Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 52
COLFAX—Usually held in Selah every year, the “Under the Milky Way” softball tournament moved to Colfax Aug. 29-30, running from 7 p.m. – 3:30 a.m. at McDonald Park. A total of 18 teams, made up of girls 18 & under, participated in the round-robin format, with no winner. “It was a fun little tournament, we made sure we were following all guidelines,” said Pete Koerner, tournament co-director, referring to virus protocols. “It was all for the kids. We want these girls to play.” Using the park...
ALMOTA—Sections of the Snake River are now open for fishermen to catch and keep fall Chinook salmon and steelhead. The Chinook fishery opened Tuesday, Sept. 1, and will close Oct. 31, state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said. Chinook salmon may be caught and kept from the Burbank-Pasco railroad bridge near the mouth of the river to Lower Granite Dam, which connects Whitman and Garfield counties. The fishery is being opened because of an expected healthy salmon run, officials said. The 2020 fall Columbia River run is expected to t...
OLYMPIA — Two state agencies have banned target shooting on the lands they manage in their efforts to prevent wildfires. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the state Department of Natural Resources have banned target shooting until further notice. “We implemented several fire risk prevention measures for WDFW lands in Eastern Washington earlier this summer,” Fish and Wildlife Lands Division Manager Cynthia Wilkerson said. Hunting is allowed to continue, she said. Target-shooting restrictions will remain in effect until the risk...
COLFAX– Whitman County commissioners voted unanimously Monday to extend the marijuana moratorium for another six months, taking it to March 4, 2021. One person spoke during the meeting’s public input time; Hailey Lewis, government affairs specialist for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in Pullman. “We remain deeply concerned about marijuana’s effects on our schools, communities, businesses and families,” she said. “We believe Whitman County should be known as a hub for innovation and agricul...
PALOUSE-Representatives from Pullman's League of Women Voters chapter went to Palouse city hall Aug. 28 to recognize leadership of women city council members in elected office. It was the latest stop for the LWV representatives – from the group's Centennial Award Committee – who went to 16 towns in the county to present each city clerk with a copy of the proclamation of the Whitman County Commissioners designating August as Womens' Leadership Month in the county. The recognition marks the cen...
WHITMAN COUNTY—Colfax firefighters had less than a 20-minute break between fighting field fires Aug. 25. Colfax brought three units to a fire off Shields Road near the intersection with Ballaine Road as part of the District 11 response. Units were called out to a tractor fire that spread to the stubble and windrow straw the tractor had been baling. A total of 12 units arrived to fight the fire; three from District Two in St. John, and three from Colfax, three from Steptoe, two from Diamond and one from Albion which all comprise District 11. The...
COLFAX– After eight years of funding, planning, design and a year’s delay for right-of-way and wetlands work, the $6 million Almota Road Phase Four reconstruction project moved into its final stretch of painting Aug. 28. On Monday, some clean-up painting remained and a few fences still need to be rebuilt. “For all intents and purposes, Almota Four is complete,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director. Flaggers on the newly-expanded road were expected to be done Tuesday. “It is gorgeous,...
PULLMAN—Pullman firefighters kept a fire that started in the front of the house Friday night from spreading any further and saved the structure for the seven occupants on NW Darrow Street. Firefighters were called out shortly after 8 p.m. with a report of a structure fire in a one-story home with a daylight basement. All of the residents, including four adults and three children, were outside of the home when police and firefighters arrived. One of the occupants used a fire extinguisher and a garden hose to partially put out the flames which da...
COLFAX—The Colfax Downtown Association has awarded storefront grants of up to $2,500 to five Main Street businesses. The expectation is, with more attractive storefronts, businesses will catch more eyes and more business from people passing through town. “Improving Main Street, one grant at a time,” said CDA Director Whitney Bond. The businesses awarded are Sol Vallarta, Colfax Barbershop, Route 26 Vintage, Bully for You and the Eagles. The funds can be used for any storefront improvement, whether enhancing the face of the building and/o...
OAKESDALE–Oakesdale schools have been tabbed for a new $15,000 grant from the Bayer company’s “America’s Farmers Grow Rural Education” program. The program utilizes local farmers to nominate rural public school districts for the grants to help with their science, technology, engineering and math curriculum. Bayer’s “America’s Farmers” program has awarded more than $57 million since 2010. The program began as part of the Monsanto Company, bought by Bayer in 2018....
COLFAX-Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers has appointed Sgt. Chris Chapman to be his new Undersheriff, effective Sept. 1, after the recent retirement of long time Undersheriff Ron Rockness. Sgt. Chapman has served with the Sheriff's Office since 1995 and has worked his way through the ranks, serving as a Reserve Deputy, Deputy, Sergeant and now assumes the position of Undersheriff. Undersheriff is second in command of the entire organization. According to Sheriff Myers, there are significantly...
As the Colfax Police Department works through the process of hiring two more officers, the three-man force has expanded its coverage time to include nights, which has quelled evening nuisance calls, according to Interim Chief Bruce Blood. Officer Perry Tate has been covering the night shift, patrolling town and talking with people on the street. Blood noted the drop in night time calls shows the effectiveness of officer presence. Meanwhile, the hiring process for two new officers and a chief is underway. Blood said 15 candidates showed up for...
