Shirley Ann Higbee Jacques

Shirley Ann Higbee Jacques, of Powell, WY, died on Friday, February 26, 2016 at the Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, WA of pancreatic cancer. She was 79. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

She was born on August 25, 1936 in Arkansas City, KS to Denton and Wilda Higbee of Dexter, KS. She attended high school in Dexter, KS and graduated in 1955. On August 23, 1959 she married Harry “Bud” Denton Jacques of Tribune, KS. She's survived by Bud and their 3 children, Jeffery Todd Jacques of Astoria, OR, Peggy Sue Jacques Blasdell of Powell, WY and David Lee Jacques of Spokane, WA.

She’s also survived by Jeff’s children, her grandchildren, Nicole Jacques of Albuquerque, NM in addition to Morgan and Kaitlyn Cousins of Laramie, WY and her 3 sisters Kay Higbee Crow of Dexter, KS, Patty Higbee Duffy of Manhattan, KS and Billie Higbee Ochsner of Tribune, KS.   

Shirley lived in Powell from 1969 until her death in 2016. She worked as a Cook at the Powell Valley Hospital in Powell, WY for 23 years and retired in 2002.  She will be remembered as a very dedicated and devoted Mother to her 3 children. Shirley’s hobbies included sewing, crocheting, quilting, bird watching and Trout fishing on the Buffalo Bill Reservoir in Cody, WY with her husband Bud.

Her greatest love of all outside of her children and grandchildren was reading. Shirley was a vivacious reader; there wasn’t a day that went by in Shirley’s life that she didn’t have a book in her hand engrossed in a fiction or non-fiction book. The Librarians at the Powell Branch Library knew Shirley well as she patronized it every 2 weeks for 37 years. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations may be made in Shirley’s name to the:

Park County Library Foundation

P.O. Box 775

Cody, WY 82414

(Please stipulate that you want your check to go the Powell Branch Library in Shirley’s name.)

A grave site memorial service will be held for Shirley at the Crown Hill Cemetery located at 678 Lane 9 in Powell, WY August, 25 2016 at 2 PM. Following the memorial service there will also be a celebration of life gathering at 3 PM at a location yet to be determined. The family has asked that if you wish to attended either event that you email Jeff Jacques at jacquesjeffery@gmail.com.  

Astoria City Council should reject a new Library

The Astoria City Council led by Ex-librarian Arline LaMear is attempting to push through an expensive new library construction project with costs projected between $29.7 million and $38.7 million. We all know that if $38.7 million is the initial estimated cost it will be much higher, public construction project costs always are.

During the Mayoral debate in the last election cycle when LaMear was running for Mayor it seemed very convenient that the woman picked to ask questions for it had 2 regarding a new library. It was an omen of things to come, once elected the new library was going to take on a forward momentum of its own.

Today here we are with the Council considering whether to approve and pay for it despite the wisdom of such a decision. All this will do is take much needed resources from infrastructure projects that the City desperately needs, and put it into a new building that’s rarely used by most Astorian’s.

The Library meets the needs of patrons.

The Council should turn its focus to other issues that really matter to taxpayers. I’d bet my library card that most of taxpayers, if actually consulted, would like to see better city streets, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, housing projects and the parking situation improved.

Ask people going to and from Astoria and Warrenton last summer what the biggest infrastructure problem is and they’d say 101 and the Young’s Bay Bridge, not a library expansion.

The Council should address this issue head on and begin a planning process to widen the bridge to four lanes or make another along side with a four lane highway from the bridge to Seaside. Obviously this would require the City to get State and Federal funding to proceed.

It’s a multi-million dollar project but the longer this is ignored by City, County and State officials the more expensive it will be when it MUST be done. Sooner or later it will have to; Clatsop County is not going to stop growing. The argument to move on this now is 10, 15, 20 years down the road this size of a construction project won’t get any cheaper, it’ll come at an astronomical expense.

