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Articles from the March 23, 2016 edition


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  • A Colfax parks district

    Mar 23, 2016

    The city of Colfax wants to establish a new parks district. The city parks and pool are currently the responsibility of the city. The proposed change would put the parks and pool in a new taxing district with its own board and financing. This is a new approach to funding and maintaining the city parks. Also new is the idea that the district itself could match the Colfax School District boundaries and not just the city’s. One impetus for the effort to form the district as a separate entity from the city is the age and deterioration of the c...

  • Bulletin Column March 24

    Mar 23, 2016

    Three hurt on Highway 195 Colfax ambulances Monday transported three people from the scene of a rear-end collision near the intersection of Highway 195 and Babbitt Road 7.6 miles south of Colfax. The driver of a 2009 Ford Escape, a 17-year-old girl from Garfield, had to be extricated from the vehicle which ran into the back of a 2010 Ford box truck driven by Roy D. Munn of Moscow. She was transported to Pullman Regional Hospital. Munn and a passenger in the truck, Steven Carter, Moscow, were...

  • Sideman of the Seas

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    Crystal Cruise’s “Crystal Symphony” ship docked on Grand Turk, in Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean last November. Colfax High graduate Matt Scholz, below, was chosen for the six-star cruise line to play piano in a six-piece ensemble, playing two shows per night on the ship. His room is on the fifth deck, he has officer privileges and he works three hours a day. “As a musician, it's steady work, that's hard to find,” said Matt Scholz, Colfax High class of 2006, the piano player in the house band...

  • Colfax High golfers win at home opener

    Mar 23, 2016

    Colfax golfers scored 156 points to top the home opener Monday. Scores for the guests were Odessa/Harrington 226 and St. George's 239 Medalist for all boys was Bennett Gray who shot 36 in the nine -hole match. Also leading the Colfax Bulldogs were Augie Allenbach with 41, Chance Weitze 37 and AJ Miller 42. Leading Odessa was William Mann with 49, and leading St. George's was Winston Poppel with 55. McKenna Davis led the Bulldog girls with 45, followed by Kylie Gronning with 49. The leading scorer for St. George's was Claire Bennett with 68....

  • Colfax girls roll up big win in track opener

    Mar 23, 2016

    Colfax girls rolled up 137 points to win team honors Saturday in their first meet, the Central Idaho Invitational at Lapwai. They finished 34 points ahead of the number-two team, Coeur d'Alene Charter. The Bulldog girls won nine of the events in the opener with senior Scout Cai pegging wins in the high jump, pole vault and shotput. Olivia Mellor took wins in the long jump and triple jump and was part of a win posted by the Colfax 400 meter relay team. Carmen Gfeller posted wins in both hurdles events, and Alexie Smith and Rachel Brown finished...

  • New roles, new faces for Colton softball

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    With exactly 10 practices in, Colton played host to Dayton for a doubleheader last Friday and won both. Then it rained again. The team got rained out Tuesday for a game at Asotin, which was set to be played Wednesday. Colton coach Brad Nilson's roster is down one major player and a few others. Senior pitcher Zoe Moser is out with a knee injury from basketball, and contributors from last year, Georgia Meyer and Ali Hennigar, did not come out for 2016. “It'll be an interesting year,” Nilson sai...

  • Colfax girls wrap up hoop trophy year

    Mar 23, 2016

    Seniors and award winners honored at Tuesday's basketball banquet included, from the left, Katelyn Scholz, Piper Cai, Kylie Gronning, Olivia Mellor, Carmen Gfeller, Sidney Sheer, Taylor Garcia and Ashtyn Aune. Colfax girls Tuesday wrapped up the basketball season with a lot of memories, special honors and a farewell to five seniors who led the campaign all the way to a sixth place finish in the 2B show at Spokane. Coach Corey Baerlocher recounted some of the highlights and achievements along...

  • Robinson throws no-hitter in Colfax opener

    Mar 23, 2016

    Matt Sharp of Colfax beats the ball to the plate during the Colfax run explosion Friday at McDonald Park while Reardan pitcher Dustyn Rettkowski attempts to cover. Colfax junior Danny Robinson threw a no-hitter Friday in the baseball season opener at McDonald Park when the Bulldogs swept Reardan in a NE league start. The Bulldogs blanked Reardan 14-0 in the first game and posted a 21-1 win in the second game. Reardan's lone score for the day came in the last inning of the twinbill. Robinson...

  • Schweitzer additions expected to add 850 employees

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) Friday announced plans to construct two new buildings, adding more than 200,000 additional square feet of space. One building will be devoted to production and the other to research and development. The additions at the company will allow for SEL to hire 850 additional employees, SEL President Edmund O. Schweitzer III stated in a new release. “The best way for us to predict the future is to invent it and build it,” he said. “I'm delighted that we're doing both right here in Pullman.” The constru...

