Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The Colfax school board approved a raise May 28 for district principals and administrative year-round staff. They include the superintendent, principals at the high school and elementary school, transportation supervisor, technology director, maintenance director, business manager and the district's executive assistant. Jerry Pugh, superintendent, made the proposal to the board. “I had to get it balanced out, to get things equitable across the board,” Pugh said. The raises include two per...
A new store has opened in Tekoa at the site of the former Thompson Barn – which continues as a 10x20 space within Homestead General Store, open since May 8, on Crosby Street. The store is owned by Jim and Diedre Lee, along with Chet and Susie Creger. “Everyone retired and we just needed something to do,” said Diedre, who with husband Jim, previously ran an antique mall in Tacoma. The Cregers ran a gift shop at Langley on Whidbey Island and an antique mall in Bothell. Both couples now live in Te...
Nightly highlights for Major League Baseball ran on ESPN Wednesday, June 5. An impossible throw from third to first for an out in Toronto, a catch against the fence in Philadelphia, Boston's Chris Sale striking out a series in Kansas City. Then there it was. The highlight of highlights. A batter, a swing and a miss. He stepped off and behind him, empty seats in the first rows, with a Delta Airlines logo on each. Welcome to America's pastime in 2019. This is what it is now, in its fourth year of...
The Colfax school board Monday approved hiring David Gibb of Selah as principal for the junior/senior high school. Gibb spent the past four years as assistant principal/career and technical education director at Selah, a 2A school of 1,100 students. “We're thrilled to have David Gibb,” said Jerry Pugh, superintendent. “He was all in for Colfax. This is where he wanted to be. He pushed it hard.” The hiring process to fill a position vacated by the resignation of Carrie Lipe, as principal for thre...
Colfax Superintendent Jerry Pugh reported to the school board Monday about summer construction, now that students and staff have cleared out of the buildings. The top backside of the Jennings Elementary has been stripped of siding for roof replacement. The high school cafeteria is now “gutted.” Renovation of the elementary gym is now underway. The overall schedule for summer includes demolition work at the cafeteria, the front part of the office, the bathrooms and three classrooms dow...
Those taking recycling to the Colfax drop-off center on Sumner Street next to Empire Disposal may have noticed a difference. The dumpsters for glass, plastic and aluminum are gone. They were taken away April 1. “The market is really bad right now,” said David Nails, solid waste and recycling director. “I’ve been working at this for 12 years. This is the worst it’s ever been.” Aaron Lawhead, site manager for Empire Disposal which collects the recyclables at Sumner Street, made the decision af...
Discussions are underway between county commissioners and Mark Storey, Public Works director, about putting the question to voters whether to raise the road tax collection rate for residents of unincorporated areas. The county’s annual road levy is allowed to increase one percent per year, by state law. “We are losing buying power over the years,” Storey said, citing increasing costs of three to four percent each year. “We’re falling behind on our ability to supply rock to maintain gravel ro...
Last agreements are coming in on the delayed Almota Four road work, including one which county agents obtained from a hospital patient in Puget Sound. On Tuesday, two county representatives, one of which is a notary, drove west, where an Almota Four landowner is in the hospital. The woman, who had expected to be released and back to the Palouse by this time, requested she sign the papers from where she was. In turn, county right-of-way agent Dan Hall and Brandon Johnson, administrative...
Palouse city councilman and school board member Chris Cook is the lone candidate to replace Michael Echanove, the city’s four-term mayor. Cook submitted his name to run during the initial filing period in May. “I was approached by a number of different people and, in the end, in talking to others who may have been interested, circumstances and timing for other folks didn’t work out,” said Cook. “So I put my hat in the ring.” A 14-year Palouse resident and eight-year school board member, he...
No football team will play this fall for Garfield/Palouse High School. After seven senior players graduated last Saturday, the number of interested kids was too low to field an eight-man team. Scott Thompson, athletic director, and other school officials made the decision not to have a team in 2019. The Garfield, Palouse and Pullman school boards are now in the process of approving a combine to allow Garfield/Palouse students to go out for football at Pullman High School. Combines may be set...
As the Colfax High School class of 2019 prepares to graduate Saturday, one particular class has a stake in what happens next. Altaira Bogle, a six-year teacher at Colfax, leads Senior Transitions – a required year-long class for 12th-graders which covers career investigation, scholarships, writing cover letters, college applications and resumes. Also, it covers how to rent an apartment, buy a car, live with roommates, read a lease, budget for groceries, handle personal finance, utility bills, f...
Colton opened the tournament with a first round win over the Loggerettes of Wishkah Valley, 13-2. They advanced to meet Southeast 1B league rival Pomeroy in the semifinals, winning 11-6. They made the state final, a team lead by five seniors, to play defending champions Almira/Coulee/Hartline, which beat them in a seeding game a week before. This would be for Colton's eighth state 1B softball championship since 2009, the last title in 2016, when the seniors were freshmen. The game was Saturday...
The city of Palouse may take on the redevelopment of its Brownfields environmental cleanup site. Mayor Michael Echanove made a pitch at the May 14 city council meeting. The city advertised for requests for proposals in 2018 and expanded the scope in 2019 for the approximately 100x200-foot long riverfront site, which was a former welding shop, gas station and fuel storage facility, torn down in 2012. Another building on the site was dismantled. The city received no proposals in its initial...
