Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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St. John is gearing up for its annual Taco Trauma event this weekend. The event began 28 years ago as a fundraiser for the St. John Community Club. Jim Van Lith got together with then Rialto Tavern owners Jerry and Vera Parrish with the idea. “He approached them with an idea for a taco feed, and they started a taco feed,” said Amanda Webb, one of the coordinators for the event. A lot has changed in the 28 years since Taco Trauma first made its debut in St. John. The location is one change, with the event having moved from the Rialto Tavern to t... Full story
The doors have closed on the Dusty Country Store, and it is now for sale. Proprietor Randy Scheideman of LaCrosse said he hopes to find a new operator as soon as possible. “We’ve been there 12 years, and it was just time to move on,” he said. Scheideman opened the store at the junction of Highways 26 and 127, and he said the spot was a good one with motorists traveling on both highways. “It’s been good business,” he commented. Scheideman said the building had been in his family for a long time prior to its days as the Dusty Country Store. “I r...
With the death of longtime Port Commissioner Dan Boone Thursday, March 2, the Port of Whitman County is now seeking a commissioner to fill the remainder of Boone’s term. The two remaining commissioners are expected to make the appointment. Boone, 89, had served on the Port commission since 2000, and he was in the final year of his third six-year term. He also served two four-year terms as a county commissioner from 1980-1988. At their regular monthly Port meeting the morning of Boone’s death, Port commissioners and staff made note of his pas...
When Whitman County Auditor Eunice Coker received a call from the Shelton Police Department two weeks ago and was informed that former county Finance Director Cinnamon Brown had been arrested in Shelton on embezzlement charges, she was both surprised and nervous. “At first, I wasn’t real calm,” said Coker. Coker Tuesday advised county commissioners an internal audit investigation has been launched here to see if any fraud was committed here during Brown’s three-year stint as finance director. So far they have not found anything, the auditor...
Glory Dickerson, left, and Morgan Stanley at the 2016 S.T.E.A.M. night in St. John. Lucas Elkins shows off a project to a youngster in St. John last year. St. John/Endicott schools will be displaying student work at a Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Art (S.T.E.A.M.) night next week in the St. John gym. Principal Mark Purvine said elementary students will set up as many as 21 exhibits the morning of Thursday, March 9, and a group of judges from Washington State University and the... Full story
Washington State Department of Licensing recently unveiled a new driver license, identification card and temporary license format. The new formats began rolling out Monday, Feb. 13. Features of a new driver license and ID card include color headers which distinguish the standard driver license from ID cards, with a driver license having a blue header, ID cards having a violet header, an enhanced driver license being salmon and an enhanced identification card being green. Additional security features are incorporated; the image of the state...
The proposal for a five-story mixed-used facility in downtown Pullman is set to go before Pullman's Board of Adjustment Thursday, March 9. Field Holdings LLC in Los Angeles has proposed the facility, called “Evolve on Main,” and has plans for three stories of apartments in the building, as well as two levels of parking and a retail space on the ground floor. The 42,000 square foot facility is proposed at the current site of the Washington Federal Bank on Main Street, and plans at one point called for the facility to extend to the site of the Ch... Full story
--Trevor Skelton This map shows the detour route during the Whitman Avenue reconstruction slated this summer. The project will close Whitman Avenue between Eighth and the south city limits. Road detours are indicated by the dashed lines and numbers one and two, with the one indicating the detour for truck traffic and two indicating the detour for through traffic. Rosalia's long-awaited Whitman Avenue reconstruction project has gone out to bid. The town last year went to bid for the project, but...
The stipulation for the Pullman School District to construct a secondary access road to the new Kamiak Elementary School prior to opening may have been solved last week. Several Pullman residents in January voiced concerns over the district's construction plans not including a secondary access road, and Pullman's Board of Adjustment ultimately approved the district's conditional use permit, with one of the conditions stating that the district construct a gravel road as a secondary access if there was not another access road already in place by... Full story
The Colfax Downtown Association has announced the first deadline date for storefront grant applications. The deadline is April 1. Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory said this will be the first round of awards, and funds are coming from the $2,500 grant recently awarded to the Downtown Association from Umpqua Bank. She said the $2,500 could end up being split among multiple applicants. “It will be $2,500 in the first round,” said Gregory. “The committee wanted to give out a grant now so that the people will have the chance to wo... Full story
This youngster, dancing at last year’s first ever First Thursday, will soon be able to pull out her dance moves again when First Thursday returns with larger bands this summer. The winter break is still in place for Colfax First Thursdays, but planning is well underway for this year's series of events. “We're way ahead of schedule,” said Valoree Gregory, Colfax unified executive director. “I think it's going to be a good time.” Set to return May 4, the opening First Thursday of the year is t...
Public forums last week in St. John and Endicott brought out approximately 100 residents over the course of two nights to discuss a potential sports cooperative with the St. John/Endicott and LaCrosse schools. The LaCrosse School District has asked to be able to officially join with St. John/Endicott for all sports. The district has cited declining participation numbers from its students, as well as for Washtucna and Kahlotus which had combined with LaCrosse in the past, but are now forming a cooperative with Ritzville. SJE Superintendent...
With the departure of former Colfax City Administrator Mike Rizzitiello and a lack of volunteers, the traditional Concrete River Festival in Colfax may be scratched this summer. City councilwoman Whitney Aguilar told the Gazette last weekend the annual festival is likely not going to happen, and the city will instead focus on supporting the Colfax Chamber and Downtown Association’s First Thursday events. “There’s just not someone there to do that,” Aguilar said of organizing Concrete River Festival. “As long as no one is willing to step up,...
