Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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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. City gets bid on golf course house Valley Quality Homes, Spokane Valley, submitted the lone bid to supply a manufactured home for the Colfax Golf course at $61,400, city administrator Carl Thompson reported to the city council Monday night. Another $16,170 is the estimated expense of preparing a foundation for the house which has 1,067 square...
The yellowing pages of a 107-year-old journal fall open in the hands of Lilo Bishop. She begins to read the German words, inked out in an antique Old German handwriting, Sutterlin. February, 29, 1902. Lilo Bishop reads aloud to Colfax teacher Kathryn Vogler. “The most beautiful things in life are given from God and this is your health,” she reads in accented English. Across the table, Colfax teacher Kathryn Vogler types the words in English. This was the scene the afternoon of Sept. 17, during one of Vogler’s weekly visits to Bishop. The two h...
Police conducted a three-day manhunt last weekend after a mentally-ill man alleged to have committed murder broke loose from a group of Eastern State Hospital patients that were taken to the Spokane County Fair. Should the criminally insane be taken to public events like a fair? Karina Garibay, Pullman “If he represents a danger to the public, he shouldn’t be allowed at public events like a fair. But, then again we never know who’s walking among us.” Mary Chastain, LaCrosse “I think it would probably be okay if each patient had a chaperone...
A Dec. 14 trial date was set for Robert W. Daggett, 40, Garfield, after he pleaded not guilty in superior court Friday morning to a charge of possession of over 40 grams of marijuana. According to the arrest report filed with the charge, a deputy went to the Daggett residence in Garfield after receiving a tip that a marijuana plant was growing in the back yard. The deputy’s report said the defendant met him at the scene, showed him the alleged plant, dug it up and placed it in the patrol car. The deputy also said a bag containing a small a...
Two Lewiston residents died Saturday morning in a head-on collision on Highway 127 seven miles south of Dusty, and a Milton-Freewater man, the driver of one of the vehicles, was taken by helicopter to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Victor J. Marly, 38, Milton-Freewater, was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer southbound on the Walla Walla Highway at 11:25 a.m. and attempted to make a pass around another southbound vehicle. The Trailblazer collided with a 2007 Toyota Camry...
In light of suspected swine flu cases sweeping through Whitman County schools, county health officials are now looking to hire an extra nurse on a contractual basis. The county will need more hands on deck to administer the special H1N1 vaccine (swine flu vaccine), which is set to arrive in October or November, Fran Martin, county health department director, said Tuesday. The county has a shortage of people qualified to administer vaccinations. Public schools in the county, excluding the university, had anywhere from three to 12 percent of...
Five of the 16 towns in the county have responded to a letter from the county asking if they would pay a daily fee to rent the county chipper after the grant money currently paying for it dries up in December. Lamont, Palouse, LaCrosse, and St. John reported they were willing to hear more about the program. Garfield said no. “I’m trying to make it [the program] sustainable,” said Judi Dunn-Gray, county waste reduction coordinator. The fee, projected at $250 to $300 a day, would pay for equipment, fuel, and the labor to run the chipper for e... Full story
Seen the light After Whitman County planners spent almost two years developing an ordinance for commercial wind turbines, with the County Planner conferring extensively with pro-wind people on the wording, the wind developers still aren’t satisfied. What a surprise. The public meeting brought out a massive turnout of out-of-the-county “Wind Now” people, who have a dog in the hunt. I have now finally realized I’ve been wrong all along. Proposed commercial wind farms in Whitman County are not for producing electricity. They are for putting... Full story
Kneeling Economic Indicators W. BRUCE CAMERON As I write this column, I have literally been brought to my knees by the customer support department for my “ISP,” which stands for “Internet Slow Provider.” My computer keeps reporting that the Internet doesn’t exist. Yet I know this can’t really be true — if it were, someone would have sent me an e-mail about it. I’m on my knees because I have been instructed to turn off the power strip under my desk, though the part where I bang my head is something I thought of on my own. While I do this, I sp...
