjects. Here [...]
I got something from Twitter today, somehow, I'm not even sure how it happened. Oh, I was looking for David Pogue's take on Quicken 2010 to decide whether to take advantage of their HURRY! ONLY 5 DAYS offer to get an upgrade (or is it a pig in a' [...]
Everyone has a boss. Even if you "work for yourself," you're still an employee to your client.
A big part of maintaining the boss-employee relationship is to never allow a boss to think you dislike your work, are incapable of doing it, or--worse--consider it beneath you.
These sound like no-brainers, but many' [...]
Lucinda Kay, former KXLY television anchor, reads with a Jamaican student in November 2009. Courtesy of Chelsea Dannen
Since 1988, a national nonprofit with local ties has been facilitating humanitarian projects in Jamaica.
Former KXLY television news anchor Lucinda Kay said, “I was born into Great Shape; my mother and two aunties [...]
Idaho Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keith Allred said Thursday he wouldn't have signed the Idaho Health Freedom Act but he also doesn't like the health care reform bill up before Congress.
"The Health Freedom Act and the federal health care reform bill both suffer from the same problem: they lack the broad" [...]
OLYMPIA – Washington counted twice as many people working in “green” jobs last year as in 2008.
Although changes in the way jobs were counted are responsible for much of that growth, the state still saw an increase in people building wind turbines, constructing new energy-efficient buildings or retrofitting [...]
This Dec. 18, 2008, photo shows a snow-blown sidewalk covered in snow.
Local governments, schools and nonprofit agencies in Spokane County have been reimbursed $5.7 million for their costs in responding to record snows that began in mid-December 2008 and continued through early January 2009.
Under government guidelines, the Federal Emergency Management [...]
The governor's race just got that much more crowded Thursday afternoon, with another Republican jumping into the fray.
And no, not Ada County Commissioner Sharon Ullman, who has some campaign signs around town.
The new candidate is Tamara Wells of Post Falls.
The tally (so far): five Republicans, two Democrats, two independents, and' [...]
Timothy Egan writes about the Northwest enough to enumerate first-term Democratic members of Congress in Republican-leaning districts who stand to lose their seat by voting for health care. I'm not sure who all he's thinking about with that phrase at the end of his opinion deriding Congressional' [...]
WASHINGTON – From Grimm's fairy tales to Harry Potter, the cloak of invisibility has played a major role in fiction. Now scientists have taken a small but important new step toward making it reality.
Researchers at Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology report they were able to cloak a tiny bump in [...]
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has agreed to pay $74,000 in fines to resolve dozens of charges that he violated state ethics laws with his campaign spending and travel, including a taxpayer-funded rendezvous with his Argentine mistress, the State Ethics Commission said Thursday.
The commission brought the 37 [...]
Keeping your home warm, toasty, energy-efficient, cost-effective ways to heat the house, caulking windows...Staff illustration by Bridget Sawicki
From the federal stimulus to 'cash for caulkers,' home weatherization has never been hotter. But can it really save the environment and the economy?
Drafty doors, floors, walls and windows are slowly letting [...]
Gosh. I'm mebbe, prolly starting to type like DFO!
Cabbage Boy on March 18 at 1:35 p.m.
Speaking of sayings, saw a great bumper sticker.
Honk if you love Jesus.
Text if you want to meet him now.
Gary Locke, the state's former governor and the country's current commerce secretary, is the featured guest tonight on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Really. Spin Control can't make this stuff up. (And if we were going to make stuff up, would this be it? We think not.)
Anyway, alert eyes in' [...]
Rep. Steve Kren, R-Nampa, proposes legislation to ban abortions based on reasons of race or gender.
Rep. Steve Kren, R-Nampa, presented legislation to the House State Affairs Committee this morning to ban abortions for reasons of gender or race; the committee voted 12-5 along party lines to introduce the bill, though [...]
I’ve never visited the Statue of Liberty, but I think I know what inspired Emma Lazarus when she wrote, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. …” She’d probably just spent a Saturday morning at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Last month I received a license [...]
Today's youth are generally not the self-centered, antisocial slackers that previous research has made them out to be, according to a provocative new study co-authored by a Michigan State University psychologist.
In a scientific analysis of nearly a half-million high-school seniors spread over three decades, MSU's Brent Donnellan and Kali Trzesniewski [...]
A U.S. Marine with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines walks in a joint patrol with Afghan National Army soldiers, in Nawa district, Helmand province.
