Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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After one year of being away from the action, Terry Eng will return as coach of the Colfax softball team. Eng replaces Coach James Bledsoe who commuted from Pullman to lead the Bulldogs to the semi-final round of the 2B finals in Yakima last year. Eng served as Colfax coach for one year and as an assistant under Keith Becker for seven years. The Bulldogs graduated five seniors off the team that last year made the trip to Yakima after a sweep of the district rounds the previous weekend at Franklin Park in Spokane. They started the state finals... Full story
With a lot of veteran talent departing the roster with diplomas last June, Colfax baseball Coach Mike Parrish doesn’t expect a repeat of the 2010 string for the upcoming season. Parrish and crew ran a string of 25 wins last year all the way to the state title game against Seattle Lutheran on the Yakima Valley CC field. They bowed in the title game to the Seattle club to finish in second place with a 25-1 record. Veterans graduating off the 2010 team were Will Hatley, Joe Johnson, Brandon Hoadley, Tanner Gay, Tyler Morse, Dustin Huber and Sam M...
Coach Jason Cooper loaded 42 tracksters on the bus Tuesday for a short haul to Pullman and a season launch in the ‘hounds mini invitational. Seat capacity on the team bus has been a Cooper concern in the early season because he now has 64 competitors on the track squad and bus can’t hold that many. Tuesday, 18 of the track team members had to stay home. Cooper noted some of the coaches opted to drive to Pullman Tuesday to free up a few more bus seats. The Bulldog girls placed second in the mini invitational, a new stop for the team this year. T...
Special award winners at the Colfax girls basket ball banquet were Brooke Webber, with captains and inspirational player trophies; Rachel Robinson, Miss Hustle trophy; Amelie Bruya with inspirational and MVP trophies; and Misty Skelton, most improved. Basketball season for the Colfax girls wrapped up last Thursday with three seniors receiving a farewell and coaches presenting letters and special awards. Seniors finishing out their hoop run were Brooke Webber, Shaina Simonson and Raven Ellis. The Bulldogs girls, who said good-bye to a lot of...
THURSDAY Diet Coke overtook Pepsi as the number two soda in the U.S. The U.N. Security Council authorized a no-fly zone over Libya and “all necessary measures” to protect civilians against the forces of leader Muammar Gaddafi. Maine officials began paying hunters to kill coyotes in an effort to pump up the state’s whitetail deer population. Utah named the Browning model M1911 automatic pistol as the official state firearm, the first state in the union to name an official gun. The gun, which turns 100-years-old this year, is made in Ogden...
Retired Colfax High School English teacher Nancy Berry and members of her family were honored Saturday for their contribution which helped launch the Colfax Schools Foundation. The Berrys were the first family to designate memorial gifts to the foundation after the death in 2003 of spouse/father Kenneth Berry, long-time Colfax farmer and bus driver for the school district. Paw plaques designating donors to the foundation have recently been mounted over the entryway trophy case at Colfax High School. Terry Eng of Colfax presented the plaques to... Full story
The odd architectural decision by Jones Truck and Implement to build their new shop over, around and through the old Miller’s Welding shop has caught the eyes of many a driver on the Walla Walla Highway in Colfax. JTI owner Larry Jones said there is equipment stored inside the Miller shop and the design of the new building includes leaving portions of the shop inside the new building. “We don’t do anything the usual way,” said Jones.... Full story
A pair of former roads were formally abandoned by Whitman County commissioners Monday morning. Public Works Director Mark Storey said both roads, the F.M. Thompson and Jesse Lewis Roads, were actually former roads that have become just pieces of property owned by the county. “There haven’t been roads there for 50 years,” said Storey. Both roads, off the Wawawai Road west of Colton, were made obsolete when Wawawai Road was rebuilt in the 1930s. Neither the F.M. Thompson nor the Jesse Lewis Road have signs and they are not marked on county maps....
Three hikers who were the object of a search by volunteers for more than four hours Saturday night were located on Zornes Road in Adams County about 30 miles from where they started the hike, according to a report from Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick McNannay. The hikers were part of an outing sponsored by the Inland Northwest Hikers Club out of Spokane. The three missing hikers and a dog separated from a group of 10 hikers who started the trek. Volunteers from the Endicott Fire department were called out to search for the hikers after deputies received a...
St. John/Endicott girls gather on the St. John school stage to sing “Many a New Day” during Tuesday morning’s opening performance of their musical, Oklahoma. The musical performance was slated for other performances Tuesday and Wednesday night and has its final show scheduled for tonight, Thursday, at 7:30 p.m....
LaCrosse was awarded $40,000 in economic aid from Whitman County to bring groceries back to town at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Blue Ribbon Advisory Task Committee. Whitman County Rural Library District applied for the $40,000 grant from the county’s .09 economic development funding. The library wants to renovate space in the former LaCrosse Market building to relocate the town’s library from city hall. Attached to the LaCrosse library project is a complete renovation of the market building to create space for a grocery, a chiro...
The layoff procedure at the Colfax school district will continue to be based on seniority, at least until the end of this school year. Also, contract negotiations between the school district and its teachers remain in a deadlock as they work to replace the contract that expired last Aug. 31. The teacher’s union, Colfax Education Association (CEA), last Wednesday departed the mediation session with the seniority policy intact because their former contract remains in effect. Staff layoffs at Colfax are now based on how long teachers have w...
