Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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A centennial memorial will be for Lester Dean Hayton at the Hayton-Greene Park in Palouse at 1 p.m. July 14, 2019, during the Palouse Ice Cream Social. Hayton was a Palouse resident who went missing in action during the Battle of Chateau-Thierry in World War I July 20, 1918. News of his death didn’t reach Palouse until two days short of a year later, July 18, 1919. Hayton’s remains were never been recovered, and he officially remains missing in action. This memorial will be under the archway commemorating Lester Hayton in the Hayton-Greene par...
The Washington State Parks Department has begun a process to evaluate the 1915 concrete Rosalia trestle after concerns about pieces falling onto the road below. The trestle, owned by State Parks as part of the Palouse-to-Cascades Trail (formerly John Wayne Trail), was the subject of a letter sent in May 2017 by Mark Storey, Whitman County Public Works director, after which he received a few calls from State Parks representatives, but no further action. Earlier this month at “Battle Days” in Ros...
Whitman County commissioners met with County Planner Alan Thomson to discuss progress on an ordinance for marijuana operations during a workshop session Monday morning. Commissioners had previously placed a moratorium on any new or expansion of cannabis-related businesses after Selway Holdings LLC requested zoning for a marijuana processing facility on Country Club Road near Pullman and received backlash from residents. At Monday’s meeting, commissioners and Thomson, along with County Prosecutor Denis Tracy discussed the possibility of e...
Canola is in bloom once again in Whitman County with its bright yellow petals taking over hills for a crop that keeps increasing in this area. In 2012, seven Whitman County farms grew canola. Five years later, it was 25. "A lot more acres (in the state), definitely, again from last year to this year," said Karen Sowers, WSU Extension and Outreach Specialist who is also the executive director for the Pacific Northwest Canola Association. Last year, more than 67,000 acres of canola were grown in...
Paul Higginson, 49, Colfax, was booked into jail here June 19 after he was arrested in a house on the 500 block of Cromwell Street in Colfax. Probable charges listed with the arrest were residential burglary, malicious mischief and resisting arrest. According to the arrest report by Colfax Officer Perry Tate, Higginson failed to heed an order that he was under arrest and moved to different rooms in the residence which he was seen entering via a bathroom window. The episode started at approximately 3 a.m. when the woman living in the house...
About 40 representatives from several counties came together for an emergency management exercise Monday morning at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds. Hannah Kimball, Pullman Regional Hospital representative, said multiple counties and entities were able to attend the exercise including participants from Asotin, Columbia, Whitman and Garfield counties. They were presented with a given scenario that included a fully-loaded chemical semi-truck colliding with a school bus on the Central Ferry bridge....
Riley Wuestney, 18, Colfax, was unhurt early June 19 when the truck he was driving fell off the Long Hollow Road about five miles south of Onecho. Deputy Jim Pelissier reported Wuestney had pulled the Kenworth truck over to the side of the road to allow an oncoming quad track tractor, which was pulling a cultivator, to pass. The bank of the road collapsed and the truck, which was hauling a water tank, went over on its side. Pelissier said the truck was not moving when the roadway gave way....
Washington State Patrol Trooper Brandon Kendall has transferred to Spokane after duty at the Colfax detachment. Taking his place on the Colfax roster will be Trooper Katelyn Baxter who has been serving at the Monroe WSP office. Eight troopers are assigned to the Colfax contingent to serve the area....
Trinity Lutheran Church in Endicott and Peace Lutheran Church in Colfax welcomed Ian McMichael as the new pastor to lead Sunday services for the two churches this week. McMichael moved from Florida Monday with his wife, Corrin, and their seven-month-old son Hans. The McMichael family will stay in the Endicott parsonage. McMichael said he grew up in Hermiston, Ore. He graduated from seminary school in Columbus, Ohio, and will be ordained at Hermiston First United Methodist Church in Hermiston,...
Saturday afternoon marked the completion of training for four newly-trained law enforcement officers after completing an eight month Basic Law Enforcement Reserve Academy which began last November. It was organized and presented by the Whitman County Sheriff's Office. Three new Whitman County reserve deputies and one reserve Pullman police officer received their commissions in Saturday's afternoon ceremony at Colfax. Auditor Sandy Jamison conducted the oath of office for the deputies, and...
