Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 51 - 65 of 65
Aging tombstones sit atop a lonely hill outside Tekoa in the Lone Pine Cemetery. A group of descendants of people buried in the Lone Pine Cemetery have been gathering to clean up the cemetery as a way of paying tribute to the finished lives that made their’s possible. Friends of the Lone Pine Cemetery met Friday morning at the C and D Bar and Grill in Tekoa to eat some grub, swap news and talk over the next steps to improve the cemetery. They’ve been meeting once or twice a year for several years now, with an aim to get the cemetery loo...
THURSDAY Khaled Al Mutairi, a U.S. detainee in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is sent back to his home in Kuwait, leaving 22 prisoners on the island. U.S. Justice Department begins investigation of Monsanto Co. on allegations the company is illegally controlling the market for genetically modified seeds. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said the world needs to invest $83 billion a year in agriculture in developing countries to feed 9.1 billion people in 2050. FRIDAY Nine months into office, Barack Obama joins Teddy...
The grain spill found early last Tuesday morning, Oct. 6, on Last Street in Colfax is now believed to have been caused by a malfunction in the elevator equipment and not by vandals. Darrell Booth, Colfax operations foreman for Pacific Northwest Grain Cooperative in Colfax, said the grain gate system activated again last Thursday morning, Oct. 8, while a crew member was walking past it. The loading spout again started to dump grain in the street, but was quickly shut down. Last Tuesday morning an estimated 2,500 bushels of grain were found on...
The second segment of the Gazette’s unofficial voters guide for contested town seats in the county this week includes candidates for offices in Palouse, Rosalia and Malden. Ballots for the general election are scheduled to be mailed out Friday from the county auditor’s office. Ballots must be postmarked no later than Nov. 3, date of the general election. Some candidates for the Malden town council did not respond to Gazette requests for interviews. For council seat one, incumbent Christina Ferrell is running against Todd Deckard. For council se...
The six major water users in the Palouse basin will shut down their pumps, likely over the week of Thanksgiving, while University of Idaho researchers take a baseline sampling of groundwater levels in the Grande Ronde aquifer. The shutdown, expected to be in the range of 48 hours, is being sponsored by the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee with a University of Idaho team working on the project. The pump shut-down will include Colfax, Palouse, Moscow, Pullman, Washington State University and the University of Idaho. Prior to the shut-down, pumps w...
Sean Adam Lee, 25, the Lewiston resident who deputies last August found tied up and sitting on Main Street in LaCrosse after he attempted to take a wallet, was sentenced to a year and one day in jail Friday after he pleaded to a reduced charge of second-degree burglary and assault. Lee will be sent to a state detention facility and will be credited with 65 days spent in jail here pending resolution of the case. Lee was initially charged with first degree robbery. Normal sentence for a second degree burglary conviction, depending on the defendan... Full story
The Whitman hospital board has picked a candidate to replace retiring administrator Jon Davis, but has not yet released the name to the public. In a closed-door meeting the night of Oct. 8, the hospital board reviewed the four final candidates and picked a final candidate. “We hope the search is over,” said Board President Steve Moore. “We think we have a good person coming.” Their choice must still be approved by Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, with whom the hospital has a management contract. If Providence approves their choice,...
An appeal of a Pullman man who was convicted of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes after internet exchanges with a fictional 13-year-old has been rejected by the state’s Division III court in Spokane. The appeal contended the state’s law pertaining to the case infringed on free speech first amendment rights. The defendant in the case, Tarig Mohammed Aljutily, was sentenced to 90 days in jail in May of 2008 and ordered to pay $1,300 in fines and fees after being convicted in a bench trial May 19. Aljutily has since been charged wit...
A doe and her fawn stroll through Colfax. Deer hunting season opens Saturday with a special doe hunt scheduled around Colfax. The expanded area and increased number of tags made available are aimed at reducing the deer population inside Colfax city limits. Boundaries of the zone are listed on page 82 of the state hunting pamphlet under Deer Area 1080. Many residents of Colfax have complained over the past year about deer eating plants and gardens inside city limits. Mayor Norma Becker has pushed the city council multiple times to pass an... Full story
County educators meet in a group session at Colfax High School. Most schools in the county shut down Friday, Oct. 9, for a countywide school staff conference on learning at Colfax High School. Approximately 275 educators swarmed the hallways of the building to begin a day of sessions to learn about Professional Learning Communities (PLC), a buzzword for teachers learning to work together to boost student performance. “Some kids, they pick it up. Other kids, it’s like, ‘What?’” said Sara Bedient, a special education teacher at Jennings...
Palouse, Rosalia, Tekoa to host haunted houses Palouse Haunted Palouse will come alive with all the hauntings of a scare-fest recommended for spook fans 12 and older. Date for the annual haunt in Palouse will be Oct. 23, 24, 30, and 31, starting at 7 p.m. “This is a really good scare,” promised Annie Pillers with a laugh. Two haunted houses will be screaming all night; the Boomerang Museum on Main Street and the historic Palouse jail on Whitman Street. Tickets into the chilling festival are $15 and will be sold at a booth on Whitman Str... Full story
Whitman County’s planning commission unanimously approved a new ordinance to govern placement of industrial-sized wind farms in the county’s agricultural district Oct. 7. The proposed ordinance, which has been on the planning commission’s table for almost two years, now goes to the county commissioners who will schedule a round of public hearings before putting the measure to a vote for approval. The ordinance requires wind towers be placed back at least 1.5 times their height from adjoining property lines and five times their height from... Full story
The Colfax school board reversed its decision to cut one percent from all extracurricular pay Monday night by approving a motion to write the money back into the district’s contracts, which number approximately 45. The board voted two to one on the motion with board members Debbie Pearson and Robert Smith in favor and Steve Lyon opposed. Board member Brian Becker abstained, and board chair Laura Johnson did not vote. The decision came in the wake of a month-long controversy, which began Sept. 14, when the board voted to cut all district e... Full story
Colfax Fire Department’s 1919 American LaFrance fire truck, Wimpy, last Thursday led the funeral procession for former Colfax Chief Harold Powell down Main Street and up to the Colfax cemetery. Lt. Tim Tingley, who has done restoraton work on the truck, was at the controls with Chief Jim Krouse aboard. Mr. Powell was a long-time member of the department and his father also served as chief. At that time the 1919 truck was the number-one truck for the department. Two other fire trucks were part of the official escort. Mr. Powell operated P...
NOTICE OF HEARING/INTENT TO DISPOSE OF SURPLUS COUNTY PROPERTY NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Legislative Authority of Whitman County, Washington, will hold a public hearing on Monday, October 19, 2009, at 11:15 a.m., or as soon as possible thereafter, in the Commissioner’s Chambers, in the Whitman County Courthouse, Colfax, Washington, for the purpose of declaring their intention to dispose of surplus county property, more particularly described as follows: ER&R Vehicles and Equipment: Equip.# Type Serial # 9403 2001 Ford Crown Victoria 2...
