The world’s largest soybean importer, China, has not placed a single American cargo order for 2026. This isn’t just a minor hiccup, it’s an economic disaster for farmers and rural communities. Soybeans are the second largest crop in the U.S. and China has historically been our biggest buyer. With that market now gone, farmer’s silos are overflowing, prices are collapsing and families across America’s heartland are staring down financial ruin.

“Between the federal government’s heightened vetting of student visas and President Trump’s travel ban, the number of international students newly enrolled in American universities seems certain to drop — by a lot.” (nytimes.com)

In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Vice President Kamala Harris issued a warning that many dismissed as hyperbole: Donald Trump could deploy the military against the American people. Today, that warning reads less like political theater and more like a prescient assessment.

Harris was not lying.

For decades, Republicans have rallied their base with a familiar refrain: The Democrats are coming for your guns. It was the go-to scare line, meant to conjure images of federal agents prying rifles from the hands of law-abiding citizens. Yet today, it is not Democrats, but the Republican-led Department of Justice, openly weighing whether millions of transgender Americans should lose their Second Amendment rights simply because of who they are.

Uprisings of laborers struggling for Freedom, livable hours and decent pay go back centuries. This article touches briefly on a few of the difficult events that led to 40-hour workweek, the five-day week, overtime, and healthcare benefits.

Most everyone I know supports the removal and deportation of undocumented immigrants with violent criminal records. However, current data belies the Trump administration’s claim that they are only arresting immigrants who are “dangerous criminals” — the “worst of the worst.”

As of June 2025, Cato Institute data indicated that there were 204,297 immigrants in ICE detention, 65% of whom had no criminal conviction. Of the remaining 35%, only 6.9% had been convicted of a violent offense.

Are Republican or Democratic presidents generally better with the U.S. economy? It’s an interesting question that brings out strong opinions from either side, but top economists have already tried to answer this question from an entirely fact based approach.

Felipe Calderon—the former president of Mexico—once said “we are living in the same building. And our neighbour is the largest consumer of drugs in the world. And everybody wants to sell him drugs through our doors and our windows.”

For years, right-wing media and politicians have pushed the idea that the lack of security on the US-Mexico border is to blame. Data from the US Sentencing Commission in 2023 showed that 86.4% of those sentenced for fentanyl trafficking were US citizens.

Jim and I paid a return visit to Norway for most of July  – renting a car in Oslo and circumnavigating the country.  We visited 12 cities.  Here’s what inspired me to continue to resist MAGA and fight fascism.

Back in 2019, top Republican lawmakers were vocal in their outrage over Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and the questionable plea deal that shielded him. They promised investigations, transparency, and justice for the victims. But something has changed. In 2025, with Donald Trump’s name surfacing repeatedly in Epstein-related files, many of those same Republicans have gone silent — or worse, they’re actively blocking efforts to uncover the truth. What happened to the promises? This article examines the sharp turn from accountability to obstruction, and why the public deserves answers now more than ever.

Housing affordability in Walla Walla has reached a breaking point. What was once a manageable entry into homeownership has become an increasingly distant dream for working families and first-time buyers. Rising home prices, stagnant wages, and mounting upfront costs have created a market that’s out of reach for many. The following case—an unremarkable, modest home listed at nearly $250,000—illustrates just how unattainable “affordable housing” has become in our community, and why urgent action is needed.

Washington is in a money crisis—and it’s not just bad, it’s unfair. While the rich get tax breaks, working families pay more than their share. Our outdated system leans on sales and property taxes, hitting low- and middle-income people the hardest. It’s time to demand a fair income tax and stop protecting the wealthy at the expense of our communities.

Justice isn’t just a political issue—it’s a holy one. When we march, pray, boycott, and speak up, we’re following the path Jesus walked. Faith isn’t passive. It’s bold. It speaks up for the laid-off worker, the immigrant family, the child losing access to education. That’s what ‘Good Trouble’ means. That’s what love in action looks like.

Our guest, Lynda Mapes, specializes in coverage of the environment, natural history, and Native American tribes. She writes for The Seattle Times and publishes elsewhere as well.

Lynda gave us a tour of the Columbia/Snake River. She sees the Columbia River at a crossroads. To be at a crossroad, of course, means that you select a path forward. This notion of choice may mean that you allow the past to push you forward in one direction, or it may mean that you imagine a quite different path. Either way, it helps to know the path we have taken to arrive at this crossroads.
Don Schwerin, Ag & Rural Caucus

Donald Trump is suing The Wall Street Journal for doing journalism — and not just any journalism, but the kind that had the audacity to be read.

In a lawsuit that confuses “exclusive” with “classified” and “defamation” with “things I wish weren’t true,” the former president is demanding $10 billion over a story that may or may not involve a bawdy sketch sent to Jeffrey Epstein. Never mind the facts — the real outrage is that the article wasn’t whispered to one person and burned.

As legal logic collapses under the weight of performance art, Trump’s team appears to believe that hurt feelings and misread dictionary entries are grounds for litigation. The result? A lawsuit so absurd it doesn’t just challenge press freedom — it declares war on the English language.

For decades, troubling questions have trailed Donald Trump—questions not of mere association, but of complicity. As a modeling agency owner, pageant mogul, and close confidant of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Trump repeatedly placed himself in environments saturated with underage girls and power imbalances. He entered dressing rooms unannounced, ran competitions featuring teenage girls in front of wealthy men, and maintained deep ties to a trafficking network that preyed on the young and vulnerable.

No court has convicted Trump of crimes related to underage exploitation—but the public record is damning. Girls as young as 14 were recruited from his clubs. Teenage models lived in his apartments. And all the while, Trump operated with unchecked access and unexamined authority. The question is no longer whether he was near the system. It’s whether he helped build it.

Today, as Trump urges Americans to “move on” from the Epstein files, we must ask: Is it because those documents expose a world he simply knew—or a world he helped create?

The LGBTQI+ Youth Subnetwork of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will shut down tomorrow, July 17, following a federal decision announced last month to end this specialized service. Since launching in 2022, the subnetwork has provided tailored support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual, and two-spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) youth ages 13 to 24.

You’ve probably seen them: the self-declared “constitutional sheriffs” who believe they have the power to overrule Congress, ignore the courts, and singlehandedly decide which laws apply in their counties.

In their minds, they’re rugged defenders of liberty.

In reality, they’re cosplay cowboys with badges — and a wildly inaccurate understanding of the Constitution.

Washington State is facing a growing financial crisis, driven by rising costs for essentials like schools, roads, and healthcare

Amy Schwab welcomed Governor Bob Ferguson to the Power of Community event on June 18. The following are remarks that preceded the introduction.