Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 338
WINONA – An important wheat link in the railroad network spanning Adams, Lincoln, Spokane and Whitman Counties is nearly complete. "It's pretty much finished," state Department of Transportation's Rail, Freight and Ports division spokeswoman Janet Matkin said Monday afternoon, Oct. 16, when asked about the status of the Rebel Flat Creek Trestle. The trestle was destroyed Aug. 19 in the Winona Fire that charred 2,525 acres in Whitman County near the historic town of Winona. The fire started w...
TEKOA – More than 50 residents turned out to the Empire Theater on Sunday, Oct. 15, to hear from candidates vying for city offices in the Nov. 7 general election. Ten political hopefuls participated, explaining their positions on roads and sidewalks, employee wages, downtown improvements, law enforcement, tourism and more. The participants include seven candidates in four contested races – mayoral candidates incumbent Roy Schulz and Shelly Ausmus, and City Council Position No. 3 candidates Brad Chandler and incumbent Pete Martin, and Pos...
SPANGLE – The two-time defending state champion Nighthawks won their season-opening, nonconference volleyball game, 3-2, Tuesday, Sept. 5, at Liberty High School. Liberty (0-1) took the first and fourth sets, 25-21 and 27-25, respectively. Oakesdale (1-0) won the second, third and fifth sets, 28-26, 25-18 and 15-7 for the victory. “I was really proud of how we worked together as a team to persevere,” said Oakesdale head coach McKinzie Turner. Liberty is a Class 2B team; Oakesdale is a 1B team. Samantha Holling, Brieyn Henley and Lucy Hocke...
EASTON – A Hooper man is among four drivers who struck two pedestrians on Interstate 90 on Sunday night, Sept. 10. Both pedestrians died at the scene, the Washington State Patrol reported, their names are being withheld pending notification of kin. Caleb M. Hudson, 26, of Hooper, was not injured in the fatal incident that occurred at about 8:51 p.m., the patrol said. Hudson was the fourth driver in a line of vehicles who struck the pedestrians near Milepost 70. The patrol listed the cause of the fatalities as illegal crossing of interstate; non...
COLFAX - Garrett Busby was crowned all-around cowboy of the Palouse Empire Rodeo. Busby competed in tie-down and team roping during Professional Rodeo Cowboy Assocation event Sept. 7-8 at the Palouse Empire fairgrounds. As all-around cowboy, Busby took home $444 in prize money. He also tied for third-place in tie-down roping with Colten Wallis, both with a time of 10.1 seconds, which earned them both $444. The rodeo featured a total payout of $23,464. Here are the other results from the rodeo:...
COLFAX – The Saturday night, Sept. 9, performance of the Palouse Empire Rodeo featured local cowboys, cowgirls and dirt bike riders. Thousands of fans crowded into the stands to see local competitors face off in the arena. Here are the results: Junior Barrels (12 and younger) – 1. Callahan Smith, 20.63 seconds; 2. Violet Smith, 20.64; 3. Logan Corder, 20.65; 4. Bo Broeckel, 21.43; and 5. Gracie Pfaff, 21.69. Breakaway Roping – 1. Kayla Hurl, 2.08 seconds; 2. Ryan Mills, 2.22; 3. Paul Carpe...
TEKOA – A Plummer, Idaho, man was killed in a crash Monday evening, Sept. 4. Bruce Spencer, 69, of Plummer, was pronounced dead at about 6 p.m. on East Poplar Street. The next of kin has been notified. According to the Whitman County Sheriff's Office, Spencer was eastbound on Poplar Street at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his flatbed pickup, crashed through a guardrail and overturned as the vehicle rolled down an embankment above Hangman Creek. Poplar Street becomes state H...
PULLMAN — A state appellate court has affirmed the conviction of a local man arrested after a January 2022 social media sting intended to catch drug dealers. On Aug. 17, the state Court of Appeals Division III filed an unpublished opinion affirming the arrest and conviction of William Patrick McBride, 59, of Malden. McBride was convicted of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) with intent to deliver after communicating with a fictious person on social media, court records show. He was sentenced to 90 months in prison. He appea...
