By David Harris If you had any powers of observation at all over the last 20 years or so, there are a few things that should be coming increasingly clear. Global warming is here and getting worse — epic fires, droughts, melting arctic and glacial ice, sea life dying due to warming oceans. Exponential population growth is quickly […]
My Turn
Touted benefits of I-1631 are an illusion
By Alexander “Sandy” Mackie A few weeks ago, the News published an impassioned plea from Raechel Youngberg in support of Initiative 1631 as a step towards solving the world’s climate change issues and by implication reducing the incident of smoke and fire in the Methow Valley. Before your readers jump to support her request, however, they […]
MV Community School left a wonderful legacy
By Deirdre Cassidy I read with sadness that the Methow Valley Community School was closing its door after 18 years of offering families an alternative in education in the valley. I worked at the community school for 13 of those years — I believe I was the longest-lasting teacher at the school. Those were some of the most-challenging […]
Time for action on climate change is now — and I-1631 is a step
By Raechel Youngberg Looking out my window I should be able to see the Twisp River valley unfolding below, the Channing Family Farm plots ripe with vegetables, and the Sunny Pine Farm goats happily munching away. Instead, I see a thick oppressive yellow smoke obscuring everything but the closest trees. Frequent headaches and a nagging cough […]
Let’s find ways to make affordable housing easier in the Methow
By Scot Domergue As noted in the recent Methow Valley News article “Room for Disagreement,” the Twisp Planning Commission is considering requiring a minimum home size of 1,200 square feet in areas zoned R-1, 800 square feet in R-2, and 320 square feet for R- 3, the least-restrictive of our residential zones. The article also reviews […]
Don’t believe the myth of ‘fake news’
By Fred Obee The plight of a grieving orca who continues to carry her dead calf for weeks is reported by the Seattle Times. Spokane’s Spokesman-Review lets people know for the first time that the Legislature is forming a task force to exempt lawmakers from portions of the Public Records Act. The Columbia Basin Herald […]
Mental illness in a time of madness: ACEs high
By David Asia Where does a person’s mental health or mental illness come from? Why does the voice inside your head tell you that its time to get up and go to work, while the voice inside of mine demands that I stay home and rage at my children? Maybe you can turn yours off. […]
Mental illness in a time of madness: from the beginning
By David Asia In an earlier article (Methow Valley News, April 4), I talked about how, throughout our history, a kind of mass hysteria can overpower an otherwise reasonable group of people, a culture or a nation state. I suggested that we all hear voices, and that these voices can feed a disorder of thinking so […]
Where’s there’s smoke, there are threats to everyone’s health
By Elizabeth Walker On May 21, our email and phone lines started blowing up. As the front house for the Methow Valley Clean Air Project, Dr. Raleigh Bowden and I frequently advise on air quality issues. And the issues are almost always about smoke. In this case, valley residents were calling for information regarding smoke […]
Consider other options to apple maggot quarantine
By Buck and Nancy Jorgensen Our family has been growing apples in the Methow Valley for over 50 years. During that time, our Canyon Creek Apples have developed a sizable list of customers on both sides of the Cascades who enjoy farm-to-table, fresh tree-ripened fruit. Historically, we have sold our apples at our roadside stand […]
