Opinion

H.R.6703 will cause a health care crisis

This holiday season, police departments across the country will repeat their laudable annual efforts to deter drunken driving. Yet more than a decade after states began legalizing recreational marijuana, or cannabis, effective policies to counter driving while high on it don’t exist. There are several reasons the danger from cannabis-impaired drivers has so far gone largely unaddressed, and why the threat is increasing.

As many readers know, I’m on a mission to see all my music heroes live before they depart the stage for good – and to urge you to do the same. This year, my message is: Hurry up, because the curtains are closing.

Transgender sanity

When pundits and media talking heads warn that the American family is in decline, what they’re really saying is that it looks drastically different today than it did even five years ago.

It’s fitting that the Oxford University Press’ 2025 word of the year is “rage bait,” because I’m convinced that’s the only way to describe the trend predictions for next year.

There have been at least 75 school shootings in the United States in 2025. Some of the victims of the Dec. 13 shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, had even faced a shooter at school before.

Saturday marks the fifth annual International Day of Epidemic Preparedness. Since 2020, this event has encouraged education and awareness about how people and organizations work to prevent, prepare for, and partner against epidemics. An epidemic is a sudden outbreak of a disease that affects many people, spreads rapidly, and is above normal levels for that area. Locally, Spokane Regional Health District works year-round to prepare for epidemics and many other hazards.

The cost of ignoring affordable coverage