Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 251 - 275 of 934
RJ Shirey and Raeanna Lopes hold newborn son Nathan in this selfie photo. Raeanna Lopes, 19, poses with the radio flyer wagon given to the first baby of the new year. Nathan Erickson Shirey was born to Lopes and RJ Shirey Jan. 5. The first baby of 2017 arrived at the Whitman Hospital and Medical Center last week. Nathan Erickson Shirey was born Thursday, Jan. 5, at the hospital to Raeanna Lopes, 19, and RJ Shirey, 20. Lopes and Shirey reside in Tekoa. Tekoa is also home to 2016's first baby at...
A familiar face has joined the staff at the Port of Whitman. Colfax Attorney Bruce Ensley, who has served as the Port attorney since 1978, has been hired part time by the Port to continue his attorney duties there. Up until the new year, Ensley worked with the Libey & Ensley law office here. With Gary Libey now serving as superior court judge, the office has ceased operations and sent most of its case load to the Carpenter, McGuire & DeWulf law firm, which is in the process of remodeling the former Glaser's building as a new office space....
Boots, a wheelchair and a crutch were set up in the hallway of the St. Ignatius Hospital during the initial round of ghost hunts in October 2015. Several items found in the abandoned building were staged around the hospital during the tours. When The Learning Channel's Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman traveled to Colfax last August to spend 72 hours locked in the St. Ignatius Hospital building, they were not quite sure what to expect. The hosts of ‘Paranormal Lockdown’ met Colfax’s Unified Execu...
Adverse driving conditions have been presented by winter storms in the Palouse and surrounding areas. Two WSU students were killed in separate crashes over the weekend as they attempted to return to school, and one WSU student was killed during the winter break in an accident in winter conditions. Two of the students died on State Route 26. With the deaths of two Washington State University students as they traveled back to school for the start of the spring semester, WSU President Kirk Schulz...
Colfax Fire & Rescue volunteers who will participate in the Meals on Wheels deliveries this month are, from left, Esther Tate, Scott Kruse, David Buckley, Tim Tingley and Randy Miller. When Paige Collins, executive director at Council on Aging and COAST, sent out a plea for volunteers to deliver lunch for Meals on Wheels for an entire month, she might not have been able to imagine the new delivery truck: the Colfax fire department's brush truck, the pickup which is used for quick response to...
Rosalia School District’s three-year levy proposal on the Feb. 14 ballot is intended to provide funding for capital improvements over the next three years. The special levy approach is intended to take the place of a bond issue which carries an interest expense, according to Rosalia Superintendent Larry Keller. The district’s current bond expires at the end of 2017, and the levy, if approved, would actually be five cents less per $1,000 of assessed valuation when it appears in 2018 for the first of a three-year run. “This capital levy is in li...
Sara Joplin, left, and Daquarii Rock purchased the former Seasons Restaurant space in Pullman and are opening an event center there. A historic house and one-time restaurant in Pullman will re-open its doors to the public this weekend for an open house. The house has been vacant for more than 15 years. The Seasoned House, first constructed 125 years ago in 1892 – the earliest days of Washington State College – served as a parsonage to two churches formerly located on the property. In 1970, Sea...
Ronda and Dave Winstead have been married for 28 years. The couple has lived in Whitman County for six years. Trading the big city for a smaller town life, Ronda Winstead and her husband Dave moved to Pullman about six-and-a-half years ago when Dave’s job brought them here. “We came from the Denver area,” Ronda said. “It’s a lot smaller here!” A small city was not entirely unfamiliar to Ronda, though. She grew up in a small town in Utah, and she found the return to a smaller community a...
The Secretary of State’s elections division last week released statistics on voting age population relating to the November General Election. The state estimates 5,557,921 residents make up the state’s voting age population, and nearly 77 percent of those are registered (4,270,270). Among registered voters, nearly 79 percent submitted ballots for the General Election (3,363,440). Compared to the voting age population, though, approximately 60.5 percent of the state turned out. The elections division also broke down the vote by age and gen...
The Palouse Clearwater Food Coalition has booked a food summit for local producers in Moscow Friday, Jan. 27, and SE Washington Economic Development Association wants to help Whitman County producers attend. “SEWEDA is offering a scholarship to Whitman County residents,” said Sarah McKnight, SEWEDA director. The price range to attend is $15 to $200, and SEWEDA is offering $25 per person to attend. McKnight said depending on how many inquire about scholarships, the amount could go up to $50 to $100. The food summit is themed with the value of...
The St. John Community Club wants to support the art department at St. John, and the group has planned an art night to do just that. Amanda Webb with the community club said the group is planning “For Art Sake!”, an event that will allow participants to paint a winter scene. Travis Echanove, second year art teacher at St. John, will guide participants through the painting. “This came about as some of us community members wanting to bring this kind of event to St. John,” said Webb. For Art Sake! is planned for Saturday, Jan. 14, startin...
With the beginning of a new year, the Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to make a change in its seating chart. Former chairperson Michael Largent motioned at the beginning of the meeting for Commissioner Art Swannack to move into the chairperson seat and Commissioner Dean Kinzer to move to vice chair, while he would move to the third chair. “At this point in time, I'd like to move,” Largent said. With a second coming from Kinzer after a few silent seconds, the commissioners moved as indicated. “This is the spot I was many years at be...
