As state lawmakers enter the final weeks of the 2021 legislative session – and the start of the second year of the pandemic – the condition of the state budget is nothing short of amazing.At this time last year, the economy was in lockdown and unemployment was surging. Almost overnight,...
The Ever Given’s six-day grounding in one of the narrowest parts of the Suez Canal underscores the vulnerability of the world’s supply chain and the choke points that can disrupt the global economy.The reverberations will be felt for months as consumer demand, suppressed by the Covid-19 pandemic, ramps up.The canal,...
History tells us that what we call the Tri-Cities started out as one railroad town and a handful of tiny farm-to-market burgs spread out along the Columbia River.Today, it is a proper metropolitan area with more than 300,000 people. On May 6, the Columbia Basin Badgers Club will tackle the...
March Madness brings out a latent desire to be No. 1. (Just missed that up here in Spokane.) While many teams have raised their hands with an index finger rising from a fist, not too many municipalities have. Maybe the Tri-Cities should, at least by one measure.It might not be...
By NewswiseNationwide unemployment fell to 6% in March, according to an April 2 U.S. Department of Labor report. The strongest gains were in leisure and hospitality, and construction. The news was better than expected, but aggregated data doesn’t always tell the full story, according to economists at Washington University in...
What are the components of an enforceable contract?In other words, if you or your business makes an agreement with another person or entity, what makes the agreement enforceable?Let’s review of some of the technical and practical considerations for contract enforcement.Must it be in writing?The general rule is that a contract...
In the last few months, dozens of Washington students have gone online and signed up for accounts in a new matchmaking website.But it’s not what you’re thinking.The matchmaker is the Washington Workforce Portal, and its aim is to connect college-age students with real-world job experience in their local communities. The...
The U.S. Constitution guarantees law-abiding Americans the right to keep and bear arms, but once again, our Second Amendment rights are under attack by the left.Democrats in the House are bringing forth two pieces of legislation that aim to make it even harder for citizens to legally obtain a firearm....
Like many organizations that survived the coronavirus pandemic — at least we think we’re surviving —the Columbia Basin Badger Club is starting to wonder what the future will hold.Will we simply go back to the way things were? Probably not.A year ago, we had to postpone what promised to be...
Interestingly, while restaurants and airlines continue to be clobbered by coronavirus-related lockdowns, recreational vehicle sales and rentals took off. People have switched their travel preferences to minimize their Covid-19 exposure.Travel trailers and motorhomes are iconic symbols of campgrounds in our “Great Outdoors.” Meanwhile, outdoor recreation increased once the initial lockdowns...
