Newhouse visits Moses Lake egg facility, discusses fed budget
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 7 months AGO
Jim Dean, CEO of Versova, parent company of Willamette Egg Farms, cuts the ceremonial ribbon at the company’s expanding Moses Lake facility, flanked by CFO Matthew Dean, left, and Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, right, and surrounded by Willamette Egg Farms personnel and Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce members.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse talks with Versoval Chief Financial Officer Matthew Dean, left, and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dean at Willamette Egg Farms’ Moses Lake facility Tuesday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | February 27, 2024 6:32 PM
MOSES LAKE — Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., was in town Tuesday for a ribbon-cutting at Willamette Egg Farms’ expanding Moses Lake facility and to chat with community members about what’s happening in Congress.
“I so hate to put a pall on a happy day, but I’ve got to be in Washington, D.C. tomorrow morning,” Newhouse said.
The reason, he explained, is that the battle over the federal budget in the House Appropriations Committee, on which Newhouse serves, is threatening to lead to a government shutdown. If a compromise isn’t reached by Saturday, Newhouse said, a partial government shutdown will occur, and a week later, the whole government could close.
“I've been through several government shutdowns, and it ends up costing us money,” he said. “It’s very hard on a lot of people that depend on the government to come through with veterans or Social Security benefits – a lot of different things. People like to curse the government, but it does perform some functions.”
Besides partisan wrangling over how much money to spend, this year’s budget is affected by foreign events, including military actions in Ukraine and Israel.
“Russia invading Ukraine is a direct threat to not only European countries and members of NATO, but to the United States, and democracy in the world,” he said. “So it's absolutely imperative that we do all we can.”
China’s threats against Taiwan are very real as well, he added.
Matthew Dean, chief financial officer of Versova, Willamette Farms’ parent company, asked Newhouse for his thoughts on the farm bill.
“We're asking, over on the Republican side, to try to utilize some of the money that was invested through COVID spending packages and repurpose that for farm bill purposes,” Newhouse responded. “As you can imagine, the other side doesn’t like that much.”
Jim Dean, founder and CEO of Versova, said research into avian flu should be a priority in agricultural legislation.
“Losing birds to avian influenza is no benefit for anybody,” Jim Dean said. “It's bad all around. It’s bad for the consumer, paying higher prices; it’s bad for the producer it’s bad for the corn farmer that’s selling that corn to (feed) that chicken … We don't want to have to euthanize those birds. It's psychologically hard on people to have to euthanize those birds and dispose of the animals that they're taking care of. They spend their lives making sure those birds are taken care of properly, and then they have to euthanize, it makes a psychological impact.”
Newhouse is currently running for reelection against fellow Republican Jerrod Sessler. Voters are encouraged to review both candidates' platforms and positions on important issues before casting their ballots.
U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse talks with Versoval Chief Financial Officer Matthew Dean, left, and Chief Executive Officer Jim Dean at Willamette Egg Farms’ Moses Lake facility Tuesday.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”