Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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A state audit of Whitcom, the Whitman County Regional Communication Center, found that internal controls over accounting and financial statement preparation are inadequate to ensure timely and accurate reporting. The audit covers a four-year period Jan. 1, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2012. The state report was finished Oct. 6 and released Monday. Whitcom management is responsible for designing and following internal controls that provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting. The audit identified deficiencies in...
Darrell Henry Shaw, under the name of Jvard, at 5901 Old Thornton Highway has been granted a license from the state Liquor Control Board to produce and process marijuana. The license is valid through Nov. 30, 2015. The license allows Shaw a maximum of 7,000 square feet for production of marijuana for sale at wholesale to marijuana processor licensees and to other marijuana producer licensees. This license also allows Shaw to process, package and label usable marijuana and marijuana-infused products for sale at wholesale to marijuana retailers....
Whitman County commissioners on Nov. 3 approved a resolution on veterans’ relief payments which was revised after they received objections to the initial proposal. As approved, the payments will still have a $2,500 annual payment per veteran, but the payments can be made in increments during the year. A month ago, Roy Lord and Charles Klaudt told the commissioners they objected to a proposed change which called for a one-time payment of up to $2,500. The county’s Veteran’s Advisory Board had proposed the single payment policy and forwa...
Boyer Park will see additional RV space plus four new cabins added to the park within the next two years. Port of Whitman County Property and Development Manager Debbie Snell explained to port commissioners a new map showing the proposed sites for the projects at the Nov. 6 meeting. She is preparing to revise the application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The port leases Boyer from the corps. The plans call for 14 RV spaces on the northern part of the day use portion of the park, just past the exit to the main park. The full hookup RV...
The local chapter of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) AF chapter is doing its own version of “Pay It Forward.” On Tuesday, Nov. 11, the P.E.O. AF chapter will sponsor an evening shopping spree at Tick Klock Drug from 6 to 9 p.m. for a “Veteran’s Day Three-Hour Shopping Extravaganza.” Tick Klock Drug will donate 20 percent of all sales that evening for scholarship money for women. Shoppers will get the chance to “Pay It Forward” knowing that part of their purchases will help women get an education. According to local P.E.O. me...
Washington State Parks is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to finalize a contract for the state parks to regain operation of the day use park at Lyons Ferry. Parks officials hope to have a signed lease some time this winter, according to Virginia Painter of the state parks. Painter said as soon as a lease is finalized, parks officials will start calling for 90-day contracts for improvements with a projected opening in May. Painter said $600,000 has been budgeted with the focus for improvements in the day use area and boat launch....
Conceptual designs for the LaCrosse Rock Houses were presented by students from Washington State University’s Rural Communities Design Initiative last week at the high school. The WSU students toured the houses and then presented ideas for future renovations. Local students and community members heard six possible ways to re-purpose the houses, meet community needs and stimulate economic development. The hope is some day the old stone houses will see new life. The six possibilities include a m...
Whitman County Assessor Joe Reynolds posted a narrow lead over challenger Jim Hawkes Tuesday night in the first count of election returns. Reynolds, who is seeking a sixth term in office, has 2,755 votes, 52.4 percent, and Hawkes came in with 2,503 votes, 47.6 percent. Hawkes, chief appraiser in the assessor’s office, believed during his entire campaign that Reynolds was going to retire after two more years in office. At a debate in Colfax, however, Reynolds reassured Hawkes that he is going to stay in office four more years, taking the wind o... Full story
Shannon Hatley of Pullman has been a public health nurse for Whitman County for 25 years. But not for much longer. Even when county commissioners said they were maintaining staff with the current budget, Hatley was informed by Public Health Director Troy Henderson that she will be laid off Dec. 31. Hatley said she supervises a staff of five in the public health office in Pullman. Hatley received her official notice Oct. 16. However, in August, Hatley said that Henderson hinted about issues with...
The Palouse Scenic Byway signs are set to be up by the end of the year. Whitman County Parks director Tim Myers said at the byway meeting on Monday that although the department is working on some of the wayfinding signs, he’s hopeful all 16 signs will be up by the end of the year. They will be going out to bid as soon as possible. The Palouse Scenic Byway encompasses 208 miles of rolling hills and farmland throughout Whitman County from Rosalia to LaCrosse and from Tekoa, Oakesdale and Garfield to Colfax, Pullman, Colton and Uniontown. The c... Full story
Suzy McNeilly grew up knowing it is her duty in life to help people. Now, as she oversees the 12 food pantries in Whitman County, she sees the number of people needing food assistance increasing. As food contributions increase, especially produce through organizations such as Second Harvest and community gardens like the Peace Lutheran Church, McNeilly also said the need is increasing. Although the actual number of households aren’t increasing dramatically, the number of people within the households is increasing. Food drives help stock s... Full story
Whitman County will have $750,000 addtional revenue next year as the result of a voter-approved increase in the county’s tax levy. When asked for the levy lid vote, county commissioners acknowledged that if the county’s rates of increase in payroll continues, the levy lift would be used up within four years. However, it could be sooner than they anticipated. The commissioners also noted that the new revenue would not be the solution to long term sustainability for Whitman County government. They acknowledged the money would allow them some bre...
