WATER COOLER WEDNESDAYS: Winter, Pumpkin Spice are coming and so is more Daylight Savings Time fun
Here is this week’s “Water Cooler” column by Chewelah Independent Managing Editor Brandon Hansen…
Opinion
Letters from our readers do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Independent.
FROM THE EDITOR: “We need to better manage our forests” is lip service
(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor of the Chewelah Independent)
Tony Hansen, of Chewelah, brings in a drag in a 1992 John Deere 648E Skidder on the Hansen Logging jobsite near Arden, Wash. Running the 320C CAT with a LogMax processor is Anthony Jones.
As Chewelah resembled a scene from the latest end-of-the-world thriller movie from Hollywood last month, politicians in the state wasted no time touring communities that had been ravaged by wildfire to showcase their concern and push their solutions. One such solution now trotted out every fire season is better forest management.
The solution is simple: Clean out the underbrush, thin out forests so they aren’t so dense and wildfires would burn slower and not turn into the one-day firestorm that Labor Day was. I am completely on board with this and agree. The one sticking point is that beyond saying “better forest management,” the conversation never goes further than that.
Being somewhat close to the timber industry, I see a workforce that is getting smaller and older. The average age of a logger is 50. The common complaint is “the younger generation isn’t stepping up,” but once you have a few beers with a logger they’ll explain to you some industry deep issues. More
THE WATER COOLER: Don’t steal political signs, let Russell Wilson cook and watch “The Office”
(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)
DON’T STEAL POLITICAL SIGNS
Since it’s that time of year, we would like to point out we are already seeing some reports of people having their political signs being taken down or thrown away. Along with being anti-First Amendment, if you’re caught stealing or removing someone else’s sign, it is a misdemeanor punishable by law. Again, why would you do this? You’re not going to change votes by these actions. Let your fellow Americans express themselves with their First Amendment rights.
AND WHILE WE ARE IN A SCOLDING MOOD
Remember to have your dog on a leash in city limits. This is for their safety and for other people’s safety as well. Your dog should not be able to roam free around town.
FROM THE EDITOR: Bob Robertson was one of Washington’s treasures
Bob Robertson
When news hit that longtime Washington State University radio announcer Bob Robertson had passed away, it was yet another gutpunch to the collective culture of the Evergreen State. Many people, as they usually do when someone passes away, took to social media to talk about the broadcaster who spent a half-century calling games in Pullman as well as calling baseball games for the Spokane Indians and Tacoma Rainiers.
And a thousand social media posts about how great the guy was wouldn’t come close to explaining how good a guy Bob Robertson was. While I worked for the Spokane Indians out of college, I got to be in the same press box as Bob Rob and experienced this Washington legend first hand. All those good stories you’ve read about him, all true. He was just a great individual. More
FROM THE EDITOR: How to argue like an adult not on Facebook
(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor of the Chewelah Independent)
During the pandemic, social media has been… interesting. Arguments are apparently still allowed by the State of Washington for now and people have gotten into a lot of them.
But I’ve noticed many of them are unnecessary or last way too long. Since we’re not face-to-face, it’s easy to get heated behind a keyboard. So, before your blood pressure becomes deadlier than COVID, ask yourself these questions to see if it’s worth it to get in a Facebook argument.
FROM THE EDITOR: Now, more than ever, we should focus on rights
(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor)
During this pandemic, it feels like I have had to wade through an Olympic swimming pool of rumors, conspiracy theories and partisan bickering.
But for the most part, it is really heartening to see many people just trying to help their fellow human and do the right thing. From the school district employees delivering meals to kids, our delivery workers and mail carriers making sure goods are still shipped, first responders still putting themselves in harms way and our medical workers forming our line of defense against this virus. Make no mistake, this is a war-like situation.
But still we need to stay vigilant as Americans when it comes to our rights. More
FROM THE EDITOR: A small exercise in what “actually happened”
(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor of the Chewelah Independent)
It has been pointed out more than once that it feels like we get too much information thrown at us. Going into 2020, I wanted to do a bit of an exercise by keeping a journal of what news events happened during the year where something actually happened.
Despite our constant 24/7 news cycle, there are a lot of days where something Earth-shattering doesn’t happen. There are also some pretty big incidents that quickly get skipped over for the newest slate of gossip and speculating. Keeping tabs in January and early February, I made sure to immediately nix any political grandstanding, a “they said this” news story and speculative stories. Talk is not something happening.
So let’s see what has happened in 2020 so far… More
FROM THE EDITOR: What are the metrics of failure in government?
(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor of the Chewelah Independent)
Everybody has complaints about the government, but where does all the blame go? It generally gets pushed towards the other political party that you’re not a member of.
We’ve all heard “there are two different realities” and “facts don’t matter anymore.”
But to me, maybe something even more disheartening is occurring: Results don’t matter anymore.
Very rarely anymore do you hear about what goals have been achieved. We hear vague things like “combating homelessness,” “world security,” “getting people out of poverty,” “strengthening borders,” “solving the healthcare crises,” “solving the opioid epidemic,” but very rarely is the finish line ever described.
Remember when we started the War on Drugs? Are we any closer to a drug-free America or have things gotten more convoluted? More Americans now die from drug overdoses than auto accidents. More
FROM THE EDITOR: Can someone explain the gun control endgame?
(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor of the Chewelah Independent)
With another legislative session in Olympia, there is another slate of gun control bills that have conservative Facebook whipped up in a frenzy. For the umpteenth year, gun control is among the top issues when it comes to politics and that probably will never change.
We hear the same tired stats that have been thrown out and modeled for everyone’s argument. While I do like to look at some sort of basis when it comes to political topics, it almost appears facts really don’t matter anymore because you can cherry pick basically any subset of data to support your view. More
FROM THE EDITOR: Embrace the Stevens County Mandalorians
(BRANDON HANSEN/Managing Editor of the Chewelah Independent)
“Have you gotten Disney+ yet?”
This was a question that has been proposed to basically everyone with internet in the past few months. Say what you will about “The Mouse” company, but they know how do entertainment and make money off it.
Their new streaming service has basically every Disney movie and cartoon every made, which equates to me sitting on the couch, eating popcorn and telling my fiancee “You know they don’t make movies like ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ and ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’ anymore! What’s wrong? Society is doomed and Game of Thrones ended poorly. I’m angry and going to write a blog about it.” More