Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Homestead Ministries hosted its fourth soup bagging at the First Baptist Church in Colfax Thursday, Jan. 16, where they bagged 3,000 packages of soup for a Central Washington group. The soup packets will be distributed to churches and food banks. Coordinator Tom Riedner said the soup baggings began in 2014 when they became aware of people needing food. "We tried to give peas and lentils and stuff like that to the food bank and the thing is they would give them right back to us because people...
The Mobile Medical Unit will be making its rounds in Whitman County the last week of January and in the last week of March. On Tuesday, Jan. 28, the clinic will be at LaCrosse Library from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and the Endicott Library from 1 to 5 p.m. On Wednesday, Jan. 29, the clinic will be in Garfield from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Currently there are no scheduled visits for February, but the clinic will be making visits in Steptoe 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and Uniontown 2 to 6 p.m. on March 25. On March 26, the clinic will be in Colton from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m....
Whitman County commissioners Tuesday met with members of the Tekoa Parks and Recreation board to discuss a loan the county extended Tekoa parks and recreation that is due Dec. 1, 2020. The loan was originally granted in 2019 to help cover swim pool operating costs after a Tekoa levy was passed, but failed to meet the certification date. “We are in a situation where in 2018 we didn’t have a levy, so we put a levy on the docket for 2019 of February for $150,000 for operations and $50,000 for capital improvements,” said John Hall, vice-...
On Thursday, Jan. 16, the Port of Whitman Community Economic Revitalization Board grant application was approved Jan. 16 with a $750,000 loan and $250,000 grant for the Port of Wilma road improvements. Mark Storey, county public works director, told the county commissioners that he went to present the project to the CERB board with Debbie Snell, port properties and development manager, and one of the tenants at the Port of Wilma. “We did a presentation with questions and answers in front of the board,” Storey said. “It was a successful visit...
Whitman County Planner Alan Thomson reported to county commissioners Tuesday that the county planning commission is nearly done with its work to write a new ordinance for commercial marijuana operations in the county. Thomson noted that the group's next meeting, Feb. 5, may bring a decision. County Prosecutor Denis Tracy sat in on the last meeting to advise on wording. Once the commission finishes the document, and before it goes to county commissioners, it first is required to be sent for a...
The Council on Aging & Human Services Board of Directors held their annual meeting Tuesday morning at the Colfax Pantry building. They strategized on how to serve both the nutrition clients and the COAST clients even better in 2020 and discussed a new focus on Whitman County veterans. More information will follow in the coming months....
Port of Whitman County commissioners approved the re-commitment of matching funds for the Port of Clarkston Economic Development Administration grant. The approval was on a 3-0 vote. Last March, Jerry Klemm, commissioner for the Port of Lewiston, speaking on behalf of the Port of Clarkston, visited with the Port of Whitman commissioners and staff asking for a financial pledge to support an economic study to find and understand the economic benefits of the cruise boat industry to the region. Ports of Lewiston and Clarkston were preparing for...
The City of Tekoa is considering adding sheriff’s patrol hours stemming from a discussion at the city council meeting Dec. 16. “The council wants to spend more money for the police force,” said Tekoa Mayor Troy Wilson. The town now contracts with the sheriff's department for 20 hours of patrols per week at a cost $48,919 in 2020. The arrangement started in 2009 when the hours were cut by about half to save the city $40,000 during the recession. “The council would like to see more deputies in town,” said Wilson, who talked briefly last week...
The new eatery at WSU's Palouse Ridge Golf Club will be Roundtop Public House, operated by JW Links, LCC. The JW derives from the first names of Jim Harbour and Wade Dissmore, who also own and operate South Fork Public House in Pullman and Fork in the Road Catering. Both Dissmore and Harbour grew up in Pullman and graduated from WSU. Roundtop will replace Banyans on the Ridge, which operated at the golf club since it debuted in 2008. Its operators are planning on opening a new Italian eatery in downtown Pullman. Stacy Pearson, WSU vice...
Port commissioners received an update regarding the fiber-to-the-home project at their meeting Jan. 16. In August 2019, the port received $1 million from Whitman County’s .09 funds to design and construct a fiber-to-the-home network in five rural towns in Whitman County. The first town in this project is Rosalia. “Rosalia's design has been turned in to Avista, and we got feedback from them and the design is being revised,” said Kara Riebold, chief operating officer. Along with designs, Riebold mentioned that some connections will need to go on...
A total of 154 permits were issued by the Colfax building inspector during 2019. Total revenue from permit fees was $126,931. The permit sales included 74 mechanical permits for $4,840; 17 building permits including two houses for $17,904; nine plumbing permits for $620; one mobile structure for $275; seven signs for $600; one demolition permit for $56.50; one sewer permit for $60; seven sprinkler permits for $280; one grading permit for $209, and 18 commercial building permits for $102,026....
Flags posted around parts of northern Whitman County since last fall are a project of a Rural Development Initiatives leadership class given last year in Fairfield. The flags read, “The Palouse: Small Towns, Big Hearts.” The organization put on the classes over three weekends, with Friday and Saturday sessions, part of which was to nominate and vote on a project. The flags were chosen, and participants put together a marketing team, design team and implementation team, which used $5,000 provided by Avista, Empire Health and Innovia -- whi...
