Editorials

Getting on board One of the tradeoffs for living in the Methow Valley is that it can be a long way to work, to school, to the hospital, or to other vital health care and social services. It’s particularly tough for the elderly or disabled who have limited mobility, or for low-income people for whom […]

The real costs The federal government is not an abstraction in the Methow Valley and shutting it down is not a theoretical political exercise. It’s a real-life hardship with implications that put to shame the extremist ideological posturings of the Republicans who have caused it. And make no mistake, they caused it. But establishing blame […]

Have a healthy attitude about Affordable Care Act Forget about the political shenanigans in Washington, D.C. Here in Washington state we are about to enter the promising new world created by the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), which will provide health care coverage opportunities for millions of Americans who now are uninsured or under-insured. This […]

This too shall pass Methow Valley temperatures are still in the 90s. So why does it feel a bit like winter? The unexpected closure of the North Cascades Highway, caused by a series of deluges that brought down several huge mudslides over the roadway, has suddenly left us in the isolation mode we usually experience […]

Rough ride For a group that likes to manufacture headlines with its tirades about tyrannical, unresponsive government, the Okanogan County commissioners are looking a bit like the people they are always happy to rip. The commissioners’ quickly and brusquely enacted decision to allow all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) on some 300 miles of county roads has a […]

Local expertise Two local, smallish organizations with outsized reputations beyond the valley were in the news recently, in each case demonstrating why sometimes the world looks to the Methow for leadership. Planetary scientist Thomas McCord, founder of the Bear Fight Institute north of Winthrop, was bestowed the highest honor that the National Aeronautics and Space […]

On the fire line One of the first things I covered when I arrived here two years ago was an event in Winthrop to commemorate – celebrate would not be the appropriate characterization – the 10-year anniversary of the Thirtymile Fire that claimed the lives of four wildland firefighters on July 10, 2001. The fire […]

  Recreation and imagination At a time when local government entities seem to be on a consolidation path – the Twisp and Winthrop police departments consider merging, Twisp contemplates annexation to Okanogan County Fire District 6 – along comes a proposal for a new tax-funded agency that would encompass most of the valley. If it […]

On the plus side As a journalist, I’ve never subscribed to the concept of “good news” versus “bad news,” or “positive stories” versus “negative” stories. Most information consumers would probably be surprised that those are not terms we typically use in our coverage discussions. News is news whether it pleases you or not, stories are […]

Local expertise Two local, smallish organizations with outsized reputations beyond the valley were in the news recently, in each case demonstrating why sometimes the world looks to the Methow Valley for leadership. Planetary scientist Thomas McCord, founder of the Bear Fight Institute north of Winthrop, was bestowed the highest honor that the National Aeronautics and […]