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Articles written by Mary Collins


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  • My Recipes: Meet C.J. and Tara Powers

    Mary Collins|Aug 3, 2017

    C.J. Powers grew up in Spokane and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Eastern Washington University. Tara Powers grew up in Omak and Spokane and is currently attending Washington State University where she hopes to begin vet school next fall. They moved to Colfax in January of 2015, just before she began classes at WSU. C.J. currently works as an automation electrical engineer for Wagstaff in Spokane Valley. He has had the opportunity to travel all over the world for his job, including trips to Taiwan, Austria, Dubai,...

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Lynn Fleharty

    Mary Collins|Jul 13, 2017

    Albion librarian Lynn Fleharty provides story times and Play and Learn programs for youth and a book club for adults. The Albion Library is a busy place. With a population of just under 600, the town has a full square block park in its center where the old brick high school serves as the community center and fire station. There is also a basketball court, baseball diamond and playground. The library is on the first floor of the old school and provides not only books, DVD’s and public c... Full story

  • MY FAVORITE RECIPES: Meet Mike Jepson

    Mary Collins|Jul 6, 2017

    Mike Jepson (and his twin brother Rob) were born in Carmel, Calif., while their father was attending the Naval Post-Graduate School in Monterey. His parents met while his father was a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. From California, Mike moved to Guam for his first two years of elementary school and then to Annapolis, Md., for the remaining six years. He spent his high school years in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, a bit northwest of London, England. He participated in sports and church... Full story

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Vic Wakefield

    Mary Collins|Jun 15, 2017

    Vic Wakefield, 101, will be celebrating the 84th anniversary of his graduation from Endicott High School this weekend, June 1, at the Endicott High School reunion. Vic grew up in Endicott where his father owned the local grocery. The store remains as the oldest operating business in Endicott today. After earning a college degree, he married Virginia Daugherty whose father was the local pharmacist. Together they raised three children. After serving in WWII, Vic spent his career as a Certified Public Accountant. A music enthusiast, he also spent...

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Rae Scott

    Mary Collins|Jun 8, 2017

    Rae and Dan Scott and grandson Cole Wheatley. Rae Scott grew up in Pullman and returned to the Palouse for retirement. In between, she and her husband, Dan, lived in eastern, western and central Washington. Dan taught middle school and high school shop. Rae raised their two children, and when the children were older she worked at various jobs until she joined the immunization program at the Benton County Health Department. She worked there for 14 years until they moved back to the Palouse upon... Full story

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet James Woomack

    Mary Collins|Jun 1, 2017

    James Woomack is a retired Navy aircraft mechanic and an active member of the Garfield food pantry, American Legion and Ladow Grange. James Woomack knows that life can be difficult. He was born into poverty, orphaned at an early age and spent several years in a state children’s home in Oklahoma before going to live with a relative in Indiana for his teen years. During his early teen years he worked for area farmers raising hay and corn. On his own at 16, he worked for a tobacco farmer for r... Full story

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Troy Henderson

    Mary Collins|May 4, 2017

    Troy Henderson is an avid fisherman, as evidenced by this June 2007 photo of the trophy marlin he caught on an offshore fishing adventure. Troy Henderson is the director of the Whitman County Department of Health. The department has offices in Pullman and Colfax. In this position, Troy oversees the environmental health program which sees that we have clean and healthy water wells, septic and solid waste systems, safe swimming pools and restaurants. The department is also responsible for vital pu...

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Amy Snively-Martinez

    Mary Collins|Apr 20, 2017

    Amy Snively-Martinez in 2015 on Pacaya Volcano in Guatemala. She is standing in front a recent lava flow that was still steaming. She roasted marshmallows at the site. Amy Snively-Martinez is the Outreach and Partnership Coordinator for Backyard Harvest, an organization that started in 2006 when a local woman accidentally grew 200 extra heads of lettuce in her first ever garden. The organization is based in Moscow but serves all of the Palouse. Its work involves gleaning from gardens and... Full story

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Joe Astorino

    Mary Collins|Apr 13, 2017

    Joe Astorino has a certificate in sustainable agriculture and has been introducing Rosalia students to vegetables they may find scary with taste tests in a pilot project he aims to expand within Whitman County. Sweet peppers don’t have to be scary foods. Or so Joe Astorino is hoping students in Rosalia will come to think. Joe spent the month of March in Rosalia introducing elementary students to the plants vegetables come from, how they are produced and prepared, and most importantly how they ta... Full story

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Ashley Vaughan

    Mary Collins|Apr 6, 2017

    Ashley Vaughan of Pullman studied landscape design at WSU and now coordinates the Palouse Fresh Food Project for WSU’s Center for Civic Engagement. A native of Tennessee, Ashley Vaughan came to Pullman in 2012 to study landscape architecture. She considered the U of W, but ultimately fell in love with WSU. She and her husband, Andrew, were married on the first day of autumn in 2016. When Ashley graduated in the spring of 2015 she wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to go straight into a lan...

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Guy Spencer, Palouse

    Mary Collins|Mar 30, 2017

    Bev Spencer and son Guy, both of Palouse, operate the Runner Bean Ranch together. They have turned their desire for fresh, healthy produce into a business that provides for local residents who need access to local, wholesome foods. Guy Spencer must be the last person in Whitman County to still say winter is his favorite season. We will get back to that. Guy and his Mother, Bev, operate Runner Bean Ranch located on the edge of Palouse. Neither Guy nor Bev are from Palouse, but his father and...

  • My Favorite Recipes: Meet Ryan Avery

    Mary Collins|Mar 23, 2017

    Ryan’s cooking skills will be featured at this years’ Chef’s Challenge to be held at the Gladish Community Center starting at 4:30 on Sunday, March 26. The event is a fundraiser for the Community Action Center. Tickets are $15, available at the CAC website. Ryan Avery is a good sport. When asked how he came to be the only amateur competing in the upcoming Chef’s Challenge, he replied, “I would also like to know. I co-chair the Whitman County Food Coalition and was absent for our February...