Travis Oler is a US Army veteran and 5th generation member of an Idaho farm family. He is the Democratic candidate for the State House of Representatives, Seat 31B. I am writing in response to Dan Cravens’ column accusing me of being a conservative Democrat. I admit that I am guilty as charg…

To Ernie Moser, Jeff Hough, and Terrel Tovey:

Let's get it straight, the current president has the right to fill any supreme court seat that comes up during his term. If Congress had confirmed Merrick Garland 4 years ago, this hot button issue would still be talked about due to the timing, but few would actually think it's a miscarriage…

In response to David Finkelnburg’s October 11th article on coal production, the issue of coal production is complicated. Whether or not to produce coal is driven by money, politics, and environment concerns such as the level of CO2 emissions. The Wall Street Journal reported on September 16t…

County Commissioners and Clerk Dixon,

Tasty pleasures are alluring our cow of late

Our country is having a hard time with all the smoke in the air from not only the burnings in America, but the smoke from western fires in the forests 97% controlled by the Current Federal Government (who don’t believe in climate change as they create it). We need to clean the air of this pl…

It is with great regret that I write this letter. Regret for the the missteps on the part of China and our own government regarding Covid-19. Regret we have so many seriously ill people and over 200,000 missing family members. Regret for the politicizing of the virus, loss of jobs and busine…

Years ago when I was a young kid my father told me some good words to live by. He told me that a wise man should never get into a discussion with a fool, as those observing the discussion, won’t know which one is which. So with this note I may not be following my father’s advice.

A new library in Chubbuck? How did I not know about this? Imagine my surprise when I received a post card in the mail last week reminding me to YES for a library bond! Why had I never heard about this? How much was the bond? What were they proposing? The card said (in very small, hard to rea…

I love my state for its diversity and beauty of both people and places. So, when I listened to NPR Kirk Siegler's report on October 17, 2020 titled "Are Paramilitary Extremists Being Normalized? Look to Idaho for Answers." I was notably frustrated. My family has lived and worked in Idaho for…

If you are my age or older, you will grimly remember the old Southern Democrats and their blatantly racist, anti Government, anti American attitudes, opinions, policies and practices. BUT, if you are not that old, you can see those same bigoted attitudes, opinions, policies and practices on …

I suggest that Pokemon be considered as the new mascot for Poky High School. It offers a vast array of characters with various powers that can be used for games and events. And, they are offensive free!

We have an important election coming up. County Commissioner. The three of the folks running in Bannock County are Ballard, Moser and Nielsen. I think we need a fresh face. I do not know Ballard but his infomercials indicate he has done his homework. That is appealing. Mr. Nielsen might be t…

It is sad that you can tell where a columnist gets their “facts” (re: Stephen Hartgen of Twin Falls 10/25). Multiple mainstream news organizations and the Department of Justice have looked into Hunter Biden’s activities and found them baseless. The columnist ignored that information and parr…

I'd like to thank Lisa Delonas for being a positive advocate for Pocatello High School students and our greater community. As a PHS neighbor and a parent of two future PHS students, I am thankful to her for seeking a positive mascot (or logo, if you want to split hairs) for the school, one t…

They were black. I'm white. "To make the sweetest music, you have to play on both the back and white keys." I think Duke Ellington said that. 

Lisa, you say, "I spoke about the intent versus the impact of our Indians mascot. I specifically spoke to the mistreatment some of our rival schools have inflicted on the Indians mascot over the years, but those abuses represent just one example of the negative impacts. Research conducted ov…

I enjoyed Shelbie Harris’s well-written article on Poky High School’s “mascot” controversy (11 October, A1). This letter proposes to interject a degree of precision into the argument.