Hawkins deal: Citizens sue to stop pact
By Joe Smillie
Gazette Reporter
A group of Whitman County citizens filed suit in Superior Court Monday to stop the county’s development agreement with Hawkins Companies of Boise.
Cleaning away the storm
Colfax city worker Robert Wride uses a city excavator to remove the snow berm in the middle of Main Street Friday. The berm piled up from plows keeping one lane of traffic open through town in each direction. As rain replaced snow Friday, clean up crews hauled the snow from Main Street, dumping it in the concrete Palouse River.
Schools ask for more local funding as state tightens
Cuts and the possibility of more cuts in state funding have prompted five school districts in Whitman County to increase their levy requests.
Colfax, Endicott, Oakesdale, St. John and Colton are all asking voters in their districts for increases in their maintenance and operations levies. Ballots are scheduled to be mailed out Thursday for arrival to the voters by the Jan. 27 deadline.
A total of 10 levy proposals are going in front of Whitman County voters Feb. 14. In addition to the previously mentioned districts, levies will be on the ballot for Tekoa, Pullman, Steptoe, Colton and Rosalia schools.
Sports
County to update flood ordinance
Whitman County’s planning commission will conduct a hearing next Wednesday, Feb. 1, on changes to the county’s flood plain ordinance.
Planner Alan Thomson said the ordinance was deemed to be out of compliance by officials within the state department of ecology.
Thomson said the Federal Emergency Management Authority, or FEMA, requires certain language about the agency’s flood programs be written into county code in order for those who own homes in flood plains to receive federal disaster assistance in case of floods.
“The code has been written outside of it for a number of years, and I’m not aware that anybody’s had any problems,” he said. “But it could be important if somebody gets denied a claim.
“I don’t know if claims will be denied because of how it is currently written. But I’m not going to take that chance.”
Thomson said the changes that will be made to the ordinance are cut straight out of a FEMA model ordinance.
Representatives from ecology will be at the hearing to explain the changes. The planning commission hearing will be at 7 p.m. in the Public Service Building in Colfax.
Opinion
Gordon Forgey: Palouse shines as example of home-grown success
The town of Palouse has pulled off a tremendous accomplishment.
Without tax money and with only its own resources, the town has created and opened a new community center.
The new center has been a vision for the town for years.
It became more than a vision just over a week ago with the official grand opening.
This was one vision that was not easy to realize. It took time, money and a commitment from the community.
The success, however, came from the fact that the community shared the vision and worked together to see it realized.
Funds were raised through a variety of different efforts. A portion of the proceeds from the tremendously popular Haunted Palouse went to the center. Donations from an array of benefactors helped fill the project coffers as did proceeds from innumerable fund raisers.
Gradually, step by step, the project took shape.
Although the new center is open, more work is necessary to finish off some of the details, and a $150,000 loan still needs to be paid off. Operating expenses will be supported by proceeds from the thrift store, Needful Things.
The completion of the center is a testament to what a small community can accomplish when it shares spirit, cooperation and a willingness to set long range goals.
This is not the only success in Palouse. Not so long ago, the town was in serious decline and facing a future with little hope. Over the years, all that has been reversed. Project after project involving both private and public efforts brought the town from the brink and turned it into an example of what community partnerships can accomplish.
Now Palouse has a new public gathering place to celebrate those successes. There are sure to be many more.
Gordon Forgey
Publisher
