Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 47 of 47
Naysayer on D.B. Cooper countered by Goldsworthy SO DNA TAKEN from the necktie D.B. Cooper left in the plane he jumped from with $200,000 in 1971 doesn’t match that of a dead man claimed by his niece to be the long sought skyjacker. But the FBI isn’t quite ready to abandon the late Lynn Doyle Cooper as a suspect in the case, an FBI spokesman said. There were three different DNA samples on the tie and it was not clear where Cooper got it. He may have borrowed it. But if he was the skyjacker, how could he have put it on and removed it wit...
Everyone has experienced it. Suddenly an idea, a song, a new product or a statement is a surprise for its simplicity. Once shared it is almost self evident. “Why didn’t I think of that?” is the common response. Well, Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, has recently come up with such an idea, and it has nothing to do with coffee beans. He recently sent out letters to the CEOs of 3,000 public ally traded companies to introduce his idea. It is just this: Americans of all political persuasions should withhold their political contributions until...
A proposal to tap the city’s tourism fund to help support the Palouse Summer Series baseball program, which draws teams from most parts of the state and other states, failed to get past the Colfax City Council Monday night. Proposed by Scott Parrish, who took over management of the baseball series this summer from Burdette Greeney, the request asked for $3,250 for the summer series. City Treasurer Mark Clinton presented the proposal to the city council. The measure died for lack of a motion to approve it. Clinton noted the basis for the p...
Colfax football turned the page for a new chapter Wednesday when Coach Mike Morgan and staff greeted new recruits for the start of practice season. The new season begins with nine members of the class of 2011 now off the roster. Most of them played a big part in the two-year Colfax run at another state title. Colfax has qualified for five WIAA football title games going back to 1981, so the grads of 2011 experienced 40 percent of the school’s championship grid time to date. The Bulldogs in 2009 and 2010 ended their seasons in state big B t...
Colfax swim team wrapped up the season with an awards picnic at Schmuck Park last Thursday night. Matt Ross, who took over the coaching job this year, said he compiled the “most points” awards from the results from the county swim meet last week. He also awarded most-improved trophies for swimmers in most classes. Gabriel Ross, who broke two records in the county meet last week, won the swimmer of the year title for boys, and Jane Campbell, top competitor in the girls 12-under class won the honor for the girls. High points winners were as fol...
The Southeastern Washington Football Officials Association is seeking men and women who are interested in officiating at junior high, middle school and high school football games this fall. Karl M. Johanson, assigning secretary, said they particularly need new officials from smaller towns and rural areas. First regular meeting of the officials association will be next Tuesday, Aug. 23, at 6:30 p.m. at Pullman High School. Persons interested can call Johanson in Pullman or visit with Jack McGrath at the Quilted Heart on Grand Ave. in Pullman....
Justin Blayne, coach at Medical Lake for the past six years, has been hired by Rosalia to serve as boys basketball coach and athletic director. Blayne, who also hopes to do substitute teaching at Rosalia, takes over the spot vacated by Rob Hudkins who coached the Spartan hoop team for nine years. Hudkins also served as athletic director and Spartan baseball coach for this year. Blayne completed studies for a masters degree in education from Eastern Washington University last year. He was head coach of the Cardinal girls team the last two...
Shawna Kneale of Colfax was introduced Tuesday night as the new athletic director of Colfax. Kneale takes the job vacated by Scott Randall who was hired for the new combined position at the July 25 Colfax school board meeting and subsequently resigned the job. Supt. Michael Morgan said Randall resigned the post shortly after he was named for the position. He said Randall, who attended a coaches camp at Yakima the week after he was appointed, submitted his resignation the following week. Morgan said Kneale was an original top choice of...
THURSDAY Israel's interior minister gave final approval for a plan to build 1,600 settler homes in East Jerusalem. The announcement could weigh on U.S.-led efforts to dissuade Palestinians from seeking United Nations endorsement of statehood in the absence of peace talks they suspended over Israeli settlement construction. The Falcon HTV-2, an arrowhead-shaped unmanned experimental aircraft designed to glide down from the upper atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound, lost contact with ground control on its second test flight from Vandenberg...
Arasb Nouri Mazandarani, 36, was ordered Friday, Aug. 12, in Superior Court to undergo evaluation before the state proceeds with charges filed against him. He was arrested Aug. 10 after Pullman Police responded to a report of a man and woman arguing outside of the Cougarland Motel....
A rundown on the cost increases for the county’s health insurance program was presented Monday to county commissioners, employees and others by Mike Shelton, executive director of Washington Counties Insurance Fund. The county at the start of this year faced an increase in health insurance rates of 19 percent coupled with a 5.74 percent extra rate hike when the insurance fund directors decided to drop its self insured pool format and contract with a health insurance provider. Shelton’s visit also came while the county is considering a swi...