A quip on a social media post said it all: “Harrington has never been so busy.” That tongue-in-cheek post was in reference to the diversion of Interstate 90 traffic between Spokane and Sprague through Airway Heights, Reardan, Davenport and Harrington as the Gray Fire encroached on the highway over the weekend. The fire broke out Friday near Eastern State Hospital and Medical Lake. As it grew toward Four Lakes and Cheney, someone decided it was a idea to detour traffic at different times thr...
CHENEY - As emergency officials pushed traffic off Interstate 90 and into the city, traffic backed up for miles. At times Saturday and Sunday, traffic was bumper-to-bumper from the Cheney-Spokane Road to the Cheney Free Press building, 1616 W. First St. Periodically, traffic was shifted west to state Highway 231 through Edwall and Reardan. But traffic backups on that small two-lane road and a crash in the southbound lane forced traffic back into Cheney or west to Davenport and Harrington. For a...
MEDICAL LAKE - Rain Tuesday, Aug. 22, gave fire crews a break in their effort to stop the growth of the Gray Fire. As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, fire officials said the blaze was 48% contained. The new estimated size is 10,016 acres. On Wednesday at 7, officials hosted a community meeting to explain the status of the Gray Fire and hear fire victims' concerns. They were also explain the command post move from Cheney Middle School to Pine Lodge, 721 S. Pine St. That meeting was planned for Medical Lake...
ELK — On Monday evening, the Oregon Road Fire grew into the largest blaze in the regional over the last week. At least one person had died in the blaze, officials said. Evacuation notices remain in effect across much of the area surrounding the communities of Elk and Chattaroy. The fire was most active east and southeast of elk, burning in dry grass and timber. An evacuation center was set up at Riverside High School, 4120 E. Deer Park Milan Road, Chattaroy. Another is open at Spokane Falls Community College, 3410 W. Forth Wright Drive, S...
The National Weather Service predicts we will see the hottest temperatures of the summer this week. It’s even gone so far as to declare an “excessive heat warning” until 11 p.m. today. Granted, 100 degrees is hot. But in our neck of the high-plains desert, that’s not excessive. Even if we hit 105 degrees, it’s not excessive here. Eastern Washington has a track record of hot daytime highs in June, July and August. The hottest day on record for most of our readership area was June 29, 2021. Sta...
OLYMPIA – It took only a minute Friday, Aug. 11, for the state Fish and Wildlife Commission to reject a petition to resume spring bear hunting in 2024. The commission’s almost-immediate, unanimous rejection of spring bear hunting followed a very short presentation by state Department of Fish and Wildlife Game Division Manager Anis Aoude. “From our position as a department … we’re recommending you deny this petition,” he said. “There really isn’t a reason to revisit.” The state’s presentation and commissioner’s fast rejection followed a...
COLFAX – The owner of an assisted-living facility shuttered July 24 by the state is refuting allegations used to justify the closure Paul’s Place owner Cynthia Dvorak, 56, of Colfax, said she and her staff were addressing issues when the state Department of Social and Health Service’s Residential Care division came in “guns a-blazing” and shut down the home at the 907 S. Mill St. Social and Human Services spokeswoman Jessica Nelson said Aug. 4 the shutdown followed 10 complaints that included allegations of criminal sexual abuse, financial...
WINONA - Multiple fires exploded Friday afternoon across both Spokane and Whitman Counties, leaving at least one person dead and burning thousands of acres. Evacuation notices were issued for Medical Lake, Cheney, Four Lakes, Elk, Winona and other places. The larger fires were reported in Medical Lake and Elk, both in Spokane County, and Winona, in central Whitman County. At least one person died and multiple homes were destroyed in the Gray Fire, which broke out about noon near Eastern State...
