Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 876 - 900 of 2119
Last Friday, the 2017 Washington Rural Carrier Outstanding Member of the Year had just finished his route 10 minutes before. “It was quite nice,” said Jim Hemrich of Endicott, who delivers mail for the U.S. Postal Service in the Garfield and Oakesdale areas. “A little bit lighter volume, but boxholder phone books take up a lot of space, and quite a bit more time.” The term “boxholder” refers to an item delivered to all boxes. Hemrich, a 31-year Post Office veteran, was honored in June at the...
With the game tied at halftime, 20-20, Garfield/Palouse and Deary came out in the second half Sept. 29 at Palouse and it was still tied late in the fourth quarter. The Vikings drove to a first-and-goal on the Deary 9-yard line. The Mustangs held them short of the end zone once, twice and a third time. On fourth down, Garfield/Palouse quarterback Evan Weagraff threw incomplete and the Vikings turned the ball over on downs. Deary then drove 92 yards to score, taking the lead 28-20. The clock showe...
The proposed Oakesdale trestle removal project moved a step forward Monday when the county Public Works department received a permit from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The permit calls for the 120-foot long structure to be removed by the end of November. A Whitman County crew will do the work, estimated at a week long. They will start after the Steptoe Canyon Bridge project south of Colton is finished. County commissioners Sept. 5 approved the purchase of the low, wooden...
A twist on what it is being asked by the Washington State Department of Ecology for Palouse’s wastewater treatment plant has led to the city requesting more time to meet the rule. Originally on a December deadline to adjust to new limits on nitrogen levels and a cooler overall effluence for the plant, the city now reacts to a pending change regarding Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB). The city was told in a meeting Aug. 23 that PCB requirements are likely to shift. It was information that made m...
County Administrative Director Gary Petrovich presented a preliminary general fund expenditure budget to county commissioners Monday to consider for 2018. The deficit was $102,714 on a total of $15,960,085. “I have to commend the departments for being financially diligent and responsible,” said Petrovich. The projected deficit number of $102,714 represents a significant drop from previous years. Ten years ago, the initial budget deficit would often be in excess of a million dollars. “Then you’d...
-Janet Leifer photo St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse freshman Caden Noha finds running room in the Eagles' 30-22 loss to Columbia. A rare Tuesday night Southeast 1B football game in Colton counted as non-league. Nonetheless it counted up to 74-6 for the Wildcats over St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse. Colton (3-1) got three interception returns for touchdowns, from Cameron Bean, Matt Wolf and Cole Hennigar, as they forced seven turnovers. At quarterback, Parker Druffel threw 10-for-18 for 280 yards and five... Full story
Port of Whitman commissioners will consider a new draft at their next meeting Oct. 5 of a letter to encourage support of proposed work at the intersection of U.S Highway 195 and State Route 26 at Colfax. The letter, which is to be sent to the federal Department of Transportation, will likely also advocate for a rail project near Endicott. Debbie Snell, Port of Whitman properties and development manager, shared a draft letter with commissioners Sept. 21 on the Colfax matter, which is referred to...
The Colfax School Board met Monday night for its regular meeting and approved coaching contracts, new policies and met the new art teacher. Confirmed hires included Carrie Lyle as para-educator at six hours per day, Craig Culbertson as assistant high school football coach, Casey Zander; assistant high school volleyball coach; Mollie Kramer, assistant junior high girls basketball coach and volunteers Phil Morgan (football), Maggee Cochran (volleyball), Derek Holmes (cross-country) and Reagan...
Kirby Dailey, a 1977 Colfax High graduate, will open LizaJane Cabinets early next year on Highway 26 in Colfax. Newly broken ground at the northwest corner of Colfax on Highway 26 is set to become a custom cabinet shop owned and operated by native Kirby Dailey. The shop will come out of Mitz’s Cabinets in Garfield, which Dailey bought two years ago from Craig Mitzemberg. Dailey, a Colfax High graduate of 1977, quit working at Decagon Devices in Pullman in May as senior vice p... Full story
The City of Palouse picked up $5,000 Sept. 12 from Avista as part of its Renewable Energy Cost Recovery Program. Palouse earned the award by exceeding its production quota on its solar farm built last year. Avista gave the program’s maximum award, $5,000, calculated from a formula of 18 cents per kilowatt hour (kwh) generated in the fiscal year of July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017. In that time, the Palouse farm delivered 42,869 kwh. “Our production was fantastic this year,” said Kyle Dixon, Palous...
Whitman County Port Commissioners discussed two items Thursday, Sept. 21, which may alter their standard agendas in the future. Both matters were ultimately shelved for discussion at their next meeting. Earlier in September, at the commissioners’ prior regular meeting, Commissioner Tom Kammerzell requested when a resolution came up on the agenda it should not go to a vote until the following meeting. “I think it becomes overly paternalistic,” said Commissioner Kristine Meyer. “I don’t think the...
Whitman County commissioners Monday approved the 2018 road construction program, an annual step required by funding agencies. Included in the 2018 program are Almota Four reconstruction, Almota Three surveying and engineering, the remaining guardrail from the federal road safety program, Hume Road surveying and nearly four miles of paving on Sand Road. The largest is Almota Four. The fourth and final part of the Almota Road reconstruction will be done before Phase Three because its funding was...
