Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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A fire broke out Monday morning at a house adjacent to the Rosalia Airport. The call came in at 11:30 a.m. and the Rosalia Fire Department responded, along with mutual aid from Steptoe, Colfax and Garfield departments. An investigator from the Pullman Fire Department went to the scene as well. A cause has yet to be determined as of press time. Four residents were in the house when the fire broke out, all escaping uninjured. "The house is a total loss," said Bill Tensfeld, Rosalia fire chief and...
Torry Shepherd, owner of Torry’s Country Store in St. John, knew before even moving to St. John that the CHS Primeland Country store would need some help if it was to survive. In September 2012, Shepherd and his wife Amy moved their family to St. John, where Torry was a nutrition consultant for CHS Nutrition, selling Payback Feeds, and Amy was an adjunct professor at Washington State University. What he didn’t know then was the store would undergo a name change and he would be the owner of the store and fuel pumps eight years later. Since She...
The matter of the St. Elmo’s building and other historic Palouse buildings came up at the Feb. 11 Palouse city council meeting as several residents spoke to voice concerns. The group included Jessie Twigg-Harris, Arman Bohn, Liz Rousseau, Aaron Flansburg, Diane Cooper and Alexa Beckett-Bonner. “It’s a group of people that want to see some direction for what Palouse does for its downtown buildings,” said Flansburg. “The look of Palouse into the future. The visible and physical character of Palouse.” The group has organized a meeting, to...
Derek "Deke" McClintock, Colfax, son of Don and Elaine McClintock, found himself front and center of the February/March issue of Vertical Magazine flying the H145 helicopter for San Diego Gas & Electric. Vertical is based in Ontario, Canada, and features in-depth coverage of the civil helicopter industry. "Our son Derek laughs saying he just happened to be in the right place at the right time," said Elaine McClintock, Colfax. "He is now working for HeliStream flying H145 and Blackhawks."...
The Tekoa City Council will wait to decide on whether to add more patrol hours to its contract with the Whitman County Sheriff’s office. The council discussed the matter at the Feb. 3 meeting and decided to hold off on a decision of whether to add 10 hours, because of the $25,000 per year added cost. The council first discussed the matter Dec. 16. The town now contracts with the sheriff’s department for 20 hours per week of patrols, paying $48,919 in 2020, an arrangement set in 2009, when the hours were cut by about half, saving the city $40...
The Whitman County Planning Commission has decided on a new marijuana code/ordinance, which is now being reviewed by the office of the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) – after which it will go before a local public hearing March 18. Ultimately, any new code or ordinance would require approval from county commissioners. Last March, commissioners asked the planning commission to begin work on an ordinance – after setting a six-month moratorium on any new marijuana growing, processing or retail business. The ban has since been ext...
In a rite of pending spring, Whitman County commissioners approved Monday a notice for a call for bids for an estimated $400,000 in liquid asphalt -- to be used for annual chip-sealing road repair during summer. In another hint, much of the county Public Works and road departments will switch back to their four-day work week March 9. The four 10-hour days' schedule then runs until daylight savings switches again in November. Daylight savings ends on March 8. Another sign of possible spring is road weight limits may be lifted in the western...
On Feb. 8, Tough as Nails held its first community workshop entitled "Share the Love" at the Rosalia Middle School gym. The goal of the event was to assemble 60 activity kits for hospital donations. The activity kits will be donated to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital including the child psychiatric ward in Spokane. Tough As Nails is also working on reaching out to other hospitals to extend the reach of the non-profit. There were more than 30 people in attendance who packed the 60 kits in just...
Whitman Hospital & Medical Center in Colfax announced it has been named a 2020 Top 100 Critical Access Hospital by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. This annual award honoring rural hospital performance is determined by the results of iVantage Health Analytics’ Hospital Strength INDEX®, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2020. “This achievement validates our daily commitment to providing the best healthcare possible to the communities we serve, while maintaining an efficient and effective facility,” said Hank Hanigan, CEO. “We th...
Whitman County commissioners opened a $124,886 bid for a new plow truck/dump truck chassis for the Public Works department Tuesday. The single bid came from Freightliner Northwest of Spokane. Public Works will now evaluate the bid for later recommendation to commissioners for approval. Mark Storey, Public Works director, noted that a dump-body will need to be bought separately for the chassis, among other features. Final cost estimate for the fully-equipped truck will be between $180,000-$200,000....
Whitman County commissioners Monday authorized a paving project for a half-mile stretch of road at the north end of Rosalia. “One of our paved roads is starting to fall apart,” said Mark Storey, Public Works director. The part to be paved is just north of the turn-off to Highway 195. Estimated cost of $122,000, to done by a county crew. The project is part of plans funded by passage of the county road levy last November....
The City of Palouse nears an end-of-March deadline for its plan to address a new temperature requirement for effluent from its wastewater facility into the Palouse River. In front of the city are three main deadlines. First, by March 31, it must submit to the Washington State Department of Ecology an “approvable” plan to reduce its effluent temperature by 2.5 degrees celsius. Second, this plan will need to be executed by 2024. Third, the city will need to eliminate all inorganic nitrates in the effluent by 2031. For the first task – which...
