Whether Donald Trump scooped up 15 cartons of documents and classified material and scurried off to his Mar-a-Lago compound 20 months ago is politically inconsequential.

One of the more interesting aspects of my journey through life has been learning what things in different cultures actually mean, as opposed to what we project their meaning to be. And so it i…

I bought my first lottery ticket recently. It was a $20 scratch-off that paid me a $40 prize. Winning produced a nice little thrill, so I bought another $20 ticket right away. And lost. I put …

“Oh mommy, I ain’t no commie.”

Members of Idaho’s congressional delegation would probably not receive any heroism awards for their actions relating to the PACT Act, also known as the“burn pit” bill.

If there is any justice left in America, two jury awards totaling nearly $50 million against multimillionaire conspiracy theorist and media personality Alex Jones will withstand appeals.

Again, the issue of abortion has become a topic for debate. I have to admit I am of two minds on some aspects of the issue. I do strongly support a woman’s right to make decisions relating to …

A Daily News column last month proclaimed, “Climate and weather are not the same things.” After listing places where heat waves were breaking records, the writer ticked off statistics for the …

As I type this with a black kitten, Home Boy, on my lap, I am reminded of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s famous line from “The Little Prince”: “You become responsible forever for what you have tam…

One of my first commentaries in this paper a few years back was on the architectural state of affairs of lodging in and near downtown Pullman. I lamented the way motels were characterized by c…

Monkeypox is on an uptick around America. There have been more than 6,600 cases in the U.S. with a rapid rise. According to the Washington Department of Health, as of Aug. 2 there are 154 case…

I recently wrote here about the epistemological differences between the left and right, specifically the tendency of some conservatives to appeal to religious authority over direct experience …

Editor’s note: “Heard Around the West” appears monthly in the High Country News. Have a Western oddity you’d like to share? Write heard@hcn.org.

Ever since boycotts started blocking Russian petroleum products, social media has been rife with memes that blame rising gasoline prices on “the cancellation of the Keystone Pipeline.”

The Democrats and the teachers’ unions have been busy doing damage control. Because the U.S. birth rate has been falling since 1950, there are simply not as many students today. Since unions r…

Four years ago I wrote a column criticizing news media — especially television — for hyping hot weather.

I have long wondered whether or not there is a genetic marker for those in society who desire and defend their roles as white-collar administrators. Administrators — you know, those tasked to …

In an ideal world, the landmark compromise on climate change, Medicare, and energy spending that Senate Democrats announced at the end of last week would barely require a second glance.

One of the things to increasingly dominate our politics is the powerful undercurrents coming from both an extroverted, or hidden, billionaire caste. These folks have plenty of money to spend. …

“When I’m long in the tooth, I want to look back without regrets. But if there are to be such, let them be for what I did instead of what I didn’t do.”

When I received a call from Tom Arkoosh a couple of weeks ago, asking if I would support his candidacy for Idaho attorney general, I did not hesitate to say yes.

Those who know the Palouse Pundit as sober and wonkish may find this outlandish title proof that he is finally off his rocker. But folks, this is serious business. What the world needs is a ne…

Do I detect a faint glimmer of good news?

If your mother says she loves you … check it out.

Did you hear about England having its hottest temperature of all times this past week?  There were a number of news stories about the 104-degree temperature that was expected.  That story was …

The present-day Republican Party has revealed who it really is and it ain’t pretty. Many of us thought that Tom Luna was way too far to the right, but the newly-elected GOP chair, Dorothy Moon…

I think it’s time we give mass shootings their own section in the daily news, right up there with weather and sports. I wish I were being hyperbolic, but the U.S. now averages roughly two mass…

I moved to Wyoming a few years ago for its outdoor recreation, but I also liked the state’s history of championing equal rights for women. As early as 1869, it codified women’s voting rights, …

Growing up, one of my claims to fame was that my dad was on the television show “Rescue 911.”

Here’s a trend that may not bode well for the future of our country: According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 40% of 16- to 19-year-olds have summer jobs — down from75 perce…

During a May press conference with Japanese leaders in the White House, President Biden celebrated record-high gas prices, saying the pain at the pump was part of “an incredible transition” of…

The James Webb Space Telescope is already making good on its promises. The NASA scientists and engineers behind the $10 billion project promised to astonish with visual depth and its first ima…

Donald Trump is out there speaking and drawing fired-up crowds in places like Illinois.

If you’ve noticed, a good hunk of media pressure for all the liberal tropes have fallen off the radar screen lately — mostly because the failure of such policies is becoming impossible to igno…