Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 576 - 600 of 2119
Beginning in December, Colfax Junior/Senior High School Principal Carrie Lipe sent out a Google online survey to an estimated 900 junior/senior high students, staff and parents. It included four Colfax Bulldog designs, all used at one point over the years at the (now) junior-senior high school. She received more than 600 responses, the winning option a full-body bulldog which can be used as the full-body or just the head – with a version looking one way and a version looking the other. "It w...
Going into the last weekend of regular season basketball in the Southeast 1B league, Colton remains at the top followed by Pomeroy, Oakesdale and St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse – which has a secure path to the fourth and final spot in the district playoffs with two wins over Garfield/Palouse. The Vikings are in fifth, narrowly, losing to SJEL 45-43 Dec. 15 and 34-30 two weeks ago. Colton 54-Oakesdale 39 Facing the league-leaders at home Jan. 28, the Oakesdale girls stayed with Colton for much of the...
A big game arrives this weekend, high stakes and a Roman numeral at the end: Garfield/Palouse-Oakesdale II. The Gar/Pal boys basketball team won 46-34 the first time, at Palouse Jan. 11. On Saturday, they meet the Nighthawks in the final weekend of the Southeast 1B regular season, at Oakesdale, the two teams still tied for first in league. If Oakesdale wins, they take the league championship (regular season), because they beat third-place Prescott twice while Gar/Pal (11-7, 9-1) lost at the Tige...
A possible pedestrian bridge at Hayton Greene Park in Palouse may be on its way. The city was nominated in November for a grant as part of a new program of the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board called “The Complete Streets Award,” which focuses on alternative forms of transportation. The T.I.B. program requires a nomination from a list of board-approved state agencies and non-profit organizations such as Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Department of Archaeology and His...
Whitman County Building Inspector Dan Gladwill gave a fourth quarter and year-end building report to county commissioners Tuesday. For the fourth quarter of 2018, he noted 54 permits were issued for a total valuation of $1.4 million. “Kind of a medium average,” Gladwill said, noting that numbers were not as big as recent years of large commercial projects. “We had a pretty good fourth quarter. It didn’t tail off as it had in the past. We just kept chugging along,” he said. For the year-end...
The Whitman County Public Works department is still preparing specifications for a small, new office building at the county landfill off Carothers Road. Mark Storey, Public Works director, informed county commissioners Tuesday that they will rent a portable for the landfill in the short term, at an estimated cost of $400 per month. “We’re getting pretty close,” said Storey. Last September, the commissioners passed a resolution to establish the project for a 1,100 to 1,200 square foot building to...
The Colton girls picked up two more dominant wins in the Southeast 1B league last week to extend their record to 8-0, 13-2 overall. In the second meeting of two league teams which played in the state title game last year (Colton won) and returned most of their players, the Wildcats again put down any suggestion this year would be different. They won 58-31 at Pomeroy. Leading by seven at halftime, Colton opened the second quarter with a 16-3 run and took it from there. Dakota Patchen scored 24...
Coach Carl Crider asked if he was ready and no. 11 got up and went and sat on the open bleachers in front of the scorer's table at the Oakesdale gym. The Southeast 1B league standings hung high on the wall behind him. At 2:52 left in the first quarter, the buzzer buzzed and Matt Hockett stood and jogged into the game to applause. Making his first game appearance this year Jan. 18 after injuring an ankle in football [for Colfax, in a co-op agreement with a 1B school without a football team], the...
Beginning his 18th year as mayor of Palouse, Michael Echanove has announced this year will be his last in office. He will not seek re-election when his term expires at the end of the year. He told the city council at its Jan. 8 meeting. Including two terms as a city councilman, Echanove, 59, has served at city hall for 25 consecutive years. He was appointed mayor in 2001 and first elected in 2002. "I've been thinking, There's lots of very smart and qualified people in Palouse that would be...
An expected review Monday of documents in advance of the Colfax bid call for school remodeling did not happen Monday night; Superintendent Jerry Pugh reported the work has not yet been finished. “A little postponement,” Pugh said of the project to be funded by an $18.9 million bond passed by voters last February. “Design West is crunching hard.” Design West of Pullman, the district’s architects, asked to wait until the board’s next meeting, Jan. 28, to present bid documents. From there, if the b...
Whitman County commissioners will again keep their committee assignments the same to carry over into the new year. The roles often remain from year-to-year as the three commissioners’ work takes them to meetings around eastern Washington and to Olympia. Consistent committee assignments allows a representative to become more steeped in a particular subject. The boards commissioners serve on meet at various intervals, some quarterly, some three times per year and some with teleconferences i...
The St. John/Endicott/ LaCrosse girls basketball team is tied for fourth-place in the Southeast 1B league, vying for one of four spots in this year’s district tournament in February — down from a six- team format in previous years. With an 8-6 overall record, 3-4 in league, The Eagles’ starting five is made up of post Riley Lamb, forward Glory Dickerson, guard Allyn Harder – all seniors — and post Drew Curtis-Brewer, a junior and the team’s leading scorer, along with sophomore point guard Roxy...
For two years in a row, Garfield/Palouse went to Prescott and got a record scratch. Last year, after beating undefeated Pomeroy on a Friday night in January, they went to Prescott and lost on Saturday. This year, on Friday, Jan. 11, Gar/Pal beat Oakesdale to lift themselves out of a tie for the top spot in the Southeast 1B league and played at Prescott the next night, losing 73-64. The 24 hour-sequence put the Vikings back into a tie with Oakesdale for first in league, since Oakesdale beat...
