Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 53
When Don Brunell wrote his essay “Striking it Rich in North Dakota” (Gazette, Oct. 18) he must have been wearing his rose-tinted glasses, or blinders, or both. For one thing, the statement that fracking is safe and actually protects aquifers is extremely questionable. But beyond that, implicit in his editorial is the idea that increased petroleum production is in itself a wonderful thing—a boon to the economy and an overall win-win situation. Brunell suggests that the US has “more than a 200-year supply of crude oil.” This, presumably, is at ou...
YYYY The generous volunteer who provided the chemicals, time and effort to spray weeds at the Steptoe cemetery. #!*! People who park their cars blocking the entire crosswalk at the intersection of Main and Wall streets....
A few years after Sid Snyder retired as Washington Senate majority leader in 2002, elected leaders from both parties voted to honor by him re-naming the street leading to the state capitol in Olympia “Sid Snyder Avenue.” It was a fitting tribute to a gracious man who worked tirelessly and in the best interests of our state. Snyder, who died on Oct. 14 at 86, was an icon. He was a politician whose respectful demeanor was in sharp contrast to today's rancorous partisan atmosphere in the other Washington. The manner in which Sid Snyder app...
ITEM-Washington is on the verge of becoming the first in the nation to let adults 21 or older buy taxed, inspected marijuana at state-licensed shops. Voters in Oregon and Colorado are considering similar initiatives but based on polls, Washington’s 1-502 is believed to have the best chance of passing. It could, however, bring on a protracted fight with the feds because marijuana remains illegal under U.S. law and when state and federal law conflict, federal law takes precedence. Conferences are planned to try to work something out if it c...
Final cleanup of a January heating oil leak is nearing completion in Garfield. A total of 120 feet of storm drain has been replaced and 100 cubic yards of contaminated soil removed as part of an interagency agreement between the Town of Garfield and the Washington state Department of Ecology. The estimated $70,000 cleanup stemmed from a leak following a delivery of fuel at the J.E. Love Company. On Dec. 24, 2,000 gallons were pumped into an underground 6,000-gallon tank. On Jan. 12, the...
First district playoff round for the SE 1Bs has been booked at Colfax on Halloween, but it will actually start Monday at Washtucna when teams resolve a tie for fourth place. Garfield /Palouse, Liberty Christian are now booked in the Washtucna playoff. Pomeroy, which finishes its league run against Rosalia Saturday, can advance it they get past the Spartans. The team which emerges from the ‘tucna gym with the fourth-place slot will get ticket to Colfax on Halloween. The other two team will be in a Tuesday elimination round with paring the 5-8 t...
Colfax runners will be in the regional run at Clarkston Saturday after competing in the District 7 run at Audubon Park in northwest Spokane. NWC’s Steven Old won the race at 16:56. Colfax finishers were Jackson Elfers, 7th at 17:29; Brock Morgan, 26th at 18:37, and Tim Cornelius, 33rd at 19:17. Elfers’ top 10 finish qualified him for the district’s all league team. In the junior high race Emora Roberson of Colfax placed 4th at 12:06 behind the 10:03 win by Wellpinit’s Jada Rasmussen in the girls race. Also placing for Colfax were Rebekah...
Colfax volleyball players finished a 7-0 sweep of the NE league Tuesday night at St. George’s to earn the top slot in the district playoffs Saturday at Davenport. The Bulldogs are booked to start the playoff round at 2 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the LRS-Davenport match. Reardan finished number-two in the NE at 6-1. Northwest Christian, LRS, and Davenport finished in a three-way tie at 4-3. The NE round at Davenport will decide the five NE entrants for the regional round the following week against SE qualifiers at West Valley. Colfax r...
St. John/Endicott, Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia and Colfax will have runners on the line Saturday in the regional qualification race at Beachview Park in Clarkston. The race for all B schools in districts 7 and 9 offers state tickets for the first 30 boys and the first 15 girls plus the top teams. Heather Siegel of St. John/Endicott leads other Eagle team members and TOR's Courtenay Perry across the stubble field south of Webbs' Slough in the home meet last Wednesday at St. John. SJE girls will make the trip to the girls race after hosting an...