Coach Ken Gering’s St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse football team made their home debut Sept. 15 against Selkirk and went down 58-26. Staying with the non-league opponent for the first half, the Eagles trailed 36-20 in the third quarter before Selkirk took control for good. Five St. John/Endicott penalties in the fourth quarter played a role. “We ran out of steam,” said Gering, who will work this week on adjusting his lineup to play less two-way players. Eagles quarterback Trey Fleming threw for four...
The Uniontown sidewalk-extension project has been approved and pushed back to next year. Originally planned for this summer, the work to extend sidewalks to each end of the town limits was approved Sept. 13 by the Washington State Department of Transportation. With its approval, the state designated a change to the planned pedestrian lighting which calls for narrowing the focus of the LED fixtures. Uniontown and its engineer, Munir Daud, will now go out to bid Nov. 1 for work next spring. The... Full story
The Steptoe Canyon Road bridge work south of Colton moves forward toward completion as a deadline nears of Oct. 15 on the permit from the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife. Brandon Kruger, Whitman County maintenance operations manager, reported to county commissioners Monday that the new bridge’s pilings have been driven and steel caps installed for girders to be attached. Delivery of the 34-foot span concrete girders is now being coordinated along with scheduling a crane. County P...
Whitman County Commissioners approved Monday the extension of the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association’s (SEWEDA) managing director, keeping the position full-time into the future. The approval amounts to $10,000 for the rest of 2017 from county .09 funds and $20,000 each subsequent year. Sarah McKnight, SEWEDA’s Whitman County managing director, appeared before county commissioners at their regular meeting. She noted she is working with 80 clients with 20 new business sta...
The city of Palouse may get more time to decide on a plan for its wastewater treatment plant after a change in requirements from the Washington State Department of Ecology. Informed at a meeting in Spokane Aug. 23 at the DOE’s Eastern Region office, the city has been given a new target for reducing discharge of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB), a group of 209 man-made compounds used in manufacturing. The change comes three months before Palouse’s deadline to set a plan by Dec. 31 to address nit...
The public restrooms are back open in Uniontown, with plans to keep them so. The town closed the facility in June due to continuous damage and vandalism at the building on the side of Highway 195 at the town’s Holzer Park. “That got some people furious,” said Brian Davies, town councilman. “We thought it might take more damage if we didn’t open it back up.” Town Public Works Superintendent Brent Lane is back to cleaning them again, each Wednesday on garbage collection day, and other times as he...
The Office of the Washington State Auditor released its audit this week on Whitman County for the year 2016. The report came after the county received a "no opinion" return for state auditors last year after they found the county's 2015 books were not in a condition to review. Auditor Eunice Coker Tuesday rated this year's audit finding the best in 10 years. She termed some of the audits over that time span as volatile. The report found “no significant deficiencies in the design or operation of... Full story
County 1B football teams will be back in action Friday, all at home, after last week’s cancellations due to smoke in the air from wildfires. Garfield/Palouse (1-0) is set to host Lakeside (Plummer) Friday at 7 p.m. in a non-league game. Colton (0-1) will meet Wallace at 7 p.m. and St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse (0-1) is at home in St. John against Selkirk in more non-league action. Last week, the Eagles were set to go north to Curlew for a Saturday afternoon game which was cancelled due to worse a... Full story
The Colfax school board covered a range of topics, including a move out of Camp Grizzly for this year's sixth-grade trip, at its first regular meeting of the school year Monday night. Superintendent Jerry Pugh opened with a “Say Something Positive” comment about how the district handled the air quality issues last week. “I can't say enough about the professionalism of the staff,” he said. He mentioned the success of Colfax FFA kids in a record-setting pig entry year at the fair and how new fen... Full story
A new look outside and inside greeted Oakesdale students for the 2017-18 year. First, road work around the school reduced the grade of Second Street hill and widened the loading and unloading area for buses. On the inside of the elementary building, rows of 1956 single-pane windows were replaced for energy efficiency. Each classroom now as two 4x6 windows and a metal door to the outside with a window. Last items to finish on the roadwork include putting in railing on a retaining wall – which was... Full story
Whitman County Commissioners Sept. 5 approved the purchase of a low, wooden rail bridge near Oakesdale with intent to tear it down. The span, owned by Union-Pacific, will be bought for one dollar, pending approval by state agencies, and taken out due to a high-water hazard. After ice against the bridge caused flooding last winter, a meeting was held in Spokane in February at which representatives of the state Department of Transportation, Department of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife, Town of...
It will be an early start for the annual Palouse Days celebration this weekend as it gets underway with first events Friday. A chalk art contest will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., on the sidewalk in front of the Palouse Caboose. The new Palouse royalty will be crowned at 7 p.m. and a Palouse Days kickoff party will be held later that night at Palouse Caboose featuring the band Warren, Brent, Greg and Don: Ridgerunners. On Saturday, the day starts with the Lions Club pancake breakfast, served from...
Plans are underway for an expanded fall cleanup week in Steptoe. The Steptoe Fire Department will sponsor a large construction dumpster to be brought in for solid waste during the county’s annual October week of discounted rates at the waste transfer station. A possible co-sponsor is now being sought. The question of yard clean-up and junk vehicles in the unincorporated community of Steptoe was brought to county commissioners Sept. 5. Resident Kirk Suess came to their regular meeting to f...
