Was there really a federal internment camp in Benton County during the second World War? (No, but there was a federal prison camp near Horn Rapids. It housed federal prisoners who were sent to harvest the orchards and other crops left when residents were ordered out to make room for the Manhattan Project.)

Would a state carbon tax system help pay for post-pandemic recovery and cut Washington’s carbon footprint? (The Columbia Basin Badgers Club tackled this topic. Our speakers agreed that cutting carbon emissions is a worthy goal but disagree about how to get there.)

Should we pass a constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court? (This Badger on this topic included a great civics lesson from a researcher who studies democracies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.)

Can we just learn to get along? (If you like data, you would love the presentation by Seth Masket, director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver.)

In early May, the Badger forum asked if the Tri-Cities area is “growing as if the future matters?” (Our speakers agreed on one point, “we could do better.”)

Every month, the Columbia Basin Badgers Club tackles the topics that drive civic discourse.

Coming up next, at noon on May 20, the Badger Club will explore “Lessons from the Pandemic” with a vaccine researcher from Fred Hutch and a public health expert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. April Kaur Randhawa is a staff scientist in the Fred Hutchison Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and the associate director of lab science for the HIV Vaccine Trials Network and Coronavirus Prevention Network Statistical Centers.

Her research focuses on vaccine evaluation and the immune response to globally important infectious diseases such as HIV, Ebola, TB, and more recently, Covid-19.

Her counterpart from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is Mary Huynh, senior public health advisor assigned to the Washington State Department of Health, Office of Immunization and Child Profile, since 2015. She serves as an office deputy director supporting Covid-19 vaccine distribution and response in Washington.

Since the Columbia Basin Badger Club was founded in 2008, the club has presented more than 150 civil public conversations about nearly every possible issue, from the Lower Snake River dams to Kennewick’s Vista Field airport, and from the Middle East to the impeachment of a president.

The pandemic forced a switch to virtual forums presented on Zoom but the work continues.

There is much more to come. Go to columbiabasinbadgers.com to find out.

Kirk Williamson was a founding member of the Badger Club and currently serves as its president.