Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The end of 2012 also means the end of Pat O’Neill’s tenure as Whitman County commissioner from District 2. A retired United Airlines mechanic, Pat O’Neill served one term. O’Neill, 65, Johnson, was one of the rarest breeds of Whitman County politicians - a Democrat. “I got elected as a Democrat in Whitman County,” he said. “If I do nothing else in my life, that’s a pretty amazing achievement in and of itself.” Ewartsville farmer Dean Kinzer topped O’Neill in November’s election to win the seat. O’Neill said he can look back at his term in off...
Twelve years in office resulted in a lot of votes for outgoing Whitman County Commissioner Greg Partch, 64, Garfield. But it was his decision to shut down public comment at a Jan. 3 meeting about the county’s contribution to Boise-based Hawkins Companies’ long-proposed shopping center that he feels cost him his job. Partch served three terms as county commissioner, after 26 years with Arrow Machinery. “Looking back, yeah, that was my fatal mistake,” Partch told the Gazette in an interview before his last week in office. Voters removed Partch...
Whitman County commissioners decided Monday to have the planning commission consider reducing the minimum size requirement for commercial lots in the Pullman-Moscow Corridor. Land owners and realtors from the corridor asked for changes to allow for developments under the current three-acre minimum size. Realtor Shelly Bennett of Palouse Commercial Real Estate asked for the change to minimum lot size to accommodate a potential developer who would like to site four businesses in the corridor zone. Vance Frayer, owner of the Garage Mahal storage... Full story
Commissioners still plan to pass a deficit budget for Whitman County’s operating plan in 2013. The $59.58 million budget is expected to spend $200,000 more than it will earn in revenue. The deficit will be in the $13.29 million current expense budget which is the main operations budget for the county. Tight spending in 2012 is expected to generate a surplus that will cover next year’s deficit, according to the budget hearing presentation given commissioners Monday by Administrator Gary Petrovich and Finance Administrator David Ledbetter, Jr....
Construction on one of the largest projects in Whitman County history finished Tuesday, as First Wind began commercial operations on the Palouse Wind farm on Naff Ridge. First Wind Project Manager Aaron Pedigo is interviewed as construction finished Tuesday at the Palouse Wind farm on Naff Ridge. “It’s been a long road, but we’re finally here,” said Ben Fairbanks, west region business development manager for First Wind. Fairbanks has spearheaded the wind farm in Whitman County since First Wind first applied to post a meteorological tower t... Full story
Using a seldom-tapped source of state boating safety funding, Whitman County Sheriff’s office is the proud owner of a new 17-foot flat-bottom aluminum boat with a 70-horsepower engine. “It’s a fisherman’s dream come true,” said Sheriff Brett Myers. Myers said the boat will allow his department to patrol the tricky waters of Rock Lake and will aid in patrol operations on the Snake River. “Rock Lake has always been a struggle for us,” Sheriff Myers said of the northwest county lake famed for its tricky rock spires. Rock Lake is used heavily... Full story
Proposed large shipments of coal on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad from the midwest to coastal Washington ports in Longview and Cherry Point could impact grain shipments from Whitman County. Port of Whitman County officials discussed the issue during their regular meeting yesterday. Large facilities to load coal from Wyoming at Washington state ports for shipment to China could result in a marked increase in trains on mainlines through the state. Port officials worried the trains could impact shipments from the McCoy Train Loading fa...
Whitman County will stick with its costly New World accounting software. Commissioners Monday voted unanimously to sign a maintenance deal with the firm through 2014. The three-year contract begins with retroactive coverage to the beginning of 2012. For this year’s maintenance, the county will pay $42,020. That escalates to $44,120 in 2013 and $46,770 in 2014. Under the contract, New World will provide software upgrades, bug fixes, licenses to run the program and telephone tech support. “It certainly makes you take pause,” Commissioner Micha...
