Good Old Days Feb. 16

Tekoa's Crosby Street

1938 view of Tekoa's Crosby Street business district looking south; automobiles parked along the street. Photo courtesy Tekoa Museum and Whitman County Library Rural Heritage collection.

125 years ago

The Commoner

Feb. 12, 1892

The board of county commissioners has transacted a considerable amount of business during the past week.

They have accepted, after due inspection, the bridge of Colton, on the Wolfard road, across Union flat, and ordered the auditor to draw a warrant for $634.50, the contract price, in favor of W. P. Horton & Co.

George Mueller was appointed constable of precinct No. 40.

The board ordered a warrant to be issued for $50 to W. H. Paige to assistance furnished by Peter Shores, an old solider, and it was further ordered that a warrant be issued for $10 a month to Shores until further ordered.

The Tekoa bridge, built by the Tacoma Bridge Co., was founded substantially built, and $976.60 ordered paid for the bridge, according to the contract.

The board decided to solicit bids for $200,000 in Whitman County bonds, bids to be appealed March 14th, 1892. These bonds will run from ten to twenty years at the rate of $30,000 for two years, $35,000 due in three years, $40,000 due in four years; $45,000 due in five years, and $50,000 due in six years.

The object of the method of bonding is that it will accomplish a lower rate of interest, and divide the time of payment so that every cent can be paid off with ease in six years. When the bonds become due, if the next board of county commissioners, or their successors do not wish to pay them, they can bond again.

***

Articles of incorporation have been filed with the county auditor whereby the First United Presbyterian church of Colfax is made a corporate body under the laws of the state. The trustees for the first year are B. R. Barton, Alexander Stewart, John Munson and Mary C. Boswell. The president for the first year is B. R. Barton, and A. Stewart is the secretary and treasurer. It is the intention of the church to build a magnificent edifice of religion in Colfax.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

Feb. 16, 1917

The adjourned session of the commissioners was attended by all three members of the county board Tuesday and the work of completing the canvass of the vote of the incorporation at LaCrosse was checked and found correct as certified by the election officials.

Mayor-elect, Thos. H. Shobe and councilman D. E. Pickard were present from LaCrosse and these men made inquiries in regard to the amount of funds which would be derived from the county funds for the use of the new city.

The opinion of the commissioners was that none of the taxes which will be collected from the 1916 tax levy would go to the new city this year. Prosecuting Attorney Clegg was not present but later he told the visiting officials that he would look up this question at once and render them a decision.

A communication was received from the secretary of the Garfield Farmers' union asking the board to appoint a county agriculturist. The request was in the form of a resolution adopted at a meeting of the Garfield local on the 10th of February, and the matter was given consideration by the board. The commissioners stated that they were not aware where the money could be secured for the payment of this official even if he was employed and they also agreed that before taking any action on the question, the sentiment of the farmers of the entire county should be considered.

The commissioners thought that this sentiment might be secured at a very small expense by requesting the farmers to register their vote in favor or against the appointment of this official at the coming school elections which will be held in March.

***

The Pullman State Bank of Pullman is to have extensive improvements made on its place of business. The contract has been let to F. V. Roth. Added room, modern banking fixtures and appointments are among the improvements to be made.

***

Because of the lack of shipping facilities, the Colfax Milling Company was obliged this week to close down their mill temporarily. The car shortage has become acute and the mill will be obliged to suspend operations until more cars are available.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

Feb. 13, 1942

Because the demand for light truck and passenger car tires is three times the number which can be supplied and due to the fact that five permits have been issued against February's quota of eight such tires, most requests to purchase new tires were refused when the local rationing board met Monday night. Applications for spare tires by persons formerly operating cars minus a spare were among those refused, although the board indicated that had few permits been drawn against the February quota, the requests would have been granted.

Virtually untouched is the February quota of heavy truck tires and tubes because most farmers in this district operate light trucks which are classified with passenger cars. The board pointed out, however, that tires of obsolete size are more easily obtained and are not charged against quota allotments.

***

The necessity of Whitman County farmers taking steps to reach “food for victory” goals was pointed out at a meeting of community AAA committeemen held in Colfax on Friday, February 6.

A. F. Harms, county extension agent who presided at the meeting, pointed out the need for increased production of poultry, swine, and dairy products and for the increased marketings of beef cattle. The importance of the farm garden was especially emphasized in view of the extra demand of the government for canned products, the shortage of tin and the effect of the war on the commercial vegetable industry much of which was supplied by aliens.

Anson Patterson, chairman of the county USDA war board, pointed out the need for farmers getting their scrap iron into the smelters so that defense production would not be stopped. It was decided that scrap should be collected on a community basis and the AAA committeemen should see that a program was organized in their communities. In some communities, farmers with small amounts of scrap were donating the proceeds from its sale to the Red Cross. Farmers were urged to get their scrap in shape for immediate delivery so that as soon as road restrictions were removed, it could be assembled and shipped to Seattle.

Verle Kayser, area agronomist, with the soil conservation service, stated that farmers needed to give careful consideration to conservation during this emergency and suggested that farmers should place their conservation seedings on that part of the farm which most needed it. By so doing, they would build up the production capacity of their farm and at the same time maintain their production of needed crops which would help you reach “food for victory” goals.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Feb. 16, 1967

Malden's school district voters came right down to the wire with a 54-54 tie vote in Tuesday's consolidation election while voters in St. John and Pine City passed their merger measure, according to the returns received by County Auditor Pauline H. Lust. Malden school's fate hung Wednesday morning on four absentee ballots which were slated to be counted possibly this week. A simple majority is needed to pass the consolidation proposal.

