Good Old Days

125 Years Ago

The Colfax Gazette

Friday, Feb. 26, 1897

THE RAILROAD BILL

Discussion In the House Decidedly Acrimonious

Hooper's Passenger Rate Bill Loaded Down With Amendments- Dispensary Law

Olympia, Feb. 24.- The Canutt railroad bill or rather the substitute for the Canutt bill, which is practically the same, caused some heated debate in the house Saturday and came near being the means of bringing Geraghty of Spokane and Williams of King to blows. When the present legislature was elected it was on the line of reform, but strange, or better perhaps not strange, but quite naturally, many of those who came here so loudly proclaiming their own honesty, did so to hide the from the public their own venality.

100 Years Ago

The Colfax Commoner

Friday, Feb. 24, 1922

MOOSE LODGE WINS DAVIS CUP

Membership Increases From 12 to 120 Within Six Months

The Moose lodge of Colfax won the Davis silver cup, the trophy being second prize offered for the greatest percent in membership.

The local Moose lodge are initiating new members almost every meeting and they are planning on securing a record class again this spring.

The Moose lodge is offering some great inducements in order to secure new members. One of the offers is a sick benefit of $7.00 a week and there is a death benefit of $100 paid to the families of each deceased member.

The greatest offer made by the lodge is that of an education for orphan children left by deceased members.

This last inducement is one of the greatest inducements that is made by any lodge, and it insures the care and education of all the children of the deceased members.

75 Years Ago

The Colfax Gazette-Commoner

Friday, Feb. 21, 1947

Rally Day Plans Completed For Soil Conservation Group

College Faculty Members To Discuss Various Local Problems

The first annual rally day of the Central Whitman Soil Conservation District will get under way with the presentation of a short concert by the local high school band at 10 o'clock next Friday morning, Friday, February 27, in the Colfax high school building. The program has been arranged by a Colfax Chamber of Commerce Committee composed of E. E. Osborne, Victor Casebolt, C. E. Perry- Krueger, Lawrence Largent, Russell Looney, Wayne Major, and A. F. Hensle, members of the Central Whitman District Board of Supervisors.

50 Years Ago

The Colfax Gazette

Thursday, Feb. 24, 1972

Electronic thermometer speeds up tedious job

Mildred Riedner, nurses aid at Whitman Community hospital, used the new electronic thermometer to take the temperature of patient Lenoa Torgeson of Lacrosse.

The new instrument, costing nearly $400, does in a minute ort less what used to take four or five minutes. The thermometer was bought with a donation from the Elberton Art club, which sold its building, disbanded and turned everything in the treasury over to Whitman Community.

25 Years Ago

The Whitman County Gazette

Thursday, Feb. 20, 1997

Ex- jail inmate sues county in U.S. court

A former inmate pf the Whitman County Jail filed formal charges Tuesday in United States District Court for eastern Washington against Whitman County and the State of Washington for alleged abuses she claimed occurred during her eight month detention in 1995.

Kimberly Nowak, who spent from February to December 1995 in the jail facility in Colfax, claims she was digitally raped three times by a former probationary officer at the jail.

In mid-April 1996 Nowak filed an $850,000 tort claim against Whitman County, which the county refused to pay.

The county and states refusal of the claims then allowed Nowak, after a mandatory 60-day review period, to sue both entities.

A damage amount was not specified in the Tuesday filing in U.S. District Court. Amounts were left to be "proven at the time of the trial."

10 Years Ago

The Whitman County Gazette

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Security Cameras on trial at Colfax High School

In response to a series of reported thefts and break-ins, two web-accessible cameras with four lenses each were installed at Colfax High School for a 60-day trial period.

One of the four-directional cameras is in the high school foyer while the other is on the north side of the building facing the parking lot and playing fields.

The discounted value of the two-megapixel per lens camera, including mounting and software, is roughly $4,000. The district has not paid anything for them, as it is a free trial, according to Supt. Michael Morgan.

Provided by A-Tec of Spokane, the cameras activate when they detect movement. The camera facing the parking lot is programmed to record when someone walks by or a car pulls in.