Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Some day, maybe two, three or 10 years from now, a comprehensive book on the Boeing disasters will be written and published. How did a company with all its design experience, corporate skill, money and pride fall to where it is today? The primary loss, of course, has been sustained by the families of the passengers and crew members who were killed in the two tragic accidents after the Boeing 737 Max failed. Twice. A secondary loss has also been sustained by people who were raised in the northwest where Boeing has been a factor over decades....
Contrasts between the east and west sides of Washington State can be identified in many shapes and forms. This one deals with modes for going to a football game, and probably other games. November's Apple Cup game this year was at Husky Stadium, the hallowed ground on Montlake Boulevard which runs along the eastern side of the University of Washington campus. During years when the Apple Cup is at Husky Stadium, Cougar fans face the challenge of getting to the stadium and getting back from the...
During a jury trial in superior court, all people in the courtroom are asked to stand to recognize members of the jury when they file into the room and take their seats in the jury box. The practice is a recognition of the power which has been bestowed on the jury to rule on whether or not the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt its case against a person who has been charged. After hearing evidence and arguments in the state's case against former Pullman Police Sgt. Dan Hargraves, the superior court jury reported the state failed to...
Reports during the countdown indicate this year's edition of the Palouse Empire Fair should start and finish with a high rating. The fair always generates its own momentum as entrants and competitors arrive with exhibits and talent for display and judging. A first painting by a three-year-old, a final stock raising project by a high school senior, talent by a royalty entry and a ride by a skilled rodeo competitor are some of the ingredients which make up the fair and generate interest for the four-day run. This year gets a boost because the...
A lead story in the Spokesman Review June 1 projected a different view of where police body camera footage can be seen. The report included a photo of the kind of camera Spokane Police wear when they go on duty. The story involved body camera footage that possibly could have involved police policy violations on the part of officers involved in a February arrest and chase. The core of the SR account reported members of the Spokane City Council had requested a look at the footage. The police department agreed to give the council members a look...
The WSU board of Regents last Friday approved a 2.4 percent increase in annual tuition for undergraduates in a meeting at the Tri-Cities campus. The higher rate is slated to be in place for next semester. For the academic year, the cost pencils out at $9,953 a year for undergraduates and their families. A WSU student who stays on track for a four-year degree at that rate will face tuition costs of close to $40,000. That's for tuition. Food, housing, books, fees and supplies are in addition to tuition. Also, transportation costs for getting to...
Nadine Woodward, the newly-retired Spokane T.V. news anchor who is now running for mayor of Spokane, was on the other side of the cameras Tuesday to announce her campaign. Judged from the perspective of a weekly news person from the outer perimeter, she didn't do very well. She deflected reporters' questions and used the word "collaboration" a lot. Woodward deserves a lot of respect for lasting 30 years in the Spokane television news market. With its daily, maybe hourly, time restrictions and its wide area of intended coverage, it is a tough an...
In 15 or 20 years, some of the youngsters who watched the Christmas Parade last Thursday make its loop on Mill and Main streets in Colfax are certain to be marking Christmas elsewhere. They might be off at a distant military base, or they might be working the swing shift at a large urban hospital. Maybe they will find themselves staring at taillights while repeating a long commute along the I-5 corridor. While at those locations, they might mentally go home for Christmas and think of the 20-plus minutes when they stood out in the cold, dived fo...
The wonders of television news programming surfaced again last week with "the girl who was pushed off the bridge." The episode rocketed to the national news level when a cell phone video showed a young girl hesitating about leaping off a bridge and then being pushed. Jordan Holgerson, 16, sustained five cracked ribs and a punctured lung when she hit the Lewis River in the Vancouver area, and Taylor Smith, the girl who allegedly pushed her, has been charged in Clark County with reckless endangerment. The intent here is not to dimish the impact...
A pre-season lull in the high school sports action provides a little space to revive topics which went rolling past without time or space when they were on the table. One of those topics was the retirement of Danica Patrick who raced in the Indianapolis 500 for the last time. The news scribes again cranked up about Patrick’s career at Indianapolis, and later in Nascar. More than one of the writers took her to task for never really getting the job done. Patrick has been criticized for making millions off self promotion and endorsements as a woma...
It was only a paritial count in what amounts to a sample election, but Tuesday night's return for the primary election put Whitman county back on blue side for the big race. Democrat Lisa Brown had 215 more votes than Republican incumbent Cathy McMorris-Rodgers. The Whitman return compares to Spokane county where McMorris-Rodgers was hanging on to a 500-vote margin in the early returns. This county's Democratic edge in the hotly contested race for the 5th District follows the blue return two years ago when Whitman was the lone county east of...
Last Tuesday, three days before ballots for the primary election hit the mail, Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman brightened the news keyboards with word that for the first time voters will be able to cast their ballots and return them through the U.S. Postal Service without having to ante up the cost of a stamp. The second sentence of Wyman's report expresses thanks to Kim Wyman, Gov. Jay Inslee and county officials statewide. The new "no postage" ballot return somehow suggests all those state and county officials around the state believe...
Two reports last week about the same neighborhood in Pullman call to mind the anchor lyrics from Joni Mitchell's 1970 “Big Yellow Taxi” hit song: Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got `til its gone The Department of Transportation's project list last week for the eastern district announced a plan to remove an unused railroad crossing across N. Grand in Pullman. In Colfax, two Pullman residents who were introduced at Sunday's ice cream social or Whitman County Historical Society announced a launch for the Pullman Depot H...