Even though the plan to manage the Columbia and Snake rivers continues in flux, things are improving for the fish and people who depend on the two waterways. On the fish side, salmon and steelhead are returning to the two rivers in record numbers. In August, the NW Fishletter reported that the 2009 Snake River sockeye salmon run is the largest in 47 years. Returns of adult steelhead are setting daily records with more than 400,000 expected this year. “Big expectations are also riding on this year’s coho run, which is projected to show up in... Full story
GRANTED, he wasn’t as plainspoken as U.S. Rep. Joe “You lie!” Wilson, but Washington’s Legislature had its own “Joe Wilson moment” in 2006 when Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia, wrote in a newsletter that Democrats were displaying a lack of honesty with the taxpayers. Being in the majority, House Democrats promptly had a hissy fit and, prompted by Chief Clerk Rich Nafziger’s labeling of the language as “mud slinging,” extended the rule that forbids lawmakers from insulting each other in floor speeches. They decided it was no longer allowable for...
#!*! People who don’t stop when someone is trying to back out of a parking space at Rosauers. Next time I will just let you hit me!!! (Ed note for other drivers: Vehicles backing into traffic do not have the right of way.) #!*! The old truck full of garbage parked behind the grandmother’s shop all day Thursday. +++ The beautiful summer weather. Cool mornings and warm, sunny days, and its nearly October. Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 211 N. Main St Colfax, Wa 99111...
The Knowledge Bowl program was eliminated from the Colfax School District’s budget when the advisor resigned. Ostensibly, the decision to drop the program and not replace the advisor was made to save money. When the school board learned of the cut, it reacted by funding the program with money from other extracurricular budgets. Specifically, the Knowledge Bowl costs are to be made up by a cut in all extracurricular pay by one percent. Understandably, those receiving pay for advisor and coach positions are unhappy. Their pay, at least at this p...
Colfax sophomore JJ Robinson gets a look at wide open spaces Friday night against DeSales. Bulldog blockers Tuffy Hickman (72) and Tyler Morse (54) are providing the escort service. Kellen Morgan looks for more yards along the Colfax sideline after making a catch against DeSales. After a 33-14 home win over DeSales, Colfax gridders will depart Friday for the first of four league games on the road. The first match will be against Reardan, possibly the roughest stop of the four. The Chiefs will host after pegging a 15-7 overtime win over...
Desiree Chappell of the Nighthawks goes up for a big hit during pool play Saturday in the Viking classic. Katie Renstrom is at right. Three county net teams continued power starts in the SE North Tuesday after mixing it up in the Viking classic at Palouse Saturday. SJE Eagles, LW Tigercats and Colton have all booked big wins in the first round of league play and collided in the short-match format at Palouse. Host Vikings signoff with Potlatch after a neighborly pool match. Holly Leendertsen, Kaycie Adair, and Madisyn Woltering lead the Viking...
Coach Roy Graffis on hall of fame list Former Oakesdale Coach Roy Graffis will be one of four inductees into the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame Oct. 13 at the Spokane Veteran’s Memorial Arena. Coach Graffis, who started his career at LaCrosse, led Oakesdale to the state B basketball title in 1973. He later went to Columbia of Hunters where he led the girls basketball team to a state B title in 1986. He is the first coach in Washington to take both a boys and a girls team to a state title. Graffis also coached the Columbia football team t... Full story
St. John/Endicott dropped Garfield/Palouse 28-16 Friday in the Vikings’ first eight -man football game this year. Because of injuries and low turnout, Garfield/Palouse last Wednesday dropped the school’s football team from an 11-man squad to an 8-man squad. After the decision to drop down, the Vikings quickly put together a non-league 8-man schedule, with the trip to St. John leading off the slate. The Eagles had a bye scheduled Friday, but booked the Vikings as an activation game after the flu bug stopped them from making the long trip to Har...
