Whitman County Gazette - Serving Whitman County since 1877

Whitman Hospital & Medical Center in Colfax announced it has been named a 2020 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. This annual award honoring rural hospital performance is determined by the results of iVantage...

Torry Shepherd, owner of Torry’s Country Store in St. John, knew before even moving to St. John that the CHS Primeland Country store would need some help if it was to survive. In September 2012, Shepherd and his wife Amy moved their family to St....

The matter of the St. Elmo’s building and other historic Palouse buildings came up at the Feb. 11 Palouse city council meeting as several residents spoke to voice concerns. The group included Jessie Twigg-Harris, Arman Bohn, Liz Rousseau, Aaron...

The Tekoa City Council will wait to decide on whether to add more patrol hours to its contract with the Whitman County Sheriff’s office. The council discussed the matter at the Feb. 3 meeting and decided to hold off on a decision of whether to...

Whitman County commissioners Monday authorized a paving project for a half-mile stretch of road at the north end of Rosalia. “One of our paved roads is starting to fall apart,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director. The part to be paved is...

The City of Palouse nears an end-of-March deadline for its plan to address a new temperature requirement for effluent from its wastewater facility into the Palouse River. In front of the city are three main deadlines. First, by March 31, it must...

The Garfield Town Council has two new members and committee assignments set for 2020. Terri Linderman began in January in position no. 3, along with Josh Kelnhofer in position no. 2. They take over for longtime councilmen Mark Young and Dave...

The 16th annual Bowling Benefit Tournament for the Whitman County Humane Society and NW Cancer Foundation of Hope will be held Saturday, March 7, starting at 11 a.m at Zeppoz in Pullman. Starting in 2004, Ron and Heather Morgan decided they wanted...

Whitman County commissioners opened a $124,886 bid for a new plow truck/dump truck chassis for the Public Works department Tuesday. The single bid came from Freightliner Northwest of Spokane. Public Works will now evaluate the bid for later...

The Whitman County Planning Commission has decided on a new marijuana code/ordinance, which is now being reviewed by the office of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) – after which it will go before a local public hearing March 18....

In a rite of pending spring, Whitman County commissioners approved Monday a notice for a call for bids for an estimated $400,000 in liquid asphalt -- to be used for annual chip-sealing road repair during summer. In another hint, much of the county...

The Pomeroy girls are 19-1 with the one caused by Oakesdale. The two teams meet again Friday in Walla Walla for the district championship at 6 p.m. at the Dietrich Dome. Oakesdale, with five losses, split with Pomeroy in the regular season and went...

Figure skating nationals were held Jan. 20 through Jan. 26 in Greensboro, N.C., this year. Performance at nationals literally determines a skater’s career. The United States figure skating committee meet after the results are posted for nationals...

Oakesdale’s Matt Hockett was voted Player of the Year in the Southeast 1B League. Blake Jones of Garfield/Palouse got the upper hand the last time these two teams played, with an assist from his brother. Matt Hockett’s brother did not play in...

WSU Athletic Director Patrick Chun has been in the job for just over two years. In that time, his two biggest decisions have drawn a contrast with his predecessor. Chun's choice of Hawaii’s Nick Rolovich for the new WSU football coach made the...

The 2020 race for the White House is heating. It’s shaping up to be a referendum on America’s market-based economic system. The central question is government or the private sector going to provide our basic products and services? Last May, a...

About the only non-fiction I read is the local newspaper. I try to avoid the New York Times and Washington Post so I am confident I am reading real news. Other than that, I usually read light fiction; shoot-em-up detective stories, super human...

The rich are different from you and me -- they can buy themselves instant presidential campaigns. Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has elbowed himself into the Democratic nomination race solely on the basis of his fortune. His campaign is...

Okeydokes Big, billowy clouds, little snowbally things... my favorite. Love this weather. Matt Swan, local representative for Avista. For all you do in our...

I've ranted about the expression "Breaking News!" before. But like any issue I confront, it only gets worse. So it is with this one. Nowadays, all the networks, without exception, open each and every newscast with that worn-out expression....

Climate change Most of us are aware that rising sea levels due to climate change are threatening coastal cities in the United States, dramatically exemplified by Miami, Fla. Although I am aware that climate change is a grave threat and seems to be...