Better streets, sidewalks, parking, roads, bridges, housing projects or moving forward on a Convention Center on Port Property would be time well spent by the Council. A modest Library remodel is fine, let a developer buy the Merwyn, tear it down and build a small housing or parking structure instead. Then maybe the Council can focus their time and attention to projects that will really improve Astoria.

Super Bowl 50 was less about Manning and all about Defense

I'm so happy the Broncos get to put another Lombardi in the trophy case with the other 2. They earned it fair and square with grinding Defense as it happens so many times in Super Bowl games.

I didn't really want to write anything about the game on Sunday or Monday because I just wanted to enjoy the gleam. Victory in these games has been very difficult for the Broncos in the SB. They've made the trip 8 times and won it just 3 times.

In the 3 they've won each Broncos team had a great Defense with this year’s version being the best ever. I hope the NFL historians, the media and Broncos Fans understand that years from now.

So let's be blunt here and break the SB and the Broncos season down. If you’re a hard core Manning fan you should stop reading here.

Leader of the greatest D in franchise history.

Frankly I was a little upset after the clock hit triple zeros and every media person on the field immediately flocked to Manning. Von Miller and the entire Broncos D deserved the media mob far more than Manning did. Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips deserved it too.

Phillips deserved a ton of credit for returning to Denver after a being a failure as Head Coach for them back in mid-90's. His story alone is one of most amazing in franchise history. These should have been the main bullet points immediately after the game, not Manning riding off into retirement (he hasn't announced it yet but he must) as a SB winning QB.

This may hurt the Manning faithful but the Broncos won the SB despite Manning not because of him. Manning was a turnover waiting to happen for almost the entire game. It’s an amazing feat that the Broncos D was able to hold the league’s MVP to just to just one touchdown. Time after time the Broncos defense held the Panthers in check and never broke ranks.

Manning did make a few pass plays in the game but he and the Broncos offense had a dreadful performance. The Broncos offense set a record for 3 and outs in a Super Bowl. Manning had a horrible game and the running game did almost nothing.

The Super Bowl win just like the regular season, postseason and the AFC Championship wins rests solely in the Defense’s court.

A check of the stat sheet showed Manning was the lowest rated QB in league when he went out with injuries. When he came back he wasn't much better. The only game Manning can hang his hat on and say he played well in was the Packers game early in the season. The others were all won with stout defense and good special teams play. Pinch hitter Brock Osweiler did an outstanding job in his absence as well.

There’s a very good argument to be made that Oz could have stayed in the Chargers game and won it had Manning not been called into service. The Chargers win had less to do with Manning coming into play and his audible prowess than it was the entire offense unit being humiliated and embarrassed for not playing well up to that point.

Oz threw for 232 yards in the Chargers game, including a 72-yard TD pass to Thomas on the game's second play. But he was victimized by 5 turnovers, including 2 interceptions that weren't his fault and a fumble by Emmanuel Sanders at the 10-yard line after a 46-yard reception.

One of Oz's interceptions went off receiver Norwood’s hands. His arm was hit by a linebacker on the other, and his day was done after a fumble by Anderson on the second play after halftime.

Kube hit the panic button after that and Manning came in. The truth is we’ll never know if Oz could have closed the deal in the Chargers game. In my mind he could have and as I’ve said more than once he earned and deserved to be the starter the rest of the way.

Manning had the worst regular season stats in his career in 2015. In 10 regular season games he had 331 pass attempts and just 198 completions for 2,249 yards. He had just 9 TD’s passes and 17 interceptions which lead the league. He only averaged 6.8 yards per pass which indicates he wasn’t getting the ball deep. Worst yet 34 QB’s qualified in the passer rating sweepstakes and Manning finished dead last at 67.9%. Keep in mind QB’s like Nick Foles and Blaine Gabbert were ahead of him.

I know some of the apologist’s will say his injuries were a factor and blame the offensive line but it just doesn’t wash. Even if that were partly true that’s all the more reason Kube should have taken him out of the lineup and let Oz finish the season.

