Serving Whitman County since 1877
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--Keith Miller photo. JJ Robinson goes up for two points while Johnny Kieffer of Reardan hits the deck in Monday night's battle at Mt. Spokane. Jake Hight of Reardan and Justin Berarducci of Colfax are at left. Colfax and Northwest Christian boys will resolve a 1-1 league deadlock Saturday night when they collide for a third time in the District 7 title game at Mt. Spokane High School. Each team has posted two wins in the district show to date and is primed for the Saturday showdown. In addition to resolving the 1-1, the winner will get a...
Colton wing Mollie Kramer splits a pair of Rosalia defenders on her way to the basket in the Wildcats' 80-35 win in Friday's district tournament clash. Colton and Pomeroy girls, two teams who advanced in different modes, will collide Saturday in the title round of the SE 1B girls district playoff. The two teams will collide at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Colfax gym. Saturday’s title game offers the district’s top two slots in the regional round next week. The SE girls also get a number-three slot into the regional round and that will go to the win...
Colfax senior Kevin Nellis works for escape against Brewster's Manny Rubio in the first round of the regionals Friday at Reardan Three local contenders for the state mat classic waged some battles Friday in the first rounds of the regional tournament at Reardan, but they fell short of qualifying for the state mat classic this weekend at the Tacoma Dome. Kevin Nellis of Colfax, Kevin Knauff of Garfield/Palouse, both at 152, and Thomas Newton of St. John/Endicott, 119, all qualified for the regional out of the sub-regional a week earlier at... Full story
After public prodding, First Wind is creating a panel of Whitman County citizens to monitor wildlife impacts from its proposed wind farm. First Wind has applied to site a 55-turbine wind farm on Naff Ridge, which runs north and south along the east side of Highway 195 northwest of Oakesdale. The Boston-based company said Tuesday it will put together a technical advisory committee (TAC) made up of local citizens. The committee would watch how wildlife is impacted by the Palouse Wind turbine farm, specifically focusing on bird and bat mortality...
Next monthly dinner at United Methodist Church in Colfax will be served Feb. 24, starting at 6 p.m. A free potato bar will be open to the public. Organizer Donna Thompson said they served over 60 people at the previous dinner. Thompson said more people are attending as word of the free meal spreads. The potato bar will feature classic baked potato toppings, along with beverages and desserts. The meals are prepared by a volunteer team of church members. Thompson said her idea for the dinners began after a relative of hers was in need in Walla...
David Wold (left) and Claire Echanove (right) perform Wild Thing. To a grange hall full of giggles, the girl in the green dress sung “Wild Thing” into the microphone, backed up by some silky bass. Claire Echanove, star singer for a few moments Sunday, was accompanied by David Wold for one of 13 acts for the 14th annual PEO variety show held at the Palouse Grange Hall building. A gaggle of little boys and girls performed a dance with colored scarves. “There were three and four and five-year-olds doing scarf dancing- it was pretty sweet...
Bugs in the county’s new Terrascan tax tracking software resulted in an increase in the amount of property taxes refunded by Whitman County in 2010. Treasurer Robert Lothspeich last week informed county commissioners his office refunded $20,121 to property owners last year. For 2009, the county refunded $1,780.62 in property taxes. Most of the 2010 total was attributed to mistakes brought on by the Terrascan software. The new system improperly calculated some personal property valuations, said Lothspeich. In total, the improper calculations e...
THURSDAY Egyptian protestors in Cairo’s Tahrir Square rioted after President Hosni Mubarak vowed to stay in power despite their calls for his resignation. Federal wildlife officials proposed letting Idaho kill scores of wolves in what would be the largest government-sanctioned wolf culling in the state since the animals were reintroduced to the northern Rockies 15 years ago. Michael Francis Mara, 53, Baton Rouge, La., aka the “Granddad Bandit,” confessed to federal prosecutors to robbing 26 banks in 15 states during a two-year spree in which...
Whitman County Auditor Eunice Coker Tuesday afternoon released an invitation to the public to an open house ceremony for the county’s new elections office on Main Street Colfax. The open house will be Thursday, March 3, at 1:30 p.m., with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for 1:45 p.m. Coker said Washington State Secretary of State Sam Reed will be a featured guest at the ceremony. Remodeling of the building the county purchased from Harrison Electric at Main and Upton Streets was funded with a combination of a $360,000 grant from the f...
Colfax Chamber of Commerce members and guests learned the ins and outs of the Lower Granite Dam at a presentation Feb. 15. Sara White, Environmental Compliance Coordinator, spoke to about a dozen people in the Whitman Hospital cafeteria. Sara White points to a slide of a fish ladder at the Lower Granite Dam. Through an hour-long power point presentation, the audience heard statistics on the power generated by the facility and its environmental impact. White also spoke about the flow of endangered fish through the dam. Judy Liddle, secretary of...
A pile of Afghanistan-bound boxes sits in Doreen Hanson’s home. Whitman County commissioners Monday authorized a $40,935 engineering study to find efficiency opportunities in courthouse campus buildings. Though the county cut the spending plans of individual departments by 2.61 percent this year, Commissioner Pat O’Neill justified the study expense by saying it will prevent the need for further cuts in future years. “Once we fix these things, we’re going to free up a lot of money in savings that are going to make future cuts that less drastic...
Tomorrow will be the last day to participate in the Colfax School district surveys which have been going on for the past three weeks. Separate surveys for parents of Colfax students, other residents of the Colfax community and school staff have been posted on the district’s Web site. A fourth survey was given to one class of high school students and one class of junior high students. Friday at 4 p.m. the surveys will be pulled off the Web site. Preliminary results will be presented at the school board meeting Feb. 21 by Superintendent M...