Pullman Regional Hospital’s board of commissioners voted Tuesday to re-finance its 2001 voter-approved bond issue of $8.2 million to build the new hospital. Pullman Regional Hospital opened in 2004. The hospital board voted to take the opportunity to refinance the same bonds at a better rate and reduce the debt by as much as $300,000. The original bonds were issued in 2001 at a 20-year rate. They were all bought a year later. The financial group D.A. Davidson handles the bonds for the hospital. Pullman Regional Hospital CEO Scott Adams was a p...
Tim Myers, director of Whitman County Parks Department, indicated that fire restrictions will be in effect as of Friday, Aug. 19, at Kamiak Butte and Klemgard County Parks, and along the Bill Chipman Trail. Fire restrictions have been in effect at Wawawai County Park since June 10 under Fire District 14 guidelines. This restriction remains in effect. Campfires and smoking on trails are banned within park boundaries. Cooking with charcoal briquettes or a gas grill will be allowed. However, all park visitors are advised to be prepared and...
To improve consumer access to downloadable audio and eBooks, Whitman County Library is making a number of changes to its online services. The library will continue offering Overdrive through its catalog at www.whitco.lib.wa.us but will no longer support the downloadable Netlibrary product, according to a report from Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick. Library patrons have reported higher satisfaction ratings with Overdrive, in large part because the titles are easier to find. Overdrive currently offers more than 4,000 titles directly from...
Activity hums at Lower Granite Dam, with an annual maintenance project wrapping up, replacement of original strainers and a backup generator, and a large-scale turbine repair project in the preparation stage. In July, crews started going through all six power generating units at the dam, part of annual maintenance which also includes an in-depth overhaul of one unit - No. 6 this year. For each of the wide circular units, workers perform a slew of tasks, such as setting and re-setting switches,...
The Washington Association of School Administrators has elected Dr. Paul Sturm, Superintendent of Pullman School District, as president-elect for 2011-12. Sturm will assume the presidency in July 2012, following the term of the current president, Joel Aune, former Colfax superintendent who now heads the Snoqualmie Valley School District. Sturm has been an active member of WASA and has served in a variety of association positions, including president of WASA’s Northeast Region 101 during 2009-10. “I feel a huge sense of privilege and am hon...
Cart Nelsen, a 28-year veteran music teacher, will begin this year as band director for Rosalia and Tekoa. He comes from Vancouver where his Frontier Middle School just won the 2011 Junior Rose Parade which had 35 bands. Nelsen taught for 20 years in the Evergreen School District of Vancouver. He said his move to the Palouse offers a new challenge, and a reduction in the distance from his parents, who still live in Frenchtown, Mont., where Nelsen grew up and learned to play his dad’s t...
What happens when the only bank in town closes its doors, and residents and local businesses are left without a place to deposit funds, cash checks and even get change for conducting business? LaCrosse and Endicott in Whitman County have been operating in a no bank mode since the Bank of Whitman branches were closed down by FDIC and state officials Aug. 5. “It’s devastating,” Jeannine Larkin, head of the LaCrosse Business Association noted. Larkin said the association is comprised of about 12 businesses which have to operate now without a ban...
G. Todd Vanek, a newcomer to the Colfax political scene, and Carol Stueckle, who is attempting to return to the mayor’s office which she occupied 20 years ago, were the winners Tuesday in the primary election. Tom Huntwork and write-in candidate David Nails, both current members of the council, were bumped from the ticket for the general election. In the unprecedented four-way race for the county’s district three port seat, Colfax farmer Tom Kammerzell and Pullman insurance agent Al Sorensen won tickets for the general with strong returns. Por...
Three railroad proposals in the county, including a possible “rails-to-trails” conversion of the now idle railroad line between Colfax and Pullman are now in limbo and local officials don’t expect the proposal will advance in the coming months, maybe years. The rails-to-trails proposal was linked to other railroad project plans which are also now believed to be dropping down the priority list as the state deals with budget shortages. Also, the official letter of interest on the rails-to-trails option which was mailed to the Department of Trans...
Pullman’s 23rd National Lentil Festival will feature 100 percent recyclable chili bowls, a recipe from Switzerland and an expanded entertainment lineup – including a rite of passage show for Idaho’s Small Town Boyz. Events will start Friday downtown at 5 p.m. and continue Saturday when the action switches to Reaney Park. A new Green Team will make their debut at the festival this year, coordinating the chili bowls which will be collected in special boxes, sealed and sent straight to Tumwa...
On the warm afternoon of Aug. 11 at the head of the Colfax Trail, the Whitman County Parks and Recreation Board gathered for their monthly park board meeting. Vehicles rolled in and lined up by the green fence, including a red Whitman County Parks truck. Director Tim Myers arrived, along with Ranger Dave Mahan, Ranger Todd Heitstuman and then, in the distance, a small pickup with a metal canoe on top rolled down the dirt road and parked on the side. It was boardmember Steve Ullrich. Dr. Jim...
