Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Why are there power shortages, rolling brownouts and blackouts in the Pacific Northwest? One regional utility alone – Avista – had brownouts that affected 15,307 ratepayers on June 28, then 6,793 the next day, and another 602 on June 30. Other utilities had brownouts too. I know we’ve had a day or two of record-setting high temperatures. But that’s not an excuse to shut down power to residents and businesses here in Eastern Washington. Columbia River basin dams generate roughly 44% of the electricity in the entire United States. Our dams pr...
This Sunday, our nation celebrates Independence Day. And on this 245th birthday of our United States, it’s important to take time to remember why we mark July 4. Sure we celebrate the holiday with barbecues and fireworks, parades, and apple pie. But that’s not what it is about. Independence Day is about freedom from tyranny. It’s about being able to own property, speak your mind, worship how you want, gather together, be protected from government corruption and overreach and, when necessary, def...
BASIN CITY — Thousands of rodeo fans turned out June 25-26 to watch the second Freedom Rodeo. Temperatures neared 100 degrees at performance time Friday night and topped 105 degrees at the start of Saturday's rodeo. To keep cool, several fans put on canopies on the rim of the arena, while at least one family brought a toddler wading pool and filled it with water. In addition to regular events, the Freedom Rodeo had a large field of young competitors in mutton bustin', calf riding, a calf s...
CLARKSTON — Two area fire chiefs have asked for state assistance battling blazes today, Wednesday, July 7. Asotin County Fire District No. 1 Chief Noel Hardin has asked for help containing the Asotin Complex Fire. And Whitman County Fire District No. 14 Chief Jay Reisenauer has requested assistance with the Wilma Fire. The two chiefs asked for state mobilization within an hour of each other this morning. The Wilma Fire is burning in dry grass and brush in Whitman County, officials said. The blaze was reported at 6 a.m. today and was e...
ST. JOHN - A local sprint boat race team ended a qualifying run upside down in Webb's Slough, rebuilt the motor, and finished inside the Top 8. More than two dozen North American Sprint Boat Association teams entered three classes at the Webb's Slough race on June 19. It was the first to take place since August 2019. Sprint boat racing pits a driver and navigator against a maze of channels. At speeds reaching more than 80 mph, the driver concentrates on making turns as the navigator memorizes...
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee announced a new eviction “bridge” program this morning, June 24, but landlords will not likely see rent payments any time soon. Inslee said the existing coronavirus-related eviction moratorium will expire June 30. However, under his new mandate, landlords are still generally prohibited from evicting tenants that owe past-due rent and even future rent, if a tenant has attempted to negotiate a lower rate or is seeking rental assistance money. That money will be available through county agencies once a state progr...
SPOKANE – It's going to be a record-setting day, in terms of high temperatures that is. According to National Weather Service meteorologist Laurie Nisbet in Spokane, the region should set all-time record high temperatures this afternoon. Nisbet this morning went through decades of weather data for several small towns within the Free Press Publishing readership area from Spokane to Pasco and Odessa to Colfax. In Colfax, today's recorded record high is 100 degrees, set in 1939, she said. The a...
There’s a lot of talk about endangered species. But the most important endangered species in America may not be a plant or a wild animal. The most endangered species may be in your home or a friend’s home or next door. The endangered species I’m talking about is the American Dad. This coming Sunday is Father’s Day, the one day set aside each year to honor the American Dad. Honoring and thanking the fathers in your life should be your highest priority this weekend. Fathers typically don’t a...
ST. JOHN — Sprint boat racers return to the water on June 19, after nearly two years of hiatus. "It's going to be chaos," Dennis Hughes, owner of the No. 69 DeLeon Taco and Bar-sponsored boat, said. Hughes' Overkill team is among more than 30 boats expected on the course at Webb's Slough. Qualifying runs begin at 9 a.m. and racing continues throughout the day. Sprint boats race through a maze of high-speed straights and turns, with a driver managing the boat and a navigator directing the r...
ROSALIA - Crews working on the Rosalia Trestle restoration project expect to finish around June 23. Motorists on Rosalia Road should expect delays of up to 20 minutes between Pine City-Malden Road and U.S. Highway 195. Traffic delays are necessary to allow Rock Supremacy crews to apply Shotcrete to damaged areas of the trestle. Shotcrete is a spray-on concrete that fills in cracks and holes. Once the Shotcrete finishes, height-restriction signs are being posted on the span. Rock Supremacy, of...
TEKOA - A Mennonite cycling group crossing the U.S. to race awareness for climate action rode out of the state on June 5, after spending the last several days in Eastern Washington. The group of 16 riders, two leaders, and two support-vehicle drivers were at the Idaho state line midway through Day 6 of their ride. "We're biking from Seattle to Washington, D.C., to promote (climate) awareness," cyclist Isaac Alderfer of Harrison, Va., said. "We expect to reach D.C. on July 28." When complete, the...
TEKOA – "My horse and I are tough enough." That was the mantra of John Wayne Pioneer Wagons and Riders who completed the grueling 200-plus-mile, two-week trail ride on June 4. The wagon train and horse riders started at a farm in Easton and rode daily until they reached the Idaho border. "My brain I half-dead," an exhausted Rachel Miller, of Peshastin, said as she reached Tekoa. "In normal years, this would've been the end." But because riders were denied an opportunity to complete the trek a...
TEKOA - The John Wayne Trail Riders have reached their final destination. Riders have been arriving here all day today, June 3, following a trek along the 285-mile John Wayne Pioneer Trail, now called the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. Their ride began May 20 in Easton and concludes tomorrow with a 12-mile round-trip journey from Tekoa into Idaho and back. That ride is expected to depart from the trail adjacent to the Iron Horse Arena between 8-9 a.m., officials said. Along the way, the...
