Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Whether or not Whitman County should allow First Wind to build a 65-turbine wind farm on 9,000 acres in the north central county will be argued Monday in the CETC building in Colfax. Eighteen Oakesdale residents have appealed the county’s ruling that First Wind has devised adequate measures to offset environmental impacts from its Palouse Wind turbine farm proposed for sites north and west of Oakesdale. Following those appeals will be a public hearing to determine if the Boston-based company receives a conditional use permit, the first p...
Nick Dett is reunited with his cat, Blackie, just minutes after pulling him out of the concrete river in a specially-designed trap. After being stuck for six days in the Colfax flood control channel, Blackie the cat was successfully rescued Monday morning by his owners, Nick and Cynthia Dett. After numerous efforts over six days to trap the cat, the Detts finally caught Blackie in a live trap that was lowered by a rope down into the channel of the South Fork of the Palouse River. The cat had been residing in a drainage pipe in a dry portion of... Full story
Track teams in the SE district will have one more gathering of the clan today at Clarkston before the district begins get cut down for the state 2B finals at the end of the month. . All the SE teams, including the three Whitman combo clubs, will be in the 2B finals. Pomeroy will be in the 1B and out of the two qualification rounds. The SE will be back at Clarkston May 11 for sub-district eliminations for qualifiers for the district meet at Martin Field in Walla Walla May 19. Just two state qualifiers will come out of the SE for the May 27-28...
Eagles are state’s top trapshooters St. John/Endicott’s FFA Trapshooting team of Jason Heitstuman, Travis Nieman, Colton Bafus, William Knott and Dallas Schluneger bested 33 other schools to bring home the state championship at Wenatchee April 15-16. Heitstuman claimed top spot by shooting the highest score of any individual with Nieman claiming second. Bafus and Knott tied for fourth highest individual. The team was advised by Bob Clements. Vikings TOR bag big wins Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia and Garfield/Palou- se went into a take-no-prisoners mo...
Garfield/Palouse/Colton tracksters traveled all the way to Mac High at Milton-Freewater for last Wednesday’s round of track competition. Both the boys and girls teams booked a number-three finish in a five-team meet which mixed in the Oregon hosts with the SE’s DeSales, Walla Walla Valley Academy and Dayton. Viking boys finished third with 54 points behind the 189 rolled up by the hosts. The girls totaled 67, behind 120 by the Mac team and 83 by DeSales. Jeff Kent won both sprints with a 11.35 in the 100 and a 23.88 in the 200. Kent also pla... Full story
Late debut for new scoreboard Colfax baseball fans last Wednesday finally got to see the Bulldogs' new scoreboard in action at McDonald Park. After being bumped by rain delays, the home season finally launched with the Davenport Gorillas as guests. Colfax senior Tyler McNannay is pitching here against the Gorillas in the second game. Colfax won twice on shutouts. Colfax baseball again sustained a one-day setback Tuesday when too much rain, including an outbreak just before gametime, erased a double date with Northwest Christian. The two games...
THURSDAY Tornadoes and violent storms ripped through seven southern states, killing at least 295 people and causing billions of dollars of damage in some of the deadliest twisters in U.S. history. More than 160 tornadoes were reported over the week. Superman, in the Action Comics issue No. 900, said he intends to renounce his U.S. citizenship in a speech before the United Nations. The man of steel, who stands for “Truth, Justice and the American Way,” said he was tiring of his actions being “construed as instruments of U.S. policy.” Researc...
Two aging stretches of sidewalk will be replaced in Oakesdale this summer. At a city council meeting Monday, engineers showed the Oakesdale council the designs for the two projects. The longer project will replace two and a half blocks of sidewalk on Oakesdale’s First Street (Highway 27) as it heads north out of town. The new sidewalk will stretch from city hall to Williams Street. The first portion of the new sidewalk will run along the east side of the highway. At the intersection with Bartlett Street it will be on the opposite side of the h...
Floyd Overstreet in uniform in 1944 Floyd Overstreet of Colfax said he relished being part of a World War II Veteran’s Honor Flight from Spokane to Washington D. C. last week. Overstreet, who served in the Navy from 1944 to 1946, said he was deeply touched to see the many monuments at the nation’s capital. “I just sat there and gazed at the memorials and took pictures and remembered; some very good memories and some memories I’d like to forget,” he told the Gazette Tuesday. “It’s difficult to explain how beautiful it is in there.” He flew out o... Full story
Gail Parsons was mistakenly identified as a member of the Oakesdale School Board in the article entitled “First Wind farm would lower property tax bills” in last week’s Gazette. Parsons was co-chair of the committee that developed the school’s remodeling proposal, but has never served on the district‘s school board.... Full story
Nearly 80 youngsters met Whitman County Library’s five day TV Free Challenge during April. The Friends of the Library offered a free book to those who met the challenge. As reported in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, children who watched too much TV ate more snacks and soft drinks than those whose TV viewing time is limited.... Full story
Officials with Whitman County and Pullman are considering a proposal from WSU to re-draw the county’s election district and precinct boundaries. State law requires electoral districts to have the same number of registered voters. They are redrawn every 10 years after the federal census. Local officials have until Dec. 31 to re-draw the districts. That deadline will have the job finished before the next election round for state and federal representatives. Whitman County gained 4,126 people in the 2010 Census, but only because Pullman’s populati...
Members of the Pacific Railcar tour departed the Colfax station Saturday morning for their annual spring tour of tracks of the former Union Pacific line, now part of the Palouse River & Coulee City operation. The railcars Saturday were headed out of the station for a pull up the grade west of the Perkins House and on to Endicott and Winona where they switched to the north line. That took them through St. John and as far as the end of the line at Thornton....
