Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Whitman County Commissioners will schedule a session for Monday afternoon to consider a moratorium on new marijuana-related businesses after being briefed by County Prosecutor Denis Tracy Monday in front of another packed crowd. No time has been set for next Monday’s afternoon session, which will include an opportunity for public comment. Also March 4, commissioners will conduct a public meeting in the morning on a related zone change request at 11:30 a.m. This will also include public c...
The quest by the City of Palouse to meet new requirements of the Washington State Department of Ecology for its wastewater treatment system took another turn two weeks ago as a plan for a lagoon will require a change in county code. The realization came two months before an April deadline. “Nothing about this project has been easy,” said Michael Echanove, Palouse mayor. “Of course a lagoon’s not permitted. Why would anything go right on this? We will be asking for another extension.” City Admi...
Whitman County Public Works is now in its fourth week of consistent snow operations, its main costs coming from sand, salt, de-icer and overtime wages for plow drivers. The county road department budgeted $629,000 this year for snow removal, with no figures yet available on what's been spent. "We got to early February and thought winter was not gonna show up, and then it did," said Mark Storey, Public Works director. The snow fund is part of the county's $6 million roads budget for the year,...
“It’s important that our people know that we’re spending a lot of money to try and keep that river open,” said Port of Whitman Commissioner John Love at the Feb. 21 port meeting. The port pays $9,000 annually to Inland Ports and Navigation Group, a subgroup of Pacific Northwest Waterways Association. The money is for litigation to support keeping navigation routes open. There are eight locks and dams on the Columbia Snake River System that IPNG tries to protect. The group is trying to keep a...
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is now accepting applications from agricultural producers in Yakima, Franklin, Benton, Adams, Kittitas, Grant and Whitman counties who were impacted by snowstorms that resulted in livestock losses. Financial assistance is offered through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Applications must be received in an NRCS office by Friday, March 22. Up to $300 per animal is available to eligible producers to assist with the recovery of costs for transport and disposal of animal carcasses r...
Robotics season is back as the SciBorgs, a multi-school team, finished their robot by the Feb. 19 deadline prior to their first competition round. The 4H team competes in the F.I.R.S.T. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) series. With team members from all around the Palouse, the Sciborgs' precursor to competition began Jan. 5 with the unveiling of this year's challenge, "Destination Deep Space," presented by Boeing. Teams then had eight weeks to build a robot to...
Three Whitman County school districts received grants from the Washington State Department of Ecology to replace old buses with new ones with an idle reduction system to lower emissions. The state Department of Ecology allocated $12 million of the $28.4 million it received as settlement from Volkswagen for violating Washington’s Clean Air Act. The grant is to replace buses 17 years old or older that emit far more pollution than today’s options. The old technology in the buses is par...
Two proposed agreements to assist the Port of Garfield with its fiber optics project were approved at the Feb. 21 meeting of the Port of Whitman board. The service agreement is expected to take effect on March 1, 2019. The proposed agreements were presented by Kara Riebold, the Port operations officer. The Port of Garfield approved the proposals at its Feb. 19 meeting. The project and agreement are the result of funding received by the Port of Garfield from the Community Economic Revitalization...
Happy Pastures out by LaCrosse and the Council on Aging and Human Services were both spotlighted on the Washington Nonprofits February website blog. Washington Nonprofits supports groups throughout the state by providing education, data and networks. “We make sure nonprofits have what they need to succeed,” is the slogan on the Washington Nonprofit’s webpage. The Feb. 20 article was written by Julia Hunter, membership and learning coordinator for Washington Nonprofits. Paige Collins, the execu...
Brenda Stav has been named the Port of Whitman's new communications and media coordinator. Stav moved to Pullman from Seattle four years ago with her husband, Brett, when he got a job at Washington State University. She grew up in Walla Walla and attended WSU where she earned a bachelors of arts in hotel and restaurant administration. Stav has worked for a variety of non-profits in communications and publications work. She worked the previous 11 years for the Life Sciences Discovery Fund which...
Spring brings a renewal of many things, and among them is a nationwide high school visual art competition. Sponsored by the Congressional Institute, the competition recognizes and encourages artistic talent throughout the nation. Students from grades 7-12 from each congressional district submit their entries to their representative’s office. Fifth District Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers invites students to participate in the competition. Winners are selected by a panel of district artists and will be recognized in Washington, D.C., at an annual a...
Pullman Fire Chief Mike Heston has completed the process that awards the professional designation of Chief Fire Officer, one of only 1,344 CFOs worldwide. Sponsored by the Center for Public Safety Excellence, the program is designed to recognize individuals who demonstrate excellence in seven components: experience, education, professional development, professional contributions, association membership, community involvement and technical competence. In addition, all applicants are required to identify a future professional development plan. He...
