Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 48 of 48
With gas prices plummeting to less than $2 a gallon, some politicians think this is the ideal time to increase state and federal gas taxes. The theory is when gasoline is expensive, voters vehemently oppose higher gas taxes; but when the price drops, motorists don’t pay as much attention. They just fill up and drive off, thankful for the savings. The flaw in that theory is that gas prices will inevitably climb again. But a larger concern is that the debate over fuel taxes distracts us from the real question: what is the best way to pay for r...
Bravo Sunnyside As I arrived to work on Friday morning (January 16, 2015) I was greeted by the silence of being the first employee to enter into the cubicle maze of doom that consumed me five days a week. Just a few minutes later as I was coming out of the break room to begin my daily routine of turning computers on, in walked a co-worker with a great big smile on her face. I was in wonder as I had remembered her saying she was going to some kind of “event” at her granddaughters elementary school the evening before. Moments later after she had...
Clint Eastwood’s new movie, “American Sniper,” marks the return of the American war hero. Heroism on the battlefield had never gone away, of course, far from it (witness the Medal of Honors awarded for acts of extraordinary valor in Iraq and Afghanistan). But the classic war hero is more than just brave or fierce. He is famous and almost universally acclaimed. On top of his battlefield exploits, he is a cultural phenomenon. That is what “American Sniper” unquestionably makes of Chris Kyle. The late Navy SEAL sniper had already written a...
Back at the beginning of my TV career, in Cleveland local news, on-camera minority reporters were few and far between. Our business was just discovering the imperative of diversity. We had just one on our staff, a guy named Peter. Pete taught me a lesson that I’ve remembered through the decades. The KKK was having a gathering in Cleveland, and, for some ridiculous reason, Pete was assigned to cover it. Pro that he was, he went to the event and ended up doing an interview with the grand dragon. Happily, the cameraman made sure to stay in a t...
“While we’re young” is a phrase the PGA has used to encourage faster play on golf courses. It has some applicability to Whitman County government. After years of problems, missteps and lack of progress, Whitman County has hired experts to help fix the financial accounting deficiencies in the courthouse. The consulting firm has analyzed the county’s accounting system and processes. The group will make recommendations on how to fix them in a formal report. This situation involves a bit of history. For years, the county has not been able to gene...
These reports are from the previous four issues of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax. They are reprinted here for the benefit of Gazette readers who reside outside of Colfax. Some accounts have been updated. LOCAL LINK TO PARA PILOT Lue Morton, the pilot of a plane which did a parachute drop into the Pacific Ocean Sunday, is the son of Pat and Kathy Morton of Seattle and the grandson of the late Jack and Irene Morton of Colfax. Lue was named after his maternal great-grandfather, Lue Hofer of Colfax. According to a U.S. Coast Guard report, Morton rep...
After shooting stones in the first half against a powerful Liberty Lancer team with a 12-0 run in the NE league, Colfax boys Tuesday found the bucket for 25 points in the last quarter for a 53-49 home win. The charge came after Colfax trailed 12-24 at the half against a Lancer club which hit its groove early. Playing before a packed gym, Liberty in the first half dominated the rebounds and collected on shots while the host Bulldogs could not get the buckets to fall. Liberty, ignited by a...
The Vikings’ undefeated streak ended in Pomeroy. After a 14-0 start to the year – including a 23-point home win over Pomeroy Jan. 10 – Garfield-Palouse lost Friday night, 48-42 ‘They’re a good team," said Vikings coach Tim Coles. Good guard play, they’re well-coached and they were at home. Our kids did not play well… Our decision-making was really bad. We were playing desperate, trying to penetrate and not taking the shots they were giving us. It was just a very bad night... It’s our own...
Colfax girls Tuesday rolled to a 40-point win over Liberty for a second strong win for the week. The big win pushed their league mark to 12-0 with two more rounds left. Colfax Friday will travel to Ritzville to play the Broncos, now 9-3 in the league race and in the number-two slot for the south side. The Broncos Tuesday downed the Timberwolves 56-29. Colfax will finish the league run by hosting the T-Wolves Saturday for their last home game. Tuesday the Bulldog girls roared to a 44-7 lead over the Lancers in the first half in a return to the...
Extending their winning streak to 61 games last Saturday night, Colton outlasted third-place Touchet, 66-52. Trailing by four points at the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats outscored Touchet 20-8 in the second to create some cushion in a close-fought game in Colton. Maryann Jacobs scored eight quick points to start the second quarter surge for the Wildcats. Savannah Chadwick and Zoe Moser both scored 16 points each for Colton (17-0, 10-0 in league) while Meghan Devorak had 12 rebounds and...
Three losses, two by just a total of four points cut the chances for Tekoa/Rosalia girls to get a slot in the NE playoff round. Tekoa/Rosalia was rapped 56-28 by the LRS Broncos in the Tuesday night round to drop the TR record to 3-10. Tekoa/Rosalia girls Friday sustained a one-point loss at St. George’s 39-40 and Saturday sustained three-point loss, 41-44 to neighboring Liberty on the Lancers’ court. Liberty, which was hammered by Colfax Tuesday night, now has a 4-9 mark going into the las...