In Bill Bonner's article for the Christian Science Monitor he says, "At least there is one area in which the US maintains a clear and decisive" [...]
Retiring Boise schools superintendent Stan Olson made it official this morning, filing as a Democratic candidate for state schools superintendent. Olson is challenging Republican incumbent Tom Luna, who filed Wednesday.
In other Thursday morning elections news:
• House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, filed for an eighth term.
• Boise Republican Rep. Clifford [...]
Volunteer J.D. Barker, left, and Max Mendez, communications, fine arts and humanities division chairman at North Idaho College, work to build a community garden in a vacant lot near the college in Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday.
About a dozen people gathered on a Coeur d’Alene street corner Wednesday afternoon to build [...]
Given the general incompetence of our state's Legislature, it's surprising we could get out ahead of 37 other states and pass a "freedom from health care" bill before everyone else, but woo hoo. Now we have "a clear expression of State sovereignty," at the expense of the [...]
Members of Rogers High school chess club, clockwise from far left: Alex Sipraseuth, Damon Child, David Tran, James Eckart, Riqi Silva and Klint Minnameier practice before the GSL Chess Tournament March 5 at Gonzaga Prep.
It had to be the quietest GSL championship ever. No rowdy fans chanted pep cheers. No [...]
Purdue’s JaJuan Johnson, right, shoots over MSU’s Delvon Roe.
This falls in the category of Things to Worry About Later, certainly.
The NCAA basketball tournament games coming our way Friday are version 3.0 of March Madness at the Spokane Arena, and soon enough the din from the bleachers will drown out the [...]
One of 22 hot air balloons rises at the start of the Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Thursday.
Cutline winners:
#1 A dark cloud appears over the county as the Clerk's race is contested for the first time in many years. JohnA.
#2 Police were questioning the owner of the missing' [...]
OLYMPIA -- The Legislature has another light day scheduled, with a 10 a.m. start for the House and a noon start for the Senate, with breaks for caucues coming shortly afterward.
The House Finance Committee holds a hearing this morning on a plan to give tax credits to small businesses that [...]
The Idaho House voted 51-18 to approve SB1353, legislation designed to protect the conscience rights of all licensed health care providers practicing in Idaho. Only two Republicans voted against the measure (George Eskridge of Sandpoint and Tom Trail of Moscow).
Two courageous Democrats, Jim Ruchti (Pocatello) and Branden [...]
COEUR d'ALENE - If a budding movie maker has his way, the Lake City will become even more iconic than it already is. In the coming days and months, video crews will be downtown and in other parts of the area shooting footage for a proposed reality show to be' [...]
Sam and Makayla Kiperash wear their Easter baskets on their heads.
The folks at the Spokesman Review 7 site are sponsoring an Easter-themed photo contest.
"This time we’re looking for your favorite Easter-themed pics. Because this holiday means different things to different people, we’re leaving this month’s competition fairly open to interpretation" [...]
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
If you get sand in your shorts just take them off. Er...you know...
[...]WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders saw momentum gather behind their sweeping health care legislation Wednesday, as they picked up commitments of support in the House from Democratic quarters where defections were most feared – liberals, abortion opponents and backbenchers.
Working into the night to put the finishing touches on [...]
I am so glad I didn't pack away my long underwear. Even with them and handwarmers and a blanket, I froze last night at University High School. My suffering wasn't eased by the Wildcat's 0-4 loss. I was amazed to discover my son is the biggest and tallest kid on [...]
"Larry Gilman offered to help me out, I accepted.He is not a slum lord in my opinion.
I have been responsible for law enforcement of his trailer park for over 20 years. It is well run.
I moved in to my homes 28 years ago. Larry's parents were my neighbors." [...]
Just in case you think all the March Madness is unfolding on a basketball court, Harley Brown is back.
And he's mad about a lot of stuff.
The longtime political gadfly — running in the GOP primary in the 1st Congressional District — sent out a campaign flier this week. And it's [...]
One of the enduring and successful programs of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society is Job Corps.
Since Sargent Shriver established the program based on the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps in 1964, it has provided more than two million young men and women with the skills they needed to join the work [...]
Courtesy of SCRAPS
PETA's euthanasia rates have critics fuming, according to AOL News, and rightfully so.
“In 2009, PETA euthanized 2,301 dogs and cats -- 97 percent of those brought in -- and adopted only eight, according to Virginia state figures. And the rate of these killings has been increasing.”
That’s 2352 animals: [...]
