By Dennis Hinkamp After a quiet year of preparation and premature eulogies, Burning Man roared into the news this August. There were unplanned fires, protesters and three hurricane-fueled rainstorms that turned the Nevada desert into a sea of mud. Before it even got going, the event known for its whimsical art, leave-no-trace ethos and sharing […]
Editorials
In our hands
The local November general election ballot just got more interesting, as if voters did not already have enough to consider in the proposal to form a Methow Aquatics District. As reported in last week’s Methow Valley News, the little hospital that has survived aspires to evolve into a modern facility that endures. Three Rivers Hospital […]
Guest column – Some good news for journalism at the local level
By Jacqui Banaszynski Last week, the struggling business of journalism got a rare bit of good news. To summarize it, I borrow from the Nieman Reports website (https://niemanreports.org): “A nonpartisan group of 22 foundations today announced the launch of Press Forward, a nationwide coalition committing more than $500 million over five years to help reinvigorate […]
Writers on the Range – There’s such a thing as trail etiquette
By Marjorie “Slim” Woodruff The uppermost switchback on the Bright Angel Trail in Grand Canyon National Park is 8 feet wide. Yet the last time I hiked out, I was stymied by a group of young hikers walking down shoulder-to-shoulder, tapping on their phones. Even when I said, “Ahem, excuse me,” I was unceremoniously nudged […]
The write stuff
We’re about two months out from the Nov. 7 general election — less than that before ballots go in the mail — so campaigning is about to begin in earnest. Road signs will proliferate, advertising will be scheduled, social media will heat up, personal appearances will fill calendar spots and public forums will be arranged. […]
Writers on the Range – Requiem for the Joshua tree
By Pepper Trail Disheveled, gangly, the Joshua tree is surely one of the West’s strangest — and most recognizable — plants. Named by Mormon pioneers for the prophet Joshua, whose upraised arms pointed to the promised land, Joshua trees are more likely to remind people today of the lovable creations of Dr. Seuss. The trees […]
Newspaper raid update
An update on the Aug. 11 law enforcement raid on the offices of the Marion, Kansas, County Record, and the homes of the newspapers’ co-owners and a town council member, that we commented on in last week’s editorial: The county attorney issued a statement on Aug. 16 declaring that “insufficient evidence” existed to support the […]
Seeing it through
Every fire season in recent years has had its own character, and this one is no exception. The good news, and the bad news, is that we’ve endured this before. The unhealthy pall of smoke, the highway closures, the heightened awareness of fire danger all around us — we’re not happy about any of it, […]
Guest Column – Blame the beetles
By Don C. Brunell Growing up in the 1960s, our parents blamed everything on “The Beatles.” According to them, they were “the punks” from Liverpool who caused all the teenagers to go crazy. Lately, there is another group of “Beatles” giving people fits, only their names are spelled differently. These “beetles” are tiny insects that […]
Stopping the presses
This happened in America. Last Friday (Aug. 11), seven police officers and sheriff’s deputies raided the offices of a small newspaper in Kansas, as well as the home of the paper’s co-owner and publisher, arguably because a local businessperson and the chief of police were unhappy with the newspaper’s coverage of them. Based on a […]