At last Thursday's Port of Whitman meeting, Debbie Snell, Port properties and development manager, relayed a report on demographics for 2018 which was presented at the annual Palouse Commercial Real Estate conference in Moscow. Their market review for 2018 depicted demographics for the Palouse area by surveying 4,154 units. In Whitman County, 2.4 percent of housing units are vacant, according to the review. The average rent for all units in Whitman County was $928, according to the market review. In Pullman, rental rates were $688 for one...
Port of Whitman commissioners June 20 approved the final alternative design for the dock replacement project at Boyer Park. The approved design includes replacing docks one and two and installing a headwalk to connect to other docks. The design would also include a pier that connects to an 80-foot ADA accessible ramp. The state's Recreational and Conservation Office grant the port intends to seek for the project has a $1 million ceiling. Costs of the option approved last week would be $400,000 m...
Mike Day now has leftover Battle Days t-shirts available for $5 each. They can be purchased at the Texaco, which is normally open on weekdays, starting at 10 a.m. In another Battle Days followup, an autographed football was donated by the Seahawks, but it arrived too late for the drawing during Battle Days. The Chamber of Commerce plans to raffle the ball off at a future event. Tickets will be available at the Texaco station at a rate of three tickets for a $1....
The Bureau of Land Management placed several fire restrictions on public lands, which went into effect last Saturday, June 22. Counties including Whitman, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla and Yakima are affected by the restrictions. These restrictions prohibit target shooting with exploding targets, like Tannerite, driving any vehicle off marked roadways, fireworks, smoking near flammable brush and campfires unless within BLM-provided steel rings at approved campgrounds....
The first of four wall murals is now in place on the Fonk's Building. Colfax Artist Henry Stinson has blocked in his “American Gothic on the Palouse” mural on the south side of the Fonk’s building next to the drive through for Washington Federal Bank. Stinson's painting features two robots as a takeoff on the 1930s painting by Grant Wood. The mural is one of four which has been scheduled for Colfax in a project sponsored by the Colfax Art Council....
Andrew and Ronda Penwell, Colfax Junior-Senior High School teachers, have been chosen in a group of 77 teachers across the country to go to a summer workshop at Harvard University. The all-expenses paid trip to Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Mass., will be Aug. 18-20. The Pullman League of Women Voters nominated the Penwells for the workshop which is sponsored by the League's national organization. The event will focus on the Harvard case-study method of civics education, regarding...
Pullman was ranked number one in Washington as the best city to live in for 2019 by ChamberofCommerce.org. According to their website, Pullman was awarded first for housing Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and W.S.U. Pullman has “Lush natural surroundings and a strong agricultural tradition,” it noted. Pullman's Chamber of Commerce was listed as a resource for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Factors affecting the ranking were employment, housing, quality of life, education and health. The organization analyzed median earnings, mon...
Councilman Blaine Golden reported to the city council June 17 liability was the big concern involved with the proposal to build a trail along the Colfax Golf Course between the McDonald Park walkway and the North Flat trail. Members of the city park board and the golf club had an informal session to discuss the concept for the new trail. Golden said the chief concern is the possibility of golf balls hitting people who would be using the new trail segment. Golden now represents the council at the Colfax park board. He reported the next step...
After an 0-4 run in the Palouse Summer series last week, the Pullman Patriots bounced back with two league shutouts over the Spokane Bandits Tuesday night at Quann Field in Pullman. The league wins bumped the Pats' league record to 6-2 in the Spokane Legion AAA race. Nate Akesson of Colfax pitched a 6-0 shutout in the first game. He allowed the Bandits just four hits. The Pats scored three runs in the first inning and that was all they needed. In the second game Carson Coulter, Kelan Becker and...
Colfax High School track season ended with a trophy from the state track meet at Cheney. The Bulldogs received the team para-combined trophy for racking up the most points with finishes in ambulatory and non-ambulatory competition. The meet wrapped up the first season for Jonathon Kinley who competed in the ambulatory races and the Colfax boys team who had the best state finish in decades. Kinley's points and the team points landed the para-combo trophy which was presented by the state WIAA....
