Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 36 of 36
The proposed Tekoa truck bypass project from 2012 remains on hold pending a matter, among other things, of how much land the city would need to acquire from Union Pacific railroad. At the March 17 city council meeting, Mayor John Jaeger asked the council if they would want to buy the right-of-way property and the adjacent area where the rodeo arena stands. At issue is that it’s still not known if the right-of-way or adjacent ground is free of contaminants which could significantly change the s...
A familiar face is leaving the Endicott City Hall in December. Sue Bafus, who first started working for the city in the fall of 1971, said she’s seen many changes in the small town over the years. Bafus said she began collecting water bills, then worked as the city treasurer and when the position was combined with the city clerk, took on the combined position. “I’m just tired of working,” she said Tuesday morning in city hall. With two grandsons in Spokane who are very active in sports, Bafus s...
Rich Chittenden of Tekoa has been appointed by the Whitman County Commissioners to a five-year term on the Whitman County Library Board of Trustees. Rich and his family moved to the area in 2008. He is the branch manager of U.S. Bank in Colfax. Besides an extensive background in the financial industry, he is a member of the Colfax Rotary and a board member for Tekoa Ambulance. Rich replaces Teresa Myott of Palouse who concluded her five-year term on the library board....
The building formerly known as the Hamilton Drug Store on Main Street in Colfax is slowly coming back to life. Whitman County Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick reported on Monday to county commissioners that the building adjacent to the library will now be known as The Center. “It will be the educational and social hub of Colfax,” Kirkpatrick said. The Center will be open year round and will feature exercise and yoga classes along with art exhibits. Colfax Chamber of Commerce also will be...
Whitman County commissioners Monday discussed county road conditions. Board Chairman Art Swannack told the board that the North and South River roads near Palouse have the potential to qualify for a 35 mph ATV designation. Before that designation however, Public Works Director Mark Storey would do a road study and a public hearing would be held. He also commented that no roads around Garfield would qualify for such a designation. County public works staff also reported that most county gravel roads have been repaired where roads were washed...
The current extended lock closure at Little Goose Lock & Dam may have some impact on the corps’ annual practice of barging young salmon downstrean. The barging operations generally start no earlier than April 21 and no later than early May, according to Bruce Henrickson, corps information specialist. At present the corps has eight of its 10 fish barges at Lower Granite and two downstream in Portland for maintenance. One option, in the event river shipping remains blocked at Little Goose, would be to bring the two barges upstream from Portland a...
A new barge mooring area is under construction at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Lower Granite Lock & Dam on the Snake River. The contractor, TSS/Garco Joint Venture of Richland, started construction at Lower Granite in November. The project has been awarded on the bid of $6.969 million. The corps is asking visitors and anglers to stay out of the land and water construction areas because of safety concerns. The north shore tailrace area just below the dam and gated access road to the tailrace are closed during construction. The area is a c...
Jill Whelchel Wahl, who recently learned that county Superior Court Clerk Shirley Bafus will be retiring after 30 years of service, has announced her candidacy for the position in the upcoming election. She plans to run as a Republican. Wahl spent the past 11 years within the superior court organizaton as a guardian ad litem, family court supervisor and most recently as CASA Program Manager. A 1987 WSU graduate in Hotel & Restaurant/Business administration, she has 19 years administrative experience at WSU Creamery, where she was responsible...
Following a recommendaton from Public Works Director Mark Storey, Whitman County commissioners Monday approved $3,798,330 for construction of a new solid waste transfer station to Halme Builders, the highest bidder on the project. The 3-0 vote was taken over the objections of the low bidder on the project, Clearwater Construction of Spokane. The Clearwater bid was $246,510 under the Halme bid. In a workshop session Monday before the meeting, Storey told commissioners that Clearwater was contesting the bid award. Paul Clary, president of...
This is the end of one of the acts of “Don’t Say No to the USO,” performed at St. John-Endicott High School March 27-28 during the first musical the school has seen in a couple of years. Two mothers, Kelly Lundberg and Rachel Anderson, produced the musical set in the 1940s and included music from the Big Band era. Lundberg said the students chose the play and that she and Anderson wanted to do it because the senior class is an exceptional group of students. The women also enlisted Jill Gfell...
NOTICE OF HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of County Commissioners of Whitman County, Washington will meet in its office in the Whitman County Commissioners’ Chambers, in the Courthouse in Colfax, Washington on Monday, the 21st day of April 2014, at the hour of 11:00 a.m. for the purpose of considering an Amendment to Whitman County’s Six-Year Road Program (2014 – 2019), at which time and place any taxpayer may appear and be heard for or against said program. Handicap access for the Whitman County Courthouse is available at the M...