Seven Whitman County towns have propositions on the Nov. 3 ballot. Also seeking voters’ approval will be four parks and recreation districts and two cemetery districts. Colton is asking voters to approve additional taxes for collection in 2015 of approximately $1.20 per $1,000 of assessed value to raise $30,000 for general operations, improvements of town streets and the water and sewer systems. Endicott voters will decide on two propositions. Proposition No. 1 asks voters to approve a special tax levy to be collected in 2015 of $20,000, an est...
If voters approve Initiative 1351, Pullman School District might have to add another elementary school. Whitman County Commissioner and Pullman School Board member Dean Kinzer said if this initiative is approved, Pullman would have to add at least one more elementary school to provide more classrooms. Pullman voters just approved a bond to replace a school building. According to the Washington State Voters’ Pamphlet, if approved, the measure would direct the Legislature to allocate funds to reduce class sizes and increase staffing support f...
A big shoe dropped during the voters’ forum in Colfax Tuesday night. County Assessor Joe Reynolds said that if he is re-elected he is not going to resign as has been rumored throughout his campaign. In fact, that’s the main reason his challenger, Jim Hawkes, said he is running. Hawkes admitted in his introduction during the Pullman League of Women Voters forum that he challenged his boss because of a reliable rumor that Reynolds was going to resign after two years and appoint a replacement. But throughout their mild debate, as they com...
Two gun initiatives are on the November ballot. Both claim to protect individual rights for gun owners. Initiative 591, according to the Washington Voters’ Pamphlet, “protects against illegal search and seizure, preventing politicians and bureaucrats driven by an anti-rights agenda from depriving citizens of their property without due process.” The statement in the pamphlet also emphasizes that I-591 protects background check uniformity. The argument against this initiative states it will “make it easier for guns to fall into the wrong hands b...
A cellular phone tower that was to be built on the top of Steptoe Butte has hit some snags. According to Washington State Parks Service Communications Director Virginia Painter, the project that was supposed to be built last spring is being redesigned. “Apparently the project was deemed an ‘area of interest’ by the Spokane Indian Tribe under Federal Communications Commission guideline/Rule 04-222,” Painter wrote in an email. “What we have been told is that instead of a 140-foot tower, Verizon can build a 100-foot tower.” The tower project had...
More than 60,000 people from Spokane to Boise will have meals thanks to some Moscow school children and local volunteers. Homestead Ministries, begun less than three months ago by Tom Riedner of Genesee and Greg Nolan of Colfax, organized the food distribution with Logos Christian School in Moscow Oct. 16. Riedner formerly worked for Storehouse which also distributed food, but decided to begin his own organization. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade filled the school’s gym in the f...
After a two-hour workshop Tuesday morning, Whitman County commissioners believe they have a balanced budget for next year. Commissioners faced a more than $170,000 deficit when they began dealing with the budget that morning. Other factors bumped the deficit to more than $286,000. The commissioners eliminated the deficit by cutting $48,000 which had been charted as staff additions and $200,000 from capital improvement and an operations contingency fund. Another $40,000 in property tax adjustments was added to the revenue side of the budget. The...
Whitman County finance officials have been adjusting proposed budgets, but the county’s 2015 proposed budget still has a deficit of more than $300,000. According to county finance director Cinnamon Brown, no one from the public attended the second public hearing about the budget on Monday morning. Whitman County Commissioner Dean Kinzer said although the first hearing revealed more than a $500,000 deficit, preliminary reductions have whittled it down by almost $200,000. Now the deficit is shown as $318,498, a difference of $197,815. Kinzer s...
Kay Riebold, a familiar face in the Colfax banking scene, recently moved from the assistant manager position at AmericanWest Bank to manager at Washington Federal Bank. She began her career in banking in 1973 at a bank in Othello. “I found it interesting,” she said in her new office. “I like to help people and assist them with their needs.” She has been a customer service representative for Seattle-First, Bank of America and Bank of Whitman. She was with AmericanWest Bank for two and a half ye...
On Sunday, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials received a report of a male wolf shot by a farmer who had pursued the wolf in a vehicle. The shooting occurred west of US 195 close to Pullman, according to Madonna Luers, regional spokesperson for the WDFW. The shooting is under investigation by WDFW officers. Luers said wolves are still listed on the state endangered species list for Eastern Washington, but de-listed at the federal level in this region. However, in central and...
Steptoe area farmer Randy Suess said it’s not unusual for him to seed when there’s been little or no rain. “For the last eight, nine to 10 years, I’ve dusted in the seed,” he said Monday. He added the grain he has planted is already sprouting, coming back on pea ground. According to the National Weather Service in Spokane, Whitman County has received less than half of the normal rainfall as of Monday, .18 of an inch compared to .42 normal for the Oct. 13 date. Whitman County recorded 1.67 inch... Full story
Although state auditors found some improvements in Whitman County’s financial statements for 2013, they also found plenty of room for progress. Officially, the state auditors issued an “unmodified opinion” on the presentation of the county’s financial statements. The auditors also issued an “adverse opinion” on the presentation regarding accounting principles. According to the state auditor’s summary, they identified no deficiencies that auditors consider to be material weaknesses. They also noted no instances of noncompliance that were materia...
The first of two public hearings to review Whitman County’s 2015 budget was Monday evening. County Prosecutor Denis Tracy and Sheriff Brett Myers were the only elected officials attending the hearing. The only others present besides the three commissioners were Gary Petrovich, administrative director, and Cinnamon Brown, financial director. Brown reported during the hearing that the preliminary budget is more than $58 million at this point with about $500,000 more in expenses than revenue. This is the difference between the county’s pro... Full story
