Garfield plans May Day events
Garfield will celebrate May Day, Saturday, May 18. The annual event is organized by the Garfield Community Association.
The day will begin with a Boy Scout breakfast at the school from 6 to 10 a.m., followed by a 3.2-mile Fun Run sponsored by the Garfield Parks and Recreation Association.
A Kiddie Parade with prizes will follow before the main parade starts at 11 a.m.
Craft and vendors’ tables will open on Main Street from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. while the Potlatch Fiddlers play from noon to 2 p.m. in front of State National Bank.
There will also be a silent auction for May Day, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with winners picking up items at 2:30 p.m. Supporting the May Day fund, auction items include gardening baskets, wine baskets and ale baskets.
Food vendors on the day include wood-baked pizza, shaved ice and more.
A bouncy castle, craft table, sandbox and obstacle course will be included.
Raffle winners will be announced on the half hour after the parade starts. Prizes include gift cards from restaurants, a basket of produce and a baked dessert once per month for a year by Darlene Perkins.
If the weather turns bad, various May Day activities will be moved into the Garfield fire house and community center, according to Connie Kriebel, secretary/treasurer of the Garfield Community Association.
Eagle hatchling makes debut
By Sally Ousley
Gazette Reporter
At least one Bald Eagle chick has hatched in the nest along the North Fork of the Palouse River in the Glenwood area.
The chick, covered in a gray down, was first visible a little more than a week ago. The two adult eagles share nesting duties. If one flies to take a break, the other immediately goes to the nest to eaglet-sit.
Only 50 percent of eagle chicks will survive their first year, according to baldeagleinfo.com.
Eagles typically lay two to three eggs, which are about the size of goose eggs. Since the eggs are laid a day or two apart, the first hatching chick will have a head start on the second or third chick. The larger chick will peck at and attack the smaller chicks, gobbling up more food that is brought to the nest. Many second and third hatching eaglets fail to live beyond the first two weeks.
The adult eagles don’t try to protect the eaglets from one another.
Newly hatched eaglets are soft, with gray and white down covering them.
Eagle chicks are believed to be the fastest growing North American bird.
At six weeks of age, a healthy chick should weigh between eight to nine pounds.
The young birds add one pound to their body weight every four to five days.
By three weeks, they are one foot high and their feet and beaks are nearly adult size. Between four to five weeks, the birds are able to stand and they can tear up their own food.
In five to six weeks, black juvenile feathers will begin to grow in. At six weeks, the eaglets are almost as large as their parents. At eight weeks, the appetites of the young birds are the greatest. While the parents hunt almost continuously to feed them, the eaglets are beginning to stretch their wings in response to gusts of wind and may even be lifted off their feet for a few moments.
An eaglet takes its first flight 10 to 13 weeks after hatching.
Eaglets are never left unattended for long. If the adult eagles are not on the nest, they aren’t far away.
Eagles feed their young by shredding pieces of meat from their prey with their beaks. While on the nest with very young eaglets, parents move about with their talons balled into fists to avoid injuring their young offspring.
Once an eaglet grows feathers necessary for flight, they stay around the nest for four to five weeks while their primary feathers grow and strengthen for longer flights.
Adult eagles can live up to 30 years. The adults will likely return to the nest next year unless the nest is destroyed or they feel threatened.
On job since 2006: LaCrosse Mayor Burgess retires 2006
By Sally Ousley
Gazette Reporter
After about a decade of being involved in city government, LaCrosse Mayor Larry “Butch” Burgess handed over his gavel May 2.
“I want to do more fishing and traveling and seeing the grandkids,” he said as he enjoyed a piece of cake after the city council meeting.
Burgess said with his wife retiring in June, the couple would now have time to do all those things.
He has served as mayor since 2006 and served on the city council before that.
Councilman Randy Camp has moved to the mayor’s chair, and Jamie Nelson was appointed to fill Camp’s position as a new councilwoman.
Burgess has worked to land grants for the LaCrosse waste water treatment plant and also a drinking water grant.
The waste water grant was a five-year process, and he believes final approval will come from the state some time in July. For two years, Burgess said the city worked on getting a drinking water grant and will meet May 23 about the process.
New mayor Randy Camp May 9 conducted the remainder of the meeting.
The council reviewed a report from code enforcement officer Jim Peltier about enforcement of mowing property and dog licenses. He also recommended the council inquire about adding an ordinance for buildings in danger of collapsing.
Sports
Wildcats break out in seventh for 6-2 playoff win
Colton bats came to life in the seventh inning Tuesday at Medical Lake where the Wildcats pegged a 6-2 playoff win over Almira/Coulee/Hartline to advance to the regional round of the state playoffs. The win sends Colton to the regionals at University High in Spokane Valley Saturday where they will go up against an undefeated Odessa-Harrington team in the first round.
One team from each of the four state regional rounds will advance to the final four in the state championship finals next week at Ellensburg.