The hard charge to date by the Seattle Mariners has left more than a few of their fans in the dust, or maybe the infield dirt. Longtime Mariner loyalists need time to catch up. It's like needing reverse attitude adjustment. The Ms are winning at a torrid pace, and veteran fans have trouble accepting, or maybe trusting, what has happened. Many long-suffering Ms' fans feel more that a little nervous. This could be some of an extended MLB scheme. Maybe a Charlie-Brown-tries-to-kick-the-football-thing. The Mariners have not been in the playoffs...
Gazette Editor It’s not anything to get Grinchy about, but it calls for a little Yuletide clarification, possibly a little review to put things in order, or closer to order. Christmas comes with its own background music. Speakers in stores and restaurants crank out the tunes to get shoppers in the holiday mood. The Christmas songs seem to hit the air waves and aisle-ways about the middle of November, and stay with us through the holiday. It’s a happy seasonal hum. It’s also, for a goodly portion, bogus. The Christmas songs, when you reall...
Gazette Editor Three rookies will take seats on the Colfax City Council at the start of next year. Each applied for a seat that failed to attract other candidates. The three new council members and short-term appointee Sarah McKnight will make up a majority of the council. Public service can have its rewards, but it can also have its headaches. The number of late calls from residents who are upset and want something done about a problem, real or imagined, never gets on the public record. Colfax has had several episodes of rough going over the... Full story
Gazette Editor “Keep the McCleary Promise” was enclosed in a logo design which was included in an advertisement in Sunday’s editon of the Spokesman Review. In the center of the logo was “Education is a civil right.” The advertisement encouraged readers to join forces with local educators and voice support for public schools and support the state house budget by calling a legislative hotline. The bottom of the advertisement listed 26 educators in the eastern region school districts as sponsors. All were officers in Washington Education...
It's still there. A large piece of real estate on the north side of the Moscow-Pullman Highway on the Washington side of the state line. It's pretty close to the expansive Palouse Empire Mall which runs along the highway on the Idaho side. Eight years ago, the piece of real estate was the focus of a retail vision: it would be the site of yet another shopping mall, but it would be in Whitman County. Stores there could generate retail sales tax income which would provide a welcome boost for the area's economy and inject sales taxes into the... Full story
Gazette editor "From the Cascades to the Bitteroots" was one of the slogans on their shirts. The slogan derived from their ride which started at North Bend and went across Washington on the John Wayne Trail, into Idaho on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, and into Montana on the Trail of the Hiawatha. A color photo in the Gazette in June of 2006 shows the scouts and their leaders at the east end of Milwaukee tunnel 41 just south of Plummer. In 2008, they added "Montana or Bust" to their shirt logo and designated 450 miles as the length of their...
Gazette Editor After four years of planning and two construction seasons, Airport Road opened for traffic late Friday after DeAtley crews finished three days of paving. The road was opened after “local traffic only” signs were removed late last Friday. Speed limit on the road has been posted for 35 miles per hour while crews finish up work. The new surface has also been posted with “abrupt lane edge” warning signs to alert motorists of the edge of the pavement next to the shoulder. Public... Full story
Gazette Editor Colfax City Council Monday night conducted an extensive review of a draft to update the city’s critical areas ordinance. The draft was presented by Don Brigham of Clarkston who has been hired by the city to update the ordinance. Councilman Jim Kackman, who had earlier submitted comment on an earlier draft, headed the council review of the ordinance. Most of the discussion was based on how the critical area ordinance could impact property owners who seek to develop property in the coming years. “These regulations are going to aff...
A Colfax team which found its own indentity and picked up steam during the long playoff run made it all the way back to the state 2B championship game Saturday night at the Spokane Arena. (Left to right) Colfax’s Brady Ellis, Brandon Gfeller, John Mellor, Brent Becker and Skylar Simonson in the last moments of the 50-28 loss, their fifth to the Dragons this year. The Bulldogs found themselves under the same spotlights where a year ago they stopped a big Northwest Christian team for the first Colfax title win since 1979. The Bulldogs advanced t...
Gazette Editor The Colton girls ventured where no Washington state team has gone before when they disposed of an early 10-point run by Sunnyside Christian and rolled past the Knights in the second half of the 1B girls championship game at the Spokane Arena. Colton players show their number of consecutive 1B state championships Saturday in Spokane. The final game, against Sunnyside Christian, was close for three quarters. Colton took out the undefeated Knights with a 55-40 win. Saturday’s win marked five state trophies in a row for the W...
Gazette Editor Season ends one point short of the state tournament Matched up against a torrid team of Cougars who were backed by a big home area crowd Friday night at Sunnyside, Colfax girls came within one bucket and 11 seconds of getting to this week’s state 2B tournament at the Spokane Arena. White Swan, which charged in the last four minutes took the game and the state ticket with the last score of the game. The zinger in the final three seconds left Colfax on the state sidelines for another year. Reardan, the NE dominator, and N...
Gazette Editor Colfax and St. George’s, defending champs and top–rated contender, thundered past foes in the Saturday regional eliminations at Mt. Spokane to top an NE sweep for slots in the three-day hoop finale at the Spokane Veterans’ Arena. Brandon Gfeller soars on the way to a reverse dunk over Bridgeport. The Bulldogs stopped the Bridgeport Mustangs 66-28 in the first elimination game and the St. George’s Dragons followed with a 65-23 crunch of the North Beach Hyaks, a team which could probably claim the most miles traveled honor under t...