A guest column by a Catholic upset over the Spokane Diocese bankruptcy settlement ran today.Here are excerpts:This "pay, pray, obey" Catholic has had it. In the May 3, 2007, issue of the Inland Register, the official newspaper of the Spokane Diocese, I clipped six and…
In this 1955 photo, freshman congressman John Dingell is sworn in by House Speaker Sam Rayburn, D-Texas.Today's editorial shines a spotlight on Congressman John Dingell, D-Mich., who's made a career of blocking environmentally progressive legislation that leaves his auto-making constituents uneasy. One reader has already…
Carnac the Magnificent was a Johnny Carson character who was able to see into the minds of others.Washington State Supreme Court justices would be doing the same if they tried to retoactively climb into the heads of voters in trying to discern what they were…
This letter hit the Roundtable page today:Ms. Lawson ("Cut pork from Iraq bill," May 8) seems to blame the Democrats for loading the bill with pork. I think Ms. Lawson fails to recognize that what seems like pork to you and me is "bringing home…
Here's a review of a book by a doctor called "How Doctors Think."Some snippets:* On average, a doctor interrupts a patient who is describing her symptoms within about twelve seconds. * Many if not most of the treatments that medicine has to offer are not…
Though it may not be reflected in the utterings of auto execs or the wimpy bills in Congress, the road ahead for motorists is pretty exciting.Wednesday's Our View editorial takes a small slice of the issue that was served Monday on the Microsoft campus by…
In our editorial Monday, we urged the public to attend any or all part of a two-day summit on the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer, which began today.Scientists, environmentalists and policy folks are gathering to discuss the aquifer in depth. As we were discussing the editorial…
In Our View (Saturday's editorial), the mayoral race has gotten off to an inauspicious beginning. Do you dread the upcoming campaign? Look forward to it? Comment here.
Before folding up shop in Olympia this year, the Washington Legislature sent two proposed constitutional amendments to next November's ballot where voters will decide. One (Senate Joint Resolution 8200) creates a state savings account that the lawmakers can't touch unless they can muster a super…
So sad to hear that a Spokane soldier has died in Iraq. Cpl. Kelly Grothe, 21, was killed by an improvised exploding device. Three years ago he was getting ready to graduate from Central Valley High School.Grothe's job -- and that of his unit --…
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled Bloomsday masses yearning to breathe free and finish in under an hour.When you catch your breath, talk about whatever's on your mind. You can do that before the race, too.For instance, what color will the T-shirt be?
Looks like the City Council is having second thoughts about its first choice of vendors to install intersection cameras to catch red-light runners.Should the city be doing this at all?UPDATE:Our View: Proceed with caution, but give it a try.The 2005 Federal Highway Administration review
Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, sends along an e-mail alert noting that Washington state ranks eighth-highest in the nation when it comes to the tax burden on its citizens.It starts: "The nonpartisan Tax Foundation has released its “Tax Freedom Day” report, an annual account of how…
Item: Bloomsday regular readies for 31st: WWII veteran among 122 'perennials' signed up to race/Cate Huisman, Spokesman-ReviewQuestion: How do you approach Bloomsday?1. I can't wait to get together with friends and family to share this wonderful spring passage2. I've run it once or twice3. I'm…
When Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown of Spokane met with our editorial board last week, they were feeling pretty good about what the Democrat-controlled Legislature accomplished this year. At one point, the governor noted: “We always look at our budget…
The Seattle SuperSonics' owner hinted at moving the team to Las Vegas, because he couldn't get a taxpayer-subsidized arena in the Puget Sound area.NBA Commissioner David Stern said not a chance, not as long as Vegas allows betting on NBA games. Imagine that. Betting on…
AP Photo/CTK, Marta MyskovaFolk singer and anti-war activist Joan Baez (shown above performing in Prague in April) says she doesn't know why she was not allowed to perform for recovering soldiers recently at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as she planned. In a letter to…
There are immigrant marches going on today, but not on the scale seen last May 1.Our newspaper building is located right across the street from the federal courthouse and a small gathering of protesting students is gathered there now. The students are handing out petitions.…
Our editorial today summarized the looming pool crisis in Spokane -- Shadle pools have closed, and the remaining five pools are in pretty bad shape. We suggested three areas of focus:Think regionally.Seek out bold leadership.And get plenty of citizen input, especially this summer at the…
Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville and Rep. Lynn Schindler, R-Otis Orchards, visited with the editorial board today. They talked about the budget mostly. But we did have a good conversation about the $250 family leave stipend, guaranteed for five weeks for parents of newborns and adopted…
I will do my level best to avoid sophomoric double entendres in discussing the latest D.C. scandal. Seems there is this escort service that has been charged with doing more than escorting. The operator of this business denies that it is a prostitution ring. She…
Here's your chance. If you can tear yourself away from what's supposed to be a pleasant weekend, post a comment here that raises issues you think people ought to be talking about.
... is that he might be right about Iraq. The trouble with the debate about the war is that it's gotten sidetracked on whether it was appropriate or wise for the Senate majority leader to have said:"And as long as we follow the President's path…
A Matter of Opinion is really a matter of three opinions – those held by the people responsible for the opinion pages of The Spokesman-Review. Check in regularly to find out what they’re up to, what they think and where they differ and to joust with them if you want.