Tuesday’s game at Medical Lake locked up in a 2-2 tie over the first six innings. The Wildcats broke it open by linking three singles in the top half of the seventh after Carter Dahmen drew a walk.
Justin Meyer, Levi Weber, and Jordan Druffel linked the singles. Weber’s rap scored the go-ahead run for the Wildcats. Coach Pat Doumit noted the rap was the second time in the game that Weber put down the go-ahead hit. He also did it in the third inning to put the Wildcats on top with a lead before the Warrior bounced back to tie it at 2-2.
Colton pitcher Jake Straughan allowed eight hits, struck out 11 and walked just three in taking the win.
“After we broke it open in the top of the last inning, Jake was able to take it down in the bottom of the inning to get the win,” Coach Doumit said.
Straughan struck out the first two ACH batters in the last inning. The last chance batter for ACH hit a liner which was snagged by a leaping Carter Dahmen at second base to end it.
The Wildcats tagged eight hits off ACH hurler Drew Isaack, the same pitcher they faced in last year’s title game. Levi Weber and Justin Meyer each had two hits. Austin Meyer, Jordan Druffel, Dahmen, and Brady Chadwick had the other hits.
The other four entrants in Saturday’s regional at University will be Liberty Christian, top finisher in the SE, and Wilbur Creston.
District 9 Championship game:
Liberty Christian 11, Colton 4
For five innings, the game could have swayed on a bounce of the ball or pop of a mitt.
Then it all changed.
In a baseball game to decide the 1B District 9 Championship at Colton Saturday, the Wildcats and Liberty Christian were tied at 0-0 into the fifth inning. After came a flurry of hits, runs, pitching changes and a final score of 11-4.
The day began with each inning bringing threats to get the scoreboard going.
In the third, Colton’s Jake Straughan hit a triple, but was left there to jog back to the dugout after Carter Dahmen struck out.
Liberty Christian came up to bat again and put two runners on before Colton threw out their runner leading off third. Moments later, Wildcats pitcher Jordan Druffel picked off the leading-off runner at first.
“Didn’t think you were gonna be so busy today, did you?” said Colton assistant Seth Paine to the first base umpire at the switchover.
The Wildcats’ Levi Weber then got on base, was almost picked off, the ball escaped the first baseman and Weber took second.
Up came Druffel.
“Be yourself, be a hitter!” called out Weber from second base. “You got this Jordy! Keep fightin’ Jordy!”
Druffel went down on a third-strike fastball.
With two outs, Casey Jackson came to the plate next.
Weber remained at second as the pitches began.
“Hitter’s count right here Casey Jackson!” he called out. “Bring me home, kid!”
Druffel hit a foul ball onto Highway 195, then chased a wide, low pitch into the dirt for the third strike and third out.
Weber jogged back to the Colton dugout.
The game stayed that way until the fifth inning when Liberty Christian scored three runs on a double and triple deep to centerfield.
At Colton’s next at-bat, they scored four runs on the strength of a two-RBI base hit from Justin Meyer.
Leading 4-3, Colton’s Jake Straughan took the mound.
In succession, L.C. then hit base hit after base hit and soon led 10-4.
The Wildcats failed to score in the sixth and L.C. added a run in the seventh to make it 11-4.
It was down to three outs left for the Wildcats.
“Win a ballgame, do something amazing, why not? Why not?” said Doumit in the front of the dugout.
Dahmen hit a ground ball and almost ran it out at first.
With one out, Meyer walked and Tristan Blewett went out to pinch-run.
Weber struckout and Druffel came up.
After two quick strikes, he swung at the last pitch, The catcher’s glove popped and the game was over.
Opinion
Gordon Forgey
Some Americans have become paranoid about the motives and actions of government.
Now, these very people are saying, “I told you so.”
It turns out that the Internal Revenue Service is accused of selectively targeting politically conservative organizations seeking non-profit status.
The charge, which surfaced in 2010, was repeatedly denied by the IRS, but, according to recent revelations, the IRS did, in fact, target these groups.
Government is supposed to be objective and impartial. It is supposed to serve all the people equally. Nothing could be more dangerous than a federal agency with sweeping powers making its decisions based on partisan politics. The machinery of government must operate in an apolitical and nonpartisan manner.
Such an overreach of power breeds cynicism and destroys faith and trust in government. This is a serious breach of ethics. It is a serious misuse of government power.
It is time to target the IRS. In response, a criminal investigation by the Justice Department has just been launched. A number of Congressional hearings are scheduled.
The scandal may turn out to be the result of low-level bureaucratic stupidity. It may be the result of high-level malice and partisanship. Also, some of the organizations may have been targeted because they seek the non-profit “social good” status and only qualify for non-profit political organization status.
Still, the alleged actions by the IRS threaten the very fabric of the democracy and cannot be dealt with lightly.
As such, this is a test. We will soon see how our government really works. If this investigation becomes more politics than fact finding, more than just the IRS will need cleaning out.
Gordon Forgey
Publisher