Masks are coming off. Most residents wanting a coronavirus vaccination have gotten one. Sports are on and students are back in the classroom. It’s not a coronavirus emergency that’s keeping Washingtonians from going back to work. Over the past several weeks, I’ve had numerous conversations with owners and managers trying to get their small businesses back on solid financial ground. Given residents’ frustration of being pent up for more than 14 months, you’d think that would be easy. But it’s not...
OLYMPIA - The state Department of Labor and Industries is requiring business owners to verify employees have been vaccinated. Under the new May 21 mandate, the agency is requiring employers to create a "log of workers who have verified they've been vaccinated and the date of verification." "I believe they are crossing the line," said Sen. Mark Schoessler, R-Ritzville, reacting to the new mandate. The rule requires employers to check vaccination status daily as workers enter jobsites, marking...
PASCO - Five voters led by a Pasco City Councilman have filed a petition to recall Gov. Jay Inslee for abusing the powers of his office during the coronavirus pandemic last year. The recall petition was filed with the Secretary of State's Office in Olympia on May 17. Gov. Inslee has yet to respond to the recall petition. Under the state Constitution, any elected official in the state can be removed from office for misfeasance, malfeasance, and violating an oath of office. In the recall,...
ROSALIA — Work continues on the Rosalia Trestle with the application of shotcrete to shore up damaged concrete. The work is being completed by Bend, Ore.-based Rock Supremacy, said Washington State Parks Acting Capital Program Coordinator Brian Patnode. Washington State Parks manages the trestle as part of the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail. "They'll be done in about three weeks," Patnode said on May 11. Rock Supremacy was the low bidder on the project at approximately $100,000, he s...
PALOUSE FALLS - A hikers was airlifted from Palouse Falls State Park to an area hospital Tuesday afternoon after he was knocked unconscious by a falling rock and hoisted from the waterfall basin. The man and his wife were hiking near the bottom of the falls when a rock "described as being the size of a football" fell and struck him, knocking him unconscious, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office reported. The 28-year-old man, whose name has yet to be released, was hoisted out of the waterfall bas...
PALOUSE FALLS - A hikers was airlifted from Palouse Falls State Park to an area hospital Tuesday afternoon after he was knocked unconscious by a falling rock and hoisted from the waterfall basin. The man and his wife were hiking near the bottom of the falls when a rock "described as being the size of a football" fell and struck him, knocking him unconscious, the Franklin County Sheriff's Office reported. The 28-year-old man, whose name has yet to be released, was hoisted out of the waterfall bas...
LaCROSSE – The lowland lakes fishing season opens Saturday with trout being the most sought-after species. Opening day also marks the opening day of the statewide trout derby, where fishermen can win more than 1,000 prizes totaling more than $38,000. While some lakes are open for fishing year-round, the state closes a number of lakes through the fall and winter while it stocks millions of trout and Kokanee salmon. About four miles out of town alongside State Route 26, Pampa Pond, has been stocked three times in the last three weeks. On March 3...
ENDICOTT — St. John-Endicott School District’s top educator is optimistic students will return to campus full-time on May 3 following a two-week hiatus. Superintendent Suzanne Schmick confirmed Tuesday that campuses in both the cities of St. John and Endicott were shuttered following an April 14 recommendation from Whitman County Health Director Chris Skidmore. “We were contacted by the health department and notified they were fielding quite a number of calls from families in our St. John-Endicott area,” Schmick said. Skidmore recomme...
SUNNYSIDE — The St. John-Endicott/LaCrosse boys came home with their first victory of the baseball season April 1. The team opened a doubleheader at Sunnyside Christian (1-3) with a 12-1 win. The Knights (1-3) then took the nightcap, 23-12. Individual stats were not reported. The Eagles previously dropped two games on March 27 to the undefeated Touchet Indians, 25-15 and 16-11. Touchet leads the 1B Southeast-West league with a 4-0 record. The Eagles return to the baseball diamond Tuesday, April 13, when they travel to Pomeroy for a d...
TOUCHET — The Colton/Garfield/Palouse baseball team remains winless this season after being swept by Touchet on March 31. The Vikings (0-6) lost the opener, 17-13, and the nightcap, 10-6, to the undefeated Indians (4-0). Individual stats were not reported. CGP remains on spring break until April 17, when they will host the Sunnyside Christian Knights (1-3). In another game last week, CGP, 8-4, to the undefeated Pomeroy Pirates (4-0), 8-4, on the road March 30....
TOUCHET — The Colton Wildcats remain undefeated in fast pitch softball after sweeping Touchet on March 31. The Colton (4-0) girls topped the home Indians (0-2) by scores of 18-2 in the opener and 13-0 in the nightcap. Individual stats were not reported. The win follows the Wildcats’ sweep of the DeSales Fighting Irish (1-3) on March 27 in Walla Walla. In that doubleheader, Colton won the opener, 15-0, and the nightcap, 20-8. The Wildcat girls return to action April 13, when they travel to Tekoa to face the 1-3 Timberwolves....
WALLA WALLA — The Tekoa-Rosalia girls won one and lost one March 30 in a fast pitch softball doubleheader at DeSales. The Timberwolves (1-3) lost the opener to the Fighting Irish, 18-8. Individual stats were not reported. They then rallied to top DeSales (1-3) in the nightcap, 25-8. The Tekoa-Rosalia girls get a two-week hiatus for spring break. They return to their home diamond in Rosalia for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on April 13 against league rival Colton (4-0)....
