Commentary | The Daily Chronicle

Pipes transport water through the Mossyrock Dam into the Tacoma City Light powerhouse in June 2022.

Commentary: Washington Needs ‘All-of-the-Above’ Approach to Energy Future

For decades, Washington has reaped the benefits of forward-thinking leaders who constructed a series of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The low-cost, carbon-free renewable … more

By Kris Johnson / Association of Washington Business | 10/7/22

John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@gmail.com.

John McCroskey Commentary: Thoughts on the Lewis County Sheriff Race From a Former Sheriff

Several weeks ago, my curiosity got the better of me and I met with candidate for sheriff Tracy Murphy to ask him “why?” Why was he running and did he know what a campaign would … more

By John McCroskey / For The Chronicle | 10/5/22

Richard Stride is the current CEO of Cascade Community Healthcare. He can be reached at drstride@icloud.com.

Richard Stride Commentary: Examining the Events of 1963

I was looking through a box of stuff my mom saved for me when I came across a newspaper clipping from the Kennedy assassination. Mom had not only saved the clipping from The Daily Sentinel (based in … more

10/5/22

FILE PHOTO — Former mayor Bill Moeller digs the first shovel into the Hub City Community Garden in this Chronicle file photo.

Bill Moeller Commentary: All Bets Off — But the Sun Still Shines!

So, you may have been wondering where I’ve been. Or maybe where I am? It all culminated in a “not unexpected” experience about a month ago. If you’ve been keeping … more

By Bill Moeller / For The Chronicle | 10/5/22

Photo shows the erosion of the Skookumchuck river bank that prompted the eventual removal of the blockhouse to Riverside Park.

Julie McDonald Commentary: Borst Blockhouse Repairs Planned; IWW Plaque Before Council

I started digging into the history of the Elkanah Mills family after receiving an email from Greg Isaacson, of Chehalis, who expressed concern about the deterioration of the Borst blockhouse, a … more

By Julie McDonald / For The Chronicle | 10/3/22

Ed Johnstone is the chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.

Being Frank: Traditional Knowledge Protects Environment for Next Seven Generations

Every generation owes it to the next seven generations to protect the environment. At the rate populations are growing and the climate is changing, it’s getting harder and harder to be … more

By Ed Johnstone / Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission | 9/29/22

Bill Moeller Commentary: A Fall Cleanup of the Column Cabinet

I’ve often griped about my own inability to take all the little notes to myself and either do something with them or throw them away. The following column has very little connection with … more

By Bill Moeller / For the Chronicle | 9/29/22

Commentary: State Agency Is Making Rules for Inslee’s Permanent Vaccine Mandate

It’s heartbreaking that in this third year of COVID-19, with all we know about the virus and the vaccines’ strengths and limitations, there are still people fearing they won’t be … more

By Elizabeth Hovde / Washington Policy Center | 9/29/22

This photo is of a Southwest Washington Pioneer Picnic on Aug. 17, 1929, in Rochester. Front row center are Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Selders, from Littlerock. Mary Jane Brown (maiden name Mills) is in the center foreground of photo. She died in 1930 and was usually “Queen of the Pioneers” at every picnic. Others pictured, according to the caption, include Henry Brown, Art Rowswell, Walter Eshom, Mr. Hemingway, James Fitzgerald, Billie Fitzgerald, Stacey Cooness, Mattie James, Elizabeth Young, Ivar Taume, Ed Pearce, Mr. and Mrs. James McCash, Rev. Miller, A.B.Townsend, Ann Hiaton, J. Sox Brown, Della Pearce, Ina French, Gus Bannse, Ada Johnson and Hermann Hoss.

Julie McDonald Commentary: White Settlers Flee to Blockhouses During Indian Wars

With white emigrants settling in the Pacific Northwest during the mid-1850s, Native Americans throughout the region faced huge disruptions to their lives and displacement from their traditional … more

By Julie McDonald / For The Chronicle | 9/26/22

Bart the donkey sticks his nose out of his pen off Scheuber Road in Centralia.