John Jaeger, who resigned last October after 11 years in office as Tekoa's mayor, filed to run for city council. He will vie for position no. 3, held by Bethany Fletcher, who also filed for election to the nonpartisan office. Fletcher was appointed last fall to fill the seat of Jason Fletcher, who resigned. Jaeger was elected to his third term as Tekoa mayor in 2016 and was never opposed. He previously served on the town council for one year. After Jaeger's resignation as mayor, Councilman Troy...
Whitman County commissioners took in an update Monday from Mark Storey, Public Works director, on a stalled resolution involving a fence damaged during the snows of February and early March. On both sides of Belsby Road, at the northwest edge of the county, approximately 8,200 feet of fence was hit by snow thrown from plows along county right-of-way ground. On that stretch, north of Rock Lake, front-end loaders were used on drifts to scoop and dump snow to the side of the road. Right-of-way...
He takes the eighth-graders every year, whether they will play or not. “So they know how to act when it’s their turn,” said Brad Nilson, Colton softball coach, whose 2019 team opens at state in Yakima Friday at 1 p.m. against Wishkah Valley. The Colton bus was set to leave Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. to arrive in Yakima to eat lunch, check into the hotel and hold a practice before Nilson goes to the coaches’ meeting that night. The team is led by five seniors: Emily Schultheis, Jordyn Moehrle,...
The Colton High School baseball team beat Quilcene 9-0 May 18 to advance to play Odessa in a state 1B semifinal, a team they beat 15-10 May 7 in the district playoffs. This time, with a berth in the championship game on the line in Chehalis, Colton lost 12-2, ending the Wildcats’ season. Odessa advances to the championship to play Almira/Coulee/Hartline which beat Colton 6-5 in a state seeding game last week. In the other semifinal, ACH took out Sunnyside Christian 4-0. Earlier in the day, in th...
Garfield’s annual May Day celebration returns Saturday, beginning with breakfast from the Boy Scouts and Awana youth group at the Garfield/Palouse Middle School cafeteria, followed by a “Color Explosion” fun run put on by Garfield Parks & Recreation, from 8 to 10 a.m. At 10:15, the lineup begins for the parade, with a start time of 11 a.m. The kiddie parade starts at 10:45 a.m. Winners for top three costumes will be announced right afterwards. The Garfield city park will be set-up for activ...
The verdict is in from the land-use examiner on the conditional use permit request for the Dusty grain storage pads project. Land-use hearing examiner Andy Kottkamp delivered his decision May 8 in a 12-page document approving the application by the McCoy Land Company/PNW (Pacific Northwest Farmers Co-operative). The project includes four grain piles, truck scales, utilities and small office space, with an access road off State Route 127, just south of Dusty. The height of the piles would be 65...
A new veterinary clinic is set to open in Colfax in June. Moscow-based Affordable Veterinary Care will offer a satellite branch with hours announced as Mondays, Thursdays and the second Saturday of each month. The clinic will be run by Dr. Erin McGillic, a Colfax resident, assisted by Alicia Liam and Cindee Carlson, another Colfax resident. AVC Colfax will offer general healthcare for dogs and cats, including examinations, vaccinations, parasite control (fleas, ticks, worms), ear, eye and...
Colfax Junior-Senior High School principal Carrie Lipe has resigned. The school board approved the resignation Monday night, to take affect after this school year is completed. Lipe’s contract ends in mid-June. The job opening will be posted this week. “It’s a positive transition, made with a lot of consideration,” said Lipe. “I want to be more available time-wise, energy-wise. These decisions can only be made at a summer juncture. My husband and I both have parents living in Moscow-Pu...
The Colfax school board took in its second-to-last meeting of the shortened 2018-19 school year Monday night, beginning with a work session on new curriculum for elementary science and high school culinary arts. Jennings Elementary Principal Travis Howell spoke in the segment, along with Altaira Bogle, family and consumer sciences teacher at the junior-senior high school, and Brenda Kneeshaw, the district’s curriculum specialist. The regular board meeting began with comments from S...
Playing at Spokane Friday, May 11, Colton beat Selkirk 15-0 and Inchelium 12-4 to advance to a state seeding game. They will meet Almira/Coulee/Hartline at 6 p.m. Friday at Franklin Park in Spokane to decide the no. 1 and no. 2 seed for the state tournament in Yakima over Memorial Day weekend. Josie Schultheis pitched against Selkirk, throwing five innings for a two-hit shutout. She had four strikeouts, one walk, allowing two hits. At the plate for Colton, Rylee Vining went 4-for-4 while Jordyn...
They met for the state 1B championship last year, Almira/Coulee/Hartline winning it 8-4. A year later, last Saturday in Colbert, it was Colton-A/C/H again, the same two pitchers, for a game to decide seedings for the state quarterfinals. On May 11, in the late afternoon sun, Almira/ Coulee/Hartline pitcher Dalton Kentner took the mound to open against Colton's top three in the lineup, its three fifth-year starters. One, two, three, they went down to strikeouts, no contact with the ball. Parker...
After four years of planning, design and approval, Whitman County’s Almota Four road reconstruction project may be in jeopardy. Set for this summer for 3.5 miles between Union Flat Creek and the State Route 194 intersection east of Onecho Bible Church, the project remains in limbo with unfinished property agreements with landowners along the route which would widen part of the road from 28 to 34 feet. Agreements were made in concept during meetings with owners last fall, and offer letters to s...