COLFAX—Charges of unlawful hunting of big game in the second degree were filed Aug. 4 in District Court against four men. Department of Fish and Wildlife referred charges June 11, 2020, on nine people from the area for their alleged roles in the illegal take of at least three elk. Five charges were dismissed. According to WDFW, an investigation by WDFW Police officers, along with a Whitman County Sheriff’s Office Deputy, allegedly showed that the men illegally used vehicles to chase, corral and prevent the escape of a large herd of elk nea...
PULLMAN—A Tacoma man was charged for rape in the second degree after being arrested for a different charge of making a false or misleading statement to a public officer. According to the police report, the incident occurred in February 2020 when the victim met two men outside Stubblefields after the bar had closed. One of the men was Demetrius Robinson, 33. The three returned to the other man’s Pullman residence where they allegedly consumed cocaine before Robinson allegedly assaulted the victim. After the incident occurred, the victim con...
COLFAX—The Rotary Club’s firework stand at the Rosaures parking lot brought in just over $17,000 gross sales, according to the club’s monthly newsletter. The cost of the fireworks was the biggest expense at almost $10,000. Other expenses included credit card machine rental and supplies. That still left $7,115.32 to be split between the Rotary Club and Colfax High School Softball team. Donations to the softball team brought in an extra $73.03. The Rotary’s share goes into the club’s general fund where it is used for any and all of the club’s pr...
COLFAX—An article in the Sept./Oct. 2020 issue of Road & Track cites Colfax and Rosauers for its maple bars. The article started with the author in the Rosauers parking lot. His goal was to determine who had the best maple bar in Washington state with Rosauers as one of the three contenders. The author began the day in Colfax, then drove to Spokane for maple bars from Retro Donuts and finally to Madison Park Bakery in Seattle before returning to his mid-state home. The drive took less than 11 hours and totaled 650 miles for the sake of d...
PULLMAN—Pullman Police received an animal problem call on the afternoon of Aug. 25 right out the book of clichés. An officer responded for a cat in a tree all night....
COLFAX—The Washington State Auditor’s office released its 2019 draft audit report Monday on Whitman County, identifying no deficiencies in internal control over Financial Reporting or Federal Awards. The latter category refers to complying with rules on federal grants. “They didn’t have any findings. They didn’t have any problems,” said Kathleen Cooper, spokesperson for the Office of the State Auditor. “This is an accurate description of a clean report, a clean audit.” “It’s always pleasant when the state auditor comes in and everything is a...
COLFAX-The first day of school started off a few minutes late due to processing students Monday, but once the day got going, it was pretty seamless, reported Principal Andrew Borders. "The kids have been great," said Borders. "I think they're just glad to be back in school." The school was unable to provide a firm number as to how many students arrived the first day as it is still processing students who have choiced-in from outside the district. Borders said they have seen a little bit of a...
ROSALIA — Rosalia Fire District No. 7 responded to multiple smoldering fires at McCoy Grain Terminal on Saturday afternoon. The fires caused “significant damage” to the structure, with fires from one end to the other which shut down operation of the facility, Fire Chief Bill Tensfeld said. Access was a big problem, as the smoldering fires appeared in the intake and load-out side and the dust collector, he said. “Dust is so explosive,” Tensfeld said. Despite the damage, McCoy Elevator and Rail...
PALOUSE—The City of Palouse will go without levies on the November ballot for arterial streets and the swimming pool, after a city hall oversight resulted in not filing by the Aug. 4 deadline. Last year, the pool levy went for $34,000, with an arterial streets levy of $44,000. Each would have been reduced for 2021, because of the early closure of the pool this summer and the city council deciding in July not to accept a bid on its Palouse Cove sidewalk project – both of which meant money wou...
GARFIELD-Every fire district in the county and Potlatch responded to a field fire Saturday, battling high winds as the fire spread from lentils to standing grain, stubble and railroad tracks, destroying a trestle. Fire crews were one scene about seven hours, fighting a fire that ignites off a combine near Sunrise Road and spread one and a half miles to Highway 27. The call went out at 3:30 p.m. Sunrise Road is located south of Garfield, west of the highway. According to Whitman County Fire...
TACOMA -- A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that gun-control measure Initiative 1639 is constitutional. U.S. District Court of Western Washington Judge Ronald Leighton, a Whitworth University graduate, issued his ruling Monday on the gun control measure. Under I-1639, semi-automatic rifles are redefined as “assault rifles,” adults 18-20 are barred from having semi-automatic rifles, and dealers are required to sell safes and gun locks and prohibited from selling them to out-of-state res...
PULLMAN--A “Back to the League” meeting of the Pullman League of Women Voters is set for tonight, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. via Zoom. The topic of the meeting will be COVID-19. Two guest speakers are scheduled: Professor Bonnie Gunn, virologist with the Paul Allen School of Global Animal Health, and Troy Henderson, Public Health Director. Gunn will speak on general information about viruses, why and how it gets transferred and the prospects for treatment of vaccine. Henderson will present demographic data, current COVID status and the Whitman Cou...
PULLMAN – A rural mobile medical clinic that visited county towns earlier this year is now parked in Pullman as part of an increased effort in COVID testing by Washington State University. The William A. Crosetto Mobile Health Care Unit visited rural towns at the beginning of the year providing comprehensive primary care and preventive health services. It is now parked by WSU President Todd Schultz’s house to test the influx of students who are believed to be responsible for the massive surge of COVID cases. The Army National Guard unit tha...
