Good Old Days: July 27, 2017

125 years ago

The Commoner

July 22, 1892

The cornerstone of what will be one of the truly handsome buildings of the shire town of grand old Whitman was laid Monday morning. It was a huge granite block which marks the southeast corner of the elegant building of the Colfax Hardware Company at the northwest corner of Main and Spring streets.

The stone was laid under the supervision of Contractor J. R. Good and B. Burgunder, president of the hardware company. At 10:30 the receptacle prepared in the stone received from the hands of Mr. Burgunder a paper bearing the names of the stockholders of the Colfax Hardware Company and of the contractor, J. R. Good, and a copy of the DAILY COMMONER of July 16 containing an account of the memorable meeting in convention of the Whitman republicans and the complete story of the ballot which some people are so uncharitable as to affirm was stuffed.

President Burgunder was urged to “say something” as he covered the cornerstone relies with a fine sample of zine from the workshop of the company, but he was both modest and poor of pocket and blushingly declined.

This handsome building is to be of granite front up to the second story, surmounted by ornamental work of pressed brick and terra cotta. It has a frontage of 47 feet on Main street, with a depth of 90 feet on the north side of Spring. The first story is 16 feet high in the clear and the second 14 feet, with a basement nine feet in depth. There is to be a return on Spring street of nine feet, filled with plate glass, to be utilized for a show window. Iron pillars all through the building, running to the roof, make it a substantial one. An elevator will be placed near the rear.

The first floor will be occupied by the business offices of the firm and the second will hold the workshop and storerooms.

***

Deputy Sheriff Frank Young, reports the burning on Sunday of the house and barn of a farmer named Pierce, on the Alkali flat road beyond Union flat, nine miles southwest of the city. The family were all away from home on a visit. The first was first observed by neighbors, who hurried to the scene, but too late to save a single article of value. It is not known how the fire started, but it is supposed to have ignited in the house and spread to the barn. The loss is at this time unknown.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

July 27, 1917

Contractor Mallott has a force of workmen employed on the Rebel Flat Creek bridge located a short distance from Wilcox. The work on this bridge is being rushed to completion as fast as possible in order that it may be finished before the wheat hauling season begins. This bridge is on one of the main roads of the county and the large quantities of grain are delivered over this road to the warehouse each year.

***

Complaint is being made by a number of auto owners in regard to a big dirt fill on this road which they claim is cracking and slipping out. It was stated Wednesday noon that one place in the road where a big dirt fill is located, that this fill is cracking and that this particular place is dangerous for autos to pass at night. The work is still under way on this road and it will require some time before the new grade is completed.

***

The contractors that are surfacing the La Crosse-Dusty road have completed about six miles of this road on the La Crosse end of the road in a rock crushing machine part way between La Crosse and Dusty and crushed rock will be used on the east end of the line.

Some of the farmers maintain that crushed rock as road surface material is not the equal of the gravel and clay mixture that is found in the gravel pit at La Crosse which is owned by the company and they point out the fact that the strips of road and streets that have been surfaced by this material is as good as city paving. These men maintain that crushed rock lack the binding material which is furnished by the clay in the gravel and some of them have stated that the matter will be brought to the attention of the county board.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

July 24, 1942

Voting unanimously, six councilmen Monday evening decreed enforcement of the city's milk ordinance, patterned after the federal standard code and adopted a year ago.

Enforcement or repeal of the law had been asked by the county health department, the head of which, Dr. Philip Holabach, had charged that local dairymen had made slight effort to conform to the ordinance in the year granted for making production improvements.

Decision to authorize enforcement of the ordinance was reached Friday evening at an informal meeting of the council with the understanding, according to Councilman W. H. Arrasmith, that the county health department would deal reasonably with milkmen in requiring changed production methods and that there would be no demand for “over night” improvements.

Arrasmith said that the council had been insistent upon the regular inspection of dairy herds, asking the county health department to see that this is done. Councilman W. H. Albright was present at the Friday evening meeting but was absent Monday evening when the formal vote was taken.

Fire Captain “Tootie” Anderson was given a raise in wages from $110 to $125 for day driving of the truck. This gives him total pay of $150 a month since he has been getting $25 for doing part of the night driving.

***

The county commissioners Monday announced their intention to replace the O'Dell bridge on the Almota road south of Colfax with an 88-foot standard pile and frame trestle, estimated to cost $2226. Equipment for what will be a day labor project was on the site early this week and construction was expected to start before the close of the week. The cost will be paid from road district funds.

