Good Old Days

125 Years Ago

Colfax Gazette Friday, January 1, 1897

The Grain Market

Last Day of Year Shows Highest Prices Since 1892

The local grain market for 1896, closed on Thursday Dec. 31, with top-notch prices for wheat, oats and barley since the fall of 1892. Quotations were 70 cents per bushel for wheat, $1.10 a hundred for oats and $1 a hundred for barley. Mr. A Kuhn estimated that the aggregate of grain held in the county on January 1, 1897, was the smallest that has been held in Whitman country in many years. He estimates the amount of marketable grain now held at between 500,000 and 600,000 bushels. Of wheat there is half a million, about one-fifth in the hands of producers and the remainder in the warehouse.

100 Years Ago

Colfax Commoner Friday, January 6, 1922

Bank Robbers Leave No Traces

Officers are Unable to Get track Of Bank Robbers, Who Looted Thornton Bank

The Robbers that looted the Thornton Bank, left no trace that could be followed by the officers. So far no clew has has been found and the case will likely remain a mystery unless the robbers should be picked up in some other city with some of the bank loot in their possession. The sheriff and his deputies made a lcole examination of the bank building the morning after the robbers had completed their work, and aside from finding the automobile tracks, some sledge hammers and chisels, no facts were secured that would lead to the capture of the thieves.

75 Years Ago

From the Colfax Gazette - Commoner Friday, January 3, 1947

Bulldogs Losers In Valley Finals

Winners over 2 Spokane City School - St. John Here Friday Night

After placing second in the West Valley invitational tournament Saturday night by losing to Central Valley in the finals, the Colfax high school basketball team will play at home this friday evening against the St. John Eagles, winners of a weekend invitational.

Farm Production Levels Set High

County Asked To Produce More Bread and Feed Grains In 1947

Another year of near maximum farm production is called for in 1947 production goals for Whitman County, announced this week by the Agricultural Conservation association committee. John E Mulled, chairman, said the production job farmers will face in 1947 is fourfold. "Both domestic and world food requirements are still at record levels", he said. "In addition, we must start building back adequate reserves of certain committees that world famine conditions have depleted. But alongside this pressure for more and more feed and fiber is the growing necessity for a sounder program of prosper land use and soil and water conservation.

50 Years Ago

Colfax Gazette January 6 1972

Attorney F.L. Stotler closes Colfax Practice after 63 Years

A legal career which started in the gallery of the county courthouse at Cumberland, Md., ended last month when F.L. Stotler closed out of his practice in Colfax after 63 years. Stotler turned in the keys to his upper-story office at the Seattle- First National bank and "headed south" prior to Christmas to spend the winter. The "handful" of keys were collected as locks and partners changed during Stotlers 50 years in the bank building.

'Miss 1972' hardly as enthusiastic as parents

Joy Christine isn't sure it was worth the effort to open her eyes for the Colfax Gazette's picture of "First Baby of the Year." Joy Christine weighed in at 6lbs. 4 oz. at 8:31 a.m. Sunday morning January 2, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George L. Parkins, S. 4051/2 Lake St., Colfax, at Whitman Community Hospital. Her father is Child Evangelism Fellowship director for Whitman County and he and Mrs. Parkins have lived here several years.

25 Years Ago

Whitman County Gazette January 2, 1997

County Swaps for bridge shop land

Whitman County bridge shop could be hitting the road to the west sometime in the next few years, moving from its present site behind Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax to a spot near the Colfax airport.

County Commissioners Monday agreed to a "land swap" with Gary and Sara Sue Cochran of Colfax, adjacent sites just south of the airport near the Colfax Industrial Park.

Port Allowed 20-year fill Permit

A permit allowing Port of Whitman to use dredge material from sites in the Snake and Clearwater rivers at the Port of Wilma fill, which will later be converted into a building area, was recently approved 5-0 by Whitman County Board of Adjustment.

Authorization of the 20-year conditional use comes at a particularly good time for the port in that it is anticipating materials from an Army Corps of Engineers dredge project which is expected to run from January1 to Feb. 28, 1997.

10 Years Ago

Whitman County Gazette January 5, 2012

Rosalia wraps Spartan title to bring 9-0 string to Colton

Rosalia's Spartan girls last Thursday broke open a close game in the second half to defeat Davenport 55-41 and take the girls side of the Spartan holiday classic. The win over the Bi-County big-B club bumped the Spartain's season string to 9-0 prior to their Friday trip south to face the undefeated Colton Wildcats.

Palouse slates opening for Community Center

Many years in the making, the doors are about to open for the Palouse Community Center Building.

"We got the keys yesterday," Community Center Board secretary Janet Barstow said Friday.

Volunteers rolled in appliances for the kitchen.

The finishing touches conclude a construction phase which began with a groundbreaking ceremony last August.