Brian Mittge Commentary: Considering the Value of Bart & Ted’s Excellent Adventures

I love hard news, political deep-dives, on-the-ground reports, dogged investigative journalism and all the rest of the nitty-gritty that makes a newspaper so vital to a community’s … more

By Brian Mittge / For The Chronicle | 9/23/22

John McCroskey Commentary: Decisions by Democrats Have Made Us Less Safe

Over the past couple of years, thanks in large part to actions by Democrats — or, more accurately, inaction — we find ourselves in some places feeling unsafe due to some serious matters … more

By John McCroskey / For The Chronicle | 9/21/22

FILE PHOTO — The Lewis County Central Transfer Station

Don Brunell Commentary: It’s Not Just Garbage — It Can Be an Energy Source

If you live in Spokane, you know about its waste-to-energy facility, which burns up to 800 tons of solid waste a day and can generate 22 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 13,000 … more

By Don Brunell | 9/21/22

An 1849 view of Oregon City is depicted in this painting from the New York Public Library.

Julie McDonald Commentary: From Portland to Centralia, Mary Jane Mills Made Lewis County History

After traveling west from Missouri over the Oregon Trail in 1847, early Lewis County settler Elkanah Mills staked a land claim in Clackamas County, Oregon, on May 5, 1848. That was the day after … more

By Julie McDonald / For The Chronicle | 9/19/22

Former Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy answers questions after his legal case, Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District, was argued before the Supreme Court on April 25, 2022, in Washington, DC. Kennedy was terminated from his job by Bremerton public school officials in 2015 after refusing to stop his on-field prayers after football games. (Win McNamee/Getty Images/TNS)

Opinion: The Story of the Praying Bremerton Coach Keeps Getting More Surreal

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that Bremerton assistant football coach Joseph Kennedy had the right to pray on the field, it wasn't widely understood then that the court had also ordered … more

Danny Westneat / The Seattle Times (TNS) | 9/17/22

Don Brunell Commentary: Herculean Effort Needed to Free Seattle of Drugs and Crime

Over the years, Seattle leaders faced “Herculean” challenges yet found the will, resources and determination to come together and tackle them. Today’s conundrum is to overcome the … more

By Don C. Brunell | 9/16/22

Lynda Wilson Commentary: California’s Power Problems Should Serve as Warning for Washington

We’re taught about a “safe following distance” in driver’s education because bad things can happen when you ride the bumper of the car ahead of you. In 2005, Democratic … more

By Sen. Lynda Wilson | 9/16/22

Smoke from the Goat Rocks Fire rises in heavy orange plumes above the trees near Coal Creek Drive east of Packwood.

Brian Mittge Commentary: We Can Only Fight Fires If We Do It Together

Last weekend, as firefighters raced to contain a wildfire that threatened cabins near Packwood and perhaps the whole town itself, the story felt very personal. Just the week before, my wife … more

By Brian Mittge | 9/16/22

Commentary: As Lawmakers Look to Fix Drug Law, Range of Priorities Collide

As state lawmakers go back to work on the state's drug-possession law, there will be a philosophical tug-of-war: Do we need a bigger legal hammer or more robust addiction treatment? Will we … more

Shawn Vestal / The Spokesman-Review | 9/16/22

Bill Moeller Commentary: It’s the Berries — OK, and the Pies

This newspaper carried an article a while ago that originated in The Bellingham Herald concerning blackberries grown in the wild. That may be a redundant description because I don’t know of a … more

By Bill Moeller / For The Chronicle | 9/14/22

This drawing of the Oregon Trail is from The New York Public Library and is in the public domain.

Julie McDonald Commentary: A Child’s View of the Northwest Trek Across the Oregon Trail

Mary Jane Mills was a child of 8 when her parents, Elkanah and Laurinda Vianna Mills, left Holt County, Missouri, on May 12, 1847, for a new life in Oregon Territory. The family of six started with a … more

By Julie McDonald / For The Chronicle | 9/12/22