Marijuana possession is legal in Washington as of last Thursday, Dec. 6. Passed in the November election, Initiative 502 made it legal for anyone over 21 to hold up to an ounce of pot. But several questions remain. Marijuana is legal to smoke in Washington following a voter-approved initiative. Law officials are now figuring out what to do with the many unanswered questions. It is still illegal to buy or sell the drug, and the federal government still lists marijuana as an illegal narcotic. That leaves a grey area for law enforcement to deal...
Bringing back the Teapot Café in LaCrosse is the latest cause for LaCrosse Community Pride, a nonprofit that formed after the town grocery store closed in 2009. Due to failing health, long-time owner Cheri Garrett shut the doors on the west county eatery last month. Carol Audett of Jasper Trucking is gathering information from interested potential operators for Community Pride. She reported the group has yet to choose an operator. Since forming, Community Pride has attracted a store operator and is remodeling the market building it purchased.... Full story
Ninth District Sen. Mark Schoesler of Ritzville was unanimously elected to the top spot in the senate Nov. 28 when the legislature’s 23 Republican senators met in Olympia to choose leaders for the next two years. Schoesler, who was unopposed, was elected to a third term in the senate in the Nov. 6 election. A third senate term will make him the longest-serving legislator from the 9th district. His previous two terms in the Senate followed six terms in the House of Representatives. That makes Schoesler one of the longest-serving members of t...
Sweat forming on his upper lip, Cedric Cook dug his fork back into the heaping plate of meat on his way to a win in an epic eat-off of “The Beast,” the new monster burger cooked by Top Notch owner Pete Koerner. Cedric Cook, left, and Andrew Poleon, both of Seattle, face each other as they struggle to finish their Beast burgers at the Top Notch. Cook stood in the Washington State University corner of the “Battle of the Beast” staged Saturday afternoon. In the University of Washington corner was Andrew Poleon. As happened in the previous day’s Ap... Full story
Without the boost of a federal telecommunications grant, the Port of Whitman County’s budget will fall back to just over $4 million in 2013. Port commissioners unanimously approved the budget earlier this month. The 2013 budget is a steep drop from the $11.4 million budget for 2012. The current year’s spending plan was boosted by revenue from the federal government, which repaid the port for laying 170 miles of high speed fiber optic cables in Whitman County. That project is all but finished, and the port has signed three companies to lea...
With a projected shortfall of $200,000, Whitman County’s 2013 budget will be put before the public at a 6 p.m. hearing next Monday, Dec. 3. Initial requests from department managers had spending in the $55 million plan out-pacing revenues by $833,000. Negotiations with the heads of departments in the current expense budget, a surplus prediction for the end of 2012 and rosier revenue projections cut that to the $200,000 figure. County Administrator Gary Petrovich briefed commissioners on the budget last week. “We’re making good headw... Full story
“Only in Whitman County.” Tiffany Hergert’s words about the marriage proposal offered up last month by her now-fiancee, Tyler Startin, could not be more accurate. Using his trusty old Steiger tractor, Startin plowed “Marry Me Tiff?” into a stubblefield just outside of Endicott. Tyler had told Tiffany he was going out welding. He then came back to the house, where he asked Tiffany’s help in going back to get a wallet out of the tractor. Tyler Startin and Tiffany Hergert “We were driving out, and he told me to look at a deer,” said Tiffany. ... Full story
Several residents from around Seltice voiced their objections to a Whitman County proposal to abandon the 450-foot Seltice Road, saying it is a regularly-used bypass for traffic in the neighborhood. “I was really kind of insulted by you calling it useless. I use it every day,” said David Gumm. County commissioners conducted a hearing on abandoning the short road during their regular meeting Monday morning. Seltice Road provides a cut-off between the Warner Road and the Tekoa-Farmington Road. The short cutoff road also includes a concrete bri...
Whitman County commissioners have been asked to consider reducing the minimum size of commercial lots in the Pullman-Moscow Corridor. Planner Alan Thomson Monday told commissioners he had been asked by a potential developer if county zoning laws could be changed to allow for developments under the current three-acre minimum size. Thomson said a realtor will soon come to commissioners to ask for the change to minimum lot size to accommodate a potential developer who would like to site four businesses in the corridor zone. Realtor Shelly Bennett...
