The Mountain News – WA

By Bruce A. Smith

Concerns about the flight path abound in the DB Cooper case despite the 47-years since the iconic skyjacking occurred, and the closing the case in 2016 by the FBI due to a lack of any new information or suspects.

Nevertheless, citizen sleuths are carrying the torch, searching for the truth of America’s only unsolved skyjacking. The height of these inquiries deals with the location of DB Cooper’s plane when he jumped at 8:13 pm on November 24, 1971. Was it over Battleground, Washington as the FBI has long-professed? If so, why hasn’t anything ever been found in the FBI’s primary search area near Ariel and Amboy, Washington? Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

Manny Silva, the father of Lisa Melancon, a Tacoma woman killed in 2011 during a drive-by shooting, contacted the Mountain News this week to describe the impacts of his daughter’s murder. His testimony reveals how vast and devastating such violence can be to an entire family. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

The two primary streaming services in the nation, Netflix and Hulu, are quite different from each other. Netflix focuses on feature-length projects and TV series, much of it done in-house or under contract to independent production companies. Most notably, Netflix is the home of Orange is the New Black, Weeds, and hundreds of comedy specials. It also offers a backlist, so that shows that have been off-the-air for a while, like The Blacklist, can be viewed in their entirety, which is great for binge-watching.

In contrast, Hulu is mostly a re-play of regular TV shows from broadcast networks, like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Law and Order- SVU, or Chicago PD. Generally, only the shows from the current season can be viewed, at least on my payment program. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

The streaming services Netflix and Hulu are releasing hundreds of new shows every year. However, the algorithms that are supposed to sort out which ones we would like to see, based upon our past viewing selections, are ineffective. Out of ten shows Netflix proposes to me, I may like only one enough to watch more than twenty minutes. In fact, finding shows that I truly enjoy is arduous. It is a modern-day version of trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Some media are trying to correct this, like the New York Times, since the public wants to consume so much TV. Binge-watching is a new reality for us, and I for one, love it. The NY Times has a full-time team watching and recommending new streaming shows, but there are so many platforms, such as Amazon Prime and Sling TV, that these near-global reviews are worthless as well – I simply can not afford to subscribe to every streaming service. Even Hulu has several different program packages to purchase, and I had to up-grade my Hulu account to add “Showtime” so that I could watch Homeland, which I consider to be the finest TV series ever created. Hence, I’ve started to keep my own records to pass on to friends, focusing on shows that may not be headline news or a household name. I trust Mountain News readers will enjoy these broadcasts as much as I have.

This round I’ll focus on Netflix. Tomorrow, Hulu. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

The Graham Kapowsin Community Council has announced this week that it is hosting its 16th Annual Expo this weekend at the Lodge in Frontier Park, Graham. In addition, there will be a Fun Run-Walk. along with a fundraiser to furnish monies for its ongoing program to supplement the free lunch and breakfast programs sponsored by the Bethel School District. The GKCC’s “Feed the Homeless Children” seeks to address the nutritional needs of the hundreds of Bethel students who do not have a permanent domicile, and thus suffer frequent food shortages, especially whenever school is not in session, such as during weekends, holidays, and snow days. Admission is free, and the Expo has art and crafts, along with entertainment. Continue reading →

Editor’s Note: The following is purportedly written by a British author named Nate White. His essay is published here with permission pending, as I attempt to find this fellow. I received this piece from my ex, who got it from her brother in Tucson, who got it from his other brother in Europe, and now I pass it along to all of you at the Mountain News.

Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?

By Nate White

“A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. Continue reading →

By Bruce A. Smith

The 47^th Anniversary of the DB Cooper skyjacking was celebrated with a gathering of experts and aficionados to discuss the details of the case, and ponder new evidence and suspects.

Continue reading →