Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 376 - 400 of 2119
The Garfield/Palouse girls and their four returning starters have begun the season with wins over Potlatch and Tekoa/Rosalia, and a loss to Pomeroy. Back for 2019-20 for the Vikings are Paige Collier, now a junior point guard; Lexi Brantner, a senior guard; Kenzi Pederson, sophomore post, and Macy Brantner, another sophomore post (Lexi’s sister). In the fifth spot is Madi Cloninger, a sophomore guard, who filled in last year when Lexi Brantner was injured. The team is coached by Garrett P...
Oakesdale and Garfield/Palouse are both 2-0 in league with more games this weekend before Christmas tournament play. Oakesdale (5-0 overall, 2-0 league) first is set to play at Asotin Thursday – a rematch from Dec. 3 which Oakesdale won – followed by a Friday league game at home against Pomeroy (1-4, 1-1). Then it is on to the Reardan tournament Dec. 27-28 followed by a home matchup with 2B Colfax Jan. 2. Garfield/Palouse (4-1, 2-0) played at Troy Monday, winning 41-35, and will be at Col...
Rick Wekenman, 19-year Palouse city council veteran, cast his last vote Tuesday night, capping one of the longest terms in the town's history. Appointed in the years after the flood of 1996, Wekenman saw a myriad of issues and acted as mayor pro-tem since his second year in office. He was appointed in 2000, after serving on the planning commission. "It's been a long haul, we've seen a lot of good things happen in those 19 years," said Wekenman, who retires at the same time as Michael Echanove,...
The Town of Garfield aims to call for bids in January for tear-down and removal of remaining mobile homes at its trailer park located across from the city park. Once cleared, the town will open an RV park at the site. The process began early last year after Mayor Jarrod Pfaff returned to office after four years away. The town bought the park, which now holds six trailers, for $45,000. "It's still in progress," Pfaff said. "Everybody is tired of looking at it. And it's become a bit of a drug...
The Jones boys return to stalk the gyms of southeast Washington. Blake, a senior forward, and Austin, the junior point guard at Garfield/Palouse, start together for the third year, returning after last year ended at Spokane Arena with an opening round loss at the state 1B tournament. The team graduated eight seniors, known for their size and brawn, including all-league forward Tanner Anderson. Back this year is junior post Jacob Anderson, Tanner’s brother, who began last season on the J.V. and w...
Is a train-a-comin' from Oakesdale? They lost four starters from last year but is it time nonetheless to reinforce the walls of gyms around the Southeast 1B league? At 3-0 to start the year, with two wins over 2B schools, the even-handed Nighthawks have suggested more is to come. "The biggest thing is the consistency with which we've played, in competing on both ends of the floor," said Oakesdale Coach Carl Crider, following a Tuesday night home win over Lind/Ritzville/Sprague. "The way we're...
The newest of a new season has begun for Colton girls basketball, with just one returning starter for the Wildcats, coming off their tenth state 1B championship in 11 years. Coach Clark Vining again leads the team, in his 15th season, with an overall record of 338-40. Gone is the three-player core that made an impact as freshmen and starred since: guards Dakota Patchen and Jordyn Moehrle and forward Emily Schultheis. With them was post Abby Kelly, a two-year starter and another 2019 graduate....
Down by a point Tuesday night with less than 20 seconds to go, Oakesdale had three attempts near the basket but could not get a last shot to fall against Lind/Ritzville/Sprague. Oakesdale then fouled with .04 remaining. The foul was ruled intentional, giving four free throws to the Broncos, with possession. The shooter made one for a final score of 49-47 LRS. Freshman wing Jessie Reed led the Nighthawks with 14 points and seven rebounds while Lizzy Perry, senior point guard, had 13 points and Ju...
Bill Grimes from SCJ Alliance Consulting Services in Spokane spoke to county commissioners Monday about a new study of the Palouse to Cascades Trail – formerly known as the John Wayne Iron Horse Trail. Following last spring's approval by the state legislature to fund $1.8 million of trail resurfacing work from Malden to Rosalia, and $1.7 million to repair and re-open the Tekoa trestle, Grimes' firm was hired by the Washington State Department of Commerce five weeks ago to evaluate what may c...
The Palouse city council has approved the sale of its riverfront Brownfields site, the Main Street lot which was the subject of a state and federal environmental cleanup of a former gas station. A group of six residents, three couples, got together two months ago to plan a proposal to include a new building for TLC Animal Care, office and living space for rent and a brewery. “I think the proposal met the spirit of the cleanup,” said Michael Echanove, Palouse mayor. “Integrating that site back...
The St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse boys basketball team is back on the floor for 2019-20 but something is different. They return three seniors, including T.J. Harder, who missed almost all of last year with a foot injury. New coach Mike Stubbs takes over after being an assistant last year. But that’s not it. Kameron Greenhalgh, the Eagles’ 6’7” junior center is not in uniform. “He will not dress tonight,” said Coach Stubbs before the team’s first game Tuesday against Dayton/Waitsburg. “He has been...
On a Saturday last August in Pullman, a Lentil Festival parade entry rounded the corner of Main Street. A scattering of claps rose. Was it a small, unfamiliar non-profit? The Pullman junior soccer league kids? The Rising Stars Dance Studio? It was the Washington State Cougars football team, coming off an 11-win season. If you closed your eyes, or bent down to tie your shoe as they passed, you wouldn't have known it. Why? Why the muted reception for this team? It was similar to other recent...