Oakesdale School District will ask voters next month to approve a $4.2 million bond to remodel all the buildings on its 78-year-old school campus. Superintendent Jake Dingman said the school is looking to completely remodel its gymnasium, build a new cafeteria and commons area for students and modernize utilities in the elementary and high schools. “It’s almost the original work in a lot of places,” said Dingman. “That definitely puts it past the typical 30-year life cycle for school buildings.” After seeing recent remodels of schools i... Full story
A pillar of flames shoots out the roof of Albion rural fire chief Randy Farr’s Parvin Road home Tuesday night in the picture at top. The six-alarm fire seriously damaged Farr’s home. Albion fire crews were called out to a chimney fire shortly before 6 p.m. By the time they arrived, the fire had spread upstairs. Rural crews from Colfax, Diamond, Pullman, Palouse and Steptoe were called in to assist. Crews stayed on scene until shortly after 9 p.m. as the stubborn fire smoldered between walls in the upstairs of the home....
SUPERIOR COURT OF WASHINGTON FOR WHITMAN COUNTY IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF LEONA FRANCES TATE, Deceased. No. 11-4-00022-8 PROBATE NOTICE TO CREDITORS RCW 11.40.031 The personal representative named below has been appointed as personal representative of this estate. Any person having a claim against the decedent must, before the time the claim would be barred by any otherwise applicable statute of limitations, present the claim in the manner as provided in RCW 11.40.070 by serving on or mailing to the personal representative or the personal...
Cougar solution? After thinking about the deer problem in Colfax I have come up with the “perfect” solution. You need cougars! Most of the biologists working for the WDFW (formerly the Department of Fish and Game) are a bunch of predator lovers. From the local level all the way up to the top in Olympia, WDFW strives to protect and propagate predators. I’m sure they would be happy to “relocate” a half dozen or so cougars into Colfax. They could use the local humane society as a staging area. The cougars would not only kill off the deer “nat... Full story
As you know, this coming weekend is Mother’s Day. Ha! OK, if you’re a man, you can stop gnashing your teeth and projectile sweating. That was what we who write professional-level humor columns call a “joke.” If you didn’t find it funny, it must be because you are not a professional. Mother’s Day is many weeks off, so you have plenty of time to procrastinate. But eventually you’re going to have to purchase a gift, which means you’re going to have to wrap it. For me, the most indispensable tool for wrapping presents is a wife. However, for ti... Full story
In the face of our rising budget deficit, Gov. Gregoire is calling on state agencies to become more streamlined and innovative. At the same time, some interest groups are scrambling to increase tax revenues. But raising taxes is difficult, because the voter-approved I-1053 requires a two-thirds vote to increase taxes. Consequently, some legislators are once again targeting so-called “tax loopholes.” It is a classic case of deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra would say. Periodic reviews of tax incentives to ensure they’re cost-effective are p...
WITH ALMOST a month to go before the 2011 legislative session comes to an end (April 24), there’s a lot of hot stuff kicking around that could toss a monkey wrench into sine die. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan came to town at the governor’s invitation to back her plan to get rid of Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn and make an education secretary one of her cabinet members. The House passed a bill that would make it legal to pay a surrogate mother to bear a child for wannabe parents who can’t or don’t want to do the job... Full story
YYYY The wonderful letter two weeks ago about “her” mother. #!*! The Colfax city council for not letting us know the game warden was going to be at a meeting so all of us who hate deer could be heard. #!*! The local elk hunt that does not allow the farmers whose crop and fields are being damaged and destroyed to hunt the elk. Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 Colfax, Wa 99111 Pet Peeves and Okeydokes should be short. One sentence is often enough. They also cannot be personal. Please sign longer submissions so the...
When Hurricane Katrina slammed into Louisiana, a nuclear power plant there lost all its outside power. The facility operated on generators for several days. Those generators were unharmed by the storm. They were located in concrete bunkers and were able to keep the reactor’s cooling system working until power was restored. Of all the tragedies attributed to Hurricane Katrina, a meltdown at this nuclear power plant was not one of them. American nuclear reactors are reportedly built to “appropriate” standards based on where they are sited. Those... Full story
It was venerable American newscaster David Brinkley who made the following sage observation: “The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news, we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.” According to Guinness World Records, the oldest cat in the world was named Crème Puff and lived to the ripe old age of 38 years and three days. If you do much printing, you might not be surprised to learn that if you figure out the cost by volume, the average ink cartridge for a printer costs seven times more than Dom...
Brandon S. Holibaugh, 23, Spokane, was released on his own recognizance Monday after a probable drug charge arrest which started when a deputy Saturday observed him driving on Highway 195 with blinking lights. He was booked into jail Saturday afternoon on probable charges of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and driving with a suspended license. In his arrest report, Deputy Mike Bogenreif said the incident started when he noticed a vehicle driving southbound near mile post 62 on 195 with its lights flashing. The deputy noted other... Full story
Both Jennings Junior High entries in the SE Junior High Band and Chorus festival March 17 at Clarkston earned “superior plus” ratings from the adjudicators. Normal top mark at the music event is a “superior” but adjudicators occasionally add a “plus” to designate a group which exceeds the top level. Choir Director Cary Cammack said he and band director Mike Morgan believe the rating has been awarded to only one other Colfax group in the last 20 years. The Colfax groups are made up of seventh and eighth graders....
Figures on the 2007 Rosalia motorcycle rally are cited in legal arguments which were filed in superior court March 17. The declarations had been filed in opposition to a motion for summary judgment made by attorneys for Josh Bryan, originator of the rally. Bryan’s suit contends the Town of Rosalia and the Chamber of Commerce breached a contract agreement which provided him the right to present rallies beyond 2007. A declaration filed by Courtney Garcia, attorney for Rosalia, said Bryan after the 2007 rally paid Rosalia $2,138 for its share o...
