Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 49 of 49
Colfax firefighters respond to a fire in the 800 block of Lake Street the morning of Aug. 10. Believed to have started from a jug used to hold cigarettes, the fire was contained to the porch area of the house.... Full story
OSBORNE TRUSTEE TO VISIT Bob Freedman of New York, a trustee of the Robert Osborne estate, is expected to meet with Colfax representatives this week to determine a course of action on what might be done in Colfax with items from the estate of the long-time host of Turner Classic Movies. Whitman County Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick said at this point they do not know what items from the estate, if any, could eventually land in Colfax. Freedman has been working with Mr. Osborne’s two nieces who reside in the Spokane area. Osborne spent h...
—Misty Zornacki photo Greg Young harvests Aug. 5 along Union Flat Creek Road while the spray plane makes a pass over spring wheat. Crew includes Greg Burns in a truck, Kyle Young, Greg Young’s son, in the big combine, and Michael McNeilly and Matt Zornacki, also in trucks....
Have you heard of Paul Millsap? As of September, he’ll be making $30 million per year. Are you certain you can’t place the name? “I know it when I see it.” That was Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s famous description of when art crossed the line into pornography. Paul Millsap may be the new definition for when American capitalism crosses its own line. In the realm of whether capitalism should have any limits in this country, it’s hard to quantify. After all, money is often a shorthand f...
Today, it costs $10 for a senior citizen to purchase a lifetime National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass. Starting Aug. 28, that price will soar up to $80. Passes can still be purchased between now and Aug. 27 for $10, and they will continue to be valid for life. Current pass holders need not replace their cards, but if a pass is lost or stolen after Aug. 28 they will only be able to replace them by purchasing a new card at the $80 rate. According to the National Park Service, the price is going up as a result of the Centennial... Full story
Segments of the trail system that can take bicycle riders all the way to St. Regis, Mont., from Tekoa marked on this map include A the short segment to Plummer, B the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes to Mullan, C the NorPac (Northern Pacific) Trail over Lookout pass to Taft, Mont., and D the Olympian Trail which follows the former Milwaukee Railroad route to St. Regis. Bicycle trails which would be linked to the John Wayne Trail under a proposal in the works at Tekoa now extend another 31 miles to St...
High school teams which begin practices this week for the fall sports campaign will be in the second year of competition in school size brackets set up by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. The state WIAA executive board in January of 2016 approved the brackets under an approach which lists all schools in the state and then attempts to put the same number of schools in each of the six classification brackets. Counts include the three grades. Seniors are not counted because when a change takes effect in the subsequent school... Full story
Swimmers, coaches, family and fans gathered in the Schmuck Park bowl Aug. 13 for the awards ceremony after the Tri-County league’s championship Cluckey meet. A total of 333 swimmers were registered to compete in the all-day event....
It will be an athletic event for all. People of all ages and ability levels are being called on to participate in Endicott’s second annual Tin Foil Man Triathlon Aug. 26. The idea for the event was first launched in 2015, but hazardous air quality from nearby wildfires forced it to be cancelled, so last year’s event became the first one. Jamie Misner, one of the organizers for the event, said this triathlon is really for everyone. “The whole philosophy is if someone doesn’t think they can do a triathlon this is the triathlon for you,” s...
The Washington Secretary of State office reported last week that the statewide election turnout for the Aug. 1 primary reached approximately 27 percent. Secretary of State Kim Wyman said the numbers were encouraging, but still not what she would like to see. “Even though this year's turnout is the highest since 2011 for odd-year primaries, it is by no means encouraging that only just over a quarter of our state's registered voters chose to make their voices heard,” said Wyman. “Even though it is more convenient for citizens to register and c...
County Coroner Peter Martin and Deputy Coroner Annie Pillers reported to the county commissioners Monday on changes expected for their office in the coming years. One change will require all coroner offices in the state to be accredited by 2020. Pillers explained this is expected to “provide a lot more standardization in services, which we need.” She added a lack of accreditation could lead to the office not being reimbursed for services such as autopsies. Commissioner Michael Largent expressed some concern. “What does this look like for the l... Full story
The county parks board and the Board of County Commissioners Monday approved appointment of Dave Mahan to serve as director of Parks and Recreation. Mahan fills the position vacated with the retirement of Tim Myers in June. Janel Goebel was appointed to be interim director while a new director was sought. Goebel and Bill Tensfeld, director of the Emergency Management department, said the appointment followed two application rounds for the vacant position. Two applications were received the first time around, and three on the second try. None...
A committee report in the hands of Tekoa's city attorney may push the saga of the collapsed former Cohn Motor Co. building to another stage after part of its roof caved in under snow in January. The unfit building committee, consisting of three volunteers appointed by Mayor John Jaeger – who chose the first three who came forward, to not appear biased – began work in late July. Referring to the city's unfit dwellings code, they finalized their report last week and sent it to the city. If the...
