If the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, especially in our state, it’s how children benefit from attending school — socially, emotionally and academically.

Those behind the shutdown of the federal government had to know how their actions could be especially painful at a national level for low-income women with children, the elderly and our military women and men.

There’s a lot in common between the security and safety issues at Green Hill School, the harm being done to our state’s children by fentanyl, and the staggering cost of financial judgments and settlements due to mismanagement by the executive branch of state government.

One of the most enduring lines in conservative politics came from President Reagan’s campaign debates — the “there you go again” reply that so effectively called out his Democrat opponents when they made misleading or hypocritical claims.

Out of the 1.1 million students in Washington’s K-12 schools, the number who met grade-level standards in English and mathematics continues to be down by around 100,000 compared from 2019, pre-pandemic.

Charlie Kirk brought his formidable debating skills, love of country and strong faith in God to the University of Washington’s Seattle campus in May 2024. The popular young conservative leader did the same this past April at the Pullman campus of Washington State University.

One of our state’s most prominent employers, Microsoft, recently had to call police to remove several anti-Israel protesters who had taken over the company president’s office in Redmond.

Two recent public meetings about the water contamination situation stemming from the Bob Oke Game Farm in Centralia bring to mind the warning not to confuse motion with action.

A colleague of mine was recently told by his teen’s drivers-education school to expect a larger bill this fall because of the “crazy tax hikes signed by the governor.” In this case it’s the new law that will force even more businesses in our state to collect sales tax, starting Oct. 1.