Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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A hay load fire last Thursday night on Highway 26 destroyed a semi truck and trailer unit and led to a fire Sunday which destroyed a former school building along the highway near the Penawawa intersection. Kristian Gibler, 43, Palouse was hauling the load of hay westbound when it caught fire. Gibler told Trooper Katelyn Baxter he looked in the rearview mirror and noticed smoke coming from the load. He stopped the truck on the westbound side of the highway and attempted to push the burning bales...
Whitman County commissioners Monday approved a proposal for a road levy tax lift to go on the ballot in November. To be voted on by residents of the county’s unincorporated areas, the added revenue would go primarily for maintenance on rural roads. The measure would raise the rate of tax collection on property from $1.45 to $2.25 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. The rate would then likely go down as home valuations go up from year to year. The county has spent from reserves in the roa...
First Thursday will return to downtown Colfax today, Aug. 1, beginning at 3 p.m. with street vendors, merchant sales, origami crane folding, free root beer floats sponsored by Rosauers and Methodist Church and another fish painting party from 3 to 5 p.m. in The Center at the Colfax Library. Colfax Arts Council invites everyone to help install the fish projects along the chainlink fence on the east side of the flood control channel at 5:30 p.m. just north of the library. The Hankers band from Oakesdale will perform on Spring Street at 6:30...
The Whitman County board of adjustment will conduct a hearing Aug. 8 on a conditional use request for 10 acres of the former Hawkins land next to the state line for a relocated St. John Hardware and Implement now at Moscow. If the request is approved, they would move from their existing spot on the north end of Moscow just off Highway 95 to allow for a proposed 70,000-square foot headquarters for EMSI, a Moscow-based software company. The former Hawkins land is in a zone called the North...
The City of Tekoa approved a measure July 15 to ask Tekoa residents to cut back on water usage by four to five percent on monthly usage. The action came after the city completed its annual water use efficiency report for the Washington State Department of Health. The state asks for a new goal at least every six years for each municipality. Tekoa’s previous goal was in replacing water meters which it accomplished. “It means instead of watering a yard every day, perhaps every other day and fix a leaking faucet,” said Mayor Troy Wilson. “I th...
Methamphetamine, heroin and approximately 25 pounds of marijuana were allegedly found in a small van last Thursday afternoon and deputies arrested two Spokane men on outstanding warrants in the Cashup Flat area. The deputies obtained a warrant to search the van after K-9 Lilly was used to do a perimeter search around the van and demonstrated a positive response to the presence of drugs. Deputy Sgt. Michael Jordan said they received a report of a disabled gold colored minivan on the Eugene Prince Road near the 195 intersection. John R....
The delayed Almota Phase Four reconstruction project, once slated for this year, has now been moved to next year. Dean Cornelison, assistant county engineer, told county commissioners Monday that a package of funding documents for the road reconstruction phase was sent July 25 to Washington State Department of Transportation in Olympia – which will release federal funds if approved. Construction plans and specifications were next to be sent to WSDOT’s Eastern Region office in Spokane this wee...
Bank of Eastern Washington is now collecting school supplies for elementary students at its five branches. The supplies will be distributed to local schools. Each branch will conduct a drawing for a backpack filled with supplies for a local student. Parents of grade school students are encouraged to stop in and fill out a ticket for the drawing. BEW branches are located Colfax, LaCrosse, Pasco, Dayton and Pomeroy....
Bunyard's Automotive in Colfax donated an ADA accessible van to Changing Lives ministry in Spokane July 24 after purchasing the vehicle from COAST transportation in Colfax. Changing Lives ministry at the Mosaic Center in Spokane is a group gathering to share experiences with depression, addiction, eating disorders and so on. The group meets every Saturday afternoon. Co-owner Jacob Bunyard said this isn't the first time their business has donated a vehicle. "We lend a hand to people who need a...
Washington Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse introduced the Fostering Opportunities for Resources and Education Spending through Timber Sales (FORESTS) Act of 2019 to encourage active forest management on federal forest land, local collaboration and decision-making within national forests, and reaffirm the federal government’s commitment to timber-dependent communities. “Every summer, all of us here in the Pacific Northwest feel the impact of catastrophic wildfire, but through local collaboration and active forest manageme...
The Tekoa city council approved a $40,000 expenditure July 15 on an agreement with Avista to run underground electricity to the Goldenrod Cemetery. The money comes from the Goldenrod Cemetery Perpetual Care Endowment Fund. The first intention would be to heat the bathrooms on site, with a plan to add lights later. Mayor Troy Wilson has signed the paperwork with Avista. He noted he expects the work to be done this year. “It opens a bunch of possibilities, to perhaps keep the flags up longer (at the Veterans memorial) and eventually we’d lik...
