Wal-Mart has doubled its market share, its competitors need to be allowed to adapt | Opinion

Grocery merger promises benefits

The grocery market landscape is shifting. The last twenty years, Wal-Mart has doubled its market-share and consumers are migrating to buy in bulk or buy online. Now the traditional grocery model is struggling to survive.

Kroger and Albertsons, as traditional grocers, have had to be nimble and adjust. As their market share has declined and in the face of their growing competitors, they’ve proposed to merge.

Some have expressed concern regarding this merger. A couple things to keep in mind: First, Kroger has said it will not close a single store or lay off frontline workers. In order to compete with Walmart (which will be adding 150 new stores), Kroger and Albertsons need this merger to stay competitive.

Also, Kroger has pledged hundreds of millions to keep consumer prices down. According to market studies, in the last 20 years Kroger has reduced profits by 5%, while Walmart has dramatically increased market share and profits.

Lastly, I think we should consider what happens if they don’t merge. This is similar to department stores: Remember Sears and K-Mart? Once again, the market is shifting and companies are trying to survive. If not, it could mean fewer choices for consumers and job loses.

Colin Hastings, Pasco

Small nukes make much more sense

I read in my Tri-City Herald how solar panels are going to installed in the Area. Great. It’s always good to read about how good farmland will not be consumed by solar farms. Though recyclable, panels last only about 25 years. Wind turbine blades, imagine a 747 wing, last 10-20 years in operation but last forever in landfills.

Small, modern, modular, nuclear power plants are clean, can supply 24/7 power for centuries and have the footprint of about a good sized barn. The Area would be a logical location for them.

As one of the communities that live with the benefits and responsibilities of nuclear power, I believe we owe it to the American people. There is a better zero-carbon power source out there. Nuclear is the new green.

I encourage everyone to read up about the new modular power plants and inform your member of Congress.

Matthew T. Ruane, Richland

Congress at fault for border mess

No one will deny that the southern border is a humanitarian and political catastrophe. The Republicans are happy to tell you that this mess is all Biden’s fault. All Biden needs to do is write a magical executive order that will instantly put everything under control and is so good that there aren’t any lawsuits from the right or left that would block it. It could even set new limits for green cards, speed up processing of the immigrants and lower taxes too!

Since the Regan years, the (sitting) president has always been blamed for the border. We here in the Fourth Congressional District have only Dan Newhouse and his 434 colleges in Congress to blame. It is their job to write the laws for immigration. They have refused to work together to craft an Immigration law and control the border since the 1980s. What they do is kick the can down the road. Every time they fail to get legislation, the border gets worse. Now, our resources are overwhelmed, and even if Dan and his colleagues could manage to produce a workable law, it would still take a long time to get that mess cleaned up.

Don Sebelien, Pasco

During election, try Rotary’s test

Each year, Rotary Clubs from across our region sponsor young adults for a week-long experience called Rotary Youth Leadership Awards or RYLA. RYLA is an intensive leadership experience organized by Rotary clubs and districts where young adults have the opportunity to develop skills as a leader while having fun and making connections.

Columbia Center Rotary invited their awardees to present about their week at a recent meeting. Our awardees were articulate young adults who enthusiastically praised their experience. They acknowledged that being a good leader also meant being a good follower, and pointed to Rotary’s Four-Way test as a standard that all leaders should get behind.

In fact, the preamble to the Four-Way test is this:

“Of the things we think, say or do,

1. Is it the Truth?

2. Is it Fair to all concerned?

3. Will it build Goodwill and Better Friendships?

4. Will it be Beneficial to all concerned?”

As we enter this election cycle, I encourage everyone to use Rotary’s Four-Way Test, or some other measures that get at true leadership qualities to guide your votes. Our community and world would be better off if we did.

Carol Moser, Richland

Isaacson good fit for 16th District

We have an excellent opportunity to strengthen our district’s representation in Olympia by electing Kari Isaacson state senator for the 16th District.

Kari has had an extraordinary career and continues to carry her work ethic, integrity, knowledge and faith to community service. I have known her since she arrived in the Walla Walla Valley to lead the Blue Mountain Community Foundation, a treasured and highly successful organization serving four counties.

She assumed responsibility for multi-million dollar investments, multi-million-dollar fundraising and multi-million-dollar community grant making, and she did it well. Her work touched the lives of thousands.

Kari’s training as an attorney and experience leading complex organizations, including a Fortune 500 company and two significant foundations, provided sterling preparation for elected office. She has been exposed to and thrived in diverse cultures and communities.

I am most impressed, however, with Kari’s boundless yet pragmatic enthusiasm for serving others as a problem-solving leader, a committed volunteer, a dedicated friend. She is capable of refining the complicated challenges of our lives into tangible, approachable, and often solvable pieces. Her style is connected, collaborative, compassionate, and collegial.

I encourage you to learn more about Kari and support her with your vote.

Cindy Widmer, College Place