Thanks to what is assumed to be a computer virus that somehow activated 18-month-old emails, Spokane television station KREM reported a pair of twisters appeared in the sky west of St. John Monday. Ken Gehring, whose photograph of two tornadoes in the western sky was used in the TV station’s news broadcast, said he sent the station the tornado picture shortly after he saw them, a year and a half ago. Ken Gehring’s picture of tornadoes last year is featured in a posting on the KREM 2 Facebook page Monday. Gehring received an email from the KRE...
The Teapot Cafe closed last week, leaving another vacant storefront on Main Street LaCrosse. Townsfolk, though, don’t intend to leave it empty for long. Cheri and Steven Garrett closed the doors on the restaurant they have operated for more than the past decade due to personal health problems. In response, LaCrosse Community Pride, the organization founded to bring back a grocery store to the town is now seeking a restauranteur to take over the cafe’s operations. “We’re really sad to see Cheri close it down, but right now what’s most important...
After Washington voters legalized marijuana in last week’s election, Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy said Tuesday he plans to offer plea deals to anyone facing misdemeanor possession charges. Washington voters approved Initiative 502 in last week’s election, making it legal to possess and smoke up to one ounce of marijuana. Whitman County voters gave the measure 52 percent approval. Tracy said he now plans to offer to dismiss cases of those facing possession charges for a $50 fine plus reimbursement of court costs and a pledge to sta...
Whitman County commissioners put the damaged CETC building on the auction block Monday with a minimum bid of $60,000. Sale will be conducted through a sealed bid process. Bids are due Dec. 3 at 11:30 a.m. The CETC, damaged by a snow load in the winter of 2009, needs about $125,000 worth of work to get up to standards for public buildings, according to Bob Reynolds, county facilities manager. The lot on which the building sets, said Reynolds, was appraised at a value of $45,000. All told, the building, if undamaged, was appraised at a value of...
Seattle-based telecommunications company CenturyLink signed on to be the first user of the Port of Whitman County’s new 170-mile fiber optic cable. Port commissioners signed a 10-year lease to use four strands of the 144-strand fiber optic cable at a price of $135,621 a year with CenturyLink at their regular meeting last Thursday, Nov. 1. The lease includes an option for a 10-year extension. “Build it and they shall come,” said Port Commissioner Tom Kammerzell. Construction of the line, which connects Spokane and Clarkston through Whitman Count...
Despite his objection to Whitman County’s $15 million development agreement with commercial developer Hawkins Companies of Boise, County Commissioner Michael Largent was named Monday to head a committee to negotiate an amendment to the contract. Commissioners unanimously formed a new committee Monday to talk with Hawkins about amending the Jan. 3 development agreement that is the subject of an injunction suit filed in superior court by the Organization to Void Illegal Conduct. The “special purpose” committee is led by Largent, with Publi...
Art Swannack and Dean Kinzer appeared poised to join Whitman County’s governing commission, and President Barack Obama won re-election despite losing the county to Mitt Romney in Tuesday night’s initial election returns. Tuesday night’s returns included 10,363 of the 21,272 ballots issued by the county’s elections department, good for a 48.72 percent turnout. Former Congressman Jay Inslee, who lost to Rob McKenna in Whitman County with just 44 percent of the vote, notched a slim 40,000 state lead over McKenna for governor in the state returns... Full story
Employees of Whitman County government pleaded for increased benefits Monday morning as commissioners discussed health insurance plans for the coming year. “There’s been a paucity of investment in employees,” Deputy Prosecutor Byron Bedirian told commissioners. “We’re invested in this county. We like working here; we like working with each other; we like working with you, and we like working with the public.” The current package of salary and benefits given county employees, said Kris Thompson, clerk for district court, means many have to wor...