Serving Whitman County since 1877
125 years ago
The Commoner
Aug. 29, 1890
In the east where thirty bushels of wheat from an acre is considered a large crop, the reported wonderful yields of the Palouse country are given little credence, and not until they see them are they convinced.
This year, however, the conditions under which entries are made for the Spokane exposition prize, make it possible to get the exact yields and publish them for the benefit of our readers.
All grain entered in this competition is to be measured, before cut, by disinterested parties, who are also to oversee the threshing.
The first prize wheat cut this season in this vicinity was 100 acres belonging to Lee Farr.
This was measured and threshed according to the rules of the contest, and the average from it was 56 bushels and 47 pounds per acre.
The next was in the one acre contest and was entered by Thos W. Savage.
The yield from this was 84 bushels.
These figures are not the results of guess-work, but are exact, as the grain was cut and threshed separate and apart from the rest of the crops, and are given under affidavit.
100 years ago
The Colfax Commoner
Aug. 27, 1915
At a meeting of a large number of taxpayers at Colfax Wednesday at the city hall to discuss taxation, it was voted to form a taxpayers' league, the object of which is to lower taxes in this county.
The meeting held Wednesday was well attended, representatives being present from Rosalia, Garfield, Pullman and this city.
A temporary organization was formed by the election of F. J. Wilmer of Rosalia as chairman and S. M. McCroskey of Colfax as secretary.
Mr. Wilmer, in addressing the taxpayers present, stated that there was absolutely nothing of a partisan nature to be injected into the organization, but that membership should be extended to every man and that the organization would then be in a position to furnish this knowledge intelligently to the officials of the county and also to the state representatives.
The remarks of Mr. Wilmer received close attention and was well received by those present.
P. W. Cox, in his remarks dwelt upon the annual increase in taxation and stated that from a farmer's standpoint, that it had reached a mark which was viewed with alarm. The farmers stood ready, he said, to welcome any organization that would take up the question of taxation and try to devise some plan to economize in county and state expenditures. Any proposed adjustment of taxation must, he stated, be fair to the farmers.
75 years ago
Aug. 30, 1940
The city continued its traffic aid work this week by the installation of stop signs on Wall, Spring, North, Upton, James and Fairview streets where they intersect with Mill street, which becomes an arterial street, according to Howard Chase, street superintendent. A stop sign was also placed on Meadow where it intersects with Fairview from the south, he said.
The stop buttons in the middle of Mill street where it intersects with the Canyon street, the Palouse road, were replaced with the stop signs, which are of the design approved by the state. The stop buttons on James and Fairview streets were similarly replaced, he said.
Signs designating the city speed limit of 25 miles per hour were placed at the city limits on highways No. 195, Pullman highway, and No. 295, Walla Walla highway, he reported.
"We have also removed the concrete ornamental projection on the south end of the twin bridges," he said, "which prevented motorists entering Main from the Walla Walla highway from having a clear view of traffic approaching from the north. About a ton of concrete had to be removed. The reflectorized direction signs, which had to be taken down for this task, will be replaced within a few days.
"Before we finish this work," Mr. Chase declared, "we expect to do some additional painting of parking lines, put up school zone signs and add other traffic aids."
50 years ago
Colfax Gazette
Sept. 2, 1965
"From the air, it looks like a model town, just like on you see in a book.”
That's the impression several Colfax city officials obtained from a helicopter flight over the entire flood control project Tuesday afternoon, arranged by the corps of engineers, following viewing of the project by officials from Pocatello, Idaho.
Mayor William Burns and Attorney Phil Faris said "it's a pretty sight–everything looks so perfect, so well-arranged," both declared. Also going aloft on a later flight were Councilmen Jack Hallett and Donald Deen, and Jack Johnson, inspector for the corps of engineers on the Colfax project, who said he got a "good view" of the entire works for the first time.
The helicopter, owned by a Lewiston firm, and the pilot were hired by the corps of engineers to fly the Idaho visitors over the project, and Col. Frank McElwee of Walla Walla changed previous plans and decided to give the Colfax city officials a "fly-over" after the Pocatello men had finished.
