.png)
RFK Jr. is a blatant liar and denier of the most basic fundamentals of medical knowledge. He does not believe the germ theory of disease. He denies that viruses and bacteria cause illness, and would take us back to fearing miasmas. He denies that vaccines factored in the decrease in polio ad measles, and claims that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS.
He lied repeatedly during his senate confirmation hearings, asking that Congress ignore his long history of erratic behavior and conspiracy theory peddling. Surprising nobody except the willingly naive Republican congress members (including our own Rep. Baumgartner), RFK Jr. immediately resumed his anti- science ways upon confirmation. He promised to leave the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices unchanged, then fired every member and replaced them with like-minded conspiracy theorists. He asked for a Nazi-esque national registry of people with autism and depression. He promised to maintain vaccine availability, then forced approval changes to deny them. He is gutting the CDC’s staff, undermining the reliability of national health recommendations, and claiming that will somehow make us healthier.
How many lies will Congress ignore? How many citizens will suffer? Join me in contacting our Congress members about removing RFK Jr. from office.
Jessica Adams Colville
Affordable Care Act saves lives
Senator Baumgartner: I’ve been an ordained Presbyterian minister for 35 years. I’ve seen the real personal consequences for those with health issues and no employer provided insurance, such as many others enjoy.
Many just lost Medicaid insurance through your recent passage of the Big Ugly Bill. Now the ACA is set to expire and will come to a vote in Congress soon.
Maybe you don’t know anyone who has experienced homelessness due to medical debts. The heartbreak of people who work minimum wage, too young for Medicare, unable to pay for the medical care they need. Hard working people without the safety net ACA provides.
Skimping on life-saving meds. Unable to pay for tests that could have disclosed breast cancer early enough to treat it. Families in pain, scrambling for donations at silent auctions and spaghetti dinners to help pay costs for meds as they fought cancer.
Sen. John McCain, labelled traitor by Republicans, voted to preserve it. His vote gave hope back then, hope to the vulnerable, scared, hurting American people. ACA leveled the playing field so more Americans might thrive.
Now the moment of truth comes. How will your vote be remembered?
Rev. Becky Anderson Newport
Responsible governance, not more taxes
Pend Oreille County’s $3 million 2026 budget shortfall is a call for disciplined leadership, not a pretext for taxing residents further. Stable revenues—$ 1.8 million in sales tax, $2.5 million in property tax, $1.4 million in PILT, and $800,000 in projected investment interest—prove this is a spending problem, not a revenue one. Departments’ demands for new positions, hefty raises, and non-essentials like boats and trailers are reckless.
Commissioners must act decisively: Use the $2 million ending fund balance to offset the gap while enforcing zero-based budgeting, requiring departments to justify every expense from scratch. Freeze hiring, cap salary increases at 1% to match revenue growth and delay discretionary purchases. Streamline operations by consolidating redundant roles and leveraging technology for efficiency. Pursue untapped grants and review county assets for potential leasing to boost non-tax revenue.
Commissioners, stop the doomand- gloom talk of layoffs and act decisively. Layoffs are a last resort, not a scare tactic. Residents demand accountability, not excuses. Prioritize roads, safety, and fiscal prudence over bureaucratic bloat—no new taxes—just responsible governance.
Ernie Hood Newport
No more DC statues
Here we are, another person dies at the hands of someone with a gun. This was a person who condoned other people being killed by guns. He died as the word violence came out of his mouth. People want to make this man a hero, put a statue of him up.
What about people that spoke their minds that didn’t have this agenda that this young man had but just wanted equal rights? Who wanted to have a dream that we’d have a better world like Martin Luther King?
I am absolutely appalled at all the children that are murdered and these people said nothing. It’s like they don’t matter. To me every one of those lives is extremely important. Until every single child that was gunned down has a statue erected of them and people see that these were people it had a future that was ripped away from them there should never be a statue of Kirk or anyone else in Washington DC. Next time you kiss your children goodbye when they’re on their way out the door to go to school make sure you tell them you love them. You may never get another chance.