SPOKANE — Innovia Foundation has opened a Wildfire Emergency Response Fund to support nonprofit organizations, businesses and community organizations working to meet the needs of those impacted by the Grays, Oregon Road and Winona wildfires. The Oregon Road Fire has burned more than 8,000 acres in Elk area of Spokane County. The Winona Fire burned more than 5,000 acres of wheat land and sage steppe in the Winona area of central Whitman County. And the Gray Fire destroyed at least 185 homes and killed one person in the Medical L...
COLFAX – The parent company of a local grocer will have to pay a total of $423,588 in back wages and fines for violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The U.S. Department of Labor said an investigation into Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. found the company failed to pay overtime wages to 602 employees, including workers at stores in Colfax, Pullman and Moscow. As a result, Spokane-based Rosauers Supermarkets Inc. has been ordered to pay $175,363 in unpaid overtime wages to affected employees. In addition, the company has been ordered t...
COLFAX — A local assisted-living facility was shut down July 24 due to a myriad of complaints. On Friday, Aug. 4, state Department of Social and Human Services spokeswoman Jessica Nelson outlined issues prompting the agency to relocate 24 Paul’s Place residents within two days and shut down the facility. “There were 10 complaints filed,” Nelson said. The complaints allege criminal activities by owner Cynthia Dvorak of Garfield and her employees at the 907 S. Mill St. facility. Among those complaints were allegations of criminal sexual abuse,...
COLFAX – A local pharmacy has been fined for dispensing drugs to patients with questionable prescriptions between January and July 2022 for failing to properly monitor the sale of "Sudafed" from 2017-2022 Tick Klock Drug, 109 S. Main St., was fined $20,000 in U.S. District Court in Spokane on Tuesday, Aug. 1, for failing to vet prescriptions properly, U.S. District Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref said. The company also entered into an agreement with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to properly m...
COLFAX — The state Department of Social and Health Services refused Monday, Aug. 1, to provide information on why it shut down a local assisted-living facility and relocated its residents. Twenty-four residents were moved out of Paul’s Place, 907 S. Mill St., between July 24-26 after the agency’s Residential Care division received multiple complaints. The assisted-living center was shuttered July 24, DSHS Residential Care Services Director Amy Abbott said. A week later, on Aug. 1, she refused to identify the nature of the complaints, inste...
Like most Americans, I enjoy watching – and lighting – fireworks on Independence Day. America’s “birthday” should stand out among all national holidays. And the colorful, aerial explosions showcase the freedom and independence for which the U.S. stands. But why then do only tribes have the ability to sell the “good” fireworks – you know: firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles, mortars and more. There’s nothing magical about the imaginary line on a map suggesting fireworks perform different...
TEKOA – Thousands of residents crowded into the city Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17, for the annual Slippery Gulch festival. The event featured a Tekoa Chamber of Commerce breakfast, a softball tournament, bicycle rodeo, a fishing derby, photography and free throw contests, the Kiddie Parade and a fun run. But the highlights were the Slippery Gulch Grand Parade, fireworks over the softball complex and the highly competitive egg toss downtown. Dozens of entries were in this year's parade. T...
ROSALIA – The 13 members of the Rosalia High School Class of 2023 graduated Saturday, June 10, with advice to stay positive. Keynote speaker Terry Boxleitner and Valedictorian Riley Daniel Gehring both offered that advice before a packed gymnasium at the school, 916 S. Josephine Ave. Before receiving the words of wisdom on attitude, Salutatorian Erik Xavier Lazcano and Principal Matt McLain welcomed commencement-goers. "It's been a long 13 years," Lazcano said, with McLain following him up s...
From cars to bigfoot to high-speed sprint boats, you don’t have to look very far to find something to do this weekend. But dad won’t care if you take him somewhere or just spend time with him. For dad, Father’s Day isn’t about spending money, it’s about time – time to connect, reflect and enjoy each other’s company. Dads spend a lifetime taking care of the needs of their children. Through their children’s formative years into college, fathers bring structure, discipline, logic and focus to a...
