Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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When Idaho Gov. Butch Otter published his “Love Letter to Our Neighbors,” he touched off a political firestorm asserting his state is better for business. Otter sensed a weakness in Oregon’s business climate after lawmakers raised taxes on businesses and the wealthy by $727 million. Nike founder Phil Knight called it “Oregon’s Assisted Suicide Law II.” Perceiving Knight might be fed up with Oregon, Otter started putting incentives together to lure Nike across the state line. With Washington’s Legislature about to raise business taxes to bala...
IT WAS A SHOCK, really, to see in the listing of salaries for Gov. Christine Gregoire and her top nine staff members that every one of them made more than Gov. Al Rosellini and his whole office back in the 1960s. Gregoire’s salaries ran in February Building Insight, the publication of the Building Industry Association of Washington which was taking issue with the eternal sob story of needy state workers, over 20,000 of whom will get 5 percent raises this year despite the record unemployment and poor economy. The listing was by annual s...
The Gazette’s annual Ag Edition is included in this paper. It is in part a tribute to the farmers and ranchers who are the heart of this area. Historically, Whitman County has been farming country. It remains one of the richest dryland farming areas in the world, but, over time, the local economy has shifted. Higher education and hi-tech industries are becoming important factors in the prosperity of the county. There is concerted effort to diversify the economic and tax base away from agriculture. Still, agriculture is the county’s mai...
The History Channel * On April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express mail, traveling by horse and rider relay teams, simultaneously leaves St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif. Ten days later, the westbound rider completed the approximately 1,800-mile journey and arrived in Sacramento, beating the eastbound mail’s arrival in St. Joseph by two days. * On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris. Tower designer Gustave Eiffel, a noted bridge builder, was a master of metal construction and designed the framework of the Statue of L...
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. Mayor breaks seat deadlock Al Vorderbrueggen was selected Monday to fill the Colfax city council seat vacated by the resignation of Kathy Wride. Mayor Norma Becker voted for Vorderbrueggen after a ballot round of the six council members ended in a 3-3 deadlock between Vorderbrueggen and Todd Vanek. Vorderbrueggen, now an employee with the City...
Men’s Results - Feb. 14-22 Team Events-1. Kramer Funeral Home- 2012, Mark Kramer, Bob Lemon, George Young; 2. Deadbeats 2001-Mike Hall, Dylan Jones, Walt Brost;3. Dusty Country Store- 1970, Ray Summers, Joe Schlunegar, Al Brannen. All Events-1. Kyle McPherson 2112, 2. Mark Kramer 2101, 3. Todd Scholz 2059, 4. Andy Gylling 2054, 5. Ray Summers 2044, 6. Bob Lemon 2043, 7. Bryan Praest 2018, 8. Al Brannen 2013, 9. Mike Rusch 2007, 10. Steve Schmick 2003, 11. Mike McPherson 1985, 12. Mike Hall 1977. A Doubles-1. Brian Sisk/Al Martin 1432, 2. Bryan...
An experienced Colfax baseball team launched their new season Tuesday with a 7-3 win over Asotin at McDonald Park in Colfax. The Bulldogs trailed 0-2 before scoring all seven runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Next action for the Bulldogs will be their jamboree set for March 26-27 after the spring break. Freeman and Bellevue Christian are on the guest list to date. With just four seniors graduating off last year’s team, the Bulldogs return a lot of the veterans who advanced the club to the final 16 round of the state playoffs for the 2B t...
Sprague and Lamont School districts Monday night decided to open negotiations with Lind/Ritzville about a possible merger of the sports programs in the four schools. The decision was made after a community meeting in the multi-purpose room at Sprague. Sprague Board Chairman Doug Shields said the Sprague/Lamont boards decided to approach Lind/Ritzville after a poll of the two communities showed most respondents favored a move in that direction. The poll was launched after the Harrington school board March 1 voted to end the Sprague/Harrington sp...
Whitman County’s team prevailed 76-74 Saturday night in the collision of Whitman County and Bi-County players at Rosalia. The Whitman-Bi County collision has been played at Sprague for several years, but was moved to Rosalia this year. Host coach Rob Hudkins said they also attempted to organize a matchup of girls teams but ran into too many schedule conflicts. He said they aim to line up both a boys and girls event back at Rosalia for next year. Hudkins coached the Bi-County team, and Tekoa/Oakesdale Coach Adam Ellis headed Whitman. The W...
St. John/Endicott Coach Rick Winters, Warren Miller of SJE and Jim Maley of Rosalia will represent Whitman County in a 1B-2B all-state game set for Mountlake Terrace High School Saturday at noon. Winters said they plan to assemble for a practice session at 10:30. Other players on the 1B teams are Cody Flett, Wellpinit; Spencer Shaholter, Cusick; Stephen McNamara, Moses Lake Christian; Robert Moss, Neah Bay; David James, Lummi and Cameron Pumphry, Lake Quinault....
LaCrosse Schools were one of four districts in the state to be named finalists in the Schools of Character program conducted by the Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. The district is believed to be the first to receive the honor on the east side of the state. Lynnwood Elementary won the state award for this year. Franklin Pierce High in Tacoma and Sunnyslope Elementary in the South Kitsap district were the other finalists along with LaCrosse. Notice of the LaCrosse achievement and congratulations came from...
