Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The Colfax teacher’s union presented a counter-proposal to the school district at a third mediation session June 14, but their proposal still does not budge on the issue which has deadlocked the two sides—the priority for laying off teachers in the district. “I was disappointed in their counter proposal,” said Supt. Michael Morgan, who now represents the school district in mediations. Colfax Education Association President Cary Cammack said the union didn’t change its counter-proposal because the district has not offered a suitable trade-off...
Three of the four open seats on the Colfax school board now have challengers. Barbara Morgan has filed against school board president Brian Becker, Eric Doering has filed against board member Rob Smith and Kirby Dailey has filed against board member Laura Johnson. Board member Kathy Wride is the only member running unopposed. Deadline to file for election was June 10. Both Morgan and Doering are related to teachers at the Colfax school district. Morgan is the mother of high school band teacher and football coach Mike Morgan, and Doering is the... Full story
School districts in Whitman County are now struggling to prepare their budgets for next year because the county’s transition to New World software has delayed school financial statements by three months. From Colton to Tekoa, school business managers have been unable to view their district’s end-of-month financial statements since the software was installed in early April. This has also delayed reporting the monthly figures to school boards and state education officials. “It’s very difficult now at this time when we are trying to prepare...
Tekoa’s Slippery Gulch festival this weekend, June 17-19, will mix in several new events. Melinda Wilkins, co-chair of the festival, said Monday she has her fingers crossed for good weather. The Fishing Derby on Hangman Creek runs all week. The adult dance will be at 9 p.m. Friday night at the Headley Building. Tekoa Chamber of Commerce breakfast will be Saturday at 7:30 a.m. at the high school and the Fun Run will start at the high school at 8 a.m. The grand parade will begin at 11 a.m. downtown, with the usual array of colorful, spirited entr...
Palouse parents are now at work creating a non-profit organization to run the day care in Palouse. Members have already been picked to serve on the board that will manage the non-profit. Jens Hegg, president of the new board, said he and other board members are now working to raise funds, become certified by the state as a non-profit and receive a license to run the day care. Secretary of the new board is Andra Edwards. Other members include Brad Loomis, Kim Akin and Dana Anderson, Hegg said. All the board members have children in the day care... Full story
During a post-session tour of the Ninth District last week, Representatives Joe Schmick and Susan Fagan summarized a tense state legislative session aimed at closing the $5.1 billion budget gap. Both expressed satisfied with the budget but cited growing concern about the steep cuts made to higher education and K through 12 budgets. Schmick pointed out this is the first budget in many years in which the state will be spending less than it is taking in, but he noted that comes at the cost of cutting education budgets. WSU alone is slated to lose... Full story
Kirby Dailey, who was active in the Colfax school district before and after the 2010 levy failure, is so far the lone challenger to file for a seat on the Colfax school board. He is running against board member Laura Johnson. Dailey filed Monday, and Johnson and three other incumbent board members filed for another term Tuesday. Johnson is finishing her first four-year term. Johnson told the Gazette she and Dailey had already spoken about his decision to file and she favors voters having a choice. Also filing for re-election Tuesday were Kathy... Full story
Garfield’s Smokin’ Papa’s Restaurant has closed for good but the community organization that owns the building plans to re-open it in July as another restaurant. The five members of the Garfield Public Development Authority are now working on new counters, updated lighting and other interior fixes on the building. The building will either be leased out to a restaurant operator or be managed by the PDA who will hire restaurant employees. “Everyone is really active in keeping it open for the community,” said PDA President Daymon Marple. T... Full story
An 18-teacher rally on Main Street in Colfax last Wednesday preceded the second round of mediation talks between the school teacher’s union and the school district on a contract deadlock. Cars honked and several people cheered as they drove past teachers holding signs that read “Protect Our Contract” and “Keep Our RIF Policy” outside the Public Service Building at 4 p.m. The teachers’ Colfax Education Association and the district administration are trying to resolve a dispute over how layoffs are decided. The dispute is part of an overall con...
Security at the Palouse Hot Rod Show this year was ready for a fist fight or maybe a theft, but no one was expecting the swarm of 12,000 honey bees that descended on a car parked in front of the Green Frog restaurant. “It made its way through the car show,” Palouse Police Chief Jerry Neumann reported on the path of the swarm. “They basically filled up the whole passenger side door panel. It was crazy.” The inside panel of the car door was inches thick with bees surrounding the queen and thousands more buzzed in circles around the vehicle... Full story
Eric Marsh, Tekoa school’s band director of 37 years, will finish his last day of teaching June 10, wrapping up a life-long career. His wife, home and life teacher Connie Marsh, is also set to retire in the next few years. Of his time at the school, Marsh said what he enjoyed the most was getting to know his students. Watching their lives progress from the fifth grade until graduation was always a pleasure, he said. “The advantage of teaching at a small school is you get to start with the students in the fifth grade and stay with them all thr...
When four-year-old Ted Norton of Pullman learned, for the first time, that some children go without food or shelter overseas, it brought up some questions. Does that happen here? And can he help them? The resulting answers led little Norton to donate all the proceeds from his fifth birthday party to Whitman County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates program (CASA). A check for $250 will soon make its way to the CASA office and the money will help out with the many needs facing foster children in the Whitman County court system. “These birthday... Full story
Vintage hot rod iron and live music will again take over downtown Palouse this weekend. More than 100 car entries are expected for the seventh annual Palouse Hot Rod show Saturday June 4. The show will feature hot rods, jalopies and choppers beginning at 11 a.m. Cars are restricted to 1973 or older. Event organizer Marc VanHarn said last year’s show brought in more than 120 cars. While he anticipates the same numbers this year, he has heard talk of a 30-plus group that may be coming from southern Idaho. Live music starts at noon with the t... Full story
The long legacy of McKinney men working maintenance at the Palouse school district has come to a close after 50 years of service. Rick McKinney retired as maintenance supervisor from the district in February after 24 years. He came on the job in 1986, 11 years after his father, Leonard McKinney, retired having served 26 years in the position. “I worked sometimes for dad. You painted this, you mowed that, you got ready for football season,” McKinney said. McKinney, who lives two blocks from the school with his wife Jill, said he has seen a myr...