Whitman County Genealogical Society July 15 made a $1,000 donation to the Pullman Depot Heritage Center in honor of the late Dorothy Sevier Matson (1920-2002). Sevier Matson was a lifetime member of WCGS and donated money to the organization before her death. Some of this money was used to establish an endowment with the Innovia Foundation, the interest from which is used to fund a scholarship each year to a graduating Pullman High School senior who writes an essay about their interest in...
Colfax Police Officer Cory Alcantar Thursday morning, July 25, removed a dead deer which had apparently impaled itself while attempting to leap a metal fence at a residence on the west side of the 900 block of S. Main the night before. Alcantar was assisted by members of the public works department in removing the dead deer which appeared to have reached full size. He said the deer also had one of its feet caught in the fence....
Teams, coaches and fans of the tri-county's novice swim league will swarm to Colfax pool Saturday for the 55th edition of the Cluckey Cup league meet to wrap up the summer season. Pullman Barracudas again figure to be the top contender after a strong run through the league schedule. However, the Barracudas were tripped in the final league round Thursday when a light crew traveled to Pomeroy and were topped 223-209 by the Pirates who were defending their home waters. GPOP, which placed second to...
Last chapter of summer Legion baseball went into the books Monday when the Walla Walla Bruins shut out Pullman Posse 2-0 Monday at the State Legion AA playoffs in Yakima. The loss eliminated the locals who finished with a 1-2 mark in the 16-team state championship campaign. Posse, led by Pullman Coach Gabby Rodriquez, was the only team among the three county Legion squads to advance to the state finals. The Patriots were bumped out of the AAA division, and the Whitman Cougars were bumped from the A division in district rounds at Spokane last...
Colfax football Coach Mike Morgan Monday issued his pre-season letter to the players and parents. Official start of practice for the Bulldogs will be Aug. 21 at 3 p.m. A mandatory parents meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 19. First action for the team will be the league Jamboree Aug. 30 at Ritzville and the season home opener will be a non-league game against Freeman Sept. 13. Colfax traveled to Freeman last year early in the season against the A division Scotties. Colfax will also play Wahkiakum between the jamboree and Freeman dates in a...
Matt Hockett, a senior-to-be at Oakesdale High School, placed third in the javelin at the USATF (United States Track and Field) National Junior Championships July 22-28, held on the campus of Sacramento State University in Sacramento, Calif. Hockett threw 57.24 meters, representing the Spokane Speed Academy. He qualified for nationals earlier in July at a regional qualifying meet. Hockett's throw was a personal best – a would-be school record had it occurred in school competition. "He loves t...
Colfax Athletic Director Nathan Holbrook has resigned from the Colfax faculty to join the Garfield/Palouse faculty as a physical education instructor at the Garfield/Palouse Middle School in Garfield. Holbrook, a member of the 2003 Garfield/Palouse High School class, was a member of the faculty at Colfax for six years. He received his education degree at Central Washington University. During the years he worked here he commuted from his residence at Palouse. Most of Holbrook’s work assignment here was as a physical education teacher, but the A...
After an article about funding to the Palouse Conservation District in the July 18 edition, Jessica Self, grants and development manager for the district, expressed concern about how the information was relayed. She was asked to submit a list of statements, included below, to clarify the report. The Gazette apologizes for any misinformation which might have been conveyed to readers by the original report. Palouse Conservation District would like to clarify recent funding awarded by Washington State Department of Ecology. Palouse CD was awarded...
Colfax Bulldog cheerleaders for football will includes Miya Ensley and Hayden Fulfs, co-captains; Kari Largent, Emalee Phillips, Maddie Fairbanks, Cydni Miller, Emma Miller, Annika Christenson and Katherine Tate. Ensley and Fulfs will also be co-captains for the basketball cheer squad. Largent, Phillips, Fairbanks, Cyndi Miller, Christenson, Anna Cocking and Olivia Ng will be other members of the hoop cheer squad....
These reports are from the previous four issues of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax. They are reprinted here for the benefit of Gazette readers who reside outside of Colfax. Some accounts have been updated. MANNING ROAD FIRE Rural fire district crews responded to a report of a wildland fire along the Manning Road near the Morgan ranch at 2:39 p.m. Monday. The fire was believed to have been ignited off a truck which backfired. Crews from Colfax, Diamond and Steptoe also responded to the scene, and...
A privately funded report on the Snake River Dams has just been released. The report recommends that the dams be taken out and the river be restored to natural flow. The study is called the Snake River Dams: Economic Tradeoffs of Removal. It will be discussed at a press conference today in Seattle. The study reports on all aspects of the consequences of the loss of the dams, including transportation, irrigation, recreation, power generation and fish. Although the study discusses the negatives of breaching the four lower Snake River dams and poi...