Final two rounds of SE-Eight football will feature a race for the third and last playoff slot between the LW Tigercats and the Garfield/Palouse Viking. The two clubs could decide it with a showdown battle in the last round Nov. 2 at Palouse. Stage for the Viking/Tigercat scramble was set last week when the league’s two power clubs, undefeated Liberty Christian and Touchet extended their leads in the last round. The Patriots, now 5-0 in the league race, will host the Tigercats Friday at Hanford High. LaCROSSE/WASHTUCNA will take a crack at the u...
After 54-6 a homecoming rout of Mabton Friday, the Tekoa/Oakesdale/ Rosalia grid squad now gets to sit back and root for league foes will being out of action for the last week. Atop the SE2B league standings with a 4-1 record, the Nighthawks will be among the week’s biggest fans of Asotin and Tri-Cities Prep, who play DeSales and Waitsburg/Prescott, both with 3-1 league records. Nighthawk runner Clay Shelton sprints past a Mabton defender in the first half of TOR’s 54-6 homecoming rout. “Go Panthers. Go Jaguars,” said TOR Coach Kaleb Madison...
Colfax Bulldogs and the LRS Broncos lived up to advance billing in the homecoming battle Friday at Schmuck Park with four lead changes before the fourth quarter. However, the undefeated Broncos hit their steady up mode in the last 16 minutes of the game and rolled home with a 33-14 win to stay on top of the league race. Colfax, now 2-2 slipped into a third-place tie with Davenport, a knot which will get undone Friday when the Bulldogs travel north to face the Gorillas. Colfax sophomore Dylan Hall takes the high road with assistance from Bronco...
THURSDAY The Boy Scouts of America released 20,000 pages of files laying bare child sexual abuse in the organization between 1965 and 1985. The pages included 1,247 files on suspected and convicted pedophiles. A U.S. military court ruled that Fort Hood shooting suspect Major Nidal Hasan must shave his beard, which he says he grew because of his Muslim faith, before appearing for court-martial on murder charges connected to the 2009 rampage. Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez was arrested and charged with accepting bribes from a consultant...
Palouse officials have mailed a letter to remind residents to be mindful of protecting the town’s wells and water system by being careful about what they pour down storm drains. The letter was also sent to businesses and public agencies. “It’s to alert the public that we do have wells in the area and we’re requesting that people be mindful of what they pour into storm drains, on the ground or into septic tanks,” said Angela Taylor, Project Engineer with Taylor Engineering “Most of the storm d...
Little more than a month remains in construction of the $170 million Palouse Wind farm on Naff Ridge in northern Whitman County. Ben Fairbanks, director of west region business development for First Wind, said Tuesday only six of the project’s 58 turbines still needed blades. Fairbanks expected the “backbone collector” line - the power line that delivers electricity from each string of turbines to the substation - will be energized by the end of the month. The three circuits of towers that have not yet been turned on will be commissioned short...
Malden celebrated the opening of a brand new road through town with a ribbon cutting ceremony last Wednesday, Oct. 17. With funding from the state Transporation Improvement Board, the main two-lane road that stretches 1.1 miles from each end of city limits was completely rebuilt. “The whole thing was shot,” said Mayor Ted Maxwell. From left, engineers John Duval and Randy Noble celebrate the opening of Malden’s new main drag with Mayor Ted Maxwell and County Commissioner Greg Partch. Engineer Steve Marsh is at right. A ceremony with a road-...
A special court for alcohol violators has come to an end. District Court Judge Doug Robinson reported he shut down the diversionary alcohol court this fall. The court set up a special program where defendants charged with misdemeanor alcohol violations could have charges wiped off their record after six months of meeting with Judge Robinson and refraining from using alcohol and drugs. Judge Robinson said the program became moot because private companies that provide criminal background checks on job applicants to employers do not update their...