Whitman County commissioners Monday authorized a $40,935 engineering study to find efficiency opportunities in courthouse campus buildings. Though the county cut the spending plans of individual departments by 2.61 percent this year, Commissioner Pat O’Neill justified the study expense by saying it will prevent the need for further cuts in future years. “Once we fix these things, we’re going to free up a lot of money in savings that are going to make future cuts that less drastic,” said O’Neill. The year-long study by Seattle-based McKinstry...
A “prompt corrective action” for the Bank of Whitman was ordered last week by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve system. The order found the bank failed to submit an acceptable capital restoration plan after a board finding last Sept. 30. The Federal Reserve announced the corrective action in a release dated Tuesday. The directive last Thursday followed a Feb. 3 meeting when the bank’s board of directors appointed Bill Knox, Chief Financial Officer, to negotiate on behalf of the bank with the Federal Reserve. That followed the resig...
Spartan Coaches Rob Hudkins, left, and David Baird go over the strategy Saturday for the final minutes of Saturday's semi-final game at St. John. After sitting one-two atop league standings all year, Rosalia and Colton boys hoop squads will square off in the Colfax gym Friday night for the SE 1B district title. Winner claims the top spot to the Walla Walla regional round of the state tournament. Loser plays Saturday night for the district’s number two ticket to state and heads to Eastmont High School in Wenatchee. SE district action for boys an...
A motion to vacate a $7,448,103 ruling against Scotts Inc. was filed Friday in Whitman County Superior Court by an attorney with the Seattle law firm which has represented Scotts in the case which involves payments to area grass seed producers. In the Jan. 21 ruling, Seeds Inc., Tekoa, was awarded the partial summary judgment for sums said due from Scotts under terms of contracts for Kentucky Bluegrass seed harvested in 2010. Seeds Inc. sought the partial summary judgment in a cross complaint after growers sued Seeds, Scotts and Dye Seed Ranch...
Lone Pine Cemetery, located near Tekoa, has been nominated for a place on the Washington Heritage Register. Listing on the register would give the cemetery protection against future development on the part of the state or federal government. It would also qualify the Friends of the Lone Pine Cemetery group to apply for public funding for the cemetery, according to Jim Irwin of Walla Walla, a member of Friends of the Lone Pine Cemetery. The group is actively working for state status to better clean up the cemetery, which holds the graves of many... Full story
Members of Whitman County’s Parks board of directors donated their time and talents last week to help rangers put a new roof on the picnic shelter at Klemgard Park. They spent Thursday and Friday scraping the old, water-logged cedar shingles off the south and west faces of the shelter. Ranger Dave Mahan said they took two loads of the old shingles to the dump, one weighing 2,700 pounds and the other weighing 2,900 pounds. Once the shingles were removed, they replaced lumber and put down a new metal roof. The volunteers took a lunch break to r... Full story
From the frosted vineyards of the Yakima region to the wind-swept hills of the Palouse to the staggered breaks of the Snake River, a new book about eastern Washington shows photos of it all. Northwest Drylands Seasons shows page after page of color scenic shots of the landscape of this region. The 116-page book is a collaboration between Tri-Cities photographer John Clement, Alex McGregor and Richard Scheuerman. One of several eastern Washington book signings will be in Colfax at Main Street Books Saturday, Feb. 19, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Both... Full story
Jack Ensley of Colfax, left, received a recognition plaque from Cory Aeschliman last Wednesday at the annual dinner meeting of the Whitman Conservation District. Ensley, a strong advocate of no-till and other conservation practices, was recognized for serving over 20 years as an associate supervisor for the district’s board. Aeschliman chairs the district board.... Full story
Punxsatawney Phil predicted the end of winter. The Widman children have already brought in Whitman County’s first buttercups. Yet we had a couple of inches of snow fall Tuesday night, and more is predicted this week. Will you ever trust the groundhog or buttercups again? So how do you know winter’s over? “When we start to get flowers and warmer temperatures....
Want to know my secret for having written this newspaper column for 612 weeks in a row? Well, so do I. I never thought of myself as having any particular method or system for writing (and neither has my editor). I decided this week to make a detailed record of my process, so that we’ll all know how I have done it, all these years. Step one: My column is due by noon Tuesday. Like any professional, I want to make sure I give myself plenty of time to write, so at 11:30 I send an e-mail to my editor telling her that due to unique and e...
U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, told the Gazette Tuesday she intends to vote for House Republicans’ proposed cuts to the current fiscal year’s budget which include steep cuts in agriculture funding. “The stakes are just too high to maintain the status quo,” said McMorris Rodgers. “We’re all going to have to make some sacrifices to reduce our debt and get the economy moving.” The reductions are included in $100 billion of cuts in an upcoming Continuing Resolution bill to fund the federal government for the remaining seven months...
Members of Whitman County’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Task Commission were disappointed with the turnout at their initial meeting last Wednesday to discuss potential awards of .09 economic development funding. Kristie Kirkpatrick, director of the county library system, attended the informational session which kicks off the annual funding award process. “I just hope that’s not an indicator of how many applicants we’re going to get,” said Ron Wachter, a member of the commission from Pullman. Each year since 2000, the county has awarded grants fo...
Tipping point Public Education in Washington State is at the tipping point! Unprecedented retroactive state budget cuts coupled with additional unfunded mandates continue to damage our ability to maintain, let alone continue to improve, the quality of K-12 education. Like families across the state, school districts are being told to do more with less in this economy. So, like families, school districts have become more resourceful and responsible than ever before. All those involved in our schools have worked hard to insulate our classrooms...