Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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State officials last week distributed almost $1.2 million in bridge repair funding to stop one bridge from moving and to replace a rotting span in Oakesdale. Approximately $680,000 will be used to hold down the Hatley Bridge which spans Union Flat Creek on the Wawawai-Pullman Road about one and one half miles north of Wawawai Grade Road. Public Works Director Mark Storey said the 120-foot concrete prestressed bridge has moved more than a foot off its foundation since it was built in 1971. It could collapse in even a minor seismic event.... Full story
Two weeks after the body of 16-year-old Dylan Mahan-Treese was found under a bridge, more than 35 Palouse residents gathered for an at-times emotional city council meeting Tuesday to pinpoint community solutions to the problems leading to his death. Perhaps the most troubling problem to Palouse residents was drug activity at a residence which Mahan-Treese frequented. Many residents believe his involvement with a 21-year-old woman who lives at the home contributed to his death. Also Tuesday, the Palouse council and mayor discussed closing down...
Twenty school district employees went on record supporting a change of leadership for the district this week in a letter to the Gazette. The number of signatures on the letter compares with a reported 30 employees, teachers and classified staff, who were active in a group which urged the board not to renew the contract of Supt. Michael Morgan at its Oct. 25 meeting. The board will make its decision at its Nov. 15 meeting. Faculty member and coach Susan Doering read the group’s request with others next to her at the Oct. 25 meeting. Others p...
Palouse-o-saurus reached its primieval head backward into the sky as its flaming body collapsed to the sound of dozens of cheering men, women and children at Palouse. Artist Thad Froio spent the past month assembling what his cronies have dubbed the “First Annual Palouse-o-saurus.” Froio said he and a squadron of helpers built the behemoth, “mostly because we could.” Standing 15 feet in the air, the paleolithic sculpture was made of wood left over from the remodeling of the Palouse Tavern. Saturday night, the dino dynamo was torched beside... Full story
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING The Whitman County Commissioners will conduct a public hearing on Monday, November 15, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. in their Chambers, Whitman County Courthouse, Colfax, Washington. The purpose of the hearing is to review community development and housing needs, inform citizens of the availability of funds and eligible uses of the state Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and to receive comments on proposed activities, particularly from low and moderate income persons and persons residing in the Whitman County area....
Over the last month, France has been wracked by a series of protests and strikes that threaten the nation’s economy. Angry mobs set fires and battled with police as strikes shut down the country’s rail system, buses, oil refineries, ports and garbage collection. Why? The government announced it would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. France, like most European nations, has an expensive government social system funded by high taxes on citizens and employers. The costs are more than many national governments can handle and threatens to bri... Full story
WELL, OUR USUAL election day luncheon gathering to guess the winners didn’t do too badly this time. We’re a small group of a couple of dozen political junkies, usually including city, county and state officials, along with ex and retired same and a few candidates. Then-Secretary of State Ralph Munro was our founder and since we were about half and half, Republicans and Democrats, (I’m the only Independent), he called us the Dumbbells and Jackasses. He didn’t make it this year because he’s overseas somewhere giving shots to native children,...
#!*! City officials who abuse their power. #!*! Now that the election is over . . . no one to help customers in the Auditor’s office. YYYY Finally, no more political commercials. #!*! The push to get livestock away from waterways while ungrazed waterways are chocked with noxious weeds. ++++ The ladies in the DOL for being helpful and pleasant. Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 Colfax, Wa 99111...
* It was Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century, who made the following sage observation: “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” * Snakes are sometimes born with two heads, but they don’t survive long. It seems the heads fight each other for food. * During this season of excess, it might be worthwhile to remember that the typical holiday meal contains more than 3,000 calories. It also might be wo...