Manning’s career comes to a close now and in the future when honest Broncos Fans look back they’ll have to say his career with the team was a mixed bag. He was a great regular season QB, maybe the best ever of all the greats but in the post season (14 wins vs. 13 losses) he was one of the worst.

That said I have all the respect in the world for Manning as person and a player he’s had an amazing career. I’m also happy that despite being a non-factor during the playoffs and the Super Bowl this year, I’m glad he’s going out a winner if he retires which he surely must do.

He’s been a class act and conducted himself professionally and no one can take that away from him.

Thank you Football God’s for blessing my team with another Championship it was one hell of a ride. GO BRONCOS!!

Sarah Palin is a Benedict Arnold

Some Republicans won't like what I say here but it needs to be said.

The full title of Daily News headline should have been, "I'm with stupid because I'm stupid."

It's official, Palin has endorsed Trump. She's thrown the entire Conservative movement and the Tea Party under the bus.

Palin as it turns out is a fraud, her ego is writing checks it can't cash and whatever she's done in the past to help Conservatives is completely undermined by this one incredibly unwise endorsement.

There is no real home for people that call themselves Conservatives today as it turns out, not in the Republican Party and now certainly not in the Tea Party.

I'm trying to remember the last time something made me this angry politically. Every day a Conservative could have a meltdown by picking up the newspaper or watching the main stream media but this?

Love me or hate me but this is a complete betrayal, Palin is a Benedict Arnold.

In the primary season Conservatives, if you truly call yourself a Conservative should vote that way. In the general it's a different story. If Trump wins the nominee I will hold my nose and vote for him because he'll be the lesser of 2 evils but I don't trust him anymore than Hillary or Sanders. Trump is not a Conservative anymore than McCain or Romney was.

It's incredibly frustrating that in this election cycle we had the best field of Republican candidates maybe ever and Trump is the choice? Really?

Granted many of them are flawed on certain issues and don't tow the line on government spending and immigration but almost all of them would be a better choice than Trump.

Cruz, Santorum, Carson, Jindal, Rubio, Fiorina, Kasich and Christie in that order all would be acceptable and good Republican Presidents even with their flaws.

Pataki, Huckabee and Paul would be on the bottom of my list with Graham being dead last.

I think the only way I would vote for Trump was if Graham were the only other GOP candidate running in the primary.

So Trump has blown the whole thing up and now Palin has steamrolled Conservatives by endorsing him.

I hope and I pray that voters ignore the Trump sideshow, the polls and vote their conscience in the primaries. You may not like Cruz for whatever reason but there's no denying he is the best Conservative running.

I want to be a Race Car Driver when I grow up...

When I was a little boy I was obsessed with becoming a Professional Football Player for the Denver Broncos or the St. Louis Cardinals and sadly that dream never came true.

Later in High School I loved the TV show Movin’ On and wanted to become a Truck Driver. I’ve been there and done that for 30 years.

At middle age I had a dream of becoming a long distant runner and a Police Officer. I did both for as long as I could.

If I were able, my dream today would be to become a professional race car driver. Some may say I’m a little old for that but hey; Paul Newman didn’t start his racing career until he was 48 and was still racing in his 80’s. Recently I watched a documentary that was made about his racing career called “Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman” and it really inspired me. I highly recommend it even if you’re not a race fan. Here’s the movie trailer:

Since I’ve taken up the Forza racing games as a hobby on Xbox I’ve become obsessed with racing. I never was a race fan before, it bored me, especially NASCAR. This is no slam to NASCAR Fans but driving fast in a circle and turning left just doesn’t do it for me. I’d love to see a NASCAR race in person some day but to watch it on TV just doesn’t do it for me.

Instead I like Formula 1, Indy Car Racing, Grand Touring Races, and Rally Racing they all fascinate me but what I’ve come to love is Le Mans Prototype Racing (LMP Racing) the best.

Last night I rented the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans movie and watched it on the Xbox. Below is movie trailer:

It was 83^rd annual race at Le Mans, for over 3 hours plus I was glued to the TV. In my opinion nothing can match the kind of racing that goes on at the Le Mans race track. It puts race car drivers to the ultimate test, with sharp turns and the most awesome straight away in all of racing, the Mulsanne Straight. The Mulsanne Straight can produce speeds of up to 250 MPH in LMP 1 cars.

