After moving back up to my dad’s house near Brown’s Lake, I was once again in command of a DISH console and the ability to watch TV, something I hadn’t been able to do in previous years due to cutting the cord (and watching lots of YouTube).

What did I end up doing? Watching Home Improvement and Last Man Standing reruns. A lot of them. And I loved them.

As my friend said “You seem oddly obsessed with Tim Allen lately.”

But this was a comedian I grew up with, and his humor is somehow way more relatable to men now than back in the 1990s when everybody could just say “I don’t think so, Tim.” More

I am happy to have served the people of Stevens County as Prosecuting Attorney for the past twelve years and look forward to the challenges ahead. Looking back, I am pleased at the progress the office has made in many areas.

Over the years, I have been able to maintain an excellent staff of attorneys who carry on the work of criminal prosecution and who look after the civil aspects of county government. The need for skilled attorneys is growing as the demands of an increased case load of criminal cases is encountered and the demands on the civil representation of the county increases as well. More

‘Celebrating the holidays with friends and family the past few weeks was great, but I’m tired, bloated and crabby.’

‘The New Year is upon us! What a great opportunity to start fresh and resolve to do great things in 2019.’

‘How about I share some resolutions I hope our political leaders will keep. Here’s one: Federal government, please stop spending so much!’ More

Many pundits predict American political warfare will worsen in 2019 and grow more ruthless in 2020–our next presidential election year. The swamp that candidate Donald Trump promised to drain is expanding.

James Astill, Washington bureau chief for The Economist, wrote: “As America approached the mid-point of President Donald Trump’s first term, sober commentators suggested it had not been so divided since the 1850s.”

Political disagreement is the heart of America’s way of governing. Diversity of opinion makes our country strong as long as those elected put our country, not their political ambition, first.
Those we elect must be willing to put their election on the line to do what’s best for our nation. The late President George HW Bush did when he supported tax increases to lift our country from recession. He broke his 1988 campaign promise (“Read My Lips: No New Taxes”) and lost his 1992 re-election bid.
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All Right Stevens County, it’s time to make county-wide resolutions for New Year’s.

Forget eating less, going to the gym or spending money more wisely. We need to make a few changes to make 2019 a better year for us all. More

(GENO LUDWIG/Geno is a longtime teacher and coach in Chewelah, while also writing for the Chewelah Independent. He’s a sports guru and enjoys his dogs. If you’d like to send Geno a message, email genoludwig395@gmail.com)

Chewelah is the home of a defending state wrestling champion and a team that is currently ranked ninth in the state according to the latest Wrestling Report poll.

So, a few days ago, I looked at Chewelah athletic director Rocky Verbeck’s activities calendar to find the date of the first home match. I looked through the schedule twice and discovered that the Cougars will host only one dual match through the entire season. Something must be wrong, I said to myself and looked one more time. The result was the same. Chewelah will host Mead on Tuesday, December 18.

Then, in January, the Cougars will host a get-together of teams from the Northeast B Leagues northern division that will bring six teams to Pein-Lynch Gym for a rumble. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor of the Chewelah Independent)

It’s a birthday that I’m kind of shocked we don’t have a national holiday for.

Sure we trot out holidays for presidents and we even have things like national donut day. What about this little piece of paper that spells out the rights we have as citizens of the United States?
The Constitution is a funny contradiction in that today most people point to it as a time when the US Government was smaller and less invasive. In reality, the Constitution formed a stronger central government than that mess called the Articles of Confederation.

What the Bill of Rights represents is something our current politicians need to do more: it was a compromise.

After establishing a stronger central government, Anti-Federalists still wanted to curtail overreach. The solution was the Bill of Rights which gave us a set number of amendments that still ring strikingly resilient today.
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(BRANDON HANSEN/Brandon is the managing editor of the Chewelah Independent)

I’d rather get visited by the three ghosts of Christmas than turn on any sort of news/political hot take show.

The holiday we use to celebrate the birth of Jesus has become quite the little hot potato of controversy. For many years, the “War on Christmas” has propagated news media, and people try to point out how “THEY” are taking Christ out of Christmas. However, considering this is a free country and I could stand out on Main Ave. dressed up like a wise man giving frankincense to everybody, it’s really hard to take the War of Christmas seriously. But here we go, in 2018 where the political scene is super-charged like that 1980s shark mouth T-bird that always rips through Chewelah, we’ve found stupid Christmas controversy after stupid Christmas controversy. Since I’m a troll with glasses and a keyboard, I’m going to list the things that offend me this Christmas season. More