Modernization bonds at the Colton and Oakesdale school districts were all but officially sunk last Thursday after elections office staffers counted 126 ballots from Tuesday and Wednesday’s mail deliveries. The 126 ballots were added to Tuesday night’s returns of 757 ballots. This count, the final until the May 11 certification, included 883 of the 1,317 ballots issued for the two districts. Elections technician Karen Bafus said approximately 50 ballots with late postmarks, potentially mismatched signatures or other question marks will go bef...
The 24-foot Thrivent Homegrown Help Truck will be in Colfax next Tuesday, May 10, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at Peace Lutheran Church to distribute food. Approximately 25 volunteers from the Whitman County Chapter of Thrivent Financial will assist in distributing vegetables, fruit, and bread from the truck. All who need food are welcome to bring a box and receive food. The truck can hold up to 9,000 pounds of food. The 24-foot truck represents a collaboration between Northern Rocky Mountain Region of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and Second... Full story
A yard sale and a concert next month will likely mark the last two events in the storied history of the Steptoe Grange Hall. Members of the Steptoe Grange and the Steptoe Community Fund said this week they will shutter the building because they have not been able to purchase it from the Washington State Grange, owner of the building. “I think we’ve kept it open as long as we can,” said Valoree Gregory, an organizer of the Steptoe Community Fund. High maintenance costs are prompting the community fund to close the building, which has hosted conc... Full story
Debra A. Lowry, the 46-year-old victim of a major domestic violence case in March, was booked into Whitman County jail Monday morning on a Pullman charge of felony assault with a syringe. Pullman police found Lowry in the trunk of a vehicle Saturday after being called to investigate the alleged assault Friday night. The arrest report alleges Lowry stabbed her 21-year-old son at a home on Johnson Avenue with a syringe which was believed to have been loaded with blood. The needle of the syringe broke off in the victim’s right arm. The assault w...
Judy Weiker returned home to Garfield Tuesday after four weeks at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. She was life-flighted by helicopter to the hospital in early April with breathing difficulties and high blood pressure. Her absence was felt by many residents of Garfield and the surrounding area. A benefit spaghetti dinner to help cover her medical costs was Wednesday at the Garfield School. Garfield city clerk Annie Pillars Monday said organizers expected a good turnout for the event. Judy and Roy Weiker have operated Smokin’ Papa’s Bar...
After more than a year and a half negotiating, Whitman County commissioners Monday signed collective contracts with county employees who are members of the Teamsters. Under the contract, which covers 2010 and 2011, county employees receive no pay raises, but will see $42 increases in the county’s monthly contribution to their medical insurance, from $653 to $695. The Teamsters Local 690 out of Spokane represents bargaining units for 99 courthouse, solid waste and road workers. Negotiations with those three bargaining units opened in S...
Cub Scouts from all over the Kamiakin Scout District returned to the camp in the Manning District on the Palouse River Saturday to learn scout skills and life skills at the annual Cuboree. Levi Carnahan, a member of Pack 317 at Potlatch, uses his balancing skills here to navigate the rope bridge....
Davenport's Ashley Benson gets a greeting at second base from Lauren Moore in the first game last Wednesday at McDonald field. The Bulldogs and Gorillas booked a split in the doubleheader. Softball action Tuesday at McDonald Park in Colfax approached the unreal zone with Colfax and Northwest Christian starting a league double late and finishing under the lights. The second came finished up with the bulldogs taking the win 11-10 in the extra eighth inning after four hours of play. Northwest Christian won the opener 8-5. Tuesday’s split r... Full story
Blaise Anderson of the GP Vikings slides into second under Pirate shortstop Sean Beale during the dramatic finish of the first game Saturday at Garfield. The Bucs and Pirates slit the double bill. St. John/Endicott Eagles took both sides of a twin bill Monday in a make-up date over Touchet to finish 8-0 in the 1B division. The playoff run for the Eagles will start May 13 at Hartline when the SE and District 7 teams compete for state entries. SJE today will travel to Rosalia at play the Spartans under the lights at 7 p.m. to close out their...
8 years ago - May 7, 1886 Articles of incorporation for the Spring Mountain Water Co. were filed with the territorial secretary on the first, incorporators being H.W. Livingstone, Leon Kuhn and Jas. A. Perkins. The business of the company as outlined by the articles, is to supply the city of Colfax with pure spring water for domestic, fire, power and other purposes. County commissioners have extended the 5-cent squirrel scalp bounty to Aug. 1. At its regular monthly meeting Wednesday evening, the city council granted the Spring Mountain...
SAIL program session set The SAIL exercise program sponsored by the Whitman Hospital, continues to meet at the LaCrosse Methodist Church on Tuesday and Thursday at 9 a.m. There is a $1 fee for each session attended. Erin Hopkins, a certified SAIL instructor, leads the class. Everyone is welcome to attend. Coin pig said hungry Rosalia Librarian Katie Littleton wants to remind the Rosalia Library users that her coin pig is hungry for pennies. Please remember to stop in and feed the pig to help support the summer reading program. Preschoolers are...
St. John Eugene Schmidt, a 1968 St. John graduate, has an interest in the campaign by Bridgeport to land President Obama as a commencement speaker this year. Schmidt, son of St. John resident Eileen Schmidt, served as superintendent at Bridgeport. He left the Bridgeport district two years ago and is now superintendent for a school district in Los Alamos, N. M. Schmidt received his education degree at Washington State College.... Full story