With a renewed grant and six-fold increase of employees in the last five years, the Palouse Conservation District has grown and looks to sustain its current level. Based in Pullman, one of four conservation districts in Whitman County, the non-regulatory agencies work with landowners to help comply with Washington State Department of Ecology rules. Each county in Washington has at least one conservation district, most with one to two. Whitman County, which founded the first conservation...
The City of Palouse is at work on its 2020 budget, with Mayor Michael Echanove submitting a proposal Nov. 12 which includes raises above the three-percent-for-all-staff planned for three years ago. He asked for eight percent for Dwayne Griffin, Public Works superintendent; 10 percent for Mike Wolf, Public Works assistant, and six percent for Kyle Dixon, city administrator, and Ann Thompson, city clerk. The city council's personnel committee met on the subject earlier. In front of the full...
The Colfax school board Monday approved a two-year maintenance and operations levy which will go before district voters in February. The levy for 2021 and 2022 would collect $900,000 per year. The board approved the number Monday night after a volunteer committee decided on it in two meetings this fall with input from Superintendent Jerry Pugh and Business Manager Reece Jenkin. The estimated levy rate would be $1.97 per thousand dollars of assessed property valuation in 2021 and $1.91 per thousa...
The Oakesdale boys return to the basketball floor next Tuesday night, Dec. 3, against Asotin. The season opener follows the 2018-19 run which concluded at Spokane Arena on the fourth day of the 1B state tournament, for a sixth-place finish. Gone are the four seniors that powered it – Kieron Anderson, Wesley Castanon, Evan Henning and Jacob Himes. Back is now-senior (point) guard Matt Hockett – bigger and stronger coming off an all-league football season playing for Colfax – his brother Kit,...
The City of Palouse will consider a major jump to its water and sewer hookup fees for new buildings after a report given Nov. 12 by the city council’s water and sewer committee. Chairman Bill Slinkard briefed the rest of the council about a meeting a week earlier by the three-member committee, including Slinkard, councilman and mayor-elect Chris Cook and John Snyder. The committee looked at rates and fee structures for water and sewer hookups for Garfield, Colfax, Pullman and Moscow, and c...
Whitman County mayors and other officials met for a mayors' roundtable Nov. 14 at the community center in Palouse. Special guest was Dennis Vermillion, president and CEO of Avista. The assembled sat for a catered dinner, then listened to presentations from Palouse Wind/Novatus Energy, Community Action Center, Port of Whitman and others. Pat Caramente, Bruce Kerr and Katie Pellez from Novatus were introduced by host Paul Kimmell, regional business manager of Avista. Caramente told of how Novatus...
Pomeroy beat Oakesdale for the WIAA 1B state championship in Yakima Nov. 15 by a score of 16-14 in the fifth. The best-of-five championship match between the two teams in the same league started with Pomeroy up 2-0 before Oakesdale escaped a sweep in the third game. The four-time defending state champions took the fourth with little problem and it went to a fifth. It was the fourth time the Southeast 1B league rivals played this fall; the first a home Pomeroy sweep of Oakesdale, the second a...
Veterans were honored at assemblies Friday, Nov. 8, in Garfield and Steptoe. Ozzie Knezkovich, US Army, retired, spoke at Garfield Middle School. He is the Spokane County Sheriff. "We are about to hand off the torch. I apologize for the condition of the torch you are being given," he said. "... I challenge you to reunite this nation." The Garfield assembly included rows of veterans, called to stand, if able. Special honoree Jerold W. Powell, a veteran of the Philippines was in World War II. The...
The Whitman County Public Works Department and County Commissioners will consider area paved roads that may need work as the biennial state County Road Administration Board (CRAB) submission period approaches. Counties around the state submit proposals for funding every other year, with a deadline in January. Mark Storey, Public Works director, asked commissioners for input at their regular session Nov. 4. Two years ago, Whitman County submitted for and received funding of $2.5 million to go to...
Whitman County Commissioners approved Nov. 4 an update to the county's critical areas ordinance – adding five definitions that were inadvertently left out of the document's April 1 final draft. Joan Folwell, Steptoe Butte native and a Palouse prairie landowner, and David Hall of Palouse Prairie Foundation appeared in support at last week's hearing, and Mark Storey, Whitman County Public Works director, suggested commissioners approve. The critical areas ordinance, by state mandate, covers w...
Oakesdale and Pomeroy met for the district volleyball championship match Nov. 9 at tournament host Pomeroy and Oakesdale won 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19. The Nighthawks now advance to state in Yakima, beginning Thursday, as District Nine's top seed. Pomeroy goes as the no. 2. At the SunDome, Oakesdale, the four-time defending state champions, will open the tournament with a first round match against Providence Classical Christian (Bothell) at 8 a.m. Thursday. If they win, they play the winner of...
Tekoa city council has set a bid opening for Nov. 18, for proposals from small-works contractors to tear down the Cohn Motors building – the red-brick former auto dealership whose roof caved in by snow in January 2017. Tekoa Mayor Troy Wilson reported Nov. 11 that one bid has been received. “The council will have some tough decisions in the coming months,” Wilson said. Kynda Browning, Tekoa city clerk, made calls Nov. 5 to the town's small works roster to invite bids. Whitman County Super...
The Garfield Plaza and In-Convenience Store has sold and re-opened Oct. 31 under a new name, the Schaut Market. Sonja Hall founded the store in 2015 in a former storage room of Mitz’s Cabinets. “We were getting successful to the point of incorporation, big loans and needing to hire employees,” Hall said. “My kids, the more successful it got, the more they were pushed to the side.” Discussions began in mid-October with Connie and John Schaut. “It happened pretty quick,” said Connie. “Sell...
