Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 51 - 59 of 59
Sales tax revenue for Whitman County through February totaled for almost half of the anticipated sales tax revenue which has been budgeted for the whole year. The big start derives from taxes off construction purchases for the Palouse Wind project. Gary Petrovich, county administrative director, reported Monday the county has received $1,234,147 in sales taxes through February. Treausrer Robert Lothspeich budgeted $2,795,000 in sales taxes to the county’s current expense fund for all of 2012. That projection is $728,605 more than the actual c...
A total of 12 Colfax teachers are now testing out the use of a MOBI, a tablet-like device which allows a teacher, or student, to write on a “chalkboard” from anywhere in the classroom. Colfax School District Technology Director Margie Hamilton arranged for the 90-day free trial, for which she obtained the MOBI devices from a conference in Spokane. The experiment began Jan. 24. With the trial period past the halfway point, Hamilton is now gathering preliminary feedback. The MOBI (“Mobile Integ...
A blowout bash is planned Saturday to celebrate the 105th birthday of Ruth Henderson, who lived all of those 105 years, except for a few months, at Colfax. "It's a great town. There's just nothing like farm people," Ruth said. She can remember her childhood days on the farm, spending afternoons playing with her sister "in the timber" and pulling rainbow trout and crawdads out of the muddy Palouse River. "It's been a fun life. I wouldn't trade it for anything," she said. Born March 23, 1907, to Asahel and Myra Baldwin, she was the seventh of...
A superior court jury Monday acquitted Frederick Downey of a charge of harassment. The Downey case was unusual because it involved a crime which allegedly had taken place in the courtroom while Downey was being sentenced for an earlier conviction. The one-day trial related to a hearing last Sept. 23 when Downey, 63, Pullman, was sentenced to 67 days in jail for attempted burglary of the Pufferbelly Depot the previous January in Pullman. During Downey’s Sept. 23 sentencing, Prosecutor Denis Tracy advised the court that Downey could face a...
Lamont farmer Art Swannack, 46, announced Sunday his campaign to become a Whitman County commisisoner. Swannack becomes the third candidate to announce a bid for the District 1 seat on the county commission currently held by Greg Partch. Kirk Suess of Steptoe and Bill Tensfeld of Rosalia have both previously announced their intentions to run for the seat. Swannack said he wants to bring the county commission a more conservative spending philosophy and make its deliberations a more “open and honest” process. “The county commission needs to ma...
A 1912 church has a new purpose in Garfield. The downstairs of the Garfield United Methodist Church is just about to become the Seedlings Child Care Center. In a joint effort with the Garfield school board, the non-profit operation aims to bring in Garfield kids who have had to go to other towns for child care. This includes a significant number who now take school transportation to Palouse for this purpose. “That was a lot of bussing for little kids,” said the Rev. Peggy Ray, pastor of the chur...
Whitman County commissioners unanimously signed a new waste disposal contract Monday despite pleas by a local trash hauler to reconsider. Dave Patterson, district manager of Waste Connections which owns Empire Disposal, asked commissioners to delay their decision and review the three proposals submitted to the county. “Please look at it and make sure where the costs and the services are so you can make the best-informed decision you can,” Patterson urged the commission. Public Works Director Mark Storey advised commissioners the proposed con...
Fans of the Green and Orange kick up their heels to the Irish tunes played by Palouse-based band Potatohead during the Palouse Arts Council’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the city’s new community center Saturday night. Led by Jessie Hunter of Moscow, back right, an Irish dance troupe of Melissa Scholten, Andrea O’Sullivan and Bridgid O’Sullivan showed off their choreographed jigs before the floor was opened to novice dancers of all ages. Revelers also feasted on mound of corned beef, cabbage-laced potatoes and soda bread. Potatohea...
The sixth annual Art Demonstration Day will be April 14 at Dahmen Barn from 11 am to 4 p.m. This year’s theme is creating with recycled or found objects. Twelve visiting artists will join 16 resident artists, and all will demonstrate how they work with recycled materials. Visitors can watch each artist at work and learn how they choose their materials and how they incorporate them into functional, decorative or wearable art. The range of approaches using found materials is amazing– Rik Fromdahl carves peach pits and John Elwood makes “ca...
