Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The second Colfax First Thursday of the season is slated today, June 1, and it will feature live entertainment from the Hankers. The Hankers are a local country band, and they will be set up on the new Spring Street stage to provide the first in a series of live entertainment booked for each First Thursday through September. “They’ll be set up on Spring Street opposite of where we usually have it,” said Valoree Gregory, Colfax unified executive director. “It will be between Washington Federal and the quilt shop.” The First Thursday promotion...
The 48th annual Rosalia Battle Days is slated for this weekend, and it is booked with several new and old events. In January, a new president was appointed to the Rosalia Chamber of Commerce, and she has been working through the plans for the annual event with a committee. Oona McGuinness-Fischer, the Chamber president, moved to Rosalia last September from Spokane, and she said she wants to help people realize how great Rosalia is. “Oh my gosh, we do have a lot planned,” said McGuinness-Fischer. The weekend kicks off on Friday, June 2, wit... Full story
Map of top 10 finalists It is official. St. John has made the top 10 of the America’s Main Streets Contest, and the grand prize decision is now in the hands of the contest judges. “We are ecstatic,” said Amanda Webb, one of the organizers behind getting St. John into the contest. “So excited!” Webb, along with fellow organizers Jessiann Loomis and Valerie Brewer, found out about making the top 10 Tuesday morning. “I called Jessiann, and I said, ‘This is the time I start harassing you about you...
County high schools will graduate 129 seniors over the course of two weekends. The “pomp and circumstance” march will take place in seven rural county schools this weekend and at one next weekend. Also, Pullman High School will graduate 170 seniors on Saturday, June 10. Colton, Tekoa and St. John Endicott increased their graduating numbers by 12 collectively from last year. Colfax, LaCrosse, Oakesdale and Rosalia collectively dropped by 12. Garfield/Palouse stayed the same as last year. Up first in the graduation march will be Colfax, Col...
The Mason County trial of Cinnamon Brown, former Whitman County Finance Director, has been rescheduled. Brown, 33, had been scheduled for trial May 15 on fraud and forgery charges, but she did not show up in court for a May 1 pre-trial hearing. A warrant for her arrest was subsequently issued the following day, but that warrant was quashed on May 22 after her attorney presented documentation that she had been hospitalized on the May 1 date. The pre-trial has now been rescheduled for July 24, and the trial is set Aug. 8. Brown, who resigned...
Governor Jay Inslee in the last two weeks has signed into law four bills sponsored by Ninth District Representatives Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, and Joe Schmick, R-Colfax. Dye's first bill, HB 1136, deals with emergency planning requirements for shortline railroads hauling cooking oil and small quantities of low volatile oils. Dye, through a press release, explained the need for the bill. “Two years ago, the legislature passed comprehensive oil train regulations,” she said. “Unfortunately, food grade and mineral oils were inadvertently included in th... Full story
The Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport Runway Realignment Project just got a boost in the form of a grant from the Department of Transportation. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers announced last week that the airport was approved for a $15 million grant from the DOT for 2017 construction and reimbursement for the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the airport. McMorris Rodgers released a statement once the grant was awarded. “The Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport Runway Realignment Project will play an important role in modernizing eastern W...
With candidate filings concluded, two primary races are set for Pullman's ballot in August. Primary races are held when there are three or more candidates running for the same position, and the election will narrow the ballot down to two candidates for November. There will be three Pullman City Council races in total, but the ward three race only has two candidates, incumbent Jeff Hawbaker and Brandon Chapman, so that race will go straight to the November ballot. WARD ONE Currently, Al Sorensen serves on the city council for ward one. Sorensen...
Standing in line at the Cook Shack during St. John's Stock Show last month, St. John residents Amanda Webb, Jessiann Loomis and Valerie Brewer were anxiously awaiting the food they can only get once a year, but they also kept checking their emails. They were waiting for the message from Independent We Stand to tell them if St. John had made it into the top 25 of America's Main Street contest. When Loomis checked her email and a look of shock came over her, Webb could not believe it. “I said, 'You're messing with me!'” Webb recalled. “Val, Jessi...
The second phase of the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport Runway Realignment Project is set to begin this summer, following the award of the contract to M.A. DeAtley, the same group that completed the first phase. The project actually resumed two weeks ago to wrap up last year's work that stalled due to weather. “We started back up, and they're out there finishing 2016,” said Tony Bean, airport administrator. “They'll be working on that (phase two) by the end of the summer.” Bean said the phase two work can begin as soon as federal funding...
More than 400 people attended the Snake River Family Festival at Boyer Park and Marina Saturday. Several came by boat, such as this barge provided by Shaver Transportation. Facing rain and clouds on Saturday, plans for the Snake River Family Festival at Boyer Park and Marina went through, and event organizers declared it a success. “It was fantastic,” said Linda Olson, administrative assistant at the Port of Whitman County. “It rained at the very first, but then it cleared up.” Olson reporte...
At the conclusion of the candidate filing period last week, several primary races and contested races emerged around the county, as did two councils that will see nearly complete makeovers. The primary races will all be in Garfield and Pullman. Garfield will see the mayoral race hit the ballot for the Aug. 1 primary with three candidates vying for the seat currently held by Ray McCown. McCown filed May 18 for re-election. He is contested by Terri Linderman, who also filed May 18, and former mayor Jarrod Pfaff, who filed on May 15 (see story...
