Columns – The Columbian

Columns – The Columbian https://www.columbian.com Sun, 25 Oct 2026 02:36:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 https://www.columbian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/columbian-insignia-2025-1-150x150.png Columns – The Columbian https://www.columbian.com 32 32 Klas: School voucher program has promise https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/24/klas-school-voucher-program-has-promise/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:01:49 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2809203 Whether on purpose or by accident, the Trump administration’s new voucher program could do something it never promised to do: help public schools. It’s a bit of a surprise from a White House that promised to abolish the Department of Education and then dismantled large parts of it. But under rules released this month by the U.S. Treasury Department, the program authorizing the first Federal Scholarship Tax Credit allows kids to receive a voucher even if they stay in their public school.

]]> Prokop: The affordability-corruption link https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/24/prokop-the-affordability-corruption-link/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:01:43 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2809758 In January, when the New York Times asked President Donald Trump about concerns he was blatantly intermingling his family’s business interests with the presidency, he had a pithy response. During his first term, Trump said, he learned that “nobody cared.”

]]> Other Papers Say: Addiction to spending grows https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/24/other-papers-say-addiction-to-spending-grows/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:01:42 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2809197 The following editorial originally appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

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]]> Westneat: Big Tech’s enabling of ballroom is worst symbol of our new Gilded Age https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/24/westneat-big-techs-enabling-of-ballroom-is-worst-symbol-of-our-new-gilded-age/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:01:15 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2809198 The real scandal in government, as they say, is often what’s legal and condoned.

]]> Leubsdorf: Once again, Trump on wrong side of Ukraine war https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/24/leubsdorf-once-again-trump-on-wrong-side-of-ukraine-war/ Sat, 24 Oct 2026 13:01:08 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2809201 Frustrated by his inability to end the Iran war and curb the high domestic fuel prices that are hurting him politically, President Donald Trump is taking it out on Ukraine and its embattled leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

]]> Crisp: Trump concedes too many putts https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/22/crisp-trump-concedes-too-many-putts/ Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:01:25 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2808885 If you watch as many of President Donald Trump’s rally speeches as I do — and I watch them at levels no one has ever seen before — you begin to hear the same lines, phrases and anecdotes again and again.

]]> Laurent: Why France is burning https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/21/laurent-why-france-is-burning/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:01:04 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2808732 Anyone walking along the boulevards of Paris on Sunday afternoon will have sensed the “shame and anger” described by President Emmanuel Macron after a weekend of rioting.

]]> Friedman: Trump loves only money President’s selling of democracy for diesel is our collective shame https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/19/friedman-trump-loves-only-money/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:01:58 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2808073 If President Donald Trump does not understand what will happen to him if he proceeds with his plan to trade away support for Ukraine’s democracy for Russian diesel, let me spell it out: He will enter the history books in the chapter on leaders who sold out their country’s democratic values to appease a dictator.

]]> Other Papers Say: Democrats must be pragmatic https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/19/other-papers-say-democrats-must-be-pragmatic/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:01:56 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2808075 With two weeks to go until midterm elections, Democrats find themselves in better shape than expected. Odds are, they’ll win the House and perhaps a slim majority in the Senate. Exactly what they’ll do with that power, though, remains a mystery.

]]> McCloskey: AI is changing motherhood for the worse https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/19/mccloskey-ai-is-changing-motherhood-for-the-worse/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:01:54 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2808084 Recent books and studies have highlighted the risks that AI poses to children. This is a good thing. Maybe we’re collectively realizing that we shouldn’t wait a decade after a new technology emerges — as we did with social media — before sounding the alarm.

]]> Local View: Take part in your democracy https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/19/local-view-take-part-in-your-democracy/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:01:07 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2808102 In the coming weeks, voters will be faced with a detailed ballot that includes nine amendments to the Clark County Charter, our local constitution. This volume of amendments on the ballot, which also includes two public safety initiatives, will be confusing — and will require you, the voter, to educate yourself carefully.

]]> Brown: Here’s who’s backing county council candidates https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/17/brown-heres-whos-backing-county-council-candidates/ Sat, 17 Oct 2026 13:02:10 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2807843 I had a little time on Wednesday, so I looked on the state Public Disclosure Commission’s website to see how much fundraising had occurred in this year’s three nonpartisan Clark County Council races, with a particular focus on what has happened since the August primary. Here’s what I found:

]]> Other Papers Say: Day of reckoning draws near https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/17/other-papers-say-day-of-reckoning-draws-near/ Sat, 17 Oct 2026 13:01:56 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2807692 Math may not be popular, but it remains undefeated. That’s a problem when it comes to Social Security.

