Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 934
Rosalia Mayor Nanette Konishi reported this week the town is still seeking a food pantry location. The pantry was closed indefinitely last August when it became difficult to find a location for the operation. The pantry had operated at the Baptist church, but the church was no longer able to house it, Mayor Konishi reported last September. She has looked at other churches in town, but none of them have the electrical capacity for the pantry freezer, she said. In the meantime, she said the town has been working with the Community Action Center...
Rosalia Mayor Nanette Konishi has continued to be active in the 2017 legislative session, so far making three trips to Olympia since the session began Jan. 9. “We're on our way there right now,” Konishi told the Gazette Monday, Feb. 13. In the past, the town has been present in Olympia for action days, but this year has been present for not only action days but was also asked to testify in favor of House Bill 1702 regarding legislation to update port district authority for fiber installation and leasing and is also lobbying for support for Hou...
The Town of Lamont is seeking an engineering firm for assistance on town projects. The town sent out its request last week. “We haven't done this for a very long time,” said Ginny Rajala, Lamont's clerk/treasurer. The town last year was visited by a Transportation Improvement Board (T.I.B) consultant who recommended chip sealing projects on roads and pointed out some water issues in the town, Rajala said. With projects likely coming up, the town council has decided it is time to hire professional help. “As a council, we thought it'd be good...
Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory, left, is presented a $2,500 check donation by Umpqua employee Emma Klaveano. The bank recently awarded Colfax Downtown Association the grant to help with establishing a storefront grant program for downtown businesses. The Colfax Downtown Association was recently awarded a $2,500 grant from Umpqua Bank to help in establishing its downtown storefront improvement grant fund. The grant was awarded after Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree...
Circa 1915 on Main Street in LaCrosse at the Chatauqua celebration which brought many people to town and packed the street with automobiles. LaCrosse was incorporated approximately two years after this photo was taken. Photo from the private collection of Anne Pierce Aslin and courtesy of the Whitman County Rural Heritage collection. This weekend, LaCrosse will officially be 100 years old. The community became an incorporated town of Whitman County on Feb. 19, 1917. An article in The Colfax...
St. John/Endicott Cooperative Schools have been meeting with the LaCrosse School District for the last several months to discuss a potential sports cooperative between the districts, and public meetings are scheduled in St. John and Endicott next week to discuss the SJE Cooperative boards’ proposal. LaCrosse district has cited declining participation numbers in its partnership with Washtucna and Kahlotus, as well as the potential of Washtucna and Kahlotus moving their sports programs to a cooperative with Ritzville. “It’s a project that the sch...
Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport board has opened the bidding process to start the next phase of the runway realignment project. The project was shut down after several months of moving dirt and completing contour work. Airport Administrator Tony Bean last November told the Gazette everything was on track with the project prior to the planned winter shutdown. He also said at that time he expected the new bid package to be awarded around March. M.A. DeAtley Construction out of Clarkston completed the first phase, and Ryan Bergstrom, consultant...
Endicott Town Council has been discussing unused buildings at its recent sessions with the discussion focusing on the possibility of condemning abandoned buildings and houses in the town. Mayor David Bilow told the Gazette some residents have come forth with concerns regarding buildings. “There’s a group of vocal residents who are rightfully wanting these cleaned up,” he said. The mayor said he is not sure which direction the town, which is on a tight budget, should go at this time. “If it does become successful to condemn the buildin...
Avista Utilities has been working with the Town of Rosalia to bring an electric vehicle (EV) charger to the community, and it is now ready to show the equipment to the public. Avista is sponsoring a commissioning event in Rosalia next week where there will be a light luncheon and a forum to learn about the future of electric vehicles. The commissioning event is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 22, at the Texaco Chamber Visitor Center on Whitman Avenue. The visitor center is the site of the first DC Fast Charger in Whitman County. Rosalia was...
Umpqua bank will host a small business day next month in support of small, local businesses. The event is set with eight local vendors. “We haven't done something like this in the past, but it's something that Umpqua Bank does to support businesses,” said Sam Melcher, banker with the Colfax branch. Melcher said the Moscow branch has done something similar, and the Colfax branch is now following suit. “We thought it would be a good idea to help vendors out and get their names out,” she said. The vendor list is already set, but there will li...
The Palouse Falls Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute has planned its annual Palouse Canyon hike and slated the date for March 11. Registration is open now through March 6. Leading the hike will be Lloyd Stoess, chapter president, and Gene Kiver, a geologist. They will take hikers up the Palouse Canyon to Palouse Falls, emphasizing the story of the Ice Age floods and local Native American and settlement history as they go. The hike is eight miles up the canyon, and according to the event poster, is rated as a difficult hike with “nearly s...
Commissioners from the Port of Whitman and Whitman County met Monday at the courthouse and discussed legislation the Port is supporting for refined telecommunications authority. Present at the meeting were all three county commissioners, two Port commissioners, Public Works Director Mark Storey, County Administrator Gary Petrovich and Maribeth Becker, clerk of the commissioners. Port Commissioner Dan Boone was absent due to illness. Port Commissioner Tom Kammerzell shared with the county that Ninth District Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, has introdu...
