Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 48 of 48
It's early in his presidency, but already Donald Trump has faced one controversy after another. None has been more perilous to him than the accusation that he was elected in large part due to the interference on his behalf by his comrade Vladimir Putin and Putin's agents of the Russian government. That one just won't go away. When the blustering, battering and bullying don't work and the media reports threaten to consume his administration in dangerous scandal, POTUS leaves his Plan B and falls back onto Plan T. "T," of course, stands for...
This is a nation that can’t find someone to host the Academy Awards. Is this relevant? Is it just the opinion of someone watching a broadcast few pay attention to anymore? Jimmy Kimmel just hosted the 89th Academy Awards, the annual ceremony in which Oscar statues are given for achievements in filmmaking. The year was marked by a wild twist of a bungled Best Picture award, though not all that many people were watching when it happened. The Oscars, feeling the downturn in ratings over the past 1...
City rocks to protect river road Colfax city crew Tuesday placed rocks along River Road at a point where predicted high water was expected to go over the road. The site is approximately a half mile west of the Glenwood Road bridge where the river makes a sharp turn to the south and runs through rock rapids. Public Works Director Matt Hammer said they pplaced rocks at the corner in an effort to build a berm and keep the road from flooding at that point. This photo was taken late Tuesday. The...
The accessibility of U-Haul has expanded in Pullman, with a second U-Haul neighborhood dealer now set up at Jay's Auto Repair Station in Pullman. According to a U-Haul press release, the auto shop has signed on with the company and will offer products for do-it-yourself moving and self-storage. Sunshine Lindsey, office manager at Jay's Auto Repair Station, said the start has been slow, but she expects it to pick up with the Washington State University academic year set to conclude in May. “We're also a little bit out on the edge of town, so s...
Another property purchase for the Pullman-Moscow Airport project was listed last week in a transfer tax affidavit filed in the county treasurer’s office. A commercial building on the east end of the airport was sold by Brian Augdahl and Carl Schmokel to the City of Pullman for $1,172,000. The building, located at 3431 Airport Road, had been used for a variety of commercial operations including cider packing and marijuana processing. Airport Manager Tony Bean reported the commercial building was purchased because it was located in the d...
Prosecutor Denis Tracy March 8 filed five formal charges against Bobby Bilderback, 48, Malden, in superior court. The first charge, second degree assault, carried a ‘three strikes’ notice which said a conviction could lead to a life term in prison without possibility of parole. That charge and four other charges also carried a notice of intent by the prosecutor to seek an exceptional sentence beyond the state’s standard range in the event Bilderback doesn’t receive a ‘three strikes’ life conviction. The ‘three strikes’ notice states Bilderba...
Though the final donation count is not yet in for last week's run of the Goodwill truck in LaCrosse, it was reported to be a success. “We were able to fill the trailer approximately two-thirds full of donations,” said Charlotte Honn with LaCrosse Community Outreach and Food Bank. “We feel this is an excellent response considering the weather and that we were unable to open the trailer door the last three days of the drive. We so appreciate the community coming through for us, despite the conditions.” Honn said she would know the final tally o...
Hoping to educate more people about the Community Food Bank in Pullman and its food options, the Pullman Community Action Center will host a “Chef's Challenge” Sunday, March 26, at the Gladish Community Center. The Chef's Challenge will pit three chefs against each other to compete for the “Golden Spatula” in a cooking competition in which they can only use ingredients commonly found at the Community Food Bank. “We'll have some items you can typically find at the pantry that will be provided,” said Jeff Guyett, executive director at the Comm...
Is this the best state high school basketball tournament in Washington? In the northwest? It might be both. The 1B/2B tournament at Spokane Arena is a showcase sporting event, for all the reasons that make sports interesting; atmosphere, stakes, personality, competition, fan experience. A 1B/2B team making it to Spokane must be a thrill like few other high school athletes experience. In comparison with other state tournaments in Washington, Idaho and Oregon, a case can be made that Spokane...
Top row, from left: Jacob Tewalt, Pomeroy; Kyle Gradwohl, Waitsburg; Mason Bates, Garfield/Palouse; Grant Kinzer, Colton; Brady Chadwick, Colton; Jace Gwinn, Pomeroy; Jacob Dunn, Waitsburg; Ryan Wolf, Pomeroy; Cal Gregory, Oakesdale. Bottom row, from left: Matt Wolf, Colton; Peter Schultheis, Colton; Adam Blakeley, St. John/Endicott; Kieron Anderson, Oakesdale; Oscar Morfin, Pomeroy. Top row, from left: Jordyn Moehrle, Colton; Payson Griner, Garfield/Palouse; Kendyl Druffel, Colton; Logan Reed,...
Wrestlers in front, front from the left are Dane Hall, Garrett Phillips, Chris Jones and Nolan Burrill. In back, from the left, are coach Dennis Gransbery, Nate Barney, Johnathan Nelson, Augie Allenbach, Travis Knauff, Ben Ahmann and assistant coach Cliff Knauff. Eight Colfax wrestlers and Travis Knauff of Garfield/Palouse were honored Thursday, March 9, at the wrestlers' banquet in the Colfax High School cafeteria. The banquet concluded a season which saw five members of the team compete at...
