As reluctant as I am to project the outcomes of local elections, having been lamentably wrong before, I’m less reticent about analyzing results. Or at least making observations, hopefully of the informed variety. Not having to explain or defend wayward predictions of course gives me something of an advantage in the punditry department — I can act […]
No Bad Days
Take a number
They say it’s just a number. On your birthday, you’re only a day older than the day before, not a year older. And, you’re only as old as you — think? feel? behave? Ultimately, however, your age is your age (don’t you just love tautology?), if you’ve been fortunate enough to make it however far you’ve made […]
Delicate decisions
There are stories that we choose to do, and stories that we have to do as part of our responsibility to the community. The “have to” stories are often controversial, sensitive or potentially damaging to reputations. In those cases, we take extra care about how we handle the reporting and writing. Such a story came […]
Wheels of misfortune
Sometimes I wonder if my “rig” — a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder now rolling past a quarter-million miles — is sporting the vehicular equivalent of a “kick me” sign that you tape to someone’s back as a joke. Or perhaps it is wearing a target that can only be seen in a part of the light spectrum not visible to […]
Sad news
It’s been a tough week emotionally for us at the Methow Valley News. In the span of a few days, we unexpectedly lost two members of the extended News family: longtime Twisp correspondent Sally Gracie and former newspaper distribution driver Mark Hutson. Both deaths came as visceral shocks to us; the losses will be felt […]
It’s that week again
As usual, National Newspaper Week snuck up on me while I was working on another local newspaper week, this one in particular. The 2019 observance — Oct. 6–12 — marks the 79th annual National Newspaper Week, an admittedly self-congratulatory recognition of the service of newspapers and their employees across North America. There is a much to be said about […]
Role of a lifetime
Act I, Scene I: Wherein you get the crazy notion that it would be fun and challenging to direct a full production on The Merc Playhouse stage, never having done anything remotely like that before. Oh sure, you’ve done some acting — and doesn’t every actor, in their heart of hearts, believe they can be a director? […]
Holding adults accountable
The kids are worried — and they should be. They are watching their inhabitable world disintegrate at an increasing pace. They’re angry, and have every right to be. They are not seeing any meaningful global effort to preserve a planet for them to exist on. They don’t trust the grown-up power structure, and who can […]
Not too soon
It’s a good thing the Methow Watershed Council is prodding us all to talk about the future of water use and availability in the valley, because 2066 is going to be here sooner than you think. The Watershed Council is working on a project it calls Water 2066: A Vision for the Methow, and is […]
Radio silence
Dan, tell me ain’t so. Because you just disappeared without warning, and I had no idea how much I’d miss you until you were gone. Like most of your fans, I didn’t see it coming. For nearly all the time I’ve been here, whenever I could I tuned into “Inland Folk with Dan Maher,” coming […]