Piling for bridges, to be used in the event of emergency construction, was ordered purchased at a cost of $1081, to be paid for out of the county's share of the state gas tax.

By resolution, the commissioners revealed the plan to replace a culvert on the Hall road at a cost of $875, and a culvert on the Cedar Creek road southeast of Garfield at a cost of $650. Road district funds will bear this expense.

***

If Colfax does what the war production board would like to have it do, home affairs will be left to men of 60 and women while the younger of the male element engages in combat or essential industries, in the opinion of Russell Moore who talked to the Kiwanis club Tuesday noon on the classification system and allocation symbols known to nearly all businessmen. The speaker much preferred that such an industry be located here.

Mr. Moore explained Priorities Regulation No. 10 which made mandatory, effective July 1, a method of classifying orders under which the war production board could determine the exact amount of each kind of material being used by every type of manufacturing industry and the use to which it is being put. The plan is intended, he said, to pave the way for a program of allocating materials to industry and places definite responsibilities on almost every business concern in the country.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

July 27, 1967

Bids for surfacing and paving approximately 3.9 miles of highway 195 between Colfax and Pullman will be among the project prices to be considered Tuesday when the State Highways Department opens bids Tuesday in Olympia. Cost of the job is estimated to be between $100,000 and $250,000.

The surfacing of highway 195 will involve placing an asphalt overlay on rough spots – “exceptions” – located on the concrete surfaces along the highway, according to Frank Stetling, maintenance supervisor.

The surfacing will be placed at different points between the asphalt sections on the road at the Pullman and Colfax ends, Stetling said.

Also due in Whitman County is channelization and reconstruction work on highway 270 between Moscow and Pullman. As part of a $6.3 million state-federal project to eliminate “high-accident locations,” the Moscow-Pullman highway will receive $59,100 for the work on a 50-50 basis from the state and federal governments.

***

Leveling has been completed on the sites for the nursing wing and nurses' living quarters of the new Whitman Community Hospital, and excavation for footings will begin today, according to Wesley Witcher, project superintendent for ADSCO.

First concrete will probably be poured next week, he said. Leveling of the site for the “front” wing that houses the business office, surgery, etc., will also be completed soon. The leveling completed to date brings the ground down to the basement for both the nursing wing and living quarters.

***

Allocation of more than $53 million for construction of Little Goose and Lower Granite dams during the next fiscal year has been recommended by the House appropriations committee, according to an Associated Press dispatch in the Seattle Times.

The committee has sent to the House floor for consideration next week a $4.6 billion bill for the present fiscal year financing of vast public-works program of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Reclamation Bureau and other agencies.

Allocations recommended in this area include $44 million for Little Goose lock and dam, $9.2 million for Lower Granite lock and dam, and $23.7 million for Lower Monumental lock and dam.

An allocation of $30,000 for a survey of the Palouse river is also included, but no indication is given of what part of the Palouse river the survey would cover.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

July 23, 1992

Board members for Whitman Hospital and Medical Center last Wednesday approved a levy request this year of $345,000. Voters in the hospital district will be asked to decide on the levy measure on the Sept. 15 primary ballot.

The levy amount, which is $15,000 more than the sum approved by voters last year, was determined by the hospital's finance committee which is headed by Marlene Landers. It will be the fourth levy request for the district.

When the hospital district was formed directors at that time decided to ask residents each year for funding through a special levy system. The hospital decided against taking an automatic slice of the tax income pie, something they could have done under state law, because that would have meant an additional squeeze on other tax entities which would have had to take less. Fire and cemetery districts and the county library are among other agencies which get income from the regular property taxes.

Gordon McLean, hospital administrator, said the hospital finances at present have reached the point where levy income has been used to restore reserves and undertake capital improvement projects.

The hospital needs several capital improvements over the next 10 years.

“This year a lot of our capital spending has been done on X-Ray equipment. Next year we're looking at computer equipment,” McLean said.

The hospital anticipates a computer project in the $70,000 to $100,000 range to link operations. At present, Whitman hospital “piggybacks” with Sacred Heart Medical Center's computer for accounting.

Sacred Heart plans to go to a new computer system and that change might not be able to accommodate the local hospital, McLean explained.

Other capital needs will be roofing. The district has been putting aside funds each year for a roofing project which could be scheduled in 1994-95.