The mayor of Pocatello, five of the six members of the city commission, the city attorney, city engineer, county attorney county commissioner, along with a reporter from the Idaho State Journal at Pocatello and cameraman-newsman from KID-TV were flown to Pullman in a National Guard plane Tuesday morning. They were brought to Colfax by auto and inspected the Palouse river project from one end to the other.
The City of Pocatello recently approved a $190,000 bond issue to pay the city's portion of the cost of a $5-million federal flood control project similar to that now under construction in Colfax, and Pocatello and Bannock county officials wanted to study the local project and learn if there are any "bugs" that could be ironed out before their project gets under way.
Pocatello men told the Gazette that construction is not scheduled to start on their project until next spring and that no contracts have been let to date. The Portneuf river, which winds through Pocatello on its way to the Snake river from mountains not over 35 or 40 miles northeast of Pocatello, floods frequently and has caused thousands of dollars in damage to low-lying residential property. Very little of the business district or Union Pacific railroad yards in Pocatello–a city of around 40,000–are affected by the floods.
Mayor Burns of Colfax said that the Pocatello TV station cameraman said he was preparing a 30-minute documentary on Colfax and its flood control project and that an effort will be made to obtain the film for showing in Colfax or over a Spokane TV station at some future date.
25 years ago
Colfax Gazette
Aug. 30, 1990
The unofficial Census figures show a jump in Pullman population and a drop in overall population but it should not have drastic impacts on the county, according to officials.
The preliminary county population is 38,703, according to the Census figures received by the planning department. The state had estimated the population at 38,300.
The county population in the 1980 census was listed as 40,102 and in the 1988 "dress rehearsal" as 37,483.
County commissioner Maggie McGreevy said the new figure "does nothing" to the county.
Speculation was the new figures would result in the county being reclassified as "fourth class" (less than 40,000) rather than "third class" but she dismissed that concern.
The most talked about result of a fourth class designation for the county would be the consolidation of the prosecutor and coroner offices.
Gary Lowe from the Association of Washington Counties said he didn't think the reclassification would have any effect beyond that change.
The county commissioners had contacted him about the reclassification question a couple of months ago, Lowe said, because the state had listed Whitman County as less than 40,000 "for some time."
He characterized the classification system as "an anachronism" originally designed so the legislature could set salaries.
"The only difference will be Jim Kaufman will get the same salary but have to do more work."
10 years ago
Whitman County Gazette
Sept. 1, 2005
A Whitman County Superior Court jury at 5:30 p.m. Monday rendered its decision on a series of crimes that jolted Endicott more than six months ago while the town was in the middle of hosting the county basketball tournament.
The jury of nine women and three men returned three felony convictions against Erik Hugo Zettergren after six days of trial.
The jury also found Zettergren was armed with a pistol during the crimes, a ruling which will automatically add more than nine years to his base sentence, which could be a maximum of 22 years in prison.
Zettergren, 37, an Endicott resident since 1991, was convicted of the second-degree murder early Feb. 13 of Jason Robinson, a former Colfax resident who had recently moved to Endicott after residing in Arizona.
Photos at the trial showed Robinson, 32, was killed by a single gunshot to the forehead. The state's evidence also showed the gun was fired at a range between two and 12 inches.
In addition, Zettergren was convicted of unlawful imprisonment of Heather Euley, Robinson's fiancée, who was forced to accompany him in his Suburban to a site under the Palouse River bridge on the Endicott-St. John Road. Robinson was left in the river where deputies discovered his body later that morning.
Zettergren was also convicted of assaulting Euley in the second degree by threatening her with the same 9 mm Glock pistol that he used to shoot Robinson.
Sentencing for Zettergren, who has been in jail since being arrested on the morning of the shooting, has been set for Sept. 30.
Prosecutor Denis Tracy contended Robinson's shooting amounted to an execution after Zettergren allegedly found Robinson attempting to have sex with Zettergren's girlfriend in the bedroom of the Zettergren house. They all had been drinking at a poker party at an apartment over the former Endicott antique store. The poker party was a regular event in Endicott on the second Saturday of each month.
Defense Attorney Steve Martonick, who was appointed by the court, argued Zettergren shot Robinson in self-defense when Robinson reached for a medieval weapon on display in the room. The defense attorney repeated his opening statement that Zettergren did "a really stupid thing" when he decided to hide the body.
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