Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 58
COLFAX — After a moist June, July came in under average for precipitation. The rain gauge at the NRCS office logged two precipitation events totaling 0.32 inches. The majority came from a thunderstorm early in the month, dropping 0.29 inches July 6. Rain on July 10 added 0.03 inches. That puts July in the books for just over half the average of 0.56 inches....
The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office is currently looking for an overdue motorist/missing person from the Hay area. Law enforcement is attempting to locate William “Bill” Betcher who is an 81-year-old white male approximately 6’2 and 270 lbs. Betcher may be wearing a large straw sombrero type hat and shorts. Betcher left Hay July 21 at approximately 4 p.m. He said he was going to buy a horse in the Ford, Wash., area which is located between Reardan and Springdale. He was seen driving eastbound on Highway 26 east of Hooper. On July 22 he was see...
Microenterprise grants totaling $65,000 have been awarded by Community Action Center to 13 eligible small businesses that have been affected by the pandemic and Washington Stay Home restrictions. The businesses include one each in St. John and Palouse, five in Colfax and seven in Pullman, including such businesses as a small convenience store, a microbrewery and a consignment clothing store. “It seems appropriate to see these grants go to business owners who are having the most difficult time in our area. For some, this will be the d...
COLFAX – Local law enforcement agencies are seeing reports of new scams in Colfax for bank account numbers and social security information. A Colfax resident was scammed by a man claiming to be from the Secret Service in Alaska with "mega-millions" to disperse. The scammer asked for the resident’s bank account number to deposit funds, but instead withdrew money from the account. The resident canceled the account, but scammers followed up with a new angle, claiming to be FBI attempting to track the scammers. The "FBI" asked the resident to sen...
The Whitman County Gazette and Colfax Daily Bulletin are now operating out of new offices at 418 S. Main. At this time, new phones have not been connected to the new office. Gazette staff is attempting temporary fixes to the problem until connected with a new provider. Those wishing to contact staff are encouraged to do so via email if possible while we await resolution of the issue. The Gazette phone number will not change and is still functioning in a limited capacity. The public is also welcome to stop by the new office if they need to...
PULLMAN – A summons for a Pullman man was filed June 24 in Superior Court on the charge of alleged residential burglary. Luke Benton, 22, has been summoned for a July 10 hearing. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Benton and Alisyn Krebs allegedly entered a Pullman apartment and took an "oil rig" valued at more than $100. Krebs allegedly told officers Benton had entered the apartment and taken the item which she allowed officers to recover. According to the report, Benton denied taking anything other than Ramen noodles. According t...
Hitting a deer while driving on Whitman County Roads is an ever real and present danger; some times of the year more than others. Those periods of increased car versus deer occurrences are right after harvest and our current season, according to Public Works Director Mark Storey. Early summer and after harvest are the times of year when the Whitman County Roads Department receive the most calls for disposal of deer carcasses. What happens to the bodies varies depending on where they are located, Storey said. Many are taken to the county...
COLFAX -- The first report of a patient being hospitalized for the virus was reported June 26. One previous case was hospitalized due to complications associated with COVID-19 infection. Two new cases were announced June 29. According to the Emergency Operating Center press release, the two new cases are both males in to 40 to 59 age range, bringing the total count to 38. Of those total cases, 31 have recovered, six are isolating at home and one is hospitalized, the first time that has happened in Whitman County....
COLFAX – The Chamber of Commerce has booked a fun run and The Hankers as part of the Crazy Days celebration set for the second weekend of July. Crazy Days sidewalk sales are set for July 9, 10 and 11. A Social Distancing 1-Mile Fun Run is set for 8 a.m. July 11 on Spring Street. Only 50 people will be able to participate. A $100 prize will be awarded for the best social distancing costume. There is a cost to participate. Register at www.explorecolfax.com/funrun. The Hankers will play from 3 to 6 p.m. July 11 on Spring Street. Attendees s...
Whitman County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of campers at Boyer Park and Marina being threatened by an allegedly drunk man. According to the police report, four campers reported a man as intoxicated yelling at them and threatening to shoot them. The man, Bennie Davis, 60, allegedly yelled at the campers about tents being on the grass and the toilets in the women's bathrooms not being flushed. Deputies attempted to contact Davis, who was a maintenance person for the park. After being granted a search warrant, Davis was arrested in his...
COLFAX – The Colfax Police Department will receive $250,000 from a Department of Justice grant to hire two new police officers. "It's exciting for us," said Interim Police Chief Bruce Blood. Chief Blood has been looking to hire lateral officers since coming on as chief. Laterals are officers who have already been trained and have experience versus basic recruits who take longer and more money to get in the field. "We haven't had luck getting laterals in here," he said. The quarter million g...
WAWAWAI – Six people were injured in a two-car collision June 7 near Wawawai Landing. Whitman County Deputies and EMS from Fire District 14 and Lewiston Fire responded about 4 p.m. to the incident. According to the Sheriff's office, deputies believe the accident occurred when a westbound vehicle with two occupants attempted to make a left turn into Wawawi Landing. At that same time a separate vehicle with four occupants, also traveling westbound, attempted to pass the turning vehicle. All four of the occupants in the passing vehicle were i...