Other major capital needs are remodeling projects to meet current operation demands. “Changing the walls” to enlarge physical therapy and emergency room departments are two of the present needs.

McLean said hospital operations for the first six months of this year are ahead of last year in all categories except one. The lone slowdown category is the “swing beds” used for patients who are in transit to nursing home care.

Hospital operations last year earned $10,000 which was down from approximately $30,000 earned in 1990. The earnings came on revenues of $3,209,264 last year, McLean noted.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

July 26, 2007

County officials met with Pullman brass Monday afternoon to discuss how best to plan for the growth of Whitman County's largest city.

“In the next 50 years, maybe even the next 20 years, you're going to grow,” said County Commissioner Greg Partch. “And we want to make that as unencumbered as possible.”

Most pressing among the topics discussed by the Joint Planning Area Committee was how best the county can prepare for Pullman's proposed south bypass, which would connect SR 195 to the Moscow-Pullman Highway.

“We don't want to be restricted,” said Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson. “We want to grow, and that helps everyone out.”

Partch expressed the desire of county government to accommodate Pullman's expansion.

“We're ready to recognize your preferred route,” said Partch. “You've got your south bypass laid out, and we're willing to protect that area so you can keep growing.”

However, the city is looking at a bypass route south of Pullman that would run right through a county cluster opportunity zone. That could mean the county would have to tell landowners they cannot locate cluster zones in that area because of potential expansion of Pullman. That caused concern from the county's public works department.

“What can we actually do to protect it?” asked County Engineer Mark Storey. “If someone wants to build in a cluster development there, would we tell them to dedicate the right of way for you?”

Pullman Public Works Director Mark Workman said Pullman often requires developers to dedicate rights-of-way during development as part of the permitting process. Partch wondered how that could be done without violating the rights of landowners.

“We explain to them that in the long term they will benefit from this, because the south bypass makes their property value that much higher,” explained Johnson.

The specifics of planning for the route will be further discussed between the planning and public works departments of both the county and Pullman.

JPAC members also discussed a sales tax sharing system, in which the county and Pullman would share revenues from commercial developments constructed in the county that may be annexed into Pullman in the future.

At present, all sales tax revenue for a business in the county goes to the county. If the business eventually gets annexed into Pullman, the city collects 85 percent of the revenue and the county gets 15 percent.

“When cities and counties have disagreements, it's about money, and it's about annexation and it's about annexation of tax dollars,” said County Planner Mark Bordsen.

The idea had been previously explored by JPAC with the intent of having Pullman extend water and sewer services to the Pullman-Moscow corridor. That was supposed to coincide with the SR 270 widening project, but the plan was not put in place before construction started last year and was scrapped.

Pullman Administrator John Sherman worried that the developments in question might not be up to city standards.

He cited previous developments, such as the Evergreen development south of Pullman that was constructed with substandard water and sewer treatment facilities. The town annexed the development, and spent a considerable amount getting those utilities up to standards.

Bordsen pointed out that Evergreen was allowed before the county zoning codes were put in place in the late 1970s.

Sherman said he would ask Pullman's city council to rework its 1987 policy for extending utilities outside city limits.

Sherman then asked if the 50/50 tax split would apply to the proposed Hawkins development in the corridor.

“Anything that's currently permitted would be under the usual arrangement,” explained Bordsen. That means the county would get 100 percent of the tax revenue, until Pullman annexed.

“Well, let's get (annex) it now,” Sherman quipped.

The sullen faces of Bordsen and Partch beamed with delight when Sherman then uttered, “just kidding.”

***

Sale of McDonald annexation land on the N. Palouse River for the Red Tail Ridge residential development was recorded July 16 in transfer tax affidavits filed in the county treasurer's office. Washington Land & Ranches of Prescott, Ariz., paid $695,420 for the property which is located on the upstream end of the McDonald annexation west of Glenwood. McDonald Family Properties, represented by Richard Wells, was the seller of the property.

Washington Land & Ranches has received city approval for development of houses in a new rural residential zone on the property on top of the ridge. The development will include approximately 337 acres which will be sold in parcels ranging from five to 20 acres.

Also planning a development for the McDonald annexation land is Mike Damery of Colfax who purchased property on the south side of the river upstream from Schmuck Park for $903,000 last October. Damery has not submitted a formal development plan, but the property he has purchased is in an area which could be served by city utilities and allow for development on smaller parcels.

The Red Tail Ridge development will be done under strict covenants which will govern building types and uses.