Column

Dear Kiantha,

So here I am recovering from total knee replacement surgery … again. I did it last year and am doing it this year (different knee). I am officially out of knees to replace.

A century ago in our drive for energy, we built what was called the “eighth wonder of the world” and harnessed the renewable power of water. It disrupted communities and transformed the landscape forever. Hard knocks lessons learned from the Columbia Basin Project apply to the current push to harness the wind.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be right to rework the federal isolation guidance for people with COVID-19, as they are reportedly considering doing. The change is long overdue and could refocus the agency’s recommendations on protecting the most vulnerable.

Dear Kiantha,

It’s becoming clearer every day that the officials who are supposed to be safeguarding Idaho taxpayer dollars are not considering the possible train wreck that could be coming with the purchase of the University of Phoenix. The Idaho State Board of Education held only a few closed-door meetings with University of Idaho President Scott Green and then met for only 90 minutes in a public meeting ...

Querida Kiantha,

In a few weeks, Scope Arena in Norfolk, Virginia, will be busy with activity as the city holds its annual NATO Festival, the longest continuous festival on the Hampton Roads calendar. It pays tribute to our region’s unique status as the home to NATO’s only command operations in North America.

History will record this as the week the GOP formally kowtowed to Vladimir Putin.

Dear Kiantha,

Superficial talking points are conversation stoppers, and Democratic leaders are stifling substantive political conversation early on the six initiatives headed to the November ballot. It doesn’t have to be this way if the Legislature follows the state Constitution making initiatives take “precedence over all other measures in the legislature.”

Dear Kiantha,

Querida Kiantha,