]]> Westneat: Democrats’ open secret Millionaires tax likely is just the start of changing Wash.’s system https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/17/westneat-democrats-open-secret/ Sat, 17 Oct 2026 13:01:54 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2807693 The big debate raging about our state’s new millionaires income tax is whether it’s a “Trojan horse” for something else. The answer is pretty simple: Yes, it is.

]]> Zagacki, Cherwitz: Confusing courage with being right https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/17/zagacki-cherwitz-confusing-courage-with-being-right/ Sat, 17 Oct 2026 13:01:30 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2807689 As the November midterm elections approach, President Donald Trump and some of his supporters have defended his largely unpopular policies with a familiar refrain: Only he has the courage to do what no one else would dare.

]]> Westneat: ‘Black hole theory’ felt in 3rd https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/13/westneat-black-hole-theory-felt-in-3rd/ Tue, 13 Oct 2026 13:01:56 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2806841 Back when Democrats were a-fussing and a-fighting before the primaries, two of Washington’s top political consultants met in a forum to discuss the internal divisions in their party.

]]> Carl Leubsdorf: Republicans running election deniers in key states https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/12/carl-leubsdorf-republicans-running-election-deniers-in-key-states/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:01:55 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2805982 The Supreme Court’s decision blocking the Trump plan to use the Post Office to screen mail ballot applications has removed one of the major threats to a free and open 2026 midterm election. But President Donald Trump hasn’t fully ruled out other ways of interfering with the states’ constitutional role in elections and some critics fear he will try afterwards to challenge close results as fraudulent.

]]> Harrop: End hysteria over Flock cameras https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/12/harrop-end-hysteria-over-flock-cameras/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:01:44 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2805980 In the bad old crime days of New York City, I spent a Christmas Eve waiting outside an emergency room. Our foursome had been violently robbed in a subway station and I was eager for the doctor’s report on one member who’d suffered a concussion fighting off a mugger.

]]> Other Papers Say: Strengthen deposit insurance https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/12/other-papers-say-strengthen-deposit-insurance/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:01:44 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2805984 The following editorial was written by editors at Bloomberg Opinion:

]]> Schrager: U.S. scrolling, not bowling Consumers are making choices that cut out community engagement https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/12/schrager-u-s-scrolling-not-bowling/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:01:16 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2805983 Bowling has seen better days. Lucky Strike Entertainment Corp., the dominant player in the business, has lost nearly half of its market value in the past year and had the rating on its debt cut further into junk territory.

]]> Levitz: Trump’s beef plan backfires https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/12/levitz-trumps-beef-plan-backfires/ Mon, 12 Oct 2026 13:01:00 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2806117 On most fronts, President Donald Trump has shown little concern for reducing Americans’ cost of living ahead of November’s midterms.

]]> In Our View: Vote no on Initiative 001 https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/10/in-our-view-vote-no-on-initiative-001/ Sat, 10 Oct 2026 13:03:52 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2806016 Initiative 001 on the November ballot is a confusing measure that requires some thoughtful analysis. The Columbian’s Editorial Board recommends a “no” vote.

]]> Estrich: Is this the best the GOP can do? https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/10/estrich-is-this-the-best-the-gop-can-do/ Sat, 10 Oct 2026 13:01:12 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2805720 At a campaign rally this week in Nebraska, President Donald Trump made what can most generously be described as a tasteless joke. In his flailing effort to justify a war that most Americans oppose, he exaggerated the threat Iran poses, at California’s expense.

]]> Kristof: Why Iran may escalate war https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/09/kristof-why-iran-may-escalate-war/ Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:01:11 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2805638 In early March, nine days after starting his war with Iran, President Donald Trump held a news conference to crow about his “military success, the likes of which people haven’t seen.”

]]> Harrop: Following Hegseth’s logic, he should resign https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/oct/08/harrop-following-hegseths-logic-he-should-resign/ Thu, 08 Oct 2026 13:01:51 +0000 https://www.columbian.com/?p=2805497 Where did this guy come from?

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