General
CTE teacher/FFA adviser continues family tradition
Enthusiasm emanates from Samantha Sims. Now in her sixth year of teaching career and technical education at Ellensburg High School (EHS), Sims has already amassed an impressive record of Washington state FFA champions and top-four finishers at the national competition level. Sims was recently awarded the 2023 National New Teacher…
A deep dive into advocacy
Earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to join the Washington Association of Wheat Growers (WAWG) in lobbying for our farmers at both the state and federal level. During both trips, I was able to meet with legislators, create meaningful connections with many new people, and experience how our…
Working for Washington wheat
Washington wheat growers are represented by three organizations working together on behalf of the wheat and small grains industry in the Evergreen state. Although it might be confusing, each organization — the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, the Washington Grain Commission and the Washington Wheat Foundation — fulfills a specific…
The insanity of March Madness
Well, it’s that time of year again. Even though you’re reading this in April, it’s March as I’m writing it. Everyone is getting excited, talk of how things are going to play out fills the coffee shop, brackets are filled out, bets made, statistics studied. March Madness, the time of…
Family business finds drive to keep moving forward
Like multigenerational family farms, the “family” part of Younker Bros is important, and it’s something Shane Younker hopes will continue. “We’d definitely like to keep the business in the family if we can. So far so good,” he said. Younker Bros, in Spokane, was started in 1991 when Pat Younker;…
Pressed into Palouse history
It’s not a typo. Palouse, Wash., with a population of a little over 1,000, is home to one of the wonders of the world. A few of them, actually. Thomas Edison called the Linotype machine the eighth wonder of the world for the way it revolutionized the printing process. Until…
Together, on the road to Abilene
Progress. Seems to be a controversial word these days, yet it’s what most of us are striving for in one way or another. You hear some people say they’re a progressive person; I think that means they sell auto insurance though. Folks debate progress. Is it good? Bad? Does it…
On life support
For 130 years, the St. Ignatius Hospital has perched on a hillside overlooking Colfax, Wash. Once-bustling hallways and operating rooms are now empty and deteriorating, but a local couple is hoping to breathe life back into its neglected spaces. Austin Storm and his wife, Laura, purchased the building in 2021,…
WAWG past president still farming in the Palouse
In an occupation that is far more a way of life than just a profession, Dave Harlow has something in common with many other farmers. “I remember not particularly enjoying some of the jobs on the farm in my youth, but a few years later, my perspective had changed. Now,…
A little ‘whine’ with that wheat?
My wife said she thinks I stress over things too much. I disagreed. But apparently, my wife belongs to a powerful global cabal of worried farm wives, a cabal who’s influence likely spans continents, oceans, maybe even space itself. I know this because a lot of other folks started making…