Winter and signs of spring show west of Albion Feb. 14....
"The Sharing Corner" in Uniontown is filled with extra items people have, including food and clothing. Community members stock "The Sharing Corner" for anyone in need. The structure was built by Scott Heitstuman. The idea came about from the Uniontown Community Development Association about a year ago, according to Kris Lockie, town clerk. "The Sharing Corner" is located next to the Uniontown Library on S. Montgomery St....
The Garfield Town Council has two new members and committee assignments set for 2020. Terri Linderman began in January in position no. 3, along with Josh Kelnhofer in position no. 2. They take over for longtime councilmen Mark Young and Dave Ulrich. For 2020 committees, Tom Tevlin, Cande Hasenoerhl and Linderman will be the fire committee, while Neal Leon and Kelnhofer join the finance committee. Tevlin is mayor pro-tem....
More than 2,600 students qualified for the U of I Dean’s List for the fall 2019 semester. To be included in the Dean’s List, U of I students must maintain at least a 3.5 GPA on a minimum of 12 graded credits during the semester. The fall 2019 semester ended December 20. Colfax: Cassidi J. Shindler, Derek D. Hall, Hope A. de Avila, Isaac P. Cook and Sasha Rabaiotti. Colton: Alathea E. Davies and Tessa Rederick Endicott: Melissa M. Duff. Garfield: Mitchell W. Jamison. Lamont: Guinevere D. Richmond. Pullman: Alisha J. Currier, Amy K. Stanley, Ave...
The 16th annual Bowling Benefit Tournament for the Whitman County Humane Society and NW Cancer Foundation of Hope will be held Saturday, March 7, starting at 11 a.m at Zeppoz in Pullman. Starting in 2004, Ron and Heather Morgan decided they wanted to do something to help the local humane society because of their dog, Lucy. “My wife and I wanted to run a community event because we felt it was the right thing to do and we love animals,” Morgan said. According to Benefit Bowling website, the Morgans added the Light a Candle Foundation through Gri...
Colfax High School junior Caden Noha took the 182-pound wrestling title Feb. 15 at the 1B/2B East Regionals, advancing to the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome, beginning Friday. Noha (38-4) will start with a bye. He wrestled at state last year, but did not place. "He's got a good shot," said 10-year Colfax Coach Dennis Gransbery. "He has a really good chance to win it all." At Reardan for regionals last Saturday, Noha beat Sam Nelson of Liberty with a pin, advancing to meet Davenport's Sam...
Oakesdale’s Matt Hockett was voted Player of the Year in the Southeast 1B League. Blake Jones of Garfield/Palouse got the upper hand the last time these two teams played, with an assist from his brother. Matt Hockett’s brother did not play in that game. The Jones boys and the Hockett brothers – along with their teammates – meet again Friday night at the Dietrich Dome in Walla Walla to decide the District Nine 1B boys basketball championship. The winner this time gains entry to regiona...
The Colfax Bulldogs met the Lind/Ritzville/ Sprague/Washtucna/ Kahlotus Broncos in the semifinals of the Northeast 2B District basketball tournament Tuesday and won 45-36. Asher Cai led the Bulldogs at West Valley High School in Spokane with 21 points and five steals. Kierstyn York scored 12 points. "It was a battle. We played aggressive defense and have made better basketball choices these last three weeks," said Coach Corey Baerlocher. Colfax (16-7, 8-5) advances to meet Liberty (21-1, 12-0)...
Tuesday night in the Northeast 2B District semifinals in Spokane, the Colfax boys went to overtime against Liberty and lost 74-62. Unbeaten Liberty – which beat Colfax twice in the regular season – now sends the Bulldogs to an elimination game against Tekoa/Rosalia Thursday night, both teams still with a shot to make regionals. Colfax (16-8, 8-4) trailed by nine points to Liberty at the start of the fourth quarter, before forcing turnovers to capitalize and tie the game. At the end of reg...
The Pomeroy girls are 19-1 with the one caused by Oakesdale. The two teams meet again Friday in Walla Walla for the district championship at 6 p.m. at the Dietrich Dome. Oakesdale, with five losses, split with Pomeroy in the regular season and went on to lose at Colton, to cede the regular season to the Pirates. Now in the playoffs, Oakesdale handled Colton last Friday at home to open districts. Pomeroy beat no. 4-seed Gar/Pal and now the no. 1 and no. 2 seeds will play for the championship....
Figure skating nationals were held Jan. 20 through Jan. 26 in Greensboro, N.C., this year. Performance at nationals literally determines a skater’s career. The United States figure skating committee meet after the results are posted for nationals to discuss which skaters will represent the US at international competitions and the Olympics. The next Olympics start Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing, China. Even though it is two years out, there is still big talk about which Americans have a shot at a gold medal. The first name you need to know is N...
