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Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport ended a month-long closure and three-year construction project with a ribbon-cutting event on the new 7,100 foot runway. The airport was closed for a month to transition to the longer runway equipped with an Instrument Landing System to create a more reliable all-weather airport. Pilots can now land with an instrument approach which uses radio signals and high-intensity lighting arrays. Hundreds gathered last Thursday under a large tent located on the former...
Changes, both positive and negative, are continuing in water use and conservation as 2018 water reports were presented at the 16th annual Palouse Basin Water Summit Oct. 10 in Pullman. The Palouse groundwater basin provides the sole drinking water supply for more than 60,000 residents in Whitman and Latah counties. For 2018, the total combined groundwater pumped, according to reporting pumping entities within the basin, was 2.37 billion gallons. "This last year, 2018, is the second lowest year...
The 18th annual Haunted Palouse arrives Friday with change in the air. Many of the original 12 residents who founded the four-night event, and have worked it each year since, are stepping back as a new generation will take over much of it in 2020. The final hurrah for these leaders, in the haunted town, its haunted printing museum, old firehouse and Shady Lane, will carry an increased ticket price to $25 from $20. Last year, the 12-and-over event netted $70,000 for various Palouse community causes. The run for 2019 will be this Friday and...
Chris Reykdal, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction, stopped in Palouse and Colton last Thursday, Oct. 10, for visits with students and administrators. Garfield/Palouse High School ASB president Lexi Brantner and Principal Mike Jones led Reykdal on a tour of the high school. Joining them were Paul Clark, Colton principal/superintendent; Eric Patton, Steptoe principal; Tim Casey, Colton K-8 principal; Mike Jones, Garfield/Palouse principal, and other student representatives from...
The McCoy Land Company/PNW grain pile project at Dusty continues in its first phase of construction at the intersection of Highway 26 and 127. The project was granted a conditional use permit earlier this year for four grain piles, truck scales, utilities and small office space, with a driveway off Highway 127, south of Dusty. A site drawing by Keltic Engineering of Lewiston includes nine circles marking grain piles, though no plans are in place for any more than the permitted four. “We planned...
St. John residents are rallying behind Bob Simpson and his fight with cancer. Simpson was recently diagnosed with leukemia. Simpson works at St. John-Endicott High School as head of maintenance. “He is often referred to as the 'main chief' here at the school,” said Amy Watt, a faculty member at the school. “He definitely keeps our school up and running.” Simpson has worked at the high school for 32 years. In an effort to help alleviate the costs of treatment, T-shirts have been made saying 'In this town, no one fights alone' to raise money f...
Hikers on the former Milwaukee Railroad bridges at Rosalia Saturday had this view of the spans as they looked back from the east end. The arch bridges span Pine Creek. The concrete bridge was unique for the Milwaukee system which used steel trestles for most of its major crossings. The spans were installed in 1914 to replace timber trestles which were first used on the site....
Superintendent Jerry Pugh opened the Colfax School board meeting Monday night saying the Washington State Leadership Academy's first site visit to Colfax will focus on math. “The first day of really mining data,” Pugh said. He later talked about how the intention is to improve Colfax math test scores in statewide assessment data. Jennings Elementary Principal Travis Howell took the board through results for “Smarter Balance” testing grades 3-6 last year. “We continue to be well above the state i...
County commissioners continued the discussion of Whitcom concerns at their Monday workshop session. “Whitcom worries me,” said Commissioner Michael Largent. At the beginning of 2018, it was noted that there would be budget cuts to Washington state 911 coordination agencies. Largent said at the most recent Washington State Association of Counties Board of Directors meeting he brought up the topic of Whitcom funding to see if other counties were also struggling. “I was wondering if other counties are in the same boat with a reduction in 911 f...
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla district seeks public input on the proposed Boyer Park dock replacement project. The public comment period is open from Oct. 11 to Nov. 11. The request for the project came from the Port of Whitman County to improve the land that the port leases from the corps. Improvements involve repairing, realigning and replacing docks at the marina as well other improvements upland. Debbie Snell, port properties and development manager, said the public notice is part of the corps permit process and is standard...
Neill Public Library, in conjunction with the Pullman League of Women Voters, will host an open forum of candidates running for Pullman City Council and the Pullman School District. The forum will be today, Oct. 17, beginning at 6 p.m. Candidates will include: City Council Ward 1: Ann Parks and Chris Johnson; City Council at Large: Eileen Macoll and Francis Benjamin; School District 1: Beth Ficklin and Susan Weed. Seating will be limited, so plan to arrive early....
Dusty Attic is making space for furniture with a second location called Leftovers. Leftovers is scheduled to open by Oct. 19 and will run similar hours as Dusty Attic, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. The new store will be across the street from Dusty Attic, at 114 N Main Street. It was the former location of Abbey Tax Service. Mary Davidson, co-owner of Dusty Attic, said that in the past two and a half years with Dusty Attic people would come in asking for bookcases, end tables, etc. The Davidsons have those items in storage, but they can't display them...