The new year is underway for the Whitman County Public Works department, with a slate of work to be dominated by the $5 million Almota Road Phase Four reconstruction project. Phase Four follows one and two, which have already reconstructed 5.3 miles of the 12-mile road south of Colfax to Highway 194 at the top of the Almota grade. Phase Four, to be done before Phase Three because of the order funding came through, will go from milepost 7.96 at Union Flat to mile 11.97 at state Highway 194. The...
A group of cattlemen landowners along the Snake River appeared in front of county commissioners Dec. 31 to ask for their signatures on a letter of support for their cause to acquire a piece of ground and make an exchange with the Army Corps of Engineers to get back on land long used to feed cattle in the canyons of the river. The land, once private, was sold to the Corps in the 1960s and '70s in order to build Lower Granite Dam. Since then, cattle were allowed to graze in various spots of the...
A new owner and a new plan is underway for the site of a roof cave-in at the former Cohn Motor Company's red brick building in Tekoa. Eric Bretz last fall took over as owner from Keith Andersson, after Andersson signed a quit claim to the building on the corner of Main and Crosby Street. Bretz told the Tekoa City Council Dec. 17 of his plan to repair and refurbish the building for future use. The first order of business will be to make the building safe. Tekoa Building Inspector Steve Haxton...
The showdown of the season so far comes to Palouse Friday night for Garfield/Palouse vs. Oakesdale, both unbeaten in Southeast 1B league boys basketball. The two expected, senior-heavy contenders for the 2018-19 season crown have both beat Colton – which is now tied for third with Prescott – clearing the way for a game to decide who is at the top of the league just past the midway point of the season. Oakesdale stands at 8-4 overall, 5-0 in league and Garfield/Palouse is 7-5, 5-0. They will pla...
After its first two-game losing streak in 10 years, the Colton girls returned to the win column this week, remaining in first place in the Southeast 1B league with a record of 5-0, 10-2 overall. Pomeroy holds second at 11-1, 5-1, their only loss to Colton. Oakesdale is in third with a 3-2 league record followed by St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse and Garfield/Palouse, both 2-3 in league. Colton will play at Prescott Friday followed by a home game against Garfield/Palouse Saturday. Oakesdale plays...
The new year for Whitman County Parks started with new board members and three large projects set for 2019. In early December, Angela Taylor, a Pullman engineer, replaced Parks board member Tom Stirling, who resigned after four years. Kathy Meyer also finished in December after serving a six-year term. Sharon Tharp of Palouse has completed a six-year term, vacating a seat that is expected to be taken by Brian Bell of the Whitman Conservation District. When the park board approves a new member,...
Whitman County commissioners Dec. 17 approved an amendment to the county’s six-year transportation improvement plan to add $151,000 from the Federal Highway Infrastructure program, part of a planned allocation that sent $18.1 million to counties around the state. The $151,000 will be added to what is estimated to be a $5.5 million Almota Road reconstruction project which is expected to be done this summer. A 13.5 percent match from the county’s road department fund is required for the pro...
The Oakesdale girls had four days off from practice over Christmas and then regrouped to win the Reardan tournament Dec. 28-29. Opening with a 55-38 win over the hosts, Logan Reed led with 25 points while Lizzy Perry added 14 and freshman guard Bree Rawls 13. Rawls has started the last three games. The next day, Oakesdale met Inchelium in the final of the four-team tournament, winning 53-42 as Reed scored 21 points and Perry 16. Oakesdale (9-1, 3-1) will play next at home Friday against Genesee...
The Oakesdale boys went to the Reardan tournament Dec. 27-28 and lost in the first round to the hosts. Reardan led by four points at halftime, then by one at the end of the third quarter before Oakesdale took a two-point lead with three minutes left in the game. Struggling to score after that, they soon had to foul and the Gorillas made free throws, winning 49-41. Evan Henning led Oakesdale with 12 points while Jacob Himes scored nine. Oakesdale 56, St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse 14 After the...
Whitman County Commissioners approved a resolution Dec. 17 to add $2 per hour in wages for all Public Works employees, union and non-union, following a presentation Nov. 19 by Jeff Stehr, District 1 superintendent, asking for a pay increase to help retain and hire employees. The increase will take effect Jan. 1, pending union approval. Stehr presented a spreadsheet of local workers who have left the county in recent years for higher-paying jobs with farmers, ranchers, Washington State...
The Garfield/Palouse boys blew out Colton for the second time in just over a week, Dec. 22, this time in the consolation round of the Wildcats’ Christmas tournament. Ely Hawkins scored 16 points and 10 rebounds while Tanner Anderson added 13 points, six rebounds and four steals in the 68-42 win. Caden Sanderson, another Gar/Pal senior, added 12 points, helping push the Vikings’ lead in the second half. Parker Druffel scored 17 points for Colton in the loss while Reece Chadwick had 14. The Vik...
The final of the Colton Christmas tournament was a present. The No. 1-ranked RPI girls team in Washington from 1B met the No. 1 for 2B and it came down to the last possession. Colton (8-0, 3-0) won 56-54 over Wahkiakum (9-1, 1-0) after the Mules missed a reverse lay-up with seven seconds left. The Wildcats came down with the rebound and ran out the clock. Emily Schultheis scored 17 points to lead Colton while Jordyn Moehrle and Dakota Patchen each had 16. Moehrle scored 13 of her points in the...