Colfax will launch its brand new track March 25 with the first Bruce MacDougall Invitational meet. Former Colfax track coach Bruce MacDougall and wife Terry, who were both part of the Colfax track program for 30 years, will be honored. Track coach Jason Cooper said 26 teams have been invited to participate at the meet. Among the teams will be Auburn Mountain View, a 4A school which is coached by the McDougalls' son, Joel, a Colfax High School grad. Cooper's spouse, Jennifer MacDougall Cooper, an assistant on the track team, is the other member...
Colfax's newest art contest is a little loose on the rules, but Colfax Art Council Vice President Katie Martin said she expects it to be a huge success. For entrants, there is no age restriction, no restriction on where an entrant lives and no restriction on the art medium. “It's really open to everyone,” said Martin. The only conditions? The art must have been completed between August of 2016 and July of 2017, art subjects must be within a 40-mile radius of Colfax and the artist must be willing to sell their art. Martin said part of the tho...
Joyce and Dan Leonard of Colton Colton couple Dan and Joyce Leonard have been honored by AARP Washington for the 2016 Andrus Award for Community Service. The Leonards work through the Spokane office of Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA). Joyce first got involved when she and Dan became Medicare age. Dan was teaching for a semester in Honduras, and Joyce started fielding forms in the mail. “She found out how difficult it was for someone who is intelligent, competent,” said Dan....
Commissioners award Western States asphalt supply contract Whitman County commissioners opened bids for liquid asphalt for the 2017 season March 6. Low bidder at $398 per ton was Western States. Estimated total for the purchase was $385,000. The material is used for chip-sealing work during the summer. Call out for Palouse skate park volunteers A call has been put out for volunteers to help at the Tony Kettel Skate Gardens in Palouse. Help is needed with site preparation, assembling, installing, digging and planting. Volunteers are asked to...
The public hearing in LaCrosse last week for the consideration of allowing sheep and goats in town for grazing purposes was attended by 17 residents. The issue came up last year when the town council allowed a resident to bring a sheep to town to graze his property, and the town council is now considering allowing the practice. Mayor Randy Camp at the public meeting shared the results of a survey which had been at the LaCrosse Post Office and market regarding the ordinance. The survey garnered 59 respondents, with 39 stating they would be okay...
Pasha Pavlo Rudenko works in his garage laboratory in Colfax Tuesday, March 7. It's game on for a Colfax man with a new product to aid old cars in longer use. Pasha Pavlo Rudenko, who earned a doctorate degree from WSU in materials science in 2014, started his company Tribotex in 2010. Its product is Carboss, a self-forming carbon coating which aims to reduce metal wear in engines. The idea came out of research Rudenko did as a graduate student at WSU. “We found something that would be wrong n...
A National Weather Service flood watch continued at Palouse Thursday with the level of the North Fork of the Palouse River again predicted to top flood stage. The predictions for early Thursday pegged the river level advancing to 17.98 inches which is in the flood zone. Thursday’s prediction followed an earlier prediction that the water level on the North Fork of the Palouse would exceed 19 feet. That was lowered, but the river height was expected to climb again Thursday. A 19-foot level level compares with the record 22.1 feet which hit the to...
Commissioner Art Swannack County Commissioner Art Swannack has been appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to serve on the state’s Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board. Swannack learned of the appointment last week after applying for it about three weeks ago. “I wasn’t figuring I was going to get chosen,” said Swannack. “On Friday, my wife told me, ‘you’ve got a message from the governor’s office on the phone.’” Swannack said he applied after learning of an opening for a county representati...
The Clear Creek Road has been closed because of a culvert washout caused by high water in Clear Creek last Thursday. The crossing is located about three quarters of a mile south of the Highway 272 intersection east of Colfax. The sheriff’s office logged the road closure at about 8 p.m. Thursday. High water washed around the 10-foot culvert which later dropped and then washed the roadway out along one side, County Maintenance Supervisor Phil Meyer said. He estimated it will be four or more w...
Nearing a deadline to decide a plan to address new permit requirements for nitrogen discharge into the North Palouse River, the City of Palouse’s waste treatment plan upgrade committee met March 7, including two representatives of Varela & Associates, the city’s project engineers. “It went really well. Nine months now to iron out what we’re gonna do,” said Michael Echanove, Palouse mayor. The Department of Ecology permit for Palouse calls for zero inorganic nitrate discharge, and a 2.5-degre...
Pioneer Telephone Company of LaCrosse is expanding its network to include high-speed broadband access for all of its customers. The company announced through a letter to its customers that it plans to install fiber for all customers. “We are going to do fiber to the home,” said Dallas Filan, general manager. “It’s a 10-year project, and we’re hoping to do it in five.” Filan said the company plans to get the project off the ground this spring by starting in Hooper. The start of the project now is conditional on the weather. “It’s not a...
Colfax school staff and residents discuss priorities in small groups at the high school library March 9. A group of Colfax School District staff and community members have settled on a preliminary plan to seek the aid of an architect to plan a potential facilities bond for 2018. Gathering in the Colfax High School library March 9, about 25 people assembled for a second meeting to discuss school building needs. A notice will now go out to locate an architect to provide advice at the next...
