Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 46 of 46
Jordan Paddock of Colfax made an exhibition bull ride to finish out the card in Sunday’s edition of the rodeo. Paddock was the lone bull rider to book a score, but he didn’t collect for the ride because he had not entered. Sunday’s 50th edition of the of the Palouse Empire Rodeo ended with Jordan Paddock of Colfax going the distance on one of the Layton and McMillan bulls and bumping what looked like a shutout for the big critters over three days of rodeo. Paddock volunteered to make the ride...
The Palouse Empire Fair, which was threatened by air quality conditions at the start of its four day run, wrapped up full-bore style Sunday after attracting large crowds over the weekend. Final show of the fair was the last go-round of the 50th edition of the Palouse Empire Rodeo with a Colfax cowboy, Jordan Paddock, scoring the only bull ride of the three-day run on a last chance exhibition ride. The fair started in poor air quality conditions Thursday and the immediate impact was low turnout for third grader day. Programs and entertainment ha...
County Commissioners approved Sept. 5 an amended agreement for projected work on the Hume Road for 2020-2022. The county received an additional $400,000 in funding in August from the state’s Rural Arterial Transportation Account. The funds, which will be added to a previous $280,000 designated for Hume Road from the program, necessitated the amended contract with the state’s County Road Administrative Board, which oversees the account. The segment involves a portion of the Hume Road on the Oakesdale end which was not included in previous upg...
The Colfax school board covered a range of topics, including a move out of Camp Grizzly for this year's sixth-grade trip, at its first regular meeting of the school year Monday night. Superintendent Jerry Pugh opened with a “Say Something Positive” comment about how the district handled the air quality issues last week. “I can't say enough about the professionalism of the staff,” he said. He mentioned the success of Colfax FFA kids in a record-setting pig entry year at the fair and how new fen...
A new look outside and inside greeted Oakesdale students for the 2017-18 year. First, road work around the school reduced the grade of Second Street hill and widened the loading and unloading area for buses. On the inside of the elementary building, rows of 1956 single-pane windows were replaced for energy efficiency. Each classroom now as two 4x6 windows and a metal door to the outside with a window. Last items to finish on the roadwork include putting in railing on a retaining wall – which was...
Fire crews Tuesday afternoon responded to reports of combine fires south of Colfax. This John Deere combine operated by David Gilchrist was located near the intersection of the Almota Road and Upper Union Flat Road....
Whitman County commissioners Sept. 5 approved the vacation of a half-mile section of Rock Springs Road. That latest vacation segment was recommended by County Engineer Mark Storey, and the vacation approval followed a public hearing. Amy McKay of Hay spoke at the session. “We have a building, and corrals there. People use it as a turnaround. We had to lock up the Port-a-Potty there,” she said. “We just want to be able to put up a gate, so people can’t use it as a turnaround.” A six-mile stretch of the road, beginning at the Gordon Elevator...
The Palouse Falls Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute recently announced its plans for its fall field trip tour Oct. 7 to Saddle Mountain, located south of State Route 26 between Othello and Vantage. The bus tour will begin through the Drumheller Channels and then head south to Saddle Mountain. The tour will then head into the ghost town of Corfu and follow the diverted Ice Age Columbia River to Beverly. The group will then pass through the Sentinel gap, and a barbecue lunch and tour will be served at the Ginko Forest Winery. Wine will be...
Wiley Gustafson, former Dusty resident, opened his First Thursday Concert in Colfax Thursday night by reporting he departed his hometown of Conrad, Mont., at 4 a.m. under smoke-filled skies and drove all the way here under smoke-filled skies. He started the concert by singing “Cool Water.” Gustafson, who noted he and his band have been performing for close to 30 years, pointed out they like to stick with traditional Western music. He made reference to his time in Dusty during the per...
The application period is now open for projects which could boost tourism with the use of revenue from the Colfax Lodging Fund tax, according to City Administrator Dodd Snodgrass. Funding for the program is generated from a dedicated hotel/motel tax. Colfax City Council created an Economic Development, Tourism and Events Committee to conduct the annual process to seek and recommend projects to be funded with the tax proceeds. Eligible local entities have until Oct. 6 to submit applications for funding. The tax, which is paid by guests at the...
