Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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All law enforcement agencies are gearing up. They are following a long-held holiday tradition. They will be conducting emphasis patrols looking for impaired drivers. In the old days, that meant drunk drivers. Now, it means much more than that. Now, new concerns involve drivers on marijuana and other drugs. Additionally, dangers persist with inattentive drivers. These include those texting and using cell phones. We have seen the dangers of all these different types of drivers. Accidents, some fatal, have marked the highways in and around the...
Remember the Occupy movement, with all the encampments across the nation, populated by citizens taking on the 1 percent? At best, we have a vague recollection of them and their noble cause, which was to shame the country into doing something about the toxic inequality of our wealth. We took notice for a while, then lost interest as the media switched to others stories du jour. It wasn’t long before the authorities were able to sweep away their protest with nary a squeak in return from any of us, while also brushing off any hope for reform. L...
Colton girls poured on the steam in the second half Tuesday night at Colfax to roll out a 47-37 win over the hosts in a battle of last year’s two B division state champions. After a seesaw game in the first quarter, Colton opened the lead in the second quarter and then roared in the second half with junior Zoe Moser finishing with 29 points. "I thought it was an awesome game," Colton Coach Clark Vining said. "It was a great pre-league game with a playoff atmosphere.” Colton extended their win...
Last time was a promise, in the year of election. After leading the Southeast 1B league for most of the 2013-14 season, the Garfield-Palouse Vikings lost twice in the district tournament to fall short of Spokane Arena and the state playoffs. First Pomeroy beat them in the district championship game. A night later, the Vikings returned to the Colfax gym for the second-place game. Facing Colton – resurging after the return of star guard Jake Straughan from injury – Gar-Pal fought for the last ber...
Colfax boys moved their season record to 2-0 with a 63-32 win over a young Colton Wildcat team Tuesday night in the Bulldog gym. Led again by Kasey Johnson, who finished with 13, the Bulldogs ripped to a 21-4 lead in the first quarter. Colfax started the game with Johnson scoring on two drives to the bucket. Keith Gfeller followed with another drive for a 6-0 Bulldog lead. Johnson then backed off and hit a three pointer for a 9-2 Colfax lead. Coach Reece Jenkin called out the bench for much of...
Girls basketball began for Southeast 1B league teams last week with action around the county and into Idaho. Colton 66, Grangeville 37 The Wildcat girls began a quest for a seventh-consecutive 1B state championship with a non-league win over Grangeville Dec. 5. Trailing for most of the first half, Colton came back to take control as Savannah Chadwick led the team with 24 points and Zoe Moser had 22. Haley Meyer added nine points. Colton led 23-21 at halftime before coming out for the third quarter for an 18-0 run. Tekoa-Rosalia 64,...
Winners of team awards at the volleyball banquet last week, from the left, were Olivia Mellor, Carmen Gfeller, Kindra Kneale, Kori Goodwin and Amara Huber. Kasey Johnson received a coaches’ award for help at the girls’ practices....
Again seated at the head table with the state championship trophy located directly in front, Colfax volleyball players wrapped up the season last Thursday at the team banquet in the CHS cafeteria. The 2014 Colfax V-net team returned the state trophy to Colfax after another straight run of 12 game wins, three for each foe, on the way to the title at Yakima’s Sun Dome. The express sweep at state matched the title run for the Bulldogs last year. Colfax also booked the 12 game run at state after going through the district and regional rounds w...
Stillman College quarterback Josh Straughan of Colton was selected as the quarterback of the 2014 All-Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) First Team. He also twice was named the SIAC Offensive Player of the Week. So far at Stillman, Straughan has completed 470 passes for 5,405 yards and 50 touchdowns. He leads the conference in passing efficiency with a 154.6 quarterback rating. When asked about his success, Straughan readily admits that playing with a chip on his shoulder has dr...
Four Colfax wrestlers traveled to Pullman Tuesday night to mix it up with Pullman and Moscow wrestlers. Nick McAdams took wins in the 220 and the heavyweight classes. Reggie Jones booked a 12-2 decision of Pullman's Matt Pru in the 152 class, , and Trappers Askins from Palouse pinned Issac Stone of Moscow at 1:41 in the first round of the 132 class. Treven Kennedy, a new member of the wrestling ranks, sustained two defeats. He was pinned by Moscow's Riley Reintges in 58 seconds of the first round. Colfax wrestlers opened the season at the...
The Dahmen Barn addition in Uniontown is nearing completion — in an interim state — for the building which will ultimately add four studio spaces, a commercial kitchen and a classroom/meeting room. The project, funded by a $362,000 Art Place grant which the Uniontown Community Development Association (UCDA) received early last year, encountered delays in the planning and design stage, which led to higher costs. Organizers will now need more funding to complete the project. In the meantime, the...
Fifth graders Waylun Raup, Casey Bittle and Jacob Sisk, from the left, play their recorders in the first segment of the Colflax Christmas concert Monday night. Sixth grade, junior high, high school and jazz bands all performed for a packed auditoriam at the concert under the direction of bands director Mike Morgan....
Oakesdale town council has approved an increase in basic water rates which will start at the first of the year. The basic rate will go from $22 to $27 per month for up to 4,125 gallons. Longtime city policy has set water bills at that usage, with a $1 per thousand gallon charge for anything additional. The city council also voted to increase the basic rate by two percent each year over the next five years. The increase is the first since 2003. The change comes after large maintenance projects...