1. GEMSTONES: What color is lapis lazuli? 2. GEOGRAPHY: Where is the Pennines mountain range located? 3. SCIENCE: The order Hymenoptera would encompass what types of insects? 4. RELIGION: Who founded the Christian Science Church? 5. FAMOUS PERSONALITIES: William H. Bonney was better known by what name? 6. HUMAN ANATOMY: Where is the mitral valve located? 7. LANGUAGE: In the United States, what is a more common term for “conscription”? 8. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What was the original function of the schipperke, a Belgian dog breed? 9. U.S. STATES: Wha... Full story
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. Lapwai duo hurt Two Lapwai residents were hurt Monday night in a rollover accident near mile marker 67 on Highway 195 north of Rosalia. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Jenny L. Williams, driver of the truck, sustained possible neck injuries, and a 15-year-old girl sustained head injuries. They were transported by Rosalia...
St. John/Endicott Eagles and the Garfield/Palouse Vikings will be hosts Friday night after finishing one-two in the SE Eights league race. The two clubs will host qualifiers out of District Seven. On the board will be eight slots for quarter-final playoffs the next week. Colton, the number-three finisher in the SE-Eights will match up with Cusick Saturday at Gonzaga Prep at 1 p.m. The Wildcats are officially the road team. SE EIGHTS FINAL STANDINGS ST. JOHN-ENDICOTT 5-1 7-2 428 282 GARFIELD-PALOUSE 4-2 5-4 292 228 Colton 3-3 4-6 425 312...
Warden’s Cougars, a small, fast team from the North Central League will be the guest team for Colfax Friday for the first round of state football playoffs. Colfax and Warden officials have booked the Martin Stadium field at Pullman for the battle which will be a 7 p.m. Colfax Coach Mike Morgan said both teams were anxious to get on a turf playing surface, a mode which comes into play more as the playoffs advance. The Colfax-Warden matchup is part of a 16-team round which will send the winners into the state quarter-final round next week. C...
Palouse Prairie Foundation will sponsor a slide presentation, “Birds of the Palouse,” Thursday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. in the Edith Hecht Reading Room at Neill Library in Pullman. Terry Gray, president of the Palouse Audubon Society and an expert on avifauna, will talk about year-round residents, migrants, and breeders here on the Palouse. The public is invited....
The legs of Earl Gaines and Will Dedic helped put a happy punctuation on the Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia football team’s 2010 season. With Gaines’ running and Dedic’s kicking leading the way, the Nighthawks capped a 4-6 season with a 17-14 win over Kettle Falls in a long road trip Friday night. “It was a good way to end it,” said TOR Coach Ken Lindgren. “It was a tough year, but you can’t measure everything in wins and losses. We had a great group of guys that really grew as men throughout the year.” Dedic drilled a 34-yard field goal in the second... Full story
Scores 1 Nov 10 WhitCo Youth Strike out 326 389 368 ~ 1083 Wheatland Winners 390 376 389 ~ 1155 Emilees Team 318 329 310 ~ 957 High Voltage 424 384 411 ~ 1219 The Mustangs 355 440 389 ~ 1184 A Team 357 387 407 ~ 1151 Team Brandon 313 319 350 ~ 1295 High HC Game: Girls - Chyanne Weller 208. Boys - Westin Winery 224 . High Scratch Game: Girls - Mikayla Spencer 108. Boys - Cody Claussen . BI CITY BlackCat Ranch 728 686 695 ~ 2109 Dusty Country Store 639 593 652 ~ 1884 KUP 606 605 652 ~ 1863 WhitGro 580 616 567 ~ 1763 Triple Threat 585 634 591 ~...
Tekoa/Oakesdale, winner of the SE league race, booked two solid match wins in the volleyball playoffs at Colfax last week to take the top slot in the 1B state finals which begin today, Thursday, at Yakima’s SunDome. The Nighthawks start today against Northport in the first round. Colton, which derailed Pomeroy in semi-final round last Wednesday and bowed to the ‘hawks in the Saturday championship game, took the number-two SE ticket to state. Katelyn Renstrom (7) and Myrannda Neill of the Nighthawks go up for a block against Colton's Grace Dru...
