Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The rush is on. Governments and public institutions are scrambling to remove Confederate war statues and memorials. It has been coming for a long time. Most recently, Confederate flags were removed from some public property in the south. The move has picked up dramatically as a result of the protests and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. That is where racial hate groups and counter-protestors clashed. One young woman was killed when a white supremacist ran her over with a car. The uproar only increased when President Trump first failed to...
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. GRAIN TRUCK FIRE Police and fire units responded at about 2:48 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16, to a report of a grain truck catching fire on Highway 26 just west of Colfax. The truck's engine failed as it was going up the grade in the westbound lane south of Morley Road. The 1998 Freightliner tractor trailer was being driven by Robert Germain of...
A trail of oil and an engine on fire on Highway 26 west of Colfax led to a response by police and fire units Aug. 16. The 1998 Freightliner, driven by Robert Germain of Pullman, was hauling a load of grain to Mockonema....
Patrick Lewis, executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency at Colfax, announced last week that Whitman County has been authorized for emergency haying and grazing use of Conservation Reserve Program acres. The announcement stated that this approval comes at the request of local FSA offices when counties reach the severe drought level on the U.S. Drought Monitor. Whitman County is one of eight counties to have received the emergency haying and grazing approval. The emergency period for grazing will end on Sept....
Kathy Cristobal, left, and Ryan Lazo from WSU helped clean windows and buildings on Colfax's Main Street last Thursday. They were among a group of students from WSU's Center for Civic Engagement. They gathered at Schmuck Park for a welcome from Library Director Kristie Kirkpatrick and City Administrator Dodd Snodgrass before the clean-up began. Work was also done at the library, the Community Garden south of Peace Lutheran Church and at Jennings Elementary. They returned to the park for lunch....
Youngsters from the Bulldog junior cheerleaders camp show their routine at Tuesday's Meet the Bulldogs night. They are also booked to perform at the first game night....
Webb’s Slough at St. John will host the second and last races for the American Sprint Boat racers Saturday. The slough emerged as the last track on the circuit this year after Extreme Sports Park in Port Angeles cancelled two race meets. The boats had been slated to race at Port Angeles in mid summer and then return there for the championship round after this Saturday’s race card at the slough. Association officials had talked about staging a third race card this year at St. John to provide the racers with more track time, but it just did not...
Last week’s feature story about the trail links east of the John Wayne Trail extending as far east at St. Regis, Mont., generated objections from Jay Allert of Rosalia, a member of the adjacent landowners group who oppose development of the John Wayne Trail. Allert said he was contacted by other members of the group who also complained about the article. Allert said he felt the account, particularly the headline, left the impression that a trail link had been established all the way from North Bend in Washington to St. Regis. He pointed out the...
Coach Sue Doering gets special recognition from Principal Carrie Lipe at Meet the Bulldogs night. Colfax Coach Sue Doering Monday greeted volleyball players to start her last season with the Bulldogs. Doering has vowed to wrap up her storied coaching career with this fall’s campaign. She resigned her teaching post with the district last year and has moved to Lewiston with husband Eric. For the campaign this year, she plans to commute. Doering will start the season with many of her players b...
Tour De Lentil bike riders pull into a rest station in the Columbia Bank parking lot in Colfax Aug. 19. The annual race, with distances of 50 k, 100 k and 150 k, attracted 85 riders, up from 70 last year. The 150 k route went from Pullman to Colfax, up to the top of Steptoe Butte, to Garfield then Palouse and back to Pullman. The event is held as a fundraiser for the WSU Cycling Club....
He’s not heavy, he’s my... Bulldog football players execute a quick stamina drill during their practice routine Monday at Schmuck Park. Riders changed to packers at the end of each length. Another Colfax Bulldog sports season started Friday with the turnout of football players who will have their first game at home Sept. 1 against Reardan. Coach Mike Morgan, who starts his 20th season as head coach, and his veteran coaching crew greeted 32 grid recruits to start the new season. The troops ass...
Whitman County Public Works department plans to fix two broken gas vents on a closed cell of the Waste Transfer Station. The air vents were installed to allow methane gas to escape from the settling cell which was covered in 1993. The vents were found to be bent over during a routine check last week. “Could've been wind, snow, settlement,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director. “The settling might have been a major factor.” The vents were found to be plugged with dirt six to 10 feet down. Public Works subsequently inspected the eight other v...
The Whitman Avenue reconstruction project in Rosalia got underway earlier this month, and the mayor reported this week that it is progressing well. “It's moving along pretty much right on schedule,” said Mayor Nanette Konishi. The project has not hit any big snags, she said, but there has been an issue that has surfaced with water lines. “One of the difficulties, if we could call it that, was that there were water and sewer lines that we didn't exactly know what or who they were serving,” said Konishi. The water line issue came up when construc...