The Board of County Commissioners Monday agreed to a site lease agreement with Wired to Wireless Airpipe, LLC, for a radio tower site near Malden. The Whitman County Emergency Management Department proposed last month to construct an emergency communications radio site near Malden for the purpose of enhancing fire and law enforcement radio systems. The initial plan called for the construction of a tower, but Emergency Management Director Bill Tensfeld said plans changed. “This is a completely different project,” he said. “It evolved that we wer... Full story
The Colfax Downtown Association has awarded the first storefront grant out of the newly-established storefront grant fund. The fund was started earlier this year with funds paid to the association from Colfax businesses through the Washington Main Street tax incentive program. “We're glad to give out our first grants and help out,” said Valoree Gregory, Colfax unified executive director. The Downtown Association had $2,500 available in its first round of awards. Initially, a $2,000 grant was awarded to Garth Mader who had planned to pur...
Arrangements are falling into place for the annual Endicott Flea Market this weekend. The market is scheduled for Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Previously, it was announced that the market would change locations this year from the Andersons’ lot to the Basketball Park on the corner of Third and E streets. However, the location was recently switched back the Andersons’ lot, across the street from the Endicott Food Center. “It was a logistics issue,” said Cinda Tribble, Endicott Community Club president. “Everyone just agreed it would be better... Full story
The kitchen at the former Elks space in Colfax will undergo a remodel thanks to three grants totaling $50,000 received by the Council on Aging. The organization will use the funds to fix up the kitchen as a community space where events can be hosted, including the Colfax senior meal. Paige Collins, executive director at the Council on Aging and Human Services, has long wanted to see the kitchen space at the former Elks Lodge in Colfax be remodeled into a community kitchen space. Last week, she... Full story
This year’s Farmer’s Festival in LaCrosse will mark a date change with a shift from the third weekend of June to the fourth weekend. The date change was made so that the event would not be competing with other county events. The annual festival will be June 24 this year. LaCrosse Community Pride, the group planning the event, is now seeking items for the silent auction to occur during the celebration. Auction proceeds will go toward paying operating costs for The Gathering Place, which includes a meeting area and a kitchen, as well as the LaC...
Karena Wilcox poses with the open sign for the Malden Market that she painted. The market will open on Friday, May 26. It will be the first business in Malden since 1993. The last time Malden had an operating business was more than 20 years ago. That business, Deckard’s Gas Station, closed in 1993, and the tanks were removed a year later in 1994. Now, for the first time in more than two decades, Malden is getting a new business – at the site of the former Deckard’s Gas Station. Opening there... Full story
The Port of Whitman County, in conjunction with the Washington, Oregon and Idaho Wheat Growers, has been planning the first Snake River Family Festival for a year. The event is slated for Saturday, May 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will highlight the importance of the Columbia and Snake river system. “Everything is pretty darn ready,” said Linda Olson, Port secretary. “The central park area is full. We have enough exhibitors to fill the space, plus overflow.” The event will include a wheat box for youngsters to play in, instead of sand bo... Full story
The official kickoff event to the 2017 National Lentil Festival in Pullman has been booked for June 1 at Chipman & Taylor Chevrolet. The kickoff event is the annual poster unveiling. “It is the first event we have that starts the countdown two-and-a-half months away from the festival,” said Britnee Packwood, Lentil Festival director. There were about 20 submissions for the poster contest, Packwood said. “We had submissions from local residents who presented different concepts and themes,” she said. Though the poster theme and design will not be... Full story
When Colfax junior Rebekah Huber decided to enter the Seattle World Affairs Council's essay contest this year, she decided to draw from personal experiences in writing to the prompt. The prompt asked for entrants to pick a country and write about what they would do if they traveled there and explain the steps they would take to make those travels sustainable. This prompt was based on the United Nations declaration of 2017 as “The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.” Huber,...
The St. John/Endicott Dollars for Scholars Foundation plans a shred truck service in St. John at the corner of Front and Main streets on Saturday, May 13, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. “People are welcome to bring their shreddable items,” said Marlene Landers, foundation manager. The foundation brought a shred truck to St. John for the first time last year, and Landers said the event was a success. “A lot of people cleaned out,” she commented. The shred truck does not have a set price, but the foundation will accept donations to benefit its Spark Fund... Full story
Not wanting to see an empty storefront in St. John, Denny Hinds – a pastor at Christian Life Assembly – decided to open a business there. He and his wife Penny Hinds purchased the former St. John Pharmacy building on Front Street after the pharmacy moved into a smaller space. This week, the couple, along with Ben and Nancy Compton, associate pastors at Christian Life Assembly, opened Heritage Hardware in St. John. “The owner of the pharmacy was selling, and we said we'll do something with it,” said Hinds. “It just happened. Really quick.” H... Full story
--Debbie Snell photo Some of the docks at Boyer Park and Marina are in need of replacement, as evidenced by the metal pieces peeling away here. The Port of Whitman County may be one step closer to receiving a planning grant for the replacement of docks at Boyer Park & Marina. Port commissioners last week approved a potential 28 percent funding match for the grant. “We certified that we will match,” said Debbie Snell, Port properties and development manager. If the Port receives the planning gra... Full story
As the future of St. Ignatius still hangs in limbo, Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory has started a GoFundMe fundraiser to save the derelict building. Gregory started the fundraiser online last week with the hope of being able to raise enough money to cover costs of repairs on the hospital. As of Tuesday morning, $575 of the $5,000 goal had been raised. The City of Colfax in March posted signs around the building, marking it as unsafe to enter and leaving it closed off. The hospital for nearly the past two years has been the...