Voters in Rosalia and St. John overpowered the smaller districts to pass the financial side of the merger issues. Sixty percent of the combined vote of each pair of districts involved in the merger was required to pass the financial side of the mergers.

Rosalia voters gave a heavy 171-yes to 3-no vote in favor of consolidation with Malden. On the financial side, Rosalia voted 160-yes to 13-no. Malden's 54-54 tie on the consolidation will hold up the consolidation question. Malden turned down the financial merger 37-yes to 59-no, but the combined vote on the finances for the two districts was 197-yes and 72-no for a 73 percent majority.

In St. John school district, the vote on consolidation was 141-yes and 1-no. On the financial merger, St. John voted 138-yes and 2-no. For Pine City, the tally showed 61-yes and 23-no for consolidation and 47-yes versus 37-no for the financial merger. The combined financial merger figures for the two districts are 185-yes versus 39-no for a majority in favor of almost 83 percent.

Mrs. Lust reported two absentee ballots in the mail from St. John and two from Pine City. Counting of the absentee ballots was expected late Wednesday or early today when the prosecuting attorney and chairman of the board of commissioners could be present for the opening.

***

Unless more than a thousand Colfax area families open their hearts and purse strings within the next few weeks, the Colfax and Community Fund Drive is doomed to failure. Contributions to date are barely past the $4,000 mark.

Dr. Dale Johnson, fund drive chairman, said Wednesday that barely 20 percent of the families to whom letters of solicitation were mailed have responded, and that follow-up letters would be mailed Wednesday night requesting their contribution.

“Donors can sign pledge cards and pay in any manner they wish during the balance of the year,” he emphasized. “We don't have the cash right now, so it's really easy for people on a budget to include their fund donations on a monthly, quarterly or semi-annual basis.”

Dr. Johnson emphasized that the main purpose of the fund drive was to consolidate the solicitations of seven different organizations, each of whom would conduct a separate drive if it were not for the one big campaign.

“If this drive is successful, we could possibly get more organizations in it next year and eliminate several more annual drives,” he said. “But if it fails, you'll have representatives of various groups knocking at your doors year 'round.”

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Feb. 13, 1992

The new F Street bridge in Palouse is due to be built this summer, according to City Clerk Annie Pillers. No definite start date has been set.

The bid was awarded to Tommer Construction of Ephrata for $570,125.

The project is in the final stages before removal of the old bridge, Pillers explained.

The old bridge probably won't be taken out until June, she said. Department of Ecology regulations require extensive permitting before any work near shorelines.

The project is federally funded through the state Transportation Improvement Board and Department of Transportation.

The historic bridge was closed in 1990 after it was ruled structurally unsound.

***

A 15-year-old city law which carried a “forever” guarantee on water line connections was rewritten last week, and the “forever” has now been shortened to 25 years.

Part of the reason for the change was the realization that the costs of backing the guarantees might some day put the city in a hole.

Right now the fund stands at $90,652 on the city books.

The portion of city law deals with hookup fees for water lines.

Members of the city council approved the rewrite at the last city council session without discussion. The move to approve the ordinance, which covered 12 pages and dealt with many other aspects of the city water and sewer operations, was approved after council members decided to forego additional study of the proposal.

The water line ordinance started with a petition to city hall 15 years ago from residents in the south hill. They were upset because truck traffic, which used the South Main and Fairview route to the then-new river terminals, was pounding service line connections which ran from houses to city mains. City law then required residents to pay for all repairs to lines running from the city water mains.

“We were upset because we had to pay for repairs of lines which were running under city streets. Our lines were taking a beating under their streets,” explained Beverly Clein, a former neighborhood resident who has since moved to Spokane.

The end result of the petition effort was a rewrite of the city law: residents would pay a one-time hookup fee and after the fee was paid the city would pay the bill if the line ever failed again.

The new version of the law removes that commitment by the city to cover repairs on service lines which were installed after the ordinance. Also removed was a ceiling figure of $300 for the hookup fee. Now the fee will amount to the actual expenses of the job plus a 20 percent figure for city overhead.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

Feb. 15, 2007

Thanks to funding from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board, Oakesdale will get a new sidewalk stairway and handicap ramp to provide upgraded access from Oakesdale schools to the downtown area. The sidewalk/ramp will replace steps and sidewalk which are showing signs of age.

The steps link Pearl with First Street which continues to Steptoe Avenue.

The current sidewalk is listed at 1,000 feet in length. It goes up a hill between the end of First Street and the school. The bottom steps are made from railroad ties, the concrete is uneven and cracked and the handrail along the stairs is broken or missing in some places.

“I'm really happy about seeing Oakesdale get their project,” said Commissioner Greg Partch. “This is a great example of seeing the gas tax money at work in our little towns.”

The project proposal first came before the TIB in 2003 and received a grant for $100,000 that November. However, the cost to replace the sidewalk and make it meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) for wheelchair accessibility proved to be higher. The money was then rerouted to build sidewalks along Pearl Avenue and Third.

Stevan Gorcester, executive director of the state's TIB program, reported he and Partch visited Oakesdale as part of a series of regular agency meetings in Whitman County.

“We discussed the stairway extensively and came away from that meeting concerned about the potential trip hazard of school children.”

According to Gorcester, the Legislature in 2006 funded a new program from the increase on the three cent per gallon gas tax to assist small cities with sidewalk and street maintenance. With money allocated from that fund, Oakesdale will be able to have the sidewalk and stairs replaced.

The TIB has approved $31,450 of the funds for the design phase of the sidewalk. Gorcester expects the construction funds to come from a bill in Olympia that redirects some existing revenue to the TIB's small City Preservation account.