The last link in an overhaul of Whitman County’s emergency communications network will likely be complete next spring instead of the anticipated completion date this fall. Fran Martin, director of the county’s emergency management department, said Tuesday morning that crews building a tower on Tekoa Mountain have encountered weather delays. Under a joint operating agreement, Spokane County is building the tower, while Whitman County will maintain it once it is erected. Martin said the foundation for the tower is complete and the equipment shelt...
This year’s first reported number of students choosing to opt in and out of the Colfax School District has been posted and shows small increases over last year. A report on the numbers was presented at Monday’s school board meeting. The Colfax enrollment figures depict a growing trend of families “choicing out” with 76 students for the new 2012-13 school year compared to 46 choosing to go elsewhere four years ago. The numbers for previous years account for movement throughout the school calendar...
Colfax police, fire and ambulance units responded to a report of a truck-car collision at the intersection of Main and Canyon Streets at 1:52 p.m. Monday. Police Chief Rick McNannay said the trailer of a 1996 Kenworth grain truck, driven by Nicholas Cocking, 21, Farmington, struck a 1996 Honda CRV driven by Ann Marra of Colfax. She had stopped for the traffic light in the westbound lane of Canyon and the trailer struck the front of the car when Cocking attempted a left turn from Main Street onto Canyon to continue eastbound on Highway 272. The...
A day at the orchard in Garfield was disrupted Oct. 7 when an aggressive moose was shot and killed by a Washington State Fish and Wildlife enforcement officer. Families and children were on site at Bishop’s apple orchard when Colfax E.M.S. was called on account of an aggressive bull moose which was charging people. Colfax E.M.S. contacted Bob Weaver, a Fish and Wildlife officer in Colfax, who arrived on scene along with Whitman County Sheriff deputies. The deputies ordered the orchard evacuated and Weaver attempted to “haze” the moose, tryin...
A smoother ride greets motorists at the Highway 272 entry into Palouse since two railroad siding crossings were paved over in August. The project cost was paid by the Washington State Department of Transportation as part of a longer-term plan. “We’ve been wanting to do it for some time and the funding became available,” said Bob Westby, DOT manager of the 296-mile Palouse River and Coulee City Railway System. “We’re gonna come back at some point and take those tracks out, that whole spur on t...
NOTICE OF ROAD CLOSURE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the dirt portion of the following Whitman County roads are closed to vehicular traffic effective November 15, 2012 through March 15, 2013 pursuant to R.C.W.47.48.010, unless a permit is obtained from the office of the Whitman County Engineer: ROAD NO. NAME ROAD NO. NAME 0015 Waterman 3890 McQuire 0030 Merritt 3920 Miller Home Place 0050 St. John 4290 Stubbes 0060 Wilhelm 4365 Rattlesnake 0100 Russell 4375 Manning 0115 Carter 4420 Bob Schultz 0190 Bourne 4430 Morley 0310 Catholic Cemetery 4460...
District 2 Whitman County Commissioner Pat O’Neill believes his election battle with challenger Dean Kinzer comes down to one decision. “It’s down to one issue: Hawkins,” said O’Neill, a Democrat from Johnson. “Good or bad, this is what this election’s about.” “I put my job on the line for it.” Kinzer, a Republican farmer from Ewartsville, said he filed for the job because of O’Neill’s January decision to increase from $9.1 million to $15 million the county’s commitment to build infrastructure for a 714,000-square-foot shopp...
Palouse Empire Fair board members Monday night discussed long-range plans for the aging arena grandstand which is one of the agenda topics for improving the fairground. Fair directors discussed what approach they could take on the long range project. Other topics on the fair’s agenda include possible addition of a restroom and upgrades of the septic system, a ticket or pass gate on the west side of the grounds at Gate C, and some type of shade addition for the outdoor performance area in front of the fair’s Wilbur-Ellis Gazebo. Fair manager Bob...