Ill-timed penalties and near misses cost the Nighthawks of Tekoa, Oakesdale and Rosalia their second win of the season Friday. Visiting Reardan eked out a 15-7 overtime win at Oakesdale Friday. “Those are the games you like to play in, you like to coach in and you like to be a part of,” said TOR Coach Ken Lindgren. “You just prefer to come out on top.” The Nighthawk defense stopped the Indians’ one year short of paydirt on their opening drive. Reardan had a first and goal at the two but the Nighthawk D stepped up and stuffed two Indian attempts...
Colton's Holden Druffel puts the stop on Joseph's BJ Warnock early in the high scoring Kibbie Dome game Friday night in Moscow. Friday turned out to be a rough night for Oregon eight-man teams in non-league action with Whitman county foes. Colton’s Wildcats ran wild in the Kibbie Dome Friday night to drop Joseph 89-54, a lot of points even for a high school basketball game. LaCrosse/Washtucna/Kahlotus headed south of the border to play at Echo, Ore., and returned with a 46-8 win to run their record to 3-0. COLTON and the Joseph Eagles faced o...
Colfax girls ran a string of eight games Saturday to sweep the Okanogan tournament. The run ended with a two-game win over a big Lynden Christian team in the championship game. “They were a typical Lynden Christian team, tall and athletic, and we had to come from behind in both games,” Coach Sue Doering said. Colfax went up against LC after taking out Okanogan and Ephrata in two pool games in the tourney’s best-of-three format. The pool wins put them up against Zillah in the semi round, a crossover matchup between the first and secon... Full story
MARRIAGE LICENSES Vadym Degtyar, 46, Berezkiki, USSR, and Anna Sergeeva, 32, Irkutsk, USSR, Sept. 10. Robert Edward Caruso, 71, Spokane and Ruth Anna Branson, 66, Boise, Sept. 14. Andrew Ryan Hansen, 30, Los Angeles, and Kelly Elizabeth Hughes, 29, Seattle, Sept. 14. Nathan Carter Sink, 29, High Point, N.C., and Heather Lorinda Weitz, 23, Spokane, Sept. 14. Bradley Ten Eyck Barter, 30, Portland, and Alicia Lee Hutchinson, 25, Yuma, Ariz., Sept. 15. Alexander Gary Peterson, 21, Boise, and Hillary Kay Mosman, 21, Grangeville, Sept. 17. Thomas...
Hopes that the Palouse River & Coulee City Rail Authority could receive a $60 million stimulus grant were dashed last week. The authority sought the funds to replace track that would allow trains to travel more than twice their speed. Joe Poire, executive director of the Port of Whitman, told port commissioners Tuesday that the governor and state Department of Transportation declined to write letters of support for the project. The port represents Whitman County on the four-county rail authority which was formed to oversee maintenance on the...
Colfax extracurricular staff have told the Gazette they are upset after the Colfax School Board last week voted to cut their pay by one percent to fund the Knowledge Bowl program which would have otherwise been eliminated. “I haven’t heard one yet that feels good about the board decision. No one has supported the decision to have the board cut their pay to fund another program,” said Cary Cammack, advisor for the fall musical and school music groups. Sports teams and clubs in the Colfax district require 45 to 50 total advisors and coach...
Second graders Nichole Jarosch, top, and Kealen Hines, below, shovel dirt onto a pair of ironwood trees in Schmuck Park Tuesday morning. Councilmember Jeanette Solimine proclaimed Sept. 22 Colfax Arbor Day on behalf of Mayor Norma Becker. Students in the classes of Peggy Kehne and Wendy Hickman planted the trees, which they named “Tiger” and “Bear.... Full story
THURSDAY The Arctic ice pack melted to only 1.97 million square miles. This area is the ice pack’s third-smallest size on record, continuing an overall shrinking trend symptomatic of climate change, U.S. scientists said. A U.N. investigator’s report accuses Israel and Palestinians of war crimes during the December-January Gaza War. The report said both had terrorized and killed civilians. Turk Sultan Kosen is crowned the world’s tallest man in London. The 26-year-old Kosen stands at 8 feet 1 inch, making him the first person in more than a dec...