Rendell Farley, Avista’s program manager of electric transportation, poses with the recently installed electric vehicle charging station in Rosalia. Motorists may not be able to fuel with gas at Rosalia’s former Texaco Station anymore, but thanks to Avista, they can fuel their vehicles with electricity. Rosalia officially became the first community in Whitman County to have an electric vehicle (EV) charging station last week. Avista Utilities, which installed a slow charger and a DC Fast Cha...
—Gordon Weeks photo, Shelton-Mason County Journal Cinnamon Brown at a Shelton City Commission meeting last fall. Cinnamon Brown, former Whitman County finance director, was arrested Feb. 15 in Shelton on charges of forgery, theft, financial fraud and electronic data theft. Brown left her post here Aug. 31, 2016, and subsequently was hired as finance director for the City of Shelton Sept. 6, 2016. Brown, 33, was fired from that position just two months later on Nov. 14 due to poor job p... Full story
The Port of Whitman County is in the process of planning a new event to bring more attention to the river system. The Snake River Family Festival has been scheduled for Saturday, May 20. “It's just to highlight the multipurpose river system that we believe is important to us,” said Linda Olson, Port secretary. The event will educate the public on the importance of the Snake and Columbia River system. There will be vendors, food, live music and other activities, Olson said. The festival will be at Boyer Park and Marina. An informational fly...
March Madness is set to hit Colfax businesses next week. The month-long event is meant to encourage shopping locally. “If you buy something at one of the businesses that has the cards, you get a scratch ticket,” said Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory. A winning scratch ticket, indicated by “win” appearing once the ticket is scratched, can be entered to win $250 worth of gift cards to local businesses at the end of the month. “If you get a winning ticket, you can bring that down to the Perkins House or have businesses turn it i...
An effort to establish a retail marijuana shop just west of the Washington-Idaho border on the Pullman-Moscow Highway took an advance recently with the retailer acquiring the site. The building and property sold for $750,000. The retail shop has been proposed at the former Crossroads Nursery site on the north side of the highway east of the Pullman-Moscow Airport Road. A conditional use permit for the shop was approved by the Whitman County Board of Adjustment in October 2016, and the shop, once opened, will be approximately 4,500 feet from...
In another effort to get locals shopping downtown, the Colfax Downtown Association has released a new mobile phone application that can offer incentives to shoppers. Colfax Insider was released recently in the Google Play and Apple App stores and is available on Android and iOS devices. “Colfax Insider is the app that rewards you for exploring Colfax, Washington, the Heart of the Palouse,” the app description reads. “The more places you visit around Colfax, the more points you can earn and redeem for goods or services at rewards locat... Full story
Tom Kammerzell shared this photo to show how well the airport’s wetland mitigation is working on his property. Water is shown collecting following recent snow melt and rainfall. Last week, Tom Kammerzell reported that the wetland mitigation related to the Pullman-Moscow Runway Realignment is working as it was designed to. Kammerzell shared photos with the Gazette of water collecting from recent snow melt and rainfall at the mitigation site. “During that floodwater, it was dissipating just the...
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDWF) recently received a report of a possible wolf sighting in Endicott, but the department was unable to confirm the sighting. A report was received in January of two wolves being spotted in or near Endicott over the course of two days, with tracks observed and spotted in the snow. Madonna Luers, public information officer for the WDFW eastern region, told the Gazette the sighting was not able to be confirmed, though it is not impossible. “We’ve had legitimate wolf sightings in Whitman Cou... Full story
The Town of Rosalia had the lone failing levy proposal in the Feb. 14 special election, with election night returns showing the street fund levy at approximately 54 percent approval. The levy needed 60 percent to pass. Rosalia Mayor Nanette Konishi told the Gazette the town will plan to try again on its levy in November. “We knew going in that there was a chance it wouldn’t pass,” said Konishi. “It’s always difficult to run a levy in February because you don’t get the same turnout you would in the November election.” The town chose to run... Full story
Hoping to discuss the county's plan to address state audit findings and recommendations made by the Government Finance Officers Association, county commissioners Tuesday invited Auditor Eunice Coker to a meeting in their chambers. “We're trying to move the process forward with the GFOA recommendations, and there's some steps that need to be taken in order to get the system up and all the departments communicating,” said Commissioner Dean Kinzer. The commissioners last month made the invitation to Coker to meet with them Tuesday this week, and...
The City of Moscow is seeking poster art for the 2017 Moscow Farmers Market and has put out a call for local artists to submit designs. The call is open to any age group, but entrants are required to reside within a 200 air mile radius of Moscow. Entries are due to the city and Farmers Market Commission by Monday, April 3, at 5 p.m. Only one entry per person is allowed. Entrants are asked to include several items in a poster design, including the text 'Moscow Farmers Market' (without an apostrophe in Farmers), 'May through October 2017,'...
William Corder, LaCrosse postmaster, poses with the 125-year anniversary cake at a celebration marking the milestone Feb. 1. The LaCrosse station was the first site of the LaCrosse post office in 1892 when it opened its doors 125 years ago. LaCrosse was served by two trains per day for passengers to Connell on the Columbia and Palouse railroad. Photo was donated to WSU Libraries by the Broyles family and is courtesy of the Whitman County Rural Heritage collection. The cost of postage changed... Full story
