My Turn
See the latest My Turn columns here!
MY TURN: North Idaho College is proof voting works
There will always be a need to safeguard the gemstone of our community.
County needs to change government
I am in favor of the proposed change to the form of county government for the following reasons:
Educators have kids' interests at heart
Recently, after a long work day, I joined a group of eight other educators. They came to the table for a rare opportunity. Erin Lenz, Idaho Teacher of the Year, wanted to listen. Given charge of gathering input abo…
Banning PYP will be destructive, costly
Editor's Note: The following letter was presented to the Coeur d'Alene District 271 School Board at its Oct. 15 meeting.
In defense of North Idaho College
Recently a few individuals have claimed that North Idaho College has increased taxes by 107 percent since 2007. They claim that NIC's graduation rate is unreasonably low and that the budget is excessively high to m…
Idaho's animals: Under the bus
A disconcerting story from Southern Idaho involves serious animal abuse at Idaho's largest dairy. Three workers were secretly filmed as they stomped, dragged and beat milking cows inside a milking barn. Unbelievabl…
Support Northern Lakes levy
As we vote on Nov. 6 in the general election, we all have major decisions to make. The primary vote is for president of the United States which will affect our country. Another very important vote is for the Northe…
Our Navy at war
After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783 to end the Revolutionary War and establish the United States as a sovereign nation, the Naval Act of 1794 established the first naval force that would eventually become …
County: Ways to improve efficiency
The time is now for voters to pass the Nov. 6 ballot measure that would provide Kootenai County with an organizational structure that would make county government more efficient and effective and responsive to the …
Bottom line: Teacher merit pay does work
Until this year, Idaho teachers' salaries were based solely on years of experience and the number of credits earned. Period. This system seemed to assume that all teachers and all schools provided equal, added valu…
Be wary of Republican program plans
I am deeply concerned that the talk by Idaho's U.S. senators, congressional representatives, and others of their party in Congress will come to pass regarding proposed changes to Social Security, Medicare and, prob…
Reject change to county government
When you look at a sample ballot the very first thing that you observe is that out of all the choices to make on the ballot, this measure seems confusing. For everything else we vote "yes or no," or choose one pers…
PYP: One voice a disservice to all
While I have concerns about the Coeur d'Alene School Board's recent decisions on the IB/PYP programs, what concerns me even more as a longtime citizen of this community is the lack of diversity of opinion on this s…
Teachers, elected leaders demonized
A full page ad entitled "Unions Declare War on Idaho Kids!" has appeared in many Idaho newspapers. It was paid for by right-wing agitator Frank L. Vandersloot, Dutch for "from the ditch," which describes the nature…
County: No time for big change
The citizens of Kootenai County should be very wary of the upcoming ballot measure to "Change the Form of County Government." The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) in a departure from their campaign promises of …
Business group urges collaboration, stable funding to reform Idaho education
Experts predict that by 2020, 63 percent of Idaho jobs will require a career certificate or college degree. Currently only 34 percent of Idaho adults ages 25-34 have an associate degree or higher. For our young peo…