The Pullman-Moscow Runway Realignment Project is on hiatus for the winter, but the project is still moving forward in other ways. The airport recently acquired more land that will help in the completion of the overall project. Pullman-area farmer Keith Kopf recently sold approximately 40 acres to the City of Pullman for the purpose of the project. Another Pullman resident, Carol Jorstad, also sold approximately 65 acres for the project. Airport Administrator Tony Bean explained that land sales have to be conducted through the city rather than...
The St. John Heritage Museum is planning a bingo night for anyone in St. John this weekend. Bingo is slated at the town hall on Sunday, Jan. 8, and it will be a fundraiser night for the museum. “It’s to keep our museum going,” said Linda Hayes, town clerk. “We’ve had to completely start with the bottom for that building with the museum. We’ve been at it several years.” The St. John Heritage Museum houses several displays including a veteran’s area, a metal and bronze sculpture display from a local artist, paintings, farm pictures and to...
If the latest proposed housing developments in Pullman go through, some residents will find themselves listing their address near Highway 195. One of the developments is proposed at the intersection of Highway 195 and Old Wawawai Road. This development, if approved, would be on approximately 50 acres of land recently annexed into the City of Pullman. “It’s right up against the city boundary,” said Jason Radtke, assistant city planner for Pullman. In June, Ed Greer, owner of Germain Farms LLC, asked the Pullman Planning Commission to annex...
With the ink barely dried on the November General Election, attention is moving to the upcoming special election slated for Feb. 14. Towns and school districts have already submitted proposals for local voters to consider. The elections office has announced voter registration deadlines for the upcoming election. Address updates for those who have moved need to be completed on or before Jan. 16. This can be accomplished online through the Secretary of State website. Voters who are new to the state or voting for the first time can register up to...
Pullman could soon have some new parking and apartment options downtown, as well as added commercial space. Fields Holdings LLC of Los Angeles has proposed a mixed-use facility at the current site of Washington Federal Bank on Pullman's Main Street. “College communities are attractive to a lot of real estate developers,” said Pete Dickinson, Pullman's planning director. “This group has also built or proposed other similar developments in other college towns.” The proposed 42,000-square foot facility would house 8,500 square feet of commerc...
Zach Watson, left, collects water samples with children in the south Sudan. Watson lived in the south Sudan while doing humanitarian work. This tent and tukul served as an office and home for Watson’s work in the south Sudan. Watson, center, assists with a well drill project in Uganda. Zach Watson has spent much of the last six years abroad. He has found himself in South Sudan, Pakistan and Iraq, working in humanitarian work, striving to make a difference for the people there. Now, Watson is b...
Colfax Chamber of Commerce has changed its membership offerings, creating four membership levels with different incentives. Previously, the Chamber had different levels based on how many employees a business had. “Everyone was kind of getting the same benefits for different costs,” said Valoree Gregory, Colfax unified executive director. “Now we can show what you're getting from your membership.” The basic membership package, at a cost of $85, has four incentives. Those incentives are included in all membership levels and include a membership d...
The Arthur and Amelia Broeckel farm is shown circa 1984 in this fly over photo. The farm last week was officially listed as a Whitman County Century Farm. Photos courtesy of Karen Broeckel. This barn sits on the Arthur and Amelia Broeckel farm in the Dusty area. Though it is unknown exactly how old the barn is, it was already on the property when Philip Broeckel purchased it in 1914. The barn is on the Washington state historic barn registry. Arthur and Amelia Broeckel (front) are shown with...
An emergency communications loan was passed at the Board of County Commissioners meeting Monday, Dec. 19. The loan, totaling $500,000, was passed to upgrade Whitcom systems. “It's a loan for radio improvements,” Bill Tensfeld, emergency management director, said. “It will improve law and EMS communications, and it will be paid back in 2019 and 2020.” Tensfeld told the Gazette the current system has been “piece mealed over the years as needs arise.” “We have microwave radio equipment that's end of life,” he said. Tensfeld explained that...
In just a few days, the increase in minimum wage will be official statewide, and minimum wage employees will start earning $11 per hour. Washington voters in November passed Initiative 1433, raising the minimum wage in 2017 to $11, in 2018 to $11.50, in 2019 to $12 and in 2020 to $13.50. The initiative was passed with a 57 percent yes vote statewide, although voters in eastern and central Washington rejected the measure. All but three western Washington counties approved the measure with 70 percent approval in King County and 67 percent approva...
Colfax Mayor Todd Vanek wants to see a portion of the state’s marijuana retail sales tax benefit Colfax. Stating that Colfax sees the impacts of legal marijuana sales, the mayor said he hopes to see some of the sales tax revenue come here. “The possibility is up to the legislature, but we are obviously a corridor that has to deal with potentially impaired drivers,” Vanek said. He added it is difficult to tell how exactly Colfax has been impacted since marijuana retail stores have operated in and around Pullman with the legalization of recre...
As Malden passed its 2017 operating budget at its town council meeting Dec. 13, some thoughts were turned to the future. “Revenue is dropping,” said Karen Wallace, town clerk/treasurer. While discussing the revenues for the town, Wallace also mentioned that it may be time for Malden to start looking into attracting businesses. “We have no plans right now,” she told the Gazette. “But we need to attract businesses.” Wallace said the financial woes in Malden are a result of a two-revenue stream budget: property taxes and state-sent money. “We...
The Washington State Auditor's Office reported Dec. 15 that it was unable to audit the Whitman County Water Conservancy Board because the group failed to provide financial statements to the auditor's office. The letter stated that the board did not submit annual financial reports during a two-year period dating Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2015. It noted that failure to submit the reports is a violation of state law. “Without reporting and responding to our inquiry, the Board is unable to demonstrate accountability for its operations, and we...
