FEMA fails us Last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denied the state of Washington’s appeal of a FEMA decision not to provide individual assistance to victims of the summer’s fires and floods. Gov. Jay Inslee had asked the Obama administration to reverse FEMA’s denial of a disaster declaration that would have made some […]
Editorials
Editorials: September 10, 2014
Getting it right In the aftermath of calamity, there are always questions. Some of them pop up right away, some of them develop over time, all of them arise out of the human need to know how and why something happened and, in some cases, who is responsible. From the beginning of the relentless siege […]
Editorials: September 3, 2014
Needed: big gestures, bold strokes Two of the most important artistic institutions in the valley are looking for new leadership. The timing is strictly coincidental, but the concurrent searches for executive directors at Confluence Gallery & Art Center and The Merc Playhouse come at a crucial juncture for each. Jane Hubrig is leaving The Merc […]
Editorials: Aug. 20, 2014
Reclaiming the image A cynical person might ask, what can you accomplish with $150,000, against the millions of dollars the Methow Valley tourism industry has lost to the vagaries of wildfire this summer? But just as there are, according to the adage, no atheists on a sinking ship, there likely are few cynics questioning the […]
Editorials: July 9, 2014
Thanks, Clint Public service is something of a family tradition for the Estes family of Twisp. Long-time Twisp Town Council member Clint Estes, who recently stepped down after nine years of meetings and countless hours of conversations with residents, followed in his father’s footsteps when he first joined the council. Twisp owes a big “thank […]
Editorials: June 25, 2014
Reading the signs Good intentions don’t always result in good policy or good practice. The Town of Winthrop is trying to sort that out up on Bridge and Bluff streets, where Mike Kutz and Anna Rogers opened the six-unit Bunkhouse Inn late last year. Kutz had asked for and received approval to put signs up […]
Editorial: June 18, 2014
Double vision If you think about it — and like it or not, you probably should—November isn’t that far away. At the general election on Nov. 5 …
Editorials: June 4, 2014
Catching up on picking up Most people probably don’t realize that whatever they pay for having garbage picked up, the company doing the collecting doesn’t set its own prices. The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), among its other regulatory and oversight dealings, sets the rates for garbage haulers. To raise rates, a garbage hauler […]
Editorials: April 2, 2014
Elections aren’t like they used to be.
All-mail balloting and early voting have changed the dynamics of campaigning. No longer do candidates build frantic momentum up to election day. They have to think much farther ahead than that, and so do the media outlets that cover them.
The special election on …
Editorials: March 12, 2014
Rec district reconnaissance As interest in the proposed Methow Valley Recreation District heats up, the voters will have several opportunities to learn more about it at public meetings. The forums will offer not only information but also a chance to hear from, and question, the 13 candidates who are running for five seats on the […]
