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John Webster
John Webster is the Editorial Operations Director for The Spokesman-Review in the Administration department. He manages budgets and publishing systems.
Contact John
- Email: johnwe@spokesman.com
- Phone: 509-459-5421
- Fax: 509-459-5482
Recent stories by John
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Prosperity Is Still Here For The Earning
March 29, 1998 in City on Page B6 North of the border, layoffs. South of the border, sweatshops. Is that the best the global economy can do? No, it’s not, says the saga of Spokane-based Key Tronic Corp., …
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Let City Be Helper, Not Our Overseer Cut The Sanctions Trust Property Owners And Seek Cooperation
March 27, 1998 in City on Page B6 Spokane’s street trees are an asset, exactly comparable to lovely homes and well-manicured lawns. Which is to say, these assets are privately owned, the result of individual pride, initiative, work …
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Moynihan Scheme Workable, Sensible
March 23, 1998 in Nation/World on Page A10 First Bill Clinton, then Sen. Bob Kerrey, then Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Three prominent Democrats have touched the fabled “third rail” of American politics - Social Security reform. Instead of …
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Convention Center Upgrade Is Essential
March 22, 1998 in City on Page B6 Spokane’s Arena wasn’t built in a day. It took a decade of advocacy, legislation, setbacks, revisions and several public votes before civic leaders devised a funding plan that met with …
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Death Threat? Baloney
March 16, 1998 in Nation/World on Page A12 Now that some of the state’s pundits and politicians have finished rounding up the usual outrage over Sen. Jim West’s verbal shot at a notorious lobbyist, let us attempt to …
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Good Job, Gop
March 16, 1998 in Nation/World on Page A12 During the past quarter century, Washington state government ballooned. By 1994, our tax burden was 10th heaviest in the nation. Year after year, the Legislature overspent its revenue. Then, when …
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Solid Proposition Deserves Approval
March 8, 1998 in City on Page B10 At their best, politicians play hard, play smart and win. At their worst, they pout on the sidelines and boo the players on the field. Consider, for instance, the Washington …
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Overused Fig Leaf Revealing In Itself
March 3, 1998 in City on Page B4 A quarter century has come and gone since states passed laws requiring the public’s governments to operate in public, where voters can watch. During that time, too many governments have …
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Sugarcoat What Works And Then Re-Employ It Trendy Flunks Out Phonics Results Easily Beat Those Of ‘Whole Language.’
February 27, 1998 in City on Page B4 Educrat (ej’-u-krat) n. A heavily degreed bureaucrat who attends committee meetings and uses impenetrable jargon to defend ineffective but trendy educational methods that create a need for more committee meetings. …
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Challenge Worthy Of Top-Notch Team
February 23, 1998 in Nation/World on Page A12 After weeks of intercollegiate bickering about which taxpayerfunded bureaucracy should deliver higher education service in Spokane, it is time to re-examine the mission for which such bureaucracies exist. Namely, equipping …
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If Our Troops Fight, Support Them Fully
February 19, 1998 in City on Page B6 Spokane is a military town and rallied in a wonderful way behind families left behind during the Persian Gulf War of 1991. If U.S. forces bomb Iraq this year, our …
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Ecology’s Opinion Slow And Wrong
February 16, 1998 in Nation/World on Page A16 How could the city of Spokane be so stupid as to fail to consult the state Department of Ecology before spending millions on the Lincoln Street Bridge project? Actually, the …
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Marketplace Losers Take Alternate Route Not Monopolistic Capable Nonproprietary, Lower-Cost Or Free Products Win Out.
February 13, 1998 in City on Page B6 Your tax dollars at work: Prodded by competitors of Microsoft Corp., political demagogues and busybody government lawyers are yapping like a pack of bloodhounds, hot on the trail of a …
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Bill Maps The Way To A Better Future
February 8, 1998 in City on Page B8 In spite of objections from nervous employees of Eastern Washington University, efforts to improve this area’s public higher education offerings continue to progress. Where, a puzzled bystander may ask, should …
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Badly Crafted Law Fit Only For Stillbirth Draconian Approach Why Make Firms With No Breast-Feeding Moms Comply?
February 6, 1998 in City on Page B6 Who could oppose motherhood, let alone nursing mothers? No one we know. Breast-feeding’s good. But it is a poor kind of assistance to nursing moms, and to working women generally, …
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Do Play Catch-Up; Don’t Play Politics
February 3, 1998 in City on Page B4 In between predictable partisan spats about gay marriage and partial-birth abortion, Washington state’s Legislature has made some progress with an issue of real-world importance to our daily lives. Namely, roads …
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Local Control Works
February 1, 1998 in City on Page B8 If public schools are going to improve it’ll happen because they heed the advice of the local communities they serve. The bond issue proposed in Spokane School District 81 proves …
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You Can’t Afford To Forsake Schools
February 1, 1998 in City on Page B8 School children can’t vote on Tuesday. Their well-being depends on whether busy adults - their parents, their grandparents, their neighbors and the business people of their community consider local public …
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Digital Sunshine Is One Bright Idea
January 28, 1998 in City on Page B4 Soon, Congress will make a big scene about campaign finance reform. Again. But the states, those laboratories of innovation, have a better idea: Quit pretending to clean up politics with …
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Investment Will Pay Off Here, Too
January 25, 1998 in City on Page B6 What if politicians who oppose government investment in cities could see into the future, when projects they resist bear fruit? Obviously, most boo-birds would become cheerleaders and plans like the …