They have 4 classes of cars at the 24 hours of Le Mans, LMP 1 which are the fastest races cars in the world, then LMP 2, LMPGTE Pro (The GTE stands for Grand Touring Endurance) and lastly the LMPGTE AM which is the amateur division. The cool story from this year’s race was Corvette Racing won the LMPGTE Pro division for the 1^st time in 4 years. The winning Corvette ran a fantastic race.

Living the dream of my bucket list would be racing in one of the LMP 1 race cars. Even if I had the opportunity to go around the Circuit de la Sarthe at Le Mans in the lowest division which is LMPGTE AM class for a couple of laps I’d die a happy man.

Don’t get me wrong I’d love to take a spin around Sebring, Laguna Seca, Sonoma, Silverstone, Indianapolis, Mount Panorama, Spa-Francorchamps, Suzuka, Interlagos, Monza, Nurburging, Yas Marina, Road Atlanta, Road America, Lime Rock, Watkins Glenn and Brands Hatch or any race track for that matter if someone were idiotic enough to loan me a race car but the Circuit de la Sarthe race track at Le Mans would be the ultimate rush.

If money were no object I’d love to be able to go one of the professional race car driving schools and learn to race but that dream is not likely to become reality so I’ll just have to escape into my imaginary world of the Forza 6 racing game on the Xbox. I’ve won some races at Le Mans in the video game world and the upside is I can be involved in the most epic car wreck a human being could ever be subjected to and live to race another day.  

Manning's ship has sailed, time to move on

Having suffering from Plantar Fasciitis back in the late 90's I can confirm the pain can be unbelievable. They have better treatment for it today than back then but in many cases there is no fixing it. In the beginning steroid shots helped me with the pain but eventually they quit working. Surgery in most cases won’t help it either.

Manning if he does have it wasn't showing extremely painful symptoms while he played yesterday. The degree of pain just wasn't there. During warm ups Manning was moving fine. Maybe this has been bothering Manning for a couple weeks but I think this is more of a cover story to spare Manning the indignity of being replaced and possibly benched next week.

Using the injured foot and ribs as an excuse is perfect for Manning. But that's not what he said after game. He admitted the injuries were not the problem; he said just didn't play well and hasn't played well all season with the exception of the Packers game.

If his name were not Peyton Manning he most likely would have been benched early in the season. Manning has thrown 17 INT’s this season which leads the league; while only throwing 9 TD’s. His QB rating is an embarrassing 67.6. He’s been sacked 15 times for a negative 95 yards. Most of Manning pass completions have come in the 5 to 15 yard range; he hasn’t completed many sharp deep throws over 15 yards.

The OL didn’t play well early in the season but they can’t be blamed for Manning’s lack of movement or ability to scramble out of the pocket. Nor can the OL be blamed for having to ditch Kodiak’s running game that requires a QB to take some snaps under Center.

The bottom line is the Manning experiment is over; it failed to produce a Super Bowl win. This was the reason he was bought in, not to win regular season games or the division, to shrink during the playoffs or to set passing records.

I’ve always believed that after Manning came off the field during the Super Bowl in Miami against the Bears that he was done winning Championships. His attitude after the game wasn’t a happy one or being thrilled to win it was more of a subdued reaction. His body language seemed to indicate he was just relieved it was all over, there was no joy there at all. In my opinion at that moment he lost his edge and though he continued to play well that burning desire to win another one just wasn’t there like the other great NFL QB’s. This was the reason I objected to Manning being signed by the Broncos. I had a gut feeling he just wasn’t going to get it done. It's not something I'm happy being right about because the Broncos are my team.

This isn’t to say I don’t respect Manning as a player or person he’s one of the all time greats but the front office, the coaching staff, the players and the fans don’t owe Manning anything.