Lindsay Webber, a 2013 Colfax High School graduate, now pursuing a masters of music in vocal performance at the University of Cincinnati, will sing in the Inland Northwest at two separate events in March. She will sing two arias with the Coeur d'Alene Symphony in concerts slated for Friday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 9, at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by phone or online. She will represent the college vocal division at the symphony's young artist winners concerts. Lindsay will...
SUSPECT FACES NEW CHARGES New charges alleging a break-in at a Colfax apartment were filed last Thursday in superior court against Sheridan A. McGill, 20, Pullman. The charges follow three drug charges filed against McGill, and they played a part in a court decision Friday morning to order a warrant for arrest of the suspect after she failed to appear in court for a second week. McGill was charged Jan. 28 with delivery of heroin, possession of heroin and possession of methamphetamine. She failed to appear in court Feb. 15 on the charges and was...
The Colton girls met the Concordia Christian Hawks in Spokane Valley Saturday evening and led 17-10 at the end of the first quarter. It went from there, Colton and its stable of three-year starters, defending state 1B champions, on the road back to state at Spokane Arena. After a Maggi Pluid drive and score late in the third quarter, they led 52-22. Concordia Christian of Tacoma brought 13 cheerleaders, a mascot and a band. Colton's Dakota Patchen hit a three-pointer from the corner for 55-25....
It opened with Van Halen's “Panama” before the tip and Garfield/Palouse pressed. Ely Hawkins denied a Lopez Island shot under the basket for no foul. Blake Jones scored on a long drive and it was quickly 11-2 Vikings. Another Blake Jones steal and pass to Tanner Anderson on the fast break and it was 13-2, timeout Lopez Island. “Summer of '69” played next on the gym speakers and Hawkins hit a three-pointer for 17-7, then it was 20-7 at the end of the first quarter. It was not yet 10:30 a.m. Fe...
It started tight and loud. Concordia Christian led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter after Matt Hockett got the ball stolen from him, stole it back and drew a foul. On Saturday night, Feb. 23, in Spokane Valley, Oakesdale and the Tacoma academy were to decide the last 1B slot to state. Nighthawks' center Kieron Anderson tied the game with an inside move and scored with three defenders on him. Then Concordia's Kyle Wells answered with a three-pointer to put them back up three, 16-13. Evan...
Parker Druffel of Colton signed with the University of Idaho football program Feb. 6 as a preferred walk-on for next year. Druffel, a two-year starter at quarterback, threw for 2,444 yards and 30 touchdowns in his senior season last fall. He rushed for 1,902 yards and 38 touchdowns as the Wildcats finished the year 6-4. Druffel, who also played linebacker, was named to the first-team All-Southeast 1B League team. His position with the Vandals is yet to be determined, with receiver and quarterback expected as the top possibilities. A preferred...
The Oakesdale and Garfield/Palouse boys and Colton girls will all play at the state 1B tournament at Spokane Arena this week. At regionals Feb. 23 at West Valley High School in Spokane Valley, the three teams won to advance, Gar/Pal and Oakesdale staving off another elimination game. The Vikings beat Lopez Island easily in the morning game. Then the no. 1-state seed Colton girls took out Concordia Christian before the Oakesdale boys, a no. 12 seed, held on to beat Concordia's boys team. Colton...
Colfax Bulldog wrestlers rolled up 101 points to place sixth in the all-B division at the state Mat Classic at Tacoma Feb. 15-16. Senior Augie Allenbach topped the team effort with a third-place finish in the 220 class. Kolby Sisk placed fifth in the 113 class, and Jacob Brown placed fifth in the 182 class....
The draft has had a tumultuous history ever since the draft riots during the Civil War. More recently, draft riots rocked the nation during the Vietnam War. Although the Selective Service mechanism for drafting citizens into the military has remained intact, it has not been used since 1973. That is because the country shifted to an all volunteer military. The draft is now back in the news. A judge recently declared the Selective Service all-male draft unconstitutional. The fact of registering 18 to 25 year old males is legal enough, but not...
Okeydokes The lady in the pickup who picked me up walking up the hill towards the hospital. Do a random act of kindness for someone....
It's already begun. With the first serious discussion of "Medicare-for-all," meaning government-financed health care, and with the introduction of the so-called Green New Deal, those on the right, and even those who get away with describing themselves as moderates, are flinging around the S-word like it's the ultimate pejorative. Oh F-word it, let's be clear: They're braying about -- gasp -- "SOCIALISM." To borrow from the "The Music Man," it starts with an "S" and that rhymes with "mess." So, what is this scourge? My online dictionary defines...
The day has arrived in the Democratic Party when Sherrod Brown is a kind of moderate. The impeccably progressive Ohio senator who has long occupied a spot on the left flank of the Democratic caucus is declining to sign up for the fashionable radical causes of the hour. Brown has not endorsed the Bernie Sanders "Medicare-for-all" plan that contemplates the end of private insurance in America, nor for the outlandishly expensive and eminently mockable Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez "Green New Deal." This marks Brown out from other Democratic senators...