Down 1-2 in a showdown battle last Thursday with league rival Liberty, the Bulldog volleyball girls came back to tie the tally 2-2 and then came back again to win the match in a fifth-game decider before a big homecoming crowd. Liberty made the trip south after defeating Colfax in the first match of NE-South competition. The rematch came after both teams continued undefeated in league play, although Colfax topped Liberty in the last round of the Okanogan jamboree. The action ended with Liberty...
The St. John/Endicott/ LaCrosse volleyball team swept Touchet Tuesday night on the road to avenge a loss three weeks ago to the Indians. Scores were 25-14, 25-15, 25-14. Ashlynn Archer led SJEL with three aces, 17 kills and eight blocks while Roxy Dickerson had 25 assists and Rachel Larsen 12 digs. Last Thursday, Oct. 10, in St. John, the Eagles (10-11, 4-5) took a game off of Oakesdale for the first time in five years. They lost 12-25, 26-24, 13-25 and 11-25. Gianna Anderson led the Nighthawks (8-3, 7-1) with six aces, 18 kills and two...
Colfax charged for 12 points in the last quarter for a 33-20 win over Liberty in Friday's homecoming game. The win advanced the Bulldogs record to 5-1 with another NE-South battle set here Friday against Asotin. The Panthers Friday advanced their record to 5-0 with a 48-12 win at Kittitas in a non-leaguer. With the win over Liberty, Colfax now stands at 2-0 in the league with Asotin set for this week and a trip to Reardan scheduled for next week. Liberty booked a power start Friday against the...
Tekoa/Rosalia Timberwolves will travel to Walla Walla Friday to play DeSales in an SE football showdown. The TR team will make the trip after booking another SE win Friday with a 64-20 win over Colton on the Rosalia field. DeSales last week rolled up a 64-6 win over Sunnyside Christian. The Irish this year are campaigning in the 1B division after years of playing in the 2B ranks. DeSales’ actual enrollment places them in the 1B ranks, but for years they persisted in playing up in the 2B ranks. The Timberwolves are now 4-0 in the SE league with...
Oakesdale traveled to Colton Tuesday and booked a sweep over the Wildcats in SE volleyball action, 25-21, 25-19, 25-13. Gianna Anderson hit 17 kills for the Nighthawks, and Jessie Reed hit five aces and had 19 digs. Josie Schultheis had seven kills for Colton, and Rylee Vining had 17 assists. The win advanced the Nighthawks to 8-1 in league play with their lone loss to Pomeroy last week. They are 9-2 overall. Pomeroy kept up their league pace in the Tuesday round with a sweep over...
Colfax volleyball fans celebrate after the Bulldog girls pulled out a dramatic finish over Liberty in the Thursday homecoming match. The Bulldogs scratched out a 16-14 edge in the fifth game after the two NE League neighbors tied at 2-2 in the game count....
Tekoa/Rosalia volleyball players came back from a 0-2 set score to defeat Reardan in five in a NE-south league match last Thursday at Tekoa. The Timberwolves finished the rally with a decisive 15-9 in the short fifth game tie-breaker. Reardan posted a 2-0 lead with scores of 25-16 and 25-15 in the first two sets, but TR came back for the 2-2 tie with 25-15, 25-9 to put the match into a fifth game. Ellise Wilkins booked 15 kills for TR, and Trista Bogenreif had 30 assists. Delani Lehn hit three aces, and Hannah Theis had six digs. Tuesday at...
The St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse Eagles went to the far edge of Walla Walla County last Friday looking to get back into the win column, and did it, beating Touchet at their Homecoming, 12-0. “Touchet came out fighting, but when it came down to it, our guys just wore them down,” said Eagles Coach Rich Hallenius. SJEL (2-4 overall, 1-3 league) scored in the first quarter on a three-yard run by senior Kaiden Bertrand. Their second touchdown came in the third quarter on a 19-yard run by Chase Anderson, the game’s leading rusher. On defense for the E...
The Sean Spicer show continues. Remember Sean? He was the press secretary for President Donald Trump. He was contentious and madly loyal to Trump. Spicer was the one who claimed that the crowd for Trump’s inauguration was the largest ever. This despite evidence to the contrary. He never backed down from this and other falsehoods. Spicer left the post and has made a few appearances on television, but his reputation has never been redeemed, especially since being savaged on Saturday Night Live skits. For the last several weeks he has been on a n...
In his "Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln described a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." The problem for any democracy is that those people can make a mistake -- a dangerous mistake -- by electing someone who's severely unqualified or a bloomin' nutcase. Look no further than Donald Trump, our president, who possesses the power to wreak terrible damage. In fact, he's doing just that, both with his policies that roll back decades of progress, returning America to a menace to the planet, and even more so with his...