Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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LACROSSE – W.H.E.A.T. has joined with two veteran-founded organizations to help send packages to troops overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the circumstances, both monetary and product donations have declined and since W.H.E.A.T. is run by non-paid volunteers, any COVID-19 grant opportunities are not available for W.H.E.A.T. The two organizations working with W.H.E.A.T. are The General's Hot Sauce and Warrior Rising. The General's Hot Sauce is a veteran-owned company based in South Car...
WHITMAN COUNTY – On Sunday, May 31, positions for the new 2020-2021 state officers were announced. Three of the new state officers are from Whitman County. The new officers are Cole Baerlocher, Colfax, president; Gunnar Aune, Colfax, secretary and Lauren Stubbs, LaCrosse, vice president. Other officers include Alissa Whitaker, Moses Lake, treasurer; Haley Gilman, Eastmont, reporter and Tysen White, Finley, sentinel. Abbie DeMeerleer, Washington FFA Association executive director, said they had 11 candidates, with three applying from Whitman C...
COLFAX – The Port of Whitman staff presented to port commissioners a project that would allow better management of the port website. At the beginning of the year in a Port Strategic Planning meeting, it was discussed whether the port should move forward with a distributed newsletter or website updates. “Rather than allocating resources toward a newsletter, upgrading the website was recommended,” said Sarah Highfield, port communications director. On the current port website, new pages cannot be added and any updates to existing pages are manage...
COLFAX – On Thursday, May 21, Port of Whitman County staff presented a new media campaign from Northwest RiverPartners that is directed towards Generation Z and millennials. The staff is requesting support for this campaign from the commissioners to help the project move forward. The new digital campaign is titled “Our Power is Water.” Ads for this campaign will run on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Viant Streaming and NPR podcasts until the beginning of August. These ads will be directed towards the younger crowd across Washington, Orego...
COLFAX – Communities across Whitman County have banded together to support this year's graduating class. Yard signs, posters in business windows and banners have lined streets throughout the county. Signs and Designs, by Abundant Faith Studio in Colfax, has been working diligently in making the banners for LaCrosse, St. John-Endicott and Colfax seniors. Yard signs for Colfax, placed in yards on May 22, were also completed by Signs and Designs. Lannette Ring, owner and designer of Signs and Designs said the first schools that reached out to h...
COLFAX – The Colfax School District has hired Andrew Borders as the new principal for Jennings Elementary School. Borders will officially take his new position on July 1. “Borders is well equipped to continue to lead Jennings Elementary School to achieve and exceed academic expectations for the school,” said Superintendent Jerry Pugh. “He is a caring individual who will take the time to get to know our students and their families.” The position initially had 11 people interested with nine applying. The district narrowed the applicant...
PULLMAN – There is a contested race for County Commissioner District Two, as incumbent Republican Dean Kinzer is being challenged by Independent Tom Handy. Handy, 63, owner of Paradise Creek Brewery, filed late Friday, May 15, to run for County Commissioner District Two. Handy is currently serving on the Coeur d'Alene Lake Shore Property Owners Association board, President of the Cottonwood Bay Lane Property Owners Association and a founding board member and President of the Downtown Pullman A...
LACROSSE – The LaCrosse School District has hired Jordan Jennings from the Moses Lake School District as the new PreK-12 principal for the 2020-2021 school year. “Jennings was picked because he was the best fit for what our school needs right now,” said LaCrosse Superintendent Doug Curtis. Jennings's most recent professional experience includes working for the Moses Lake School District for the past five years. During this time he worked as a K-5 music teacher while also being a principal designee and substitute for the past two years for M...
WHITMAN COUNTY – While graduation ceremonies aren’t as typical this time around for Whitman County seniors, this summer will mark the graduation for 329 students. This year’s Class of 2020 remains the same count as the Class of 2019. Past senior counts show slight fluctuation with 339 in 2018, 299 in 2017 and 287 in 2016. Colfax will graduate 41 seniors, one more than the year before. Colfax will hold a drive-in style graduation ceremony on June 6 at 11 a.m. for students and immediate family only. At the end of the ceremony, the cars will...
TEKOA – A lawsuit has been filed against The City of Tekoa by Eric Hood, Langley, Wash., alleging that the city withheld requested records from a public records request in April 2019. The state Public Records Act requires that all public records maintained by state and local agencies are made available to all members of the public. The complaint states that Hood emailed the Tekoa Clerk on April 22, 2019, requesting all records the city received from the state auditor, after being recently audited, and all records of any response to the audit o...
COLFAX – The Almota Phase Four reconstruction road project is moving along despite weather conditions in the county. Dean Cornelison, county assistant engineer, said progress on Almota Road has gone surprisingly uninterrupted given the storms that swept through the county on Sunday, May 17. He said with rock already done on the road, the rain did not affect the project much. “They are able to get back out there and haul rock today, May 18,” Cornelison said. As progress continues on Almota Road, Cornelison said work will begin outside the road...
COLFAX – Whitman County Commissioners decided on which scenario they would like for the courthouse/jail upgrades at their May 18 board meeting. With a unanimous vote, the commissioners decided to go with the first scenario they received, from McKinstry Co., which includes roofing upgrades to the courthouse and plumbing and lighting upgrades to the jail. The commissioners were presented with two scenarios at a workshop meeting at the beginning of the month. The second scenario presented only included roofing upgrades to the courthouse. ...