-Jeannie Hutchins Newport
Kirk walked the walk
I have a heavy heart writing this. My heart is broken because my friend Charlie Kirk was assassinated for trying to have a civil debate with the other side of the aisle.
Some people on the other side are happy and jubilant over my friend’s murder. This murder happened right in front of his wife and children.
Charlie was a child of God. He didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk.
Pray for peace. Pray for Chlie’s family.
I will miss my friend Charlie. Jesus Christ Almighty have mercy.
Donna Lands Sacheen Lake
Jordan as Role Model?
Our US “Representative” Michael Baumgartner chose Ohio US Representative Jim Jordan as his guest for Baumgartner’s mega-bucks fundraiser in Spokane on Aug. 17.
Jordan has always been an overly disruptive and controversial force in Congress: “Jordan has such a reputation as a political brawler that former [Republican] House Speaker John Boehner said he’d never met someone ‘who spent more time tearing things apart’” (Reference: “Jim Jordan’s Rapid Rise Has Been Cheered By Trump and the Far Right. Could It Soon Make Him Speaker?” Associated Press, October 16, 2023.)
Jordan has been a favorite of President Donald Trump who once backed him unsuccessfully for House Speaker: “Some members of Congress — including those in his own party — label Jordan an extremist unworthy of the speakership, pointing to his active role in Trump’s bid to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, as well as his refusal to honor a congressional subpoena about the January 6 attack at the Capitol. Further in his past, Jordan continues to be questioned over his alleged knowledge of sexual abuse [he did nothing about] in the wrestling program at Ohio State University [when he was wrestling coach there.]” (ibid).
Is this what Baumgartner wants to emulate?
Norm Luther Spokane
Empathy doesn’t mean approval
Kamori’s Sept. 3 letter indicates that she is virtuous because she sees through emotional “hooks.” However, she doesn’t appear to recognize stories’ changing perspectives. Intellectual empathy is necessary, which means reframing the narrative and trying to understand multiple perspectives including other people’s motivations, values, and beliefs. Regarding the Minneapolis school shooting: there are numerous interviews with parents and victims, which provide a view into their fear and grief. We empathize.
When we shift perspectives to the shooter, we try to see through their eyes. Empathy does not mean endorsement or approval. If we empathize, the fact that they are trans develops our understanding of their life experiences and worldview. The trans community is small and marginalized, so we can recognize how this community fears the dominant group’s reaction. If people don’t recognize multiple perspectives, then they should read more widely and thoughtfully to develop nuance and empathy for all the players. Doing so doesn’t mean liking or agreeing with everyone, but it helps understand motives, narratives, and perhaps most importantly the potential solutions. Otherwise, people like Kamori sound like Glenn, who appears to only repeat talking points from one or two outlets, without recognizing multiple perspectives or applying critical thinking.
Paul Moore Newport Globalization fallacy
Several letters in the past year have been about globalization and the outflow of US jobs, mostly in the US Midwest. This policy was first championed by Ronald Reagan and later supported by George H. Bush and Bill Clinton. Trade barriers were subsequently lowered, and economies became more interdependent. Consumers benefited from lower product prices.
Trump has made a big thing of raising tariffs to bring manufacturing back to the US. The assumption is that this will result in many more jobs. But will it? Even if manufacturing returns, how many jobs will be created?
I googled the key words “modern manufacturing factory floor” and viewed the images. I suggest you do the same. Lots of robots, very few humans. Things have changed since the 1980s and if you think high tariffs and thereby higher consumer prices are going to bring us back to the days of yesteryear, you might want to rethink that idea.
Sandy Nichols Newport
Why the differences?
I want to thank The Miner for publishing the “Who’s In Charge” guide. It’s rare to have so much local government information gathered in one place, and it matters.
I’ve been sitting with the guide for a while, and the more I read, the more questions it raised for me. Not accusations — just questions.
Our District Court judge earns $217,000 a year, more than our Superior Court judges at $203,000. Is that unique to our county? Newport council members earn $61 per meeting, while Cusick pays $140 and Metaline Falls $50. Why such a wide range for the same service?
Some towns contract with the sheriff’s office for law enforcement, while Newport has its own chief and the Kalispel Tribe its own police. Do residents know who responds when they call?