Contested Races Garfield Town Mayor Jarrod Pfaff (89) 44% Ray McCown (74) 36% Terri Linderman (41) 20% Garfield Town Council Rebecca Strange-Jones (14) 7% Tom Tevlin (138) 67% Kevin Pickron (55) 27% Pullman School District Director District 4 Nathan J. Roberts (640) 29% Lipi Turner-Rahman (427) 19% Elizabeth Siler* (407) 18% Karl M. Johanson (768) 34% Pullman Council 2, Ward 2 Dan Records (79) 28% Garren Shannon (128) 45% Troy J. Smith (29) 10% Austin Brown (51) 18% Pullman Council 7, Ward 1 Al Sorensen (773) 57% Hannah Krauss* (187) 14% Eric...
The planned final two stretches of the four-part Almota Road reconstruction project set for 2018 and 2019 will have a new twist as wetlands have been designated along the route. The categorization was made two weeks ago after a consultant joined county public works for the design and planning process. The category-four, upland wetland area extending 300 feet long by 25 feet wide along Penawawa Creek, just south of Stevick Road, runs right where plans are set for the expanded road. The creek...
A new ordinance in Tekoa aims to cut down on squatters. Passed in June, the city put a $100 fine on any property owner who has squatters living at their property. Tekoa had an estimated three or four houses with people evidently living in them even though the water was turned off. Since the ordinance was passed, the city has sent out letters to each homeowner. Soon, two of the houses became vacant and were locked up. The city will be checking on other “empty” houses periodically to see if doors are open. If so, the owner receives a letter fro... Full story
The Town of Rosalia is in the process of working to update its plans for its Small Water System Management Program (SWSMP). The update is part of a larger goal to obtain pre-construction funding for the improvement of the town's water system. “We're going through it and seeing what things we need and why we need them,” said Mayor Nanette Konishi. The town is working on the update to the plan, which it hopes will eventually allow for moving forward with the water system improvements. “That helps qualify us for funding,” said Konishi. The tow... Full story
Construction begins on Whitman Avenue in Rosalia. The project includes removing existing concrete panels from the road which were first constructed in 1931, as well as replacing those panels with a new base rock and five-inch thick asphalt pavement surface. Crews are expected to be on scene through September.... Full story
The deaths of two people in a murder-suicide at Hay were believed to have been caused by anxiety over several financial problems, County Coroner Peter Martin reported to the county commissioners Monday. “It's a real tragic situation,” said Martin. Dennis L. Moore, 66, and Janice K. Moore, 63, were found deceased outside of their home on Big Alkali Road early Tuesday, Aug. 8. Martin reported that Janice Moore called 911 and told operators that her husband had terminal cancer and that she was suffering from severe cancer. She told operators tha...
The solar eclipse of Aug. 21 is quickly approaching, and the Board of County Commissioners now plan to change their agenda slightly for meetings that day in order to be able to view the rare event. The board normally meets in workshop for non-action items on the first, third and fifth Mondays of the month at 9 a.m. in the conference room at the courthouse, followed by a board business meeting in its chambers at the courthouse at 10 a.m. The eclipse, however, will occur during those meeting times. According to an interactive map on...
The State Auditor’s Office was met by a crowd of department heads in the county commissioners’ chambers at the courthouse Monday afternoon as the kickoff for the county’s 2016 audit. Assistant Audit Manager Molly Mors was present and detailed the process that is now underway to perform a federal audit, a financial audit of the county for 2016 and an accountability audit. Mors detailed that the federal audit process is mostly complete and is due by Sept. 30. She said this audit is mostly for t...
The Board of County Commissioners Monday morning accepted a bid for Central Washington Asphalt of Moses Lake to complete an overlay project on Farmington Road. The project was approved last November and will include a hot asphalt mix overlay for five miles of Farmington Road north to the Warner Road intersection. The accepted bid came at approximately $979,750. The state’s Rural Arterial Program is contributing $750,000 to the project. There were two bidders on the project, with the higher bid coming in approximately $200,000 higher than the l... Full story
Pullman’s 29th annual National Lentil Festival will get underway tomorrow with the world’s largest bowl of lentil chili arriving at Reaney Park at 5 p.m. Friday’s lineup includes the free lentil chili plus a beer and wine garden near Spring Street. The food and marketplace vendors will also open at 5 p.m., along with the Lentil Land kid’s area and the garbanzo garden sponsored by Hinrichs Trading Company. ZFun 106 will be on the main stage starting at 5 p.m. with music and trivia, and live entertainment begins at 6:15 with Mother Yeti. Adrian...
Combines roll to a field to continue harvest near Kamiak Butte Monday. Whitman County grows 26 percent of Washington’s annual wheat crop. Harvest 2017 is at its halfway point and the numbers coming from area grain elevators to the United States Department of Agriculture are looking good. The USDA’s projections for Washington state wheat as of Aug. 10 show an overall prediction for the year at 141 million bushels, down from a near-record 157 million in 2016. The five-year average is 133 mil...