  • Diabetes prevention program offered

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    The Whitman County Extension of WSU is now offering a national diabetes program to help combat pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. The extension office announced the program in a March 7 news release. “Starting today, the Washington State University Whitman County Extension National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) offers people at high risk for Type 2 diabetes an evidence-based program that can help prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes through lifestyle changes,” the release stated. Shirley Calodish, WSU Extension program man...

  • State readies ballots for Presidential Primary

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    Secretary of State Kim Wyman announced Friday that ballots have been finalized for the state's upcoming Presidential Primary, slated for May 24. A press release announcing the candidates for the ballot stated, by state law, those on the ballot include those who are “generally advocated or whose candidacy is generally recognized in the national news media.” The ballot includes four Republican candidates and two Democratic candidates. The Republican candidates are Donald Trump, who is currently leading the delegate count for the GOP nom...

  • Pool meeting brings questions about future

    Mar 23, 2016

    Colfax Mayor Todd Vanek discusses the fate of the Colfax swimming pool last Thursday at a public meeting. Michael Cochran, Colfax resident, is seated. Last Thursday night's public meeting on the future of the Colfax swim pool generated several questions from approximately 30 people who attended the session. Mayor Todd Vanek welcomed the participants, who were seated around a rectangle of tables in the library's basement meeting room. The mayor then turned the meeting over to Sara Golden who had...

  • Pullman's Relay for Life April 2-3

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    The Pullman version of Relay for Life will hit the Pullman High School track next weekend, April 2-3 from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Cougs Against Cancer, a university organization, has been planning the event with the help of Community Manager Taylor Johnson, who works in the Spokane office of the American Cancer Society. Taylor also oversees the Colfax event, slated this year for June 10-11 at McDonald Park. A superhero theme is in place for Pullman Relay for Life. “The theme is superheroes, and we would love anyone and everyone to come,” Johnson sai...

  • The Center: Colfax Downtown Association $500 donation brings project closer to finish

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    Downtown Association President Kimberley DeHart, Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory, Associate Director of the Library Peggy Bryan and Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick pose with the $500 check donated to The Betty Steiger Center at the library here by the Colfax Downtown Association. Photo courtesy of Valoree Gregory. The Colfax Downtown Association last week donated $500 to The Betty Steiger Center at the Whitman County Library. The money will go toward continuing renovation...

  • Four cluster housing zones near Pullman gain approval

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    The Board of County Commissioners during their regular Monday meeting. Four agriculture areas were approved by Whitman County commissioners Monday to be re-zoned as cluster residential districts – allowing for development, with a required minimum of 20 acres consisting of four lots each. The zones, all near Pullman, are known as Itani Zone, Redwood Farmland Holdings, J Bar S Farmland Holdings and Warren Street Zone. The parcels were recommended for approval by Whitman County Planning C...

  • SJE will display S.T.E.A.M. works tonight

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    St. John/Endicott High School will display student work at a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (S.T.E.A.M.) event tonight from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the St. John High School cafeteria. The event promises an exhibition for the whole family with activities and demonstrations for all ages. “I’m hoping it will be a wonderful night,” said Superintendent Suzanne Schmick. Principal Mark Purvine said a lot of work has gone into preparing for this night. “Really what we have is just kind of a family night with activities around science...

  • Oakesdale Park loan approved, Tekoa loan tabled

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    Two county park and recreation districts were seeking loans from the Board of County Commissioners Monday to help with maintenance and operation costs, and one loan was approved while another was tabled. Oakesdale Park and Recreation District sought a $20,000 loan for the 2016 park season. “They need to replace a heater for their pool and would like a little help doing that, in case there are other issues that would sink them,” County Treasurer Mark Clinton told the commissioners. The commissioners unanimously approved the motion. The Oakesdale...

  • Modern Machine Shop magazine features Whitmore micro works

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    Rob Whitmore stands near one of two machines used to produce a tiny, plastic tube used as a part of a capsule inserted into a patient’s arm to help control and monitor glucose levels. Machinery at Medical Micro Machining in Colfax is pictured. A local business man and Colfax native was featured in the February edition of Modern Machine Shop magazine. Rob Whitmore, president and owner of Medical Micro Machining, was featured for his shop’s work in producing very small components of medical mac...

  • County okays $1.9 million remodel projects

    Kara McMurray, Gazette Reporter|Mar 23, 2016

    The Board of County Commissioners Monday approved a motion to sign a letter of intent to get the ball rolling for multiple projects at county buildings this summer. The commissioners approved the letter and discussed the projects. “The letter of intent was sufficient to proceed with the ordering of parts in order for McKinstry to get started,” said Commission Chair Michael Largent. “Time is of the essence because we need to get this construction underway.” McKinstry is the contractor for the projects. The projects include installing a new con...