State Department of Fish and Wildlife officers referred charges to the Whitman County Prosecuting Attorney Office on June 9 for nine men from the St. John and Colfax areas for their roles in the illegal take of at least three elk on Oct. 5, 2019. According to a press release from the WDFW, an investigation by WDFW Police officers, along with a Whitman County Sheriff's Office Deputy, shows the men illegally used vehicles to chase, corral and prevent the escape of a large herd of elk near Endicott-St.John Road and Mulkey Road, before they shot...
Five people were transported to area hospitals, including one by LifeFlight, after a hit and run collision north of Ralph Henning Road near Thornton. Washington State Patrol responded at 2:45 p.m. Sunday, June 14, to the collision, along with fire departments from Colfax, Steptoe and Rosalia, and Whitman County Sheriff's Office. According to Trooper Rob Aucutt, two vehicles were headed southbound on Highway 195 when the first pulled onto the shoulder. The second vehicle, a grey Ford Focus,...
COLFAX – The City Council discussed potential opening of the city pool during its regular meeting June 1. Pending from the state and health department, the council set a July 6 opening for the pool. The city would have to be in Phase III to allow opening at all. Under Phase III, they would be limited to 50 people at the pool at one time. City Parks Manager Steve Larkin estimated last year the pool averaged just over 60 people per day. County Public Health currently has no guidance on Phase III outdoor activity from the state, so the l...
COLFAX - Weekend storms padded precipitation counts for an already above-average May, bringing the total to almost three times the average. At the NRCS office in Colfax, .51 of an inch was recorded after storms rolled through over the weekend. Added to the rest of the month's rainfall, total for May was 4.77 inches. Average for the month is 1.61. The surplus helps make up for the lag in rainfall experienced over the previous months. Heaviest rainfall came the week of May 18 when 3.06 inches fell over five consecutive days....
COLFAX – Traffic was temporarily reduced to two lanes on Buck Canyon May 27 afternoon after large bales of straw slid off a semi. According to WSP Trooper Jim Retzer, the straw was improperly stacked which resulted in the load shifting as the semi rounded the corner. Two bales fell off the trailer. Due to the shifting, the straps had to be cut to free other bales so the load could be restacked at the Chevron station. A few bales were still on the roadside as of this morning for the responsible company to collect. There were no injuries or cit...
COLFAX – The Colfax Police Department has responded to 11 cases of unemployment fraud, according to Interim Chief Bruce Blood. The department does not go after fraud culprits. When a case of fraud is reported, the local police department can create a case file with the victim positively identified. This is beneficial should future identity theft occur or be discovered in resolving those matters by the citizen. Chief Blood credited Officer Perry Tate with developing the process the department is using. Fraud victims appear in person at the p...
WHITMAN COUNTY – Six new positive tests of COVID-19 were returned last week, all from one family. A male of the household was allegedly infected out-of-county. After his test returned positive, the rest of the multi-generational family household was tested and all returned positive. Other cases were for two females under age 18, a female in the 30-40 age range and a male and female in the 60-79 range. The original case is in the 30-40 age range. The family is isolating at home. This brings the county total of positive cases to 26, 19 of w...
Whitman County was approved to Phase III by the state Secretary of Health Saturday with conditions. One condition is that an individual Phase III business sector (such as movie theaters, libraries, and museums) may reopen only after the state publishes its guidelines for the specific sector, which was expected to be done over the weekend. The business is only allowed to reopen after it can implement those guidelines. By moving into Phase III, recreation has opened up for outdoor sports or activities for up to 50 people and recreational...
Isolated severe thunderstorms are possible Saturday following a day of high heat. Tonight's overnight lows are expected to stay in the 50s to 60s, bringing little cooling relief before Saturday with temperatures getting up in the 80s or 90s. These "July-type temperatures" are being followed by cold air, said Steve Bodnar of the National Weather Service. The greatest potential for storms in Whitman County begins Saturday evening around 8 to 9 p.m. According to Bodnar, damaging winds and hail are the greatest threats. There is potential for hail...
An additional 423 applicants are needed in Whitman County for temporary Census takers. The U.S. Census Bureau is continuing to recruit for the position in advance of its Nonresponse Followup Operation for the 2020 Census. The primary purpose of the Nonresponse Followup Operation is to count people in person at housing units who have not self-responded to the decennial census questionnaire. Census takers visit and count those households who have not self-responded to the census questionnaire. This operation requires more field workers than any...
Pullman Police responded the afternoon of May 28 to a domestic dispute call of two cooks fighting at the New Garden Restaurant on Grand Ave. Whether the fight occurred in the kitchen or not was not reported....
COLFAX - Whitman County received another positive COVID-19 result May 20, bringing the county total to 19, three of which have been in the past week. The new case is a male in the 20 to 39 age range. He is stable and isolating at home. All of the newer cases have been in the same age range. Pubic Health now posts a graphic on its COVID-19 web page showing the risk of spread. Similar to the fire danger dials, the graphic includes green-low, yellow-limited, orange-moderate and red-high zones. To be in the green, the county would need no...
Monday, May 25 at 5:30 p.m. Whitman County Library hosts an online Book Club. "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë will be the subject. According to the library, whether you read the book long ago, recently, or are just considering it, this event is for you. Whether you need something to read during the quarantine or you’re looking for some social interaction, be sure to join the conversation. Copies are available as an eBook on Libby or OverDrive with no wait time or by request from the library for a physical copy. Register for the Zoom meeting by...