Win or lose with Brock, the odds are, even with his inexperience, the Broncos have a better chance of finishing the season strong.

The Broncos running game should immediately improve since Oz can play under center, drop back, move in the pocket and use his arm strength to stretch defenses. The offense shouldn't be as predictable as it was with Manning in the shotgun all the time.

Personally I’m not sad about Manning’s demise, I feel like this is a great opportunity for the Broncos to move pass this being his team and more of it being the team’s team. The Broncos are far from being done this season, they have an excellent Defense and talented players on Offense. My hope is the second half story isn’t one were Manning is getting yanked in and out of the lineup. That would be an incredible mistake, there’s no sense in throwing games or a chance to win a Super Bowl because Manning’s fragile ego might get bruised. Bring on Brock!

O'Reilly is an O'Reillian

This may offend people that like Bill O'Reilly so be warned, don't read this if you love the guy. I loath and despise him and this recent exchange with George Will magnifies the reasons why. If you watched the video above there's not much more that needs to be said but let’s expand on this topic.

O'Reilly is not a Republican, he's not a Democrat he's an O'Reillian. In other words O'Reilly is all about O'Reilly. 

He's all about the mass marketing of his show, his books and generating fame and wealth for himself. He pretends to be the only fair and balanced arbitrator "that's looking out for you." The truth is the only person he's looking for out is himself.

He always projects himself as the smartest guy in the room claiming only he knows the real stories happening in the political beltway and can dissect them for us common folk.

He's smug, rude, impatient, always talks over his guests, and dismisses the women he interviews on his show as less knowledgeable and worst of all he never misses a moment to rip down the Conservative wing of the Republican Party.

I look forward to the day when his show loses its influence on the older generation of establishment Republicans. He's not really looking out for them or the Conservatives. This latest book on Reagan is another example of it.

I understand that if not for Fox News the Republicans would not have a voice in the nationally televised media. The problem is Fox and Fox's lead broadcasters all tend to be left of center Republicans and honestly more Democratic in their views than Republican or Conservative. 

Hannity is the one exception but O'Reilly, Shepard Smith, Greta Van Susteren, Megyn Kelly, Chris Wallace, Brit Hume and Brett Baier all tend to lean to the left of the Republican political spectrum.

I wish people who follow O'Reilly's show and the others understood that we don't need or want to go left. We need to go right because we've seen what an epic failure placating with the left side of the Republican Party has done for us. 

The current group in DC has bent over backwards to placate because they believe the best strategy is to not make waves and wait until after the next election to make change.

Its baloney, what should of happened is after the Republicans got control of the House in 2012 they should have been way more forceful in the budget battle. They caved then, and then they caved again when they got the majority in the Senate. They've caved on Obamacare, the immigration issue, the energy issue, climate change, education and foreign policy (Iran deal) you name it they've taking the path of least resistance.

The bottom line is we as Republicans need to demand and vote for the most Conservative candidates possibly. We need to elect the most Conservative leaders in the House and Senate leadership positions. 

We need to stop freaking apologizing for doing what's right for the country. You don't see Obama and the Liberal Democrats apologizing for running roughshod over us last 7 years do you? And guess what? They won't stop; Hillary and Sanders want to take big centralized government to a whole new level. 

So turning this back to O'Reilly and the news media, we can not let a few mouth pieces that don't hold a real Conservative view dictate the terms of our final surrender.

Stop watching O'Reilly, turn your radio on or listen to Mark Levin on your computer. He's the best Conservative in all the media period. Get your news from websites like freerepublic.com or other Conservative websites that spell it out with a Conservative spin. 

Stop believing that Fox News and their prime time Anchors can save the Republican Party. They won't, if you want to be a truly informed Conservative look elsewhere for news and opinion. We don't have the luxury of losing another Presidential election or losing the House or Senate again.

Starting a 3rd party will fail so we have to do it within the Republican Party. That means finding and electing the most Conservative people we can find and stop electing the establishment Republicans.

It may take several elections to get there but it's the only answer to get us back to the right. And when I say right I mean right.