Tekoa/Rosalia boys sustained three defeats on the week with a 44-28 loss sustained on the home court against the visiting Broncos Tuesday. The Timberwolves matched the Broncos for 11/11 in the first quarter Tuesday on the home court, but they were blanked in the second quarter. Friday in they bowed 52-28 to the Dragons at St. George’s. Saturday at Liberty they had some solid play early, but faded against the big, talented Lancer team which ran their record to 12-0 with the 82-39 win. Clay F...
NOTICE OF CALL FOR BIDS BID FOR OIL AND GREASE WHITMAN COUNTY STATE OF WASHINGTON Sealed bids will be received on the following proposal by the Board of County Commissioners of Whitman County, State of Washington, at its office in the Whitman County Courthouse in Colfax, Washington, until 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time, on February 2nd, 2015 at which time they will be opened and publicly read. Handicap access may be obtained by the Mill Street entrance to the Courthouse. Each bid is to be separately sealed in an envelope addressed to the Board of...
Colfax-Garfield/Palouse wrestlers posted a 63-18 win over Pullman in the home meet last Thursday, Jan. 22, at the Garfield/Palouse gym. Meet results are as follows: --170 Brandon Arneson, Colfax, won 10 -7 over Lennon Rock, Pullman. --182 Zach Toyoda, Pullman, won by Forfeit. --195 Brian DeYoung, Colfax, won by pin over Detrik Mueller, Pullman. --220 Nick McAdams, Colfax, won by pin over Juan Reateria, Pullman. --285 Trevin Kennedy, Colfax, won by Forfeit. --106 Isaiah Acosta, Pullman, won by Forfeit. --120 Joey Rogers, Palouse, won by...
Colfax has received a mandate from the state Department of Ecology to stop the discharge of excess swimming pool water into the North Fork of the Palouse River. The request means the city will have to change the pool’s outlet and possibly correct the pool’s leaking problems to operate the swim pool next year. The D.O.E. action was reported by Councilman Albert Vorderbrueggen at the Jan. 20 city council meeting. The leak was among topics discussed at the monthly park board meeting which preceded the Tuesday city council meeting. Council members...
David Benscoter is getting to the core of Whitman County extinct apples. “I collected lots and lots of apples last fall,” Benscoter said who lives in Chatteroy. Benscoter will be at the Colfax Library March 7 to give a presentation about his apple research. The class is part of the Spokane Community College sponsored series. For the past seven years, Benscoter has researched apple varieties that were thought to be extinct in Whitman County in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Last fall Ben...
A familiar face at Palouse city hall since 1994 will be leaving this week. After 21 years as the city’s treasurer, and later clerk-treasurer, Joyce Beeson will retire at the end of January. An open house party will be from 3 to 5 p.m. today, Thursday, at city hall. “We made the decision to retire,” Beeson said, whose husband Bruce just concluded his career with Palouse Welding at the first of the year. “We don’t really have any plans, just to not have to get up and go to work every morning....
The national anthem has a new centerpiece at the Garfield-Palouse High School gym. Dedicated in a ceremony before the boys’ varsity game Saturday night, a 12 by 18-foot flag unrolled from the ceiling for the first official time, a gift to the school from Monty and Bev Nearing. After seeing similar flag displays at Troy, Genesee and Pomeroy, Bev suggested to Monty that Palouse should have one. Monty and Jeremy Hodson, a local farmer, built the flag roller with help from various others in the N...
The Colfax School District board heard an update on the search for a superintendent Monday night. Tom Arlt, principal for Jennings Elementary, who is helping with the search, reported on what he has heard from Dr. Dennis Ray of Northwest Leadership Associates, which the district hired as a consultant. The job is posted on several education professional-related websites, with Ray’s firm also sending it out to its 3,500-person individual contact list. In addition, Northwest Leadership C...
Armeda Hayer has seniority at Jennings Elementary in Colfax. At age 90, she serves as a volunteer reading helper for a kindergarten class two days per week. Her interest began a long time ago with a daughter who struggled with reading. “Somehow I could not help her,” said Hayer. Beginning in 2005 with Connie McBride’s third-grade class, Hayer soon started to worry that she would catch a cold or flu from the students and spread it to her husband Laurence, who had heart problems. “So I quit do...
Whitman County issued 197 building permits for projects totaling $11,318,086 during 2014. The total marked a drop from 2013 with a decrease in ag structures and a reduced supply of rural housing sites around Pullman believed to be two of the causes. In 2013, 233 building permits were issued by the county and the total value was slightly more than $13 million, according to Dan Gladwill, county building inspector. Fees collected for 2014 totaled $115,548. “When wheat prices are up, there’s more business generally,” Gladwill said. He also said tha...
Shayne Holt, 41, former controller for Whitgro in St. John, was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for taking funds from the cooperative during his employment there. Holt pleaded guilty to the charge last Dec. 5 and his sentencing was set for Friday. He was booked into jail following the sentencing and will be committed to the state prison system. The three-year sentence was assigned after a court finding that aggravated circumstances in the charge warranted a term beyond the state’s normal range for theft in the third degree. The c...
A young golfer tries out his putting skills at the Colfax Golf Course Monday afternoon. Warmer than normal temperatures on Monday brought out several golfers to the course. According to the National Weather Service in Spokane, the 61-degree high temperature reported Sunday at LaCrosse by observer Nancy Taylor tied a record which was set in 2003. The next highest record for the date was 56 in 1934. Taylor Monday recorded a high of 50 degrees. Top mark in Colfax on the reader board signs that day...
