blogs.kxly.com

This is my buddy Dale along with his wife Doree and son Alex last year atop Stevens Pass. No, this isn’t some gimmick photo he took for the heck of it. That’s his bike. That’s his biking attire. That’s the summit of Stevens Pass right behind him. And he rode all the way to the top of that pass and two others just like it.

This summer, as he did last year, Dale’s biking up three mountain passes in three days in support of the Rotary Endowment for the Intervention and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. This endowment will ensure that children in the community and their families will never be turned away from the help they might need in the case of sexual or physical abuse.

According to Dale, the number of children treated for sexual abuse at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma - the hospital the Rotary endowment supports - has increased nearly 250-percent since 1988. One of every three girls and one of every five boys will be sexually abused by the age of 18 and as we know all too well here in the Inland Northwest, child abuse is one of the most emotionally devastating crimes perpetrated in our community.

So what’s Dale doing about it? He’s riding 172 miles in three days up Snoqualmie, Stevens and Blewett Passes all in the name of child abuse prevention.

I’ll admit, there’s a lot of things I can do, but riding up three mountain passes isn’t one of them right now. So here’s what I did to show my support. I sponsored Dale. He’s set a modest goal of raising $1,500 for his personal ride up three mountain passes all of which he’s donating to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Right now Dale is two-thirds of the way but could still use some extra help to get up to that fundraising goal.

Here’s what you can do. If you’re like me and can’t make the ride yourself, maybe you can spare a few dollars to show your support for victims of child abuse (and my crazy buddy Dale’s quest to hit three mountain passes in three days). If that sounds like something you can support, please click here and then follow the ‘Give Now’ link to show your support for this cause.

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama must be able to tell the future. He’s already acting as if he’s won the presidency. Fresh off his tour to Europe (which seemed like a victory tour), Obama is leading in most national polls. But his lead is no where near safe. According to the Washingon Post, Obama and his Democratic colleagues, already believe he has won:

-Traffic was shut down for him as he zoomed about Washington, D.C. Tuesday in a long, presidential-style motorcade, while the public and most of the press were kept in the dark about his activities.

-He arrived at the House chamber early for a session with lawmakers, preferring to sit in the Cannon Caucus Room (where presidents wait to give their State of the Union address)

-While he was escorted to the room for his meeting, Capitol Police cleared the halls — just as they do for the actual president.

-While in that meeting, he reportedly told lawmakers ”This is the moment . . . that the world is waiting for,” adding: “I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions.”

-He proclaimed today “the odds of us winning are very good.”

-He has reportedly told staffers to begin planning his transition to the White House.

-After meeting with the new Prime Minister of Pakistan, he had the arrogance to say, as if he were the President-Elect, “I had a productive and wide-ranging discussion. . . . I look forward to working with the democratically elected government of Pakistan.”

Obama’s apparent ego has become such a problem, reporters say he’s “acting like the Prom Queen.” Maybe someone forgot to tell President Obama there’s an election this November. Arrogance is never a good thing, but this is turning into more than that.

What do you think?

  Some good news for fans of blogs.kxly.com: we’ll be adding more voices to our site in the coming days.  Specifically, we have about a half-dozen reporters who have enthusiastically (that may be overstating it) accepted my invitation to write their own blog. 

  Most reporters here have understandable concerns about expressing their opinions via a blog.  After all, aren’t journalists supposed to be objective?  My answer is yes, we cover the news objectively.  But good journalists can also have opinions, and should be critical thinkers.  A blog is the appropriate forum for a reporter to provide greater insight, detail, interesting anecdotes, and yes, opinions, about the stories they cover.  I hope you agree, and enjoy the new blogs heading your way.  More details later this week…

Leaders in the majority party in Congress take delight in telling their constituents that the next president will inherit a record budget deficit approaching $490 Billion. The Bush administration says the sagging economy and the stimulus payments made to 130 million households has pushed the deficit to this high sum. They point out that Democrats in the Congress were solidly behind spending billions to jump-start the economy, but they don’t like to admit that they played a role in raising the deficit.

Even without $80 Billion in war costs, current deficit numbers amount to about 3 percent of the total size of the U.S. economy. Economists consider that threshold to be significant when calculating how deficits affect the economic performance of the country.

The present deficit is considerably smaller than deficits recorded under Democrats and Republicans in the 1980s and early 1990s. For over a decade, Congress and the White House under presidents of both parties, were forced to bite the political bullet, and undertake programs to reduce the overspending.

Republicans in Congress after the so-called revolution of 1994, managed to hold the line on runaway spending long enough for the Clinton administration to boast of a balanced budget in the late 90’s, but George W. Bush did not follow through. The G.O.P. was kicked out in 2006, and since, Democrats have shown no sign of willingness to throttle back on government spending, preferring to blame all deficits on President Bush.

No matter who wins the White House in November, we the people must demand that Congress put the brakes on spending. We should demand it, but most of us won’t, because too many Americans expect to enjoy the benefits of government spending.

As seen on KXLY4 News at 5 Tuesday:

Know What You Want

• Spend a few minutes planning out the meals your family will eat for the week.
• Check your cupboards to see what you have on hand already and what you need to buy.

Make a List, Check It Twice, and Stick to It

• Creating an organized list of the food you need will help you stay focused and on track.
• Consider the meals you’ve planned for the week as well as healthy snack choices.
• Arrange your list into categories, such as fruits, vegetables, cereals, canned goods, milk products, and meats or meat alternatives.

Have a Snack, a Nap, or a Break

• Eat something before you head off to the grocery store to prevent impulse buying.
• Avoid shopping when you’re hungry, tired, or short of time.