WHITMAN COUNTY – The decision to host safe and socially distanced graduation ceremonies will remain at the discretion of local school boards and superintendents, stated the Washington Department of Health in a release providing various scenarios and guidance for graduation ceremonies during the COVID-19 pandemic May 14. The DOH guidance for ceremonies in counties within Phase II of the “Safe Start” reopening plan include that there may be no person-to-person contact during the ceremony, such as students can not be handed their diplomas and h...
PALOUSE – HOTFLASH, a pop-up espresso shop with The Congress in Palouse, went high fashion on May 16 and 17. The pop-up shop made its first appearance in Palouse on the weekend of The Congress's second birthday, May 10. "This is our birthday month and since we can't have our party and have everyone here, we thought this, the pop-up shop, would be a good way to celebrate," said Tiana Gregg-Holmes, owner of The Congress. To continue the celebration all month long, the second pop-up shop r...
WHITMAN COUNTY – Kristal Krom Kirpes, then a freshman at Eastern Washington University, took a trip home to Dusty on the Walla Walla Highway for the weekend to celebrate her 20th birthday. What she didn't know then was that she was going to share her birthday with the eruption of Mount St. Helens. On Sunday, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, being dubbed the most destructive volcanic eruption in U.S. history. "While dad, mom, my sister and I were outside on our patio celebrating my b...
WHITMAN COUNTY – Stripe rust has been discovered in varieties of winter wheat on the Palouse and actively producing spores. The rust was first spotted in Washington State University's experiment fields around Pullman. Dr. Xianming Chen, WSU research plant pathologist said the appearance of the rust is normal for the Palouse and is about a week earlier than last year. "Stripe rust occurs in the Pacific Northwest, especially the Palouse region, every year," Chen said. "Significant damage occurs t...
PULLMAN – Former Colfax Mayor Todd Vanek was named as director of the Engineering Technology Management (ETM) and Online Learning Programs in Washington State University's Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture. Vanek served as the Mayor of Colfax for two terms from January 2012 to December 2019. He said that being mayor allowed him to gain more leadership experience in working with state government. "The experience working with state government is proving beneficial in budgeting, p...
COLFAX – On Monday, May 11, at 9 a.m. candidate filing for Washington state opened. For those interested in filing for candidacy, the deadline is Friday, May 15, at 4 p.m. In Whitman County, offices open for election are County Commissioner District One and District Two, Superior Court Judge and Precinct Officers. The Primary Election will be held on Aug. 4 for these positions. All three incumbents will be running for reelection Monday. They are Judge Gary Libey and Commissioners Art Swannack a...
COLFAX – Preceding the start of the virtual Washington State FFA Convention, the National FFA Organization and National FFA Foundation announced recipients for its 2020 scholarships. Eastern Washington FFA members were well represented in awards. Of the 1,324 scholarships that were awarded nationwide, five of the recipients came from eastern Washington. More than 6,800 students completed the application process, each with the potential of being considered for multiple scholarships. The recipients include Gunnar Aune, Colfax, with a $1,000 F...
COLFAX – At the Monday, May 4, Whitman County Commissioner workshop, county commissioners discussed what it would take for Whitman County to apply for county variance. County variance would allow Whitman County to have the opportunity to move to phase II of the governor’s reopening plan before the rest of the state. Initial requirements to apply require the county to have a population less than 75,000 and three weeks of no new COVID-19 cases. Whitman County would need to wait until May 13 before being able to start the process to apply for cou...
COLFAX – Whitman Hospital and Medical Center was approved for a $3,303,562 Small Business Administration loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. In a special meeting with the Commissioners of Whitman County Public Hospital District No. 3, Abby Smith, WHMC chief finance officer, presented to the hospital's board of commissioners the terms and potential risks behind the loan. Resolution 20-02 was presented to the hospital commissioners on whether WHMC should move forward with the loan or n...
WHITMAN COUNTY – On Tuesday, May 5, Washington State Parks and lands managed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife were allowed to reopen. As warm weather sets in and the feeling to get outside increases, there are plenty of hikes available within the county to keep drives short and support social distancing. Steptoe Butte State Park- Located between Steptoe and Oakesdale, Steptoe Butte offers a 6.4 mile, moderately trafficked out and back trail that is suitable for all skill levels. T...
COLFAX – Whitman County Commissioners received two final courthouse/jail upgrade scenarios from McKinstry Co. at their Monday, May 4, workshop. The first scenario presented included roofing upgrades to the courthouse and plumbing and lighting upgrades to the jail. The roofing upgrades would include repairing and replacing roof sections with water damage, installation of Tremco roof restoration system and installation of roof access ladders to improve roof accessibility and safety. Jail plumbing upgrades include replacing all existing penal f...
COLFAX – As of Monday, May 4, the Whitman County Solid Waste Facility is accepting "self-haul" waste from residents who use credit/debit cards for payment. "The previous exchange of either cash or checks was too risky for solid waste facility staff just due to the amount of people they come in contact with during a single given day," said Whitman County Public Works Director Mark Storey. According to a press release from the Public Works Department, anyone who is self-hauling and wishes to p...
COLFAX – With the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order from Governor Inslee extended until the end of May, Whitman County Auditor Sandy Jamison said the Auditor's office will continue to accommodate those who need their assistance, but will be operating as they have been, closed to the public. While the Auditor's office is only operating behind closed doors, this does not mean work has slowed or stopped. In preparation for this fall's elections, candidate filing has begun and work continues. In Whitman County, offices that are open for elect...
