Opinion

I served as a clinical psychologist at Fairchild Air Force Base, in the mental health clinic for 8 years, ending 30 SEP 2020. Since the U.S. military is now concerned about whether it has sheltered service members with extremist views, I thought some people might value hearing about my experiences in confidential conversations with thousands of service members, in terms of attitudes or behaviors that are antagonistic to the rule of law or DOD missions.

As a community, we’ve had our share of challenges in 2020 and now in 2021. Here is another one that everyone needs to know about. Potent, deadly, illicit fentanyl has become a major killer of young adults and high school students in the Spokane and Eastern Washington area.

Avista reported an increase in fourth quarter earnings in 2020 compared to 2019 in today's (2/25/21) Spokesman Review. I do like and compliment the fact that Avista is a good corporate entity for Spokane.

Today I had the pleasure to participate in the Evangelical Immigration Table, billed as an opportunity for Christians motivated by their faith to access their representatives in Congress, and request bipartisan immigration reform.

Tomorrow, the month dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans will come to an end. This year, more than ever, we should think about the purpose Black History Month serves.

Last year, I went to visit some of my carbon emissions.

I had never been a fan of term limits, but after watching the impeachment trial of the former President, my position has been changed. It appeared that the vast majority of senators felt that Donald Trump was guilty as charged, but 43 of them voted for acquittal because, I believe, they feared the next election cycle.

As Congress advances a COVID-19 relief package that calls for a $15 national minimum wage by 2025, I am aware that some people think that being poor is a personal choice, or something that reflects personal failings. It isn’t and it doesn’t.

As someone with over a decade of professional public health expertise at the local and national level, I was disturbed to read Sue Lani Madsen’s misguided February 25th opinion piece ("Public health decisions best made at local level") on pending public health legislation.

As children, we hear many insightful stories that are simple, but often full of meaning. The one mentioned above seems to resonate with what is happening in our country today. Right before our eyes, we are seeing over and over the truth. Even though videos and pictures can be altered, it would have been an almost impossible undertaking to make fake videos of what happened that led up to and included the infamous events that took place on January 6, 2021.

By Jack Cates and Dan Holman

An orca calf (“New baby orca born to L pod” Spokesman-Review, February 18, 2021, p. C5) was born recently to its pod for the first time in two years.

A recent book, "Ghosting the News," by Margaret Sullivan, argues that local newspapers have been a pillar of American democracy since colonial times. While trust in major national institutions has plummeted, trust in local print media remains high. We still count on our hometown paper to give us the facts and to hold influential people accountable for their words and actions. When a paper ceases operation, it leaves its community vulnerable to being uninformed, misinformed, or disinformed.

Rarely is a politician accused of having common sense, and U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson can rest assure no one will attach this label to him.