Colfax volleyball players out-fought Reardan in a three-game battle Saturday in the Reardan gym to finish off their NE win string and head back to Yakima’s SunDome for the state finals. The Bulldogs, who have brought up several young players this year, will be after their seventh straight title. The state run starts Friday with Colfax paired against Mt. Vernon Christian, number four qualifier out of the Tri-District. Winner of the first match will go up against the winner of the Mossy Rock-Brewster game in the quarter-finals. Reardan, which bum...
Junior Morgan Willson topped the locals with a second place finish behind Sierra Speiker of Oroville. The two leaders had a big gap the 1B pack at the one mile mark. (SEE MORE CROSS COUNTRY PHOTOS ON PAGE 5A IN THE WEEKLY PAPER SECTION) Morgan Willson of Colfax and Sierra Speiker of Oroville lived up to advanced billing Saturday morning in the girls all-B state cross country race at Sun Willows golf course in Pasco. Speiker opened up a lead of about 10 yards on Willson at the one mile mark and stretched it possibly another five yards to take...
THURSDAY Surgeons in Shanghai operated on a 50-year-old Chinese man to remove a chopstick that he swallowed 28 years ago. Mr Zhang thought he had completely digested the chopstick until he started having stomach problems and sought medical attention after he passed out. Alina Treiger was ordained as Germany’s first female rabbi since the Holocaust in a ceremony at a synagogue in Berlin. A French nun who held the Guinness Book of Records title for world’s oldest person died on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthelemy at the age of 114. Blanchard...
Whitman County’s CETC building will be closed for another winter and may be closed for every winter to come. County commissioners learned Monday their insurance company will not pay for all repairs on the building. In fact, the insurance coverage will pay about 20 percent of the cost on the building which was deemed structurally unsound after its roof sagged beneath the weight of a snow load in January 2009. Bob Reynolds, county facilities manager, said officials with Traveler’s Insurance, the county’s insurance company, last week deemed $20,0...
A day of lectures related to cattle will be this Nov. 30, at 4 p.m. at two Walla Walla Community College sites. The Beef Day features WSU Veterinary toxicologist Dr. Patricia Talcott speaking on “Poisonous Plants- Cattle Beware,” Jo Lynne Seufer from the Spokane USDA risk Management Agency addressing “USDA Risk Management Programs for Beef Producers’” and WSU Extension Economist Dr. Shannon Neibergs speaking on the “Economics of Grazing CRP.” After dinner presenters will include Pfizer representative Charles Cox discussing “Animal Healt...
Rub on the Ben-Gay and head on out to Steptoe Saturday night, where the Steptoe Community Fund is putting on its first ever Last Chance Prom. Co-organizer Valoree Gregory said the prom will be just like high school days, even if attendees have a little more trouble fitting into their old prom outfits. “We figured it was better than calling it the senior citizen prom,” said Gregory. The prom was organized, she said, to give people who never got to go their original prom, or those who want new prom memories, a chance to turn back the clock. No...
It is dusk and a lone wind turbine sits high on a hill above Palouse. “It’s running right now,” said Sharon Tharp, squinting at the fixture from her home across town. The wind turbine belongs to the late Mike Carlton, well-known Palouse resident who died Oct. 20. Because of Carlton’s ongoing passion for wind energy, Dave and Sharon Tharp are putting together a memorial for Carlton in the form of solar panels for the town’s planned community center. The Tharps, along with other friends of Carlton, are interested in adding 16 panels to the roof...
Whitman County planner Alan Thomson proposed Monday a set of code changes that would reduce the public process required to permit some buildings. Instead of having some permit applications decided by citizen panels, the changes would give Thomson the sole authority to approve projects. Currently, development projects that require conditional use permits must be decided by the citizen board of adjustment. Thomson’s proposal is to insert new language into several sections of zoning code that would cover some of the most common concerns a... Full story
