Column

Through a protective lens, the sun became a dense orange crescent. The sky dimmed strangely, as though a dome of shadow were filtering down. For a few seconds it seemed as if time had slipped its leash, set free by the combination of surreal natural phenomenon and intense anticipation.

When little kids recall the eclipse decades from now, here’s what I predict they’ll say.

A quarter-century after Ruby Ridge, the same fires burn. The same fault lines tremble beneath the same schisms.

On the way home from the store, my wife wondered what her child-of-the-Depression mother would think of paying $4.22 for a single tomato. Shudders.

Pig Out will be Pig Out for years, so don’t worry.

This week marks my one-year anniversary of the editor of The Spokesman-Review. I wanted to be here for so many reasons, but mostly because I had grown to dislike the smell of corporate journalism. I wanted to work someplace where profits weren’t the only measure of success.

In 50 years, D.F. “Dave” Oliveria has come full circle. He graduated from high school at age 17 in ’67. Now, he’s 67 in ’17. And he’s retiring. This will be his last column. Forty-seven years in the newspaper biz ends today. So let’s bring out Dave’s final set of three dots.

You’re reading my final column for The Spokesman-Review.

A trip down memory lane.

A column in last Saturday’s newspaper stated that transgender identity was neither normal or acceptable. That’s a lie. Or perhaps lie isn’t the right word – it’s probably not a lie if you believe it, no matter how false and hateful. But it’s as wrong as the day is long, and the idea that it’s Massey’s place to make this declaration, on behalf of God, to those of us who don’t attend his church, is wronger still.

Christa Hazel is living rent free in the alleged minds of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee leadership. After turning in her resignation as a precinct committeewoman, Christa criticized Chairman Brent Regan and other leaders for stifling debate, embracing Far Right ideology, and wasting time on wacky resolutions. Regan & Co. fired back, but none as viciously as secretary Alex Barron, who fancies himself to be the Bard of the American Redoubt.

Well, the real trick is developing selective memory. This is a sophisticated version of denial.

Some chuckled at Dave Chamberlain’s Huckleberries slap at a Washington driver, but not Dave Vogel.

On this day in 1848, Congress made Oregon a territory. At that time, the woodsy spots on the map that would one day become Spokane and Coeur d’Alene were in Oregon. Makes you wonder how things might be different today if those boundaries hadn’t changed. Just imagine the battles over motorcycle helmet laws, beverage container deposits and college names.

3 million? That’s a lot of angry drivers.

In Saturday’s edition of The Spokesman-Review, we ran a column from a local pastor. We do that almost every Saturday. Spirituality and beliefs are so important to so many of us. When I read it for the first time – in likely the same fashion many of you did – I was shocked.

There are young people in our midst currently living in a candy-colored dream world.

Here’s a story of girl trouble (the early years). A friend was at a local park with her 18-month-old son, Nick. He’s an easygoing lad who refers to almost all preteens as babies.

In the ongoing trial of the two former Fairchild Air Force Base psychologists whose company earned more than $80 million to develop and carry out the enhanced-interrogation program, one slap is playing a big role.