Rebecca Thomas, 22, Colfax, has been summoned to appear in court Sept. 29 after a charge of vehicular assault was filed against her Sept. 1 by Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel LeBeau. The charge relates to a June 10 accident in which the car Thomas was driving collided with a pickup truck. The Washington State Patrol report at the time said Thomas intentionally drove across Highway 195 and collided with the GMC truck on Highway 195 nine miles north of Colfax. Thomas was driving a 1997 Buick LeSabre southbound at 10:01 p.m. and collided with the...
A four-week trial is scheduled to start here Jan. 31, 2018 for the civil suit filed by David Warner, a former WSU faculty member, against the proprietors of Stubblefield’s Bar in the Adams Mall at Pullman. The suit was moved to Whitman County Superior Court here after initially being filed in Thurston County. The suit goes back to the early hours of March 30, 2013, when Warner was injured in a fight which started at Adams Mall outside of Stubblefield’s. Warner’s suit alleges that failure of the proprietors to provide security outside the colle...
County commissioners Sept. 5 approved a $949,000 contract with Central Washington Asphalt of Moses Lake for the Farmington Road overlay work. Five miles of hot-mix asphalt will be applied from the edge of Farmington north toward Tekoa. The paving is expected to be done this month....
Bob Garrett of Stratford, Wash., set up the Peavey speakers on stands erected last year by Palouse Empire Rodeo President Butch Riebold and crew. Garrett returned to the fair as announcer after a four-year absence. “I like coming to every little town’s biggest party,” said Garrett, an ordained Lutheran minister who retired from the Washington Department of Transportation “This was one of the best rodeos of my entire year. Perfect weather, packed house. And the committee... I don’t brag on c...
Whitman County has increased its fee to put excess county-owned property up for auction. Sept. 5 County commissioners approved changing the fee to $500 to cover costs in the event that a bidder who requested the property fails to come through with a bid. The matter came to a head after two instances this year in which the county received a request from a citizen who wanted to purchase county property. The request included assurances that the resident would follow through with a bid. The bid never materialized after the county paid for three...
Whitman County Commissioners Sept. 5 approved the purchase of a low, wooden rail bridge near Oakesdale with intent to tear it down. The span, owned by Union-Pacific, will be bought for one dollar, pending approval by state agencies, and taken out due to a high-water hazard. After ice against the bridge caused flooding last winter, a meeting was held in Spokane in February at which representatives of the state Department of Transportation, Department of Ecology, Fish and Wildlife, Town of...
Colfax Maintenence Supervisor Mark Brown lays down the football lines Sept. 4....
It will be an early start for the annual Palouse Days celebration this weekend as it gets underway with first events Friday. A chalk art contest will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., on the sidewalk in front of the Palouse Caboose. The new Palouse royalty will be crowned at 7 p.m. and a Palouse Days kickoff party will be held later that night at Palouse Caboose featuring the band Warren, Brent, Greg and Don: Ridgerunners. On Saturday, the day starts with the Lions Club pancake breakfast, served from...
Plans are underway for an expanded fall cleanup week in Steptoe. The Steptoe Fire Department will sponsor a large construction dumpster to be brought in for solid waste during the county’s annual October week of discounted rates at the waste transfer station. A possible co-sponsor is now being sought. The question of yard clean-up and junk vehicles in the unincorporated community of Steptoe was brought to county commissioners Sept. 5. Resident Kirk Suess came to their regular meeting to f...
--Eric Weitze photo This aerial photo of the Palouse Empire Fair was taken using a Phantom 4 drone which has its own image-stabilization camera. Shutter speed for this photo was one half of a second. For more fair coverage, see pages 4-5....
Request for Statement of Qualification (RSQ) Town of Garfield, WA Request for Qualification Data to Furnish Engineering Services The Town of Garfield, Washington (pursuant to Chapter 61, Laws of 1981) is inviting statements of qualifications and performance information from individuals or firms interested in providing professional engineering services for the 2017-2019 calendar years in conjunction with sponsored projects. Potential prospects requiring engineering services include sewer, water, and roadways (including WSDOT, TIB, CDBG, USDA...