Many boards meet on the same Wednesday. Does that limit public participation?
Several leaders serve on multiple boards — school, utilities, port, fair. Does that overlap bring stability, or does it leave less room for new voices?
These aren’t criticisms, but invitations.
Good government grows from the questions we ask, and the conversations that follow.
Saundra K. Park Newport
Dark days
Two recent murders have the media buzzing. Peace has been murdered and debate was shot in the throat. Iryna Zarutska and Charlie Kirk.
Iryna, 23, fled war torn Ukraine and landed as a refugee in North Carolina.
She learned English proficiently. She was working two jobs and volunteered at a retirement community. She wanted to be a veterinary tech. She was young and full of life. Iryna’s name was derived from Eirene, the Greek goddess of peace.
After work one night she sat on a train in front of Decarlos Brown Jr. (a Black man with 14 prior arrests). She began scrolling her phone and Decarlos pulled out a knife and stabbed her three times in the neck.
She bled out in minutes in front of five onlookers. The judge that released him in January isn’t even a lawyer.
Kirk, 31, was speaking on a college campus in UT with about 3K students. As he began to answer his second question, he was shot in the neck and killed. Not a mass shooting, an assassination. Martyr.
No riots.
How did we get here? Where did debate go? Rs and Ds can’t coexist? We need a turning point. Senseless. God, please help us.
Glen Pierce Spokane/Cusick
I felt safe in D.C. when I lived there
I lived and worked in Washington D.C. for over 7 years, returning home in 2024.
In DC I attended baseball, hockey, football and soccer games. Went to the National Horseshow, all in areas currently being patrolled by Trump’s domestic army. I used public transportation alone and late at night. I rode my bike to work (near the Washington Monument) regularly and after dark, I walked around the monuments on my lunch break and after work.
I attended events at the Kennedy Center and other theaters. In seven years, I was never once afraid for my safety (except on January 6, 2021). I worked in a building with over 300 people. If anyone was assaulted it would have been known and subject of a “safety talk.” Never happened in seven years. The deployment of troops in D.C. is a complete and total publicity stunt and a waste of taxpayers’ money. Crime and murder rates are higher in Louisiana and Mississippi than in D.C. Toledo, Ohio is one of the scariest cities I have ever a spent night in. Why is Trump’s domestic army not deployed in these states?
-Nancy Rusho Diamond Lake
Trump diabolical, not racist
Trump posted a disturbing video using the murder of a white woman by a Black man on a North Carolina transit train to demonize Democrats for allowing the murder to happen. I understand that the president likes young foreign white women and would be outraged by a Black man killing such a woman. Back in the day he would have suggested a lynch party for that Black man. He took out a full-page ad in NYC over the famous 1989 Central Park Five rape case calling for them to get the death penalty. They were ultimately found innocent, and one is now on the city council.
The cry is for justice for the dead white woman stabbed by a Black man but consider that she was an immigrant from Ukraine where many young white women have been murdered by Putin. Recall that Trump rolled out a red carpet for that white Russian murderer.
Trump isn’t racist. He is diabolical.
Why didn’t he hold up a picture of white Bryan Kohberger who murdered four U of I students? No, a Black man killing a white woman creates the most political outrage in our country. Trump is playing us like a fiddle.
Pete Scobby Newport
Wolf Trail crossing not safe for pedestrians
Good day Newport. I am asking for the “powers that be” to address an issue. The Wolf Trail crossing on Hwy. 20 is not sufficiently designated for safe pedestrian crossing. The increase from 25 mph to 55 mph is posted just before the trail crossing. There are no painted lines on the pavement, nor reflectors, nor flashing lights. I think we should try to prevent accidents whenever possible. Within the last few months I have personally witnessed three “close call” vehicle vs pedestrian at this crossing. One was with an approximate 12 y/o boy. An upgrade is needed at this crossing. It can’t cost much to put reflective paint on the asphalt at the crossing.
Let’s not wait. This area is growing, along with the traffic. This hazardous crossing will only become more of an issue as time passes.
Ed Slattery Newport