The Dahmen Barn addition in Uniontown is nearing completion — in an interim state — for the building which will ultimately add four studio spaces, a commercial kitchen and a classroom/meeting room. The project, funded by a $362,000 Art Place grant which the Uniontown Community Development Association (UCDA) received early last year, encountered delays in the planning and design stage, which led to higher costs. Organizers will now need more funding to complete the project. In the meantime, the...
The Palouse Conservation District was awarded a $12,650 grant to develop a final design for replacing a culvert that would open 5.3 miles of habitat on Steptoe Creek near Clarkston. The existing culvert goes under Steptoe Creek Road at too steep of an angle and with a large drop that completely blocks fish passage. Addressing the barrier would open habitat, including 2.1 miles of Steptoe Creek and 3.2 miles of Stuart Creek to steelhead, which are listed as threatened with extinction under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Palouse...
Endicott children and adults watch mystified and enchanted as Japanese paper lanterns are filled and released into the blackness of the sky as part of the town’s Christmas celebration Saturday....
The McGregor Company transformed a defunct biodiesel plant in Creston from an environmental hazard into a clean, compliant agri-chemical facility. The investment and cleanup of the property earned McGregor an environmental excellence award, the Washington Department of Ecology’s top honor. “We applaud McGregor for investing in local communities and dedication to environmental stewardship,” said Ecology’s Eastern Regional Director Grant Pfeifer. “The company successfully turned a dilapidated, neglected property that was a hazard for human hea...
Colfax and Pullman police, Whitman County deputies, WSU campus police and Washington State troopers will participate Friday and Saturday in the “Night of a 1000 Stars,” an annual event which focuses on promoting safe and sober driving during the holiday season. The one thousand stars title refers to the stars on the badges worn by the law enforcement officers statewide who participate in the effort. Extra DUI patrols will be conducted between now and Jan. 1. Spokane, Pend Oreille, and Ferry Counties will also participate this wee...
NOTICE OF HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Whitman County Commissioners will conduct a public hearing on Monday, December 15, 2014 at 11:15 a.m. in their Chambers located in the Whitman County Courthouse, 400 N Main Street, Colfax, Washington. The purpose of the hearing is to receive public comment for proposed revisions to the Whitman County Critical Areas ordinance, Whitman County Code Chapters 19.05; to approve a Department of Ecology initiated amendment to the wetlands rating system, inclusion of language required by the Shoreline...
Port of Whitman County commissioners Dec. 4 approved buying back a lot in their industrial park at Pullman from Schweitzer Engnineering Laboratories. The lot had been purchased from the port by SEL in 2006. Last August, Jana Schultheis of SEL asked the port to consider buying back the lot. She said the lot had become a wetland and could not be used for a building. Port President John Love at that time asked Port Manager Joe Poire to investigate buying back the lot. SEL paid $55,000 for the lot. Port officials hired an expert to check out the...
Keith Becker, Operations Manager of P.N.W., presents a check Nov. 19 for $10,000 to Mark Mackleit, left, president of C-Town Project, and Jason Cooper, Colfax High School track coach. The C-Town Project aims to raise $370,000 for a rebuild of the Colfax High School track. The Colfax School District has allotted $130,000 to the project which is estimated to cost $500,000. It will replace the deteriorating track, including new fencing and landscaping....
About mid-day on Friday, as Whitman County Commissioner Art Swannack was guiding the family’s sheep herd to a pasture with a tractor loaded with alfalfa hay. His wife, Jill, followed the herd with a four-wheeler, Jill saw a wolf. An ice storm had brought down an electric fence that surrounded the field the day before. As Jill, who is a veterinarian, herded the sheep with the Kawasaki Mule, a four-wheeler with a canopy, the wolf kept coming. At first she thought it was a big coyote, but as it g...
Colfax Winter Festival will welcome Old St. Nick Saturday, Dec. 13. This is the first year the festival has been celebrated on a Saturday. From 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., local businesses will have specials and specialty vendors will be at the Center, the former Hamilton Drug building. From 1 to 4 p.m., pictures with Santa by Leifer Photography will be at the Center along with free goodies for children. At 4 p.m., a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony will be at the Codger Pole Park. The annual Christmas parade will be on Mill Street at 4:30 p.m. Special...
Shayne Holt, former employee of Whitgro, Inc., St. John, entered a plea of guilty in superior court Friday morning to a charge of first degree theft. Under the terms of a plea bargain agreement, Holt also admitted to “aggravated” charges that will mean a sentence which will be beyond the state’s normal range for first degree theft. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 23. Holt, 40, was charged with taking funds from Whitgro, where he was employed as IT Controller from 2009 to 2012. Under terms of the plea bargain, Holt admit...
Whitman Hospital & Medical Center has been awarded United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development grant funding in the amount of $500,000 under the 2014 Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program administered by the Rural Utilities Service. Whitman Hospital requested grant funding to support the acquisition of digital Tomosynthesis which will provide for 3-D Breast Imaging, as well as a permanent MRI unit. Both modalities are an essential part of Whitman Hospital’s telemedicine program. “The use of telemedicine in our rur...
