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CDC: Whooping cough rise alarming
Experts indicate vaccine not entirely effective
Mike Stobbe Associated Press
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Jim Kershner’s this day in history
Jim Kershner The Spokesman-Review
Judge Warren W. Foster, of New York, passed through Spokane on a pleasure trip and spoke to reporters about the subject that had made him controversial: eugenics.
Judge Foster believed that criminals should be sterilized to prevent “propagation among criminals.” He also believed that “the marriage of persons physically unfit is a crime.”
He said that his beliefs were based on “a branch of the science of eugenics, which every sane person admits is worthy of earnest consideration.”
This date in history
1969: Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after reaching the surface in their Apollo 11 lunar module.
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Katie Reilly of the Oregon Zoo releases a kit, a baby pygmy rabbit,
to an enclosure near Ephrata, Wash., on Thursday
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Pygmy rabbits released
Shannon Dininny Associated Press
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The USNS Henry J. Kaiser , left, delivers fuel to the guided-missile cruiser
USS Princeton during the Great Green Fleet demonstration portion of Rim
of the Pacific exercise in this photo provided by the Navy on Wednesday.
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Navy’s biofuels push faces opposition from lawmakers
Oskar Garcia Associated Press
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Leaders say climate is changing tribal life
Suzanne Gamboa Associated Press
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A white bison calf walks in a field with other
bison in Goshen, Conn., on Wednesday.
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Native Americans gathering to honor white bison’s birth
Michael Melia Associated Press
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from the Yakima Herald-Republic (shared by the Star):
Central Washington trek offers glimpse at state of the world
By LOUISE BUTLER
My husband and I recently we visited Grand Coulee Dam and explored the Dry Falls area south of Coulee City. How can you pass up the Ice Age saga of Lake Missoula’s ice dam breaking and a lake the size of a Great Lake draining in 48 hours, scouring out the great coulee and carving out a path for the beautiful Columbia River? But, the best part was visiting Chief Joseph Dam 51 miles downriver from Grand Coulee.
Chief Joseph Dam, named for the great Nez Perce leader, is the second-largest electricity producer in the United States. It is a beautiful dam with the power plant sitting at right angles to the dam itself. There are 27 penstocks sending water, powered by gravity only, to an equal number of turbines.
Two things happened that day worth comment. First, if you want the best dam tour in the whole country (sorry, I couldn’t resist that), go to Chief Joseph. The security was tight, but in return we got to see the dam from the base to the walkway in front of the floodgates, and up to the top.
We toured the powerhouse, but, instead of standing in a gallery, we walked down to the turbines, viewing each level. The only thing we couldn’t do was walk all the way down the line because Chief Joseph was busy installing a new turbine. Guess where they were getting this massive piece of stainless steel? Yup. China.
There was a time when we could out build the rest of the world when it came to heavy steel products. Now we are getting our turbines from China? What happened here?
Even the style of turbine, the Francis, was invented by James B. Francis of Lowell, Mass. This great little invention, essentially a water wheel spinning a magnet inside a coil of copper, starts exciting those little electrons to 60 cycles (Hertz) per second. We didn’t invent heavy industry, but we did perfect it. So, why are we buying our new turbines from China?
The second thing worth noting was our decision to drive into Bridgeport for lunch. We drove down a very small main street lined with huge wooden carvings of all manner of Cascade Range animals.
We stopped at a cafe that is also a laundromat and bait and tackle shop. The waitress was eating lunch at an empty booth and the odd collection of working men and women at the center table consisted of municipal leaders holding a city planning meeting. Oh, and by the way, the food was great.
So here we have two interesting views of America. We have big-time industry being brought in from overseas, and small-time civic planning still happening the old-fashioned way. I haven’t thought it all through yet, but I am sure there are lessons to be learned from all of this.
Roll on Columbia, and keep the faith.
Louise Butler, who is doing some summer traveling in Central Washington, lives in Edinburg, Texas.
Central Washington trek offers glimpse at state of the world
By LOUISE BUTLER
My husband and I recently we visited Grand Coulee Dam and explored the Dry Falls area south of Coulee City. How can you pass up the Ice Age saga of Lake Missoula’s ice dam breaking and a lake the size of a Great Lake draining in 48 hours, scouring out the great coulee and carving out a path for the beautiful Columbia River? But, the best part was visiting Chief Joseph Dam 51 miles downriver from Grand Coulee.
Chief Joseph Dam, named for the great Nez Perce leader, is the second-largest electricity producer in the United States. It is a beautiful dam with the power plant sitting at right angles to the dam itself. There are 27 penstocks sending water, powered by gravity only, to an equal number of turbines.
Two things happened that day worth comment. First, if you want the best dam tour in the whole country (sorry, I couldn’t resist that), go to Chief Joseph. The security was tight, but in return we got to see the dam from the base to the walkway in front of the floodgates, and up to the top.
We toured the powerhouse, but, instead of standing in a gallery, we walked down to the turbines, viewing each level. The only thing we couldn’t do was walk all the way down the line because Chief Joseph was busy installing a new turbine. Guess where they were getting this massive piece of stainless steel? Yup. China.
There was a time when we could out build the rest of the world when it came to heavy steel products. Now we are getting our turbines from China? What happened here?
Even the style of turbine, the Francis, was invented by James B. Francis of Lowell, Mass. This great little invention, essentially a water wheel spinning a magnet inside a coil of copper, starts exciting those little electrons to 60 cycles (Hertz) per second. We didn’t invent heavy industry, but we did perfect it. So, why are we buying our new turbines from China?
The second thing worth noting was our decision to drive into Bridgeport for lunch. We drove down a very small main street lined with huge wooden carvings of all manner of Cascade Range animals.
We stopped at a cafe that is also a laundromat and bait and tackle shop. The waitress was eating lunch at an empty booth and the odd collection of working men and women at the center table consisted of municipal leaders holding a city planning meeting. Oh, and by the way, the food was great.
So here we have two interesting views of America. We have big-time industry being brought in from overseas, and small-time civic planning still happening the old-fashioned way. I haven’t thought it all through yet, but I am sure there are lessons to be learned from all of this.
Roll on Columbia, and keep the faith.
Louise Butler, who is doing some summer traveling in Central Washington, lives in Edinburg, Texas.
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