First crop variety tour of the season for Whitman County will be June 9. Six sessions in the county will be conducted by the WSU Cereal Variety Testing program. Farmers and WSU extension staff will meet at 8 a.m. at the McGregor Plant in LaCrosse to learn about new crop varieties. After the introduction June 9, the tour will move to the farm of Steve Camp west of Dusty. Camp, along with a program speaker, will talk about the camelina variety trial being conducted on the land. They will also talk on bio-diesel processing and show participants a...
Wayward dandelions, mossy sidewalks or peeling paint in Garfield could all be candidate projects for the new Beautification Contest offered this summer. Hosted by the Garfield Planning Commission, contestants are asked to pick a spot within city limits that needs aesthetic help. “This contest is to get people to look around and see if there is anything we can do to make the town look a little nicer,” said Tammy Howard, chairman of the commission. If at least 20 entries are submitted, the first place winner will receive $50. Howard said the plan...
The day care in Palouse may soon no longer be operated by the school district; instead, it will be transformed into a non-profit day care run by an independent board. The Palouse school board voted to turn the management of the day care over to the parent task force that will create the non-profit at its Tuesday board meeting. The board also voted to give the school administration permision to begin negotiations to lease out the day care facility. The board will run the facility until Oct. 4, when it will be turned over to the parent task... Full story
Whitman County teachers and classified staff who were laid off in the past month could see their jobs back with the legislature Tuesday approving a tentative state education budget. School administrators expect it will take several days to process the new figures and determine how those figures will change local school budgets. Citing a tight state budget, school districts around the state issued scores of Reductions in Force notices to both teachers and classified employees in the past month. However, both superintendents and ESD 101... Full story
Engineer Roger Oestmann prepares concrete for the cemetery’s new memorial rose garden. Roger Oestmann’s eyes get moist as he speaks about the veteran’s memorial he is building on the windy slopes of the Tekoa Goldenrod Cemetery. A Vietnam veteran, Oestmann’s voice gets a little quieter when he says he wants the sacrifices made by generations past to be remembered by visitors to the cemetery. “When they walk onto the site, I want them to feel a sense of reverence,” said the concrete artist/engineer out of Post Falls, Idaho. The Tekoa cemet... Full story
Four classified staff members were cut from the Colfax school district after the board Monday voted to reduce hours of service by classified employees. The board voted to notify two full-time teacher aides, one part-time teacher aide and one part-time kitchen assistant that their positions will be terminated at the end of the school year. Two of the teacher aides were on year-to-year contracts and those contracts were not renewed for the 2011- 2012 school year. In addition, the hours of one custodial worker were cut by two and a half hours a da...
Left: Raina Parson opens up an owl pellet with a mixture of disgust and fascination. On the right, Monty Erickson pokes around to look for rodent bones.Right: Parks program director Janel Goebel teaches the class how to remove their dirty gloves. “I found a tooth! Look at that,” said third grader Cal Lewis, holding up a single, yellow rodent tooth. Fur, skulls and tiny yellow teeth are scattered on the desks of Glenda Grimm’s third grade classroom. Monday, all 16 of Grimm’s students dissected owl pellets under the guidance of Janel Goebel,...
Minus one of its main helpers, the annual Garfield May Day strikes up this Saturday. The recent illness of the president of the town’s community association, Judy Weiker, had the community in a scramble to fill her position. Days away from the festival, organizer Jean McCown said she feels just fine about the events coming together. “We just stepped up,” she said. The festival features the usual roster of events this year. The Dessert-of-the-Month contest is in its second year and a new theatre act has been added. First event of the day begin...
Palouse artist Thad Froio stands next to his giant wooden mammoth. Froio says he may not burn the mammoth as originally intended. The anticipated burning of the wooden mammoth in downtown Palouse has hit an obstacle. Artist Thad Froio received a phone call from the state Department of Ecology (DOE) last week and was informed it was illegal to burn anything but natural, unprocessed vegetation in the state of Washington. Froio said DOE official Kary Peterson said he received a photocopy of the May 5 Gazette article on the mammoth titled...
Parks director Tim Myers shows the park board a sign about the rules for dogs in county parks. New signs with new rules may soon be erected on Kamiak Butte. Whitman County parks department is now designing signs instructing visitors to keep dogs on leashes. The sign project was launched after parks staffers noticed a growing amount of dogs running loose on Kamiak Butte. At the county park board meeting May 12, parks director Tim Myers showed members of the board an unused park sign asking visitors to keep dogs leashed. A park board member... Full story
Kamiak Butte ranger Todd Heitstuman has already sprinkled the slopes of the butte with the seeds of native prairie grasses this year. The planting on an old section of trail is one more step toward using the remaining $16,000 of the Prairie Restoration Grant awarded to the county parks department. Heitstuman learned in early April that the state’s 10-year grant to the parks department had been shortened to a seven-year grant. This bumps up the deadline for using all the funds to this August. The federal grant is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife P...