Go It Alone

• If possible, leave young children or other “non-shoppers” at home.
• If you bring your children along, let them help you. Talk about healthy food choices, and show them examples. Discuss prices. Let them help you to take non-breakable items off shelves or to bag produce.

Understand the Lay of the Land

• Shop the outer edges of the store first. Healthy choices from the four food groups tend to be on the outer edges of stores.
• Avoid the high-fat and high-sugar foods on the shelves in the centre of the store.
• Shop during non-peak hours when the store is less busy. Avoid late afternoons and weekends.

Learn About Labels

• Use food labels to see differences between similar products. Choose nutrient-rich food.
• Use the web to learn more about using food labels to make healthy choices.

Get Some Expert Advice

• Many grocery stores offer guided tours led by dietitians to help you improve your shopping skills.
• Make the most of grocery shopping. Commit to making healthy choices, and develop a simple plan to make it happen.

(Source:  Healthy Alberta )

Thursday, I will announce my HUGE  “fundraiser / fitness” challenge!  I’m very excited because it’s such a great win-win for the community.  Everyone can participate; kids, adults and seniors.  I’ve been working on this idea for several months.  I’ve narrowed down the focus and made the necessary contacts recently and it’s about to become a reality.  I hope you’ll join me in this undertaking. 

Stay tuned.

The story today made headlines across the country. Convicted killer Joseph Duncan will be able to defend himself during his death penalty proceedings. It’s something we knew last week was likely to happen, but now that it’s official, there’s a lot of speculation about what is going to happen. Will this be a circus? Is it allowing Duncan to spew his ideology to the world? Is he only doing this to confront Shasta Groene on the stand? I’m not an expert on this case, but I have spent a LOT of time covering it and I have my own theories about why Duncan has chosen to do this - and, what will happen once this sentencing gets underway. Again, these are only theories - I’m really interested to see how it actually plays out.

First of all, I think Joseph Duncan wants to die. I think that’s what he meant when he told the federal court judge, “I don’t believe [my attorneys] can ethically represent my ideology.” Duncan’s attorneys are vehemently opposed to the death penalty, both in this case and in all others. Duncan has reportedly said in the past that he feels he deserves to be punished for what he has done. Even before his attacks at Wolf Lodge, he wrote on his blog, “My intent is to harm society as much as I can, then die.” During his sentencing in Kootenai County, he did show some signs of remorse. He also wrote a letter from jail that said, “If dying, even going to hell could erase what has happened, I would volunteer in a moment. But, it can’t. Even though dying at this point in my life would be easier than facing what I have done.” I believe he would prefer not to drag this out any further - that he would rather die and have it all be over with. For that reason, I can’t see Duncan putting on some incredible defense - or making the case that he should be allowed to live, considering what he’s done.

I also don’t believe Duncan will want to question Shasta Groene. Of this fact, I am not sure. I really am just speculating. But, based on past actions, I don’t believe he wants to put her on the stand and pepper her with questions. Duncan has referred to Shasta as an angel, and said that God stopped him from harming her and asked him to bring her back to her family. I’m not denying that Duncan is capable of anything, but I have a feeling if she is called as a witness, he would use his opportunity to either form some strange apology - or not ask her any questions at all. I don’t know if that’s the case, but I absolutely hope so. She’s been through way too much already in her young life, she should never have to face him again.

Finally, what will happen during jury selection? Attorneys have the right to question potential jurors and object to jurors they do not believe will try the case fairly. I can’t imagine being a potential juror in that case and having to answer to a convicted child serial killer. But, in court proceedings today, Duncan revealed he will not question potential jurors. He passed that duty onto the judge, who has the right to conduct voir dire on behalf of either side.

Again, these are only theories and are based solely on my experiences covering the case. I have no idea how being incarcerated during this time has changed Joseph Duncan, so I can’t be sure what his frame of mind is right now. I do hope whatever happens, this case is resolved quickly (at least from here on out). This community - and, especially the Groene and McKenzie families - deserve some end to the horror they’ve experienced. And, thankfully, the judge in this case has the right to force Duncan’s defense team to step in at any time. So, if things were to get out of hand, the judge and those experienced attorneys can get things back on track.

The Seattle City Council, which obviously thinks its smarter than anyone in the country, has passed a new law that will charge people 20-cents for every plastic & paper bag they take from grocery, drug or convenience stores. Seattle’s City Council members say the law is “completely voluntary,” because if people bring their own cloth bags to the store, they won’t be charged the extra fee. 

The Council also has passed a law banning restaurants from using Styrofoam containers.

The scary part about this law is three-fold. First, guess who gets that money? That’s right, Seattle’s city government. Second, stores have warned letting people bring their own bags into the store increases the risk of germs and diseases. Imagine a guy pulling out a dirty bag and throwing it on the conveyor belt in line, right in the same place you have to set your bread. And third, as Seattle-goes, often times so goes the state. So don’t be surprised to see this subject come up in the state legislature next year.

I, for one, am getting sick and tired of all of these bans. What about you?

Spokane Police are searching for two girls, ages 10 and 11, who were reported missing just after 4 p.m. from 1511 East Desmet.

Details to follow.

Had to make a trip to Vancouver, Washington over the weekend for a family event.  On the way, I snapped an incredible picture of  the sunrise Friday morning.  This was somewhere between Moses Lake and the TriCities.  There’s something special about waking up before the sunrise and being there when it breaks over the horizon.

The second picture is the first time Duke and Lexy have seen each other since January.  They got along great.  It’s great to see how quickly they got into their old routine.  Duke still hogs the bed and Lexy is still protective of me