Whitman County Library's Food for Fine campaign, which will run through February, will mark its 20th year. Residents can exchange food donations for up to $10 in fines. All donations at branches around the county will go to the nearest food bank. The libraries cannot accept perishable or past dated food items. For more information, call the library at 509-397-4366 or toll free at 1-877-733-3375. Fines waived are not subject to refunds if missing or late items are returned....
U.S. wheat advocacy groups applauded two developments on the trade front last week. The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) and U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) praised the U.S. Senate for passing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) Jan. 16. “Trade deals can put the price of wheat back on track for many growers and create new opportunities for many farmers,” said NAWG President and Lavon, Texas, farmer Ben Scholz. “NAWG applauds the U.S. Senate for moving quickly on passing USMCA out of the Chamber.” USMCA retains tariff-free access...
Colfax girls returned to the home boards Tuesday and rolled out a 57-30 win over Asotin to finish a run of three big wins over the week. The win advances the Bulldogs' league record to 5-3 with another league battle set at Reardan Friday. Colfax charged for an 18-4 lead over the Panthers Tuesday on the home boards with Asher Cai hitting nine in the first frame. She finished with 13 points. Cai was also credited with seven steals in the game. Sydney Berquist hit 10 points for Colfax. Haylee...
The Southeast 1B powers will meet a second time. Playing at Pomeroy Friday night, Oakesdale will go against the unbeaten Pirates, whom they lost to 43-40 at home Dec. 20. With five league games remaining, Oakesdale (11-3, 5-1) and Pomeroy (13-0, 6-0) in first and second place, this could decide the regular season league title. "Play relentless defense and play team basketball," said Nighthawks Coach Heidi Perry of her team's directive. How will they handle Pomeroy's Maddy Dixon inside? "With...
Colfax boys cranked up the speed and dropped Asotin 64-38 Tuesday in another league round. The home win advances Colfax to 6-2 in league play with a game Saturday at Reardan. The Indians are one of the two teams in the NE-South that pegged a win over Colfax in the first league round. Tuesday, Colfax moved out to a fast start, pegged a 16-12 lead after the first quarter and then rolled to a 35-20 lead at the half. Panther Coach Seth Paine had just three players on his bench, and the energy lag...
Colfax wrestlers scored 50 points to place 12th at the big Clearwater Classic meet Saturday at Lewiston. Host Lewiston took the team honors with 168.5 points, and Kennewick placed a close second with 164 points. Caden Noha battled all the way to the title match in the 182-pound class where he lost 3-6 to Rueben Thill of Lewiston. Kolby Slate placed third in the 152 class when his opponent in the consolation final was disqualified, and Braeden Rogers placed first with two wins in the 170 C class. Reagan Noha won the 195 B class with two wins....
It was in the hands of the three seniors at the end. Matt Hockett for Oakesdale hit a 19-foot shot for 46-44 Oakesdale with 13 seconds remaining. Austin Jones, Gar/Pal's junior point guard pushed the ball up the floor – the same situation as the last time the two teams played in the Oakesdale gym, after a made Oakesdale shot, the clock dropping past 10 seconds left, Gar/Pal trailing, Jones dribbling up the right side. This time he bobbed and cut but had no opening to shoot. He passed in to Blake...
The LRS Broncos defeated Tekoa/Rosalia in league matches at Ritzville Tuesday night. The Bronco boys booked a 64-41 win with a strong finish in the second half. Spencer Gehring led the Broncos with 17 points. Garrett Naught hit a game high 18 to lead the T-wolves, and Carson McDonald hit seven. The Bronco girls posted a 67-19 win over the Timberwolves with Dakota Killian hitting 12. Elise Wilkins led TR with seven points. In the Saturday league round, the TR teams sustained losses at Reardan. The boys teams battled in the first half with...
These reports are from the previous three issues of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax. They are reprinted here for the benefit of Gazette readers who reside outside of Colfax. Some accounts have been updated. ADU ZONING ON CITY AGENDA Proposed zoning for accessory dwelling units was among topics at Tuesday night's city council session. An accessory dwelling unit is a habitable living unit on the same site with a principal single-family dwelling. The city has been approached by a builder who has been requested to construct an ADU. The city planning...
Mike Leach, Washington State University head coach for eight seasons, has left to be head coach at Mississippi State University. Good riddance. The football coach of any university is often the face of the football program, and more notably, the face of the school. As a recent graduate, I was always embarrassed by our choice of coach. Leach was dismissive, crass and rude to both his players and the press. At first when you see Leach in an interview, his monotone, expressionless responses are entertaining. When asked who would win in a fight...
Pardon my sharing a personal preference, but I don't give a rat's patootie about the opinions of some showbiz notables because, notwithstanding their star power, they usually don't really know what they're talking about. Once, I was covering a political story and a prominent actress who happened to be nearby decided that she would love to express her opinion, ON TV, and expected me to jump at the chance because she was a celeb. So she sent some lackey over to request that I put her on right away. When I politely declined, he escalated that to a...
Donald Trump isn't George W. Bush. That should be obvious to everyone by now, but his critics and even some of his supporters immediately acted as if it were 2003 on the cusp of the Iraq War when Trump took out Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. Suddenly, the neocons had cachet again (Vox warned that "the Iraq War hawks are back"), and we were about to launch yet another endless war. Trump's decision to kill Soleimani, New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg wrote, repeating a common refrain, "has brought the United States to the brink of...
