Opinion

The points made by Dr. Henning (guest opinion "SPS cohort model benefits students with privilege") are excellent and important. However, it is important to remember that Spokane is not Chicago, the Bronx or Seattle. In this opinion an overlooked factor in equitable educational opportunities and outcomes for all students is the teachers and school staff.

Earmarks, if enacted again, will continue the culture of pork-barrel spending and backroom deals Congress is known for. I continue to oppose them.

Over the last four years since moving back to Spokane, one of the most important conclusions I’ve come to is that representation matters. When it comes to fighting for tenant protections, improved health and education, and advancing civil and human rights for citizens, refugees, and immigrants in our community, I believe Naghmana Sherazi is a champion for these issues. She is running for Spokane City Council in District 1 and will bring a vast skill set and knowledge base to City Hall.

Jacob Ford's letter in today's Spokesman-Review ("Fluoridation puts onus on restaurants," June 24) triggered a response from me that I have been thinking about for a long time.

As Senate Republicans were blocking a bill to expand voting rights for Americans, the Chinese government was destroying Apple Daily, the pro-democracy tabloid that campaigned for greater voting rights in Hong Kong.

By Pam McLeod, Robert Dompier, Dan Hansen, Adam Mortensen and Bob Wentworth

After another recent mass shooting, this time in California, Governor Newsom stated during an interview “what the hell is wrong with us?”

I just read the article by Todd Myers of the Washington Policy Center ("Environmental groups perfect art of scare tactics," June 25) regarding, among other issues, the return of spring chinook on the Snake River. Cathy McMorris Rodgers put out the same information in a release to constituents on Wednesday of this week.

When I tell people that I cover politics for a living, the response I almost always hear is that people want Congress, or the Legislature, or fill-in-the-blank-government-entity to “put politics aside and solve problems.”

Advocates for congressional term limits have an easy target: representatives and senators so easily re-elected that they can elevate their own and their donors’ interests above those of their voters. Adding to this worry over real or perceived self-interest, with or without actual corruption, is concern about our long-serving elected leaders’ reduced capacities to govern as they age.

In a landmark First Amendment opinion, the Supreme Court has limited schools’ ability to punish students for off-campus speech. In a case involving a cheerleader who was suspended from her team after criticizing her coaches and the cheer program in a profane Snapchat post, the court held that the school had gone too far.