The Pullman Board of Adjustment deliberates at the conditional use hearing for Kamiak Elementary School Jan. 19. That meeting was extended to Feb. 2, and the board was able to make a decision on the permit at that time. Pullman's Board of Adjustment last Thursday, Feb. 2, approved an application from the Pullman School District for construction of Kamiak Elementary School. The four board members present unanimously approved the application following a brief discussion. The school district's...
--Jay Scholz photo In this undated Battle Days picture, the car show overtakes Whitman Avenue in Rosalia. The Chamber of Commerce there has recently changed its structure and is preparing for the upcoming Battle Days, as well as seeking to help revitalize the town and surrounding communities. The Rosalia Chamber of Commerce recently appointed a new president, and she is ready to get to work for the town and the surrounding communities. “I'm a recent transplant to Rosalia, and we're excited a...
Tekoa requested and was granted an extension for its project to renovate the community center, which is the site of the former Jaycees Club and is adjacent to the Empire Theater. Tekoa last April was awarded county .09 funds to complete the project, which will include linking the two properties by adding a walkway and constructing new restrooms in the community hall to allow easier access than the current theater restrooms, which are down a narrow staircase in a basement below the theater’s lobby. At present, the nearest handicap-accessible r...
The public comment period concluded this week for the Columbia Snake River dam operations, following several public sessions. The Port of Whitman submitted a letter last week to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in regard to the matter. The public sessions were slated after a federal judge’s ruling re-opened the question of environmental impact of Columbia and Snake river dams. Judge Michael Simon, United States District Judge for Oregon, ruled in May of 2016 that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation had violated the N...
Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative (PNW) and Cooperative Agriculture (Co-Ag) have announced a merger of the two agricultural companies. PNW, which operates its corporate office in Genesee and another office in Colfax, and Co-Ag voted on the merger in December. “Both companies’ members voted, and there had to be a super majority on either side for it to pass,” said Bill Newbry, chief executive officer of PNW. Co-Ag operates its corporate office in Rosalia and also has offices in Oakes...
Status of the former St. Ignatius Hospital building in Colfax remains on hold after a pending sale stalled out in December, according to Valoree Gregory, Colfax unified executive director. The potential buyer reportedly hit a snag with the cost of doing an environmental assessment on the building. At that time, Gregory said she was working with building owner Anthony Girges and the potential buyer to see if the required environmental study could be completed so the building sale could go through. “The sale is still on hold,” Gregory said las...
After President Donald Trump Friday signed an executive order on immigration, banning travel to the U.S. by citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, suspending all refugee admission for 120 days and barring all Syrian refugees indefinitely, Pullman Public Schools issued a statement expressing its commitment to educate all students. “In light of recent events and concerns, Pullman Public Schools remains committed to serving all students. We believe that it is the right of every child, regardless of immigration status, to access a f...
Pete Koerner, proprietor of the Top Notch Café in Colfax, home of the world’s best burgers. Prior to arriving on the scene in Colfax, Pete Koerner lived and worked in several places across the country. Growing up with his father in the military, Pete was born in Jacksonville, Fla. His family moved several places during his childhood, and they arrived in Washington state in the '70s. Since college, he has worked in the food industry in one way or another. “I started as a dishwasher, back when...
The Hen House Chicks is back in business after nearly three weeks of closed doors. The business was forced to close after flooding in the basement of the building took out a furnace and left the building without heat. Tick Klock Drug and Palouse River Quilts also had minor flooding in their basements, but the Hen House Chicks had about three feet of water in its basement. “We had the lowest basement,” said Nancy Cochran, business owner. The flooding was the result of a water main break. During the business closure, Cochran would go to the sto...
County building inspector Dan Gladwill presented 2016's fourth quarter building permit report to the county commissioners Monday and reported that building permit applications were down. “We issued 38 building permits, have six pending and completed 73 inspections; 2016 was not a stellar year for building in Whitman County,” he said. Gladwill cited a lack of large projects, such as the McGregor plant and Time Warner Cable building from previous years, as a contributing factor to the decline. “There was not anything big and fluffy,” he said. ...
LaCrosse schools last week hosted a planning for the future night, and several community members came out to discuss the school's vision going forward. “We had about 42 people from the community there, which is a pretty good turnout for us,” said Doug Curtis, LaCrosse superintendent. The planning for the future night was booked so the school district could develop a vision for the future of the K-12 school. The meeting was part of the school board's plan to gain feedback for a three-to-five year vision plan. “We talked about academics and c...
A mumps outbreak in Spokane has put local health officials on alert, Public Health Director Troy Henderson reported to the Whitman County commissioners Monday. “Officially, Whitman County is at zero,” said Henderson. “There is a heightened sense of concern out there.” The state mumps outbreak started in western Washington late last year and moved its way into Spokane County by December. As of Jan. 26, the Washington State Department of Health reported 301 cases statewide, the majority of those centered in King County with 163 cases. The Spokane...
Mary and Kevin Davidson plan to open the doors to the Dusty Attic in Colfax. Mary and Kevin are shown here with an antique stove, dated 1910, that came from a carriage house in Butte, Mont. Colfax's newest business will open its doors for a soft opening Saturday. The Dusty Attic, an antique shop, will be operated at the former Sandbagger Tavern by Mary and Kevin Davidson, formerly of Buhl, Idaho. The couple in July purchased the building from Felipe and Luz Guitron of Colfax, and the couple,...