Special trophy winners at the Colfax girls hoop banquet included, from the left, Amelie Bruya, most improved; Rachel Johnson, inspirational; Kayleigh Maltone, Bulldog award; Kayla Johnson, most valuable player and Emily Shaw, Bulldog award. Under a “Champions Again in 2010” banner the Colfax girls basketball team wrapped up the season at the banquet table Monday night. The team honored six seniors who were part of the campaign to a second straight 2B title with four straight wins last week in the Spokane Arena. Coach Corey Baerlocher noted the...
Mr. Spartan, Mike Day, dusted down both courts during the 52-game state 2B show at the Spokane Arena last week. Total for the hardwood sweep topped 12.5 miles....
Eric Christiansen wants a place to ride his motorcycle, so he’s decided to build one. Christiansen is looking to set up a 30-acre motocross and BMX track much closer to home on a 50-acre lot north of the Port of Wilma. The 38-year old Lewiston resident has been riding motorcycles for the past 20 years. He started out riding through the hills of the Lewiston Clarkston Valley and has since been a part of moto-cross events all around the nation. Crowds regularly pack the stands and entry sheets at those events. Christiansen thinks the same c...
THURSDAY A group of more than 250 family farmers packed a town hall meeting in Iowa to press the U.S. Justice Department to crack down on concentration in the commercial seed business. Critics want to stop the practice of patenting seed germplasm, which limits the rights of farmers to save seed from their harvested crops and replant them. A Swedish court decided it will extradite Anders Hogstrom to Poland where he faces charges of stealing the infamous “Work sets you free” sign from the former Auschwitz Nazi death camp. If convicted, he fac...
A group of WSU architecture students rolled into the city of Palouse March 5 to begin a month-long project that draws up ideas for r access along the North Palouse river. For the next few weeks, students in small groups will make the drive from Pullman to Palouse to lay out ideas for foot bridges and paths along the river. The city will examine all the proposals at the end of the semester and pick a handful for Palouse citizens to vote on as a community. Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove said the students’ work will deal more in landscape d...
Palouse mayor Michael Echanove chats with a guest at a party in his honor. The party was held at Connie Newman’s home and more than 90 people attended. The group raised $3,000, $2,000 of which went to Echanove. More than 90 people showed up to a party March 13 to raise $2,000 to compensate the Palouse mayor after he was reprimanded by WSU with a two-week unpaid suspension. After a WSU audit showed mayor Michael Echanove had spent close to 30 hours over 15 months at his WSU job on personal phone calls, the WSU administration reprimanded him w...
Transmission towers create an extra-terrestrial landscape on top of Steptoe Butte. Local officials were informed last month the state parks department wants more than $61,000 for communications equipment posted on the towers. How much is the cap of Steptoe Butte worth? County officials are currently negotiating with the state Parks Department to figure that out. Whitman County and local fire districts own emergency communications repeaters posted on communications towers on the butte. The parks department believes locating that equipment on...
Nearly one-fifth of the Palouse Empire Fair’s annual budget could be eliminated as the state Legislature wraps up its supplemental session. Both the House and Senate budgets include drastic cuts to state fair funding. The House budget eliminates the $2 million fund altogether, while the Senate version cuts it to $500,000. A final version of the budget is expected at the end of the special legislative session which began this week. No matter which proposal goes through, the local fair’s budget will take a hit, said Palouse Empire Fair Man...
Becky Burke was incorrectly identified as her younger cousin Brittney in the Word on the Street column in last week’s Gazette. The Gazette apologizes to the Burkes for the mistake....
With Steptoe Butte in the background, Dick McCulley works up a field just south of Cashup Flat in the Hall family farm’s Versatile tractor. Though spring does not officially begin until Saturday, warm temperatures this winter have already put farmers across Whitman County in the tractor seat for spring work....
The Old Jones Schoolhouse near Dusty. For years, the Jones Schoolhouse has stood just east of Dusty as a remnant of the days when students walked to matriculate in one room. At this year’s Palouse Empire Fair, the former Jones School will likely stand as a tribute to the one-room schoolhouses that once dotted Whitman County. “It’s amazing how many there were just around Dusty back in the old days,” said Eric Appel, Palouse Empire Fair Foundation member who is heading up the project. The building, which has stood for the past half-century with a...
State auditors cited the county sheriff’s office and landfill in a recent performance audit for 2008. In a letter written to commissioners Dec. 9, 2009, auditors cited the landfill for accounting procedures that left open the possibility that payments could be stolen and criticized the sheriff for improperly managing policing contracts with Tekoa and Albion. The auditor’s letter surfaced Monday when public works staffers discussed the letter at the commissioners’ session. The letter targeted problems with the sheriff’s contracts to provide...
Hole in the Ground Creek runs north toward Bonnie Lake. Both the creek and the lake are part of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s plan to create a water trail connecting Chapman, Bonnie and Rock lakes via streams like Hole in the Ground Creek. More than 40 owners of land along Rock Lake and Bonnie Lake are vehemently protesting a state proposal to turn that area into a state-owned public water corridor. Irritated landowners of the United Bonnie Lake Landowners now have made calls and penned letters to state Department of Fish and W...
NOTICE OF DETERMINATION OF NONSIGNIFICANCE AND CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT HEARING The Whitman County Planning Office issued a Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) under the State Environmental Policy Acts Rules (Chapter 197-11 WAC) for the following project: The Palouse Empire Fair is proposing to move a 24’ by 48’ single-room school house to the fairgrounds to be used for display by the Whitman County Historical Society and will also be available to 4-H groups for a meeting place. The location of the fairgrounds is approximately 4 miles wes...