The elections office is no stranger to seeing oddities on ballots. It has seen votes for Mickey Mouse and Santa Claus, as well as comments about particular candidates and statements about political parties. A new oddity was seen during this month's primary election in Whitman County: sliced off ballots. County Commissioner Art Swannack told the other commissioners last week that the canvass board had encountered ballots that had been sent in, but had either the bottom third or bottom two-thirds cut off. “It was a clean cut,” said Swannack. “It...
A Frank Gurney, Inc., crew from Spokane will install more guardrails on Endicott-St. John Road starting in mid-September. The work, contracted by Whitman County Public Works, will continue a project that was halted this spring when a fiber optic line needed to be moved by St. John Telephone Co. An estimated 3,000 feet of guardrail will now be placed on four to five separate stretches of road between Endicott and St. John. The project is paid for as part of a $750,000 grant from the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act of 2015. “There a...
It is a conversation that started 20 months ago, and there still has not been a resolution. Whitman County commissioners reported Monday in a workshop meeting that they have heard of no progress relating to the county's loan moratorium for junior taxing districts. “There is no response from the treasurer,” said Commissioner Michael Largent, who last week asked the treasurer for an update. The moratorium was imposed in January as a means of protecting the county's financial position while the county treasurer worked on establishing policies and...
In hay fields south of Palouse, two men adjust equipment Sunday, Aug. 20. Reports from the fields remain positive for the 2017 harvest....
Adjustments and some new features will greet students Tuesday at the start of the new school year in Colfax. A junior high counseling office has been moved to the upper floor and some classrooms have been rearranged to create an area specifically for the junior high. Seventh-graders will arrive this year to a “Bulldog Basecamp,” similar to a homeroom which will be where Kelli Cox will teach English and science. Cox is part of a designated core group of junior high teachers who will share the...
Betty Dawley, Colfax, reacts to viewing the solar eclipse Monday morning through eclipse glasses. She was standing near Abundant Faith Studio on Main Street. Various shots captured with a camera lens pressed to the special eclipse viewing glasses show the progression of the solar eclipse in Colfax Monday morning. Dale and Liz Mann stand outside of the Hyde Out to view the eclipse. A colander proved to be an effective tool for viewing the eclipse, with the moon’s path shown here. The moon’s obs...
Fire crews from Pullman, Colton and Albion Aug. 16 kept a grass and timber fire on Story Road south of Ewartsville from spreading to three houses and two shop buildings which were threatened. Pullman District 12 Fire Capt. Mike Walker said the fire had advanced to the side of one of the shop buildings and was within 10 feet of one of the houses when they arrived. A pump building and one parked vehicle were destroyed by the fire. The pump building was ablaze when the first fire crew arrived on the scene. Walker said the fire was started by...
The Town of St. John recently passed an emergency water ordinance for the purpose of completing its water system plan for the Department of Ecology. The town was required to pass the ordinance for the plan and needed to outline penalties for violation of water use restrictions. The ordinance stipulates that the town council can declare a water emergency in the event of severe drought, extended pipeline or equipment malfunction or in any other condition that significantly reduces the town’s ability to supply water. The purposes of declaring a wa...
Whitman County Public Works crews last week installed a fish passage channel after resuming work on a bridge project on Steptoe Canyon Road. The project had been stopped after ash from a possible indigenous campfire was discovered at the site. The ash was evaluated by the Nez Perce Tribe and Army Corps of Engineers, and the county received approval to bury it and proceed with the bridge project. “Don’t touch it, don’t remove it,” Public Works Director Mark Storey said as he explained the sta...
At the most recent town council meeting July 18 in Endicott, a representative with the Department of Ecology was present to discuss issues with the town’s sewer plant. The plant has been having issues with violations on monthly reports, and the town now needs to work to bring it into compliance. “We’ve had some issues with our sewer plant for about the past year,” said Town Clerk/Treasurer Laura Jones. “We’re trying to solve that issue and get it taken care of.” Jones said the violation issues have stemmed largely from extreme runoff relate...
Ready to cook, Tase T. Lentil waves in the National Lentil Festival Parade Saturday in Pullman. For more Lentil Fest coverage see page 3B....
Colfax pantry volunteers Monica Hardie (left) and Gail McNeilly (right) sort through inventory at the pantry recently. Every month, pantries around Whitman County distribute 45,000 pounds of food to more than 800 families which total about 2,000 people. This service happens once a month in most of the rural communities of the county and twice a month in Colfax. And it may be on the verge of disappearing. “That really could be a reality, losing the pantries,” said Paige Collins, executive dir...
