Good Old Days

125 years ago

The Commoner

Feb. 6, 1891

The county commissioners met in extra session Monday, Jan. 29, to provide for the sale of school lands; consider deputies of county officers and their salaries, and to make any necessary arrangements in relation to the county poor.

The consideration of the school land matters occupied all that and the succeeding day. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Hanna's opinion in regard to the law regarding the sale was obtained, and it was ascertained that the board had no legal power to order a new appraisement of school lands.

On Saturday R. H. Eves presented a petition for a re-appraisement of the improvements on school lands. The board decided that they could not comply with the request, but gave it as their opinion “That if the purchasers of school land be not the owner of the improvements at the time of sale, but that this board has no authority to re-appraise such improvements, but the purchaser and owner must settle the amount of their value between themselves.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

Feb. 11, 1916

The work of securing sufficient funds to build an additional wing to the St. Ignatius hospital has been hampered by the cold weather which has made it almost impossible for the committee to reach a large number of those who have agreed to contribute towards this commendable enterprise.

The work of raising the entire amount of funds necessary to begin the work on this building would have been completed some time ago, had it been possible for the committee to make a direct canvas.

Many of the farmers of the surrounding country are anxious to contribute towards this fund, and one of the leading men on the committee stated that it was the desire of those in charge of raising these funds to permit each and everyone that had secured service at the hospital to contribute towards helping to erect the new building.

Nearly five thousand dollars have so far been contributed, and by the end of the week it is expected that this work will have been passed.

This amount has been raised by volunteer contributions, men and women who have made a special trip to the ranks of this city in order to aid in a worthy cause.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

Feb. 7, 1941

Danger that the city might at some time be without its regular supply of water was considerably lessened when the council Monday night authorized the making of a direct connection between the gravity supply conduit and the distribution system to afford uninterrupted service if for any reason the pumping station ceased to function.

Installation of the by-pass will mean a connection between the supply line from the Glenwood wells on Clay street before it enters the station and the line that runs out of the station to extend on Harrison street. If for any reason the power goes off, a valve will be opened to allow the gravity system to feed directly into the distribution system without going through the pump.

An approximately 30-pound pressure exists at the point where the water goes into the pump, which is believed to be sufficient to raise the water level equal to that on the Main street hill about half way between Wawawai and James streets.

Protection will thus be afforded the city should the pump motors burn out, the power service be suspended, the pipe line burst between the pump station and the reservoir, or any damage befall the pumps. The by-pass might also, should the emergency ever exist, it was pointed out, be a safeguard against acts of sabotage which have been known to be committed in the exigencies of war in attacks on municipal water systems.

The connection, to cost about $200, was one of the recommendations made by Fire Chief L. L. Burgunder in his annual report to the council. For the by-pass to be the most effective, the chief said that the present Mill street water main which ends at Park street should be extended north to connect with the main on Harrison street.

A third recommendation was that the Mill street main be extended south from Stevens street to Golgotha street, thense west to Main street.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Feb. 10, 1966

Collection of $4,173,925 property tax bill – largest in the county's history – will begin next week by County Treasurer Melvin B. Colvin.

Tax statements will go in the mail this weekend and payments will be accepted beginning next Tuesday, he indicated.

The taxes, which are figured on 1965 assessments, can be paid in two halves, with the first half delinquent after April 30 and the second half delinquent after Nov. 30. Statements for less than $10 cannot be paid in halves.

This year's total tax bill is approximately $150,000 more than the total taxes levied for collection last year. The 1965 total was $4,023,859, of which $3,932,835 has been collected, and the total the previous year, 1964, was $3,776,853.

Most of the increase in property taxes is due to special levies approved for support of schools. Slightly more than half of the total will go to schools, with the county road department taking the next biggest slice, only 12 per cent, as compared to 52.6 per cent for the schools.

County current expense, incorporated towns and cities and public assistance, take another 8 to 10 per cent each of the total with the balance going to the minor districts: port, cemetery, fire and library.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Feb. 7, 1991

An operation which earned a tidy $262 net after its first full month of operation in the depression year of 1932 will open a new $350,000 store next week “in the heart of downtown St. John.” When the door swings open for business Feb. 14, the new St. John Grange Supply will have zero debt load against the new building.

“It will all be paid off. That's a tribute to the Grange directors who have served over the years,” Jim Kile, current chairman of the board commented.

Opening of the new supply at St. John proves the members of the cooperative and the town plan to move ahead despite what some economists say about the outlook for the small rural ag economy in small towns.

Mayor Larry Dickerson points to the Grange Supply as the latest development in the town which has seen five new buildings in the past few years.

Kile explains the decision to build a new Grange supply store, the first in 40 years, sort of evolved. The supply, which had $3.9 million in sales last year, has operations in several different buildings and wanted to consolidate most operations in one place. Space problems have been critical at the present store building.

Also, St. John Hardware has decided to trim its hardware line to farm-related items and that left a need in the St. John area to develop a new general hardware outlet.

When the store opens Feb. 14 it will feature a 3,800 square foot hardware store. The number of items on the shelf should hit 15,000, about triple the stock on the current store, according to Harold Loomis, general manager for the past five years.

For the past two weeks a crew from Jensen-Byrd from Spokane has been working in the store area to stock the inventory.

Also, the supply will have a truck and auto service area with three bays, one of them especially designed to accommodate farm trucks and other large vehicles.

A third big segment of the new building is another 3,800 square foot warehouse designed to provide bulk supplies to farms. The two-story area can accommodate trucks for inside stocking and for loading out to coop members with fork lift access.

Kile and Loomis also note the structure includes a variety of features which were incorporated into the new building. A waiting area was developed next to the automotive service area. A new office space will mean the three-member bookkeeping staff will have room which was lacking in the present office buildings.

“We just tried to build this thing right,” Kile said. He credited Dale DeChenne, another director, with much of the design work. Spokane Structures, general contractor, started on the project Oct. 1 and was pushing to finish the job before the Feb. 14 opening.

An employees room and a board room on the second level are other features. The St. John Grange Supply has 16 employees in the St. John operation where they purchased the Cook's Oil operation in 1988.

Loomis credited the staff, directors and other coop members with going the “extra mile” over the past few months to get the new store launched.

“A lot of people have put in a lot of volunteer time on this thing to get it going,” Loomis commented.

Kile said one hitch in the new store will be the fuel service area. The supply plans to pipe fuel from its tanks to the new pump area alongside the east side of the new building. They're still waiting to get approval from Union Pacific to place the connecting lines under the tracks.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

Feb. 2, 2006

A Boise commercial developer has proposed a 200-acre shopping center, which may contain a Lowe's hardware store, east of Pullman.

Plans show about 714,000 square feet of commercial and retail space spread over about a dozen buildings on land north of State Route 270 between the east Pullman Airport Road and the state line.

Commercial and retail footprints in the building plans range from about 5,600 square feet to up to 160,000 square feet.

“One of these large ones might be a Lowe's,” County Planner Mark Bordsen said.

He said the developer, Hawkins Companies of Boise, is continuing to seek tenants to fill its plans, and it released Lowe's as a strong prospect.

The company has completed its environmental checklist, and Bordsen determined the proposal would not have significant environmental impacts on the environment with a few areas of mitigation.

The county planner's notice today triggers a 14-day public comment period on the county's findings.

“We think they've submitted a strong application,” Bordsen said.

The project will be considered for a conditional use permit at a public hearing, possibly as early as March, but the timeline depends on public reaction.

Hawkins Companies proposed construction in 2006 and 2007 on the property located in the North Pullman Moscow Corridor District. According to the application, 500 people may work at the shopping center.