Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Whitman County commissioners voted Monday to extend the marijuana moratorium another six months while the planning commission finishes its work on a proposed ordinance. The extension is the second for the moratorium – which commissioners put in place last March to ban any new marijuana growing, processing or retail operations in the county. Commissioners subsequently assigned the planning commission to study the matter and draft an ordinance. On Monday, three members of the public spoke in f...
On Feb. 28, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration released the Columbia River System draft Environmental Impact Study. Now that the EIS has been made available, it is open for a 45-day public review and comment period. The open comment period will close April 13. On Monday at the Whitman County Commissioner Board meeting, Commissioner Dean Kinzer encouraged those in attendance, if they feel compelled, to submit comments on the study. The draf...
The policing agreement between Garfield and Palouse will end March 15 after 11 years. The two towns, which have renewed the agreement twice, were in the process of another renewal when the outlook changed. Garfield will now hire an officer to re-start their own police department. “There were some less than desirable elements in town that we felt needed more attention than they were currently being given,” said Jarrod Pfaff, Garfield mayor. The initial friction began last summer. The Palouse dep...
With the ‘Gazette torch’ being passed to Free Press Publishing based in Cheney, the layout of the Gazette is seeing some adjustments. Now split into an A and B sections, the Gazette will post the opinion page on 4A and move sports to the B section. Sports pages will open the B section on pages one and two, followed by the People section. As the Gazette undergoes some changes, we appreciate your patience and support during the process. Due to earlier print times with the new press, deadlines have also been moved up. Deadline for standard and...
The auger and tower stands Feb. 21 on two of the coming Dusty grain pads project. Construction began last September, for the McCoy Land Company/PNW project which will include grain piles, truck scales, utilities and a small office space, with a driveway off Highway 127 south of Dusty. The height of the piles will go to 65 feet. Phase one of the four-pile project is scheduled to be finished in June. Stage two would start after harvest 2020, to be done by June of the next year....
The Whitman County Health Department is advising residents to be aware and take basic precautions for the potential arrival of the coronavirus in the county. The disease, also know as COVID-19, began in China, with the first confirmed case in Washington state on Jan. 21. It has since spread to 18 cases, with six deaths, all of which have been outside of Eastern Washington. “For otherwise healthy folks, it's not worse than seasonal flu,” said Troy Henderson, Whitman County health director. People at risk to die from the disease, Henderson exp...
On Monday, March 2, during the Whitman County Commissioner Board meeting, commissioners passed the motion to award $10,000 per year for the next two-years in public facilities .09 funds to the Palouse Knowledge Corridor for help and funding a full-time economic development position. The motion was passed on a 2-0 vote. Commissioner Michael Largent was absent from the meeting. The Palouse Knowledge Corridor is an economic development collaboration in southeastern Washington and north-central Idaho. This collaboration was developed as a way of...
8 years ago The Commoner March 8, 1895 The members of the Colfax band have been busy the last few days arranging their plans for building an opera house. A number of meetings have been held and within a week probably the details of their enterprise will have been agreed to. The general plan of the proposed house, its size, seating capacity and stage proportions are determined, so that the details of the financial part of the undertaking are about all that remain to be settled. As soon as they are perfected, committees will be appointed and...
You’ve read that your hometown newspaper has been sold. You’ve been told that newspapers are failing. You may have even heard “print is dead.” Now, you are concerned local news and sports coverage will be disappear. You’re worried that that you’ll have to look to the Internet to see what’s happening in your neighborhood. B way of an introduction, let us assuage your concerns. We are Free Press Publishing, Eastern Washington’s largest community newspaper group. Our publications are found in mostl...
After 30 years at the helm, Gazette Publisher Gordon Forgey announced last week his paper was sold to journalist Roger Harnack, a partner of Free Press Publishing based in Cheney, Wash. This is great news for a retiring publisher and even better news for Whitman County, a stay from joining America’s vast desert of “No News Zones.” I met Harnack in 2012 when I joined the International Society of Weekly News Editors (ISWNE), a rowdy newspaper group that prides itself on upholding the tenets of community journalism and shining the spotlight on op...
Gordon, thanks for your unbiased service to the Gazette readers over the years and I do hope the new owners will not be biased as most newspapers are. To the typical Seattle reader of the Gazette who complained about depicting Bernie Sanders as an old man with a Soviet flag, nothing could have been more accurate. Bernie is 78, recently had a heart attack, went to Russia several times to study Marxism and his idol was none other than Fidel Castro. He has been a Senator for 25 years and had three bills of his own, two for naming post offices. He...
Washington and Oregon lawmakers want to end their legislative sessions; however, accounting for the costs of carbon emissions is a major road block. In Salem, rural Republican senators are boycotting session and thereby denying majority Democrats a quorum to vote on a “cap and trade” bill. The measure calls for an 80 percent state reduction in greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2050. The system would be similar to existing programs in California and some Canadian provinces. The state would set a cap on total GHG emissions. Oregon’s largest 100 indus...
On Feb. 27, Bunyard Automotive closed its two year run in Colfax after setting up July 2018 in the former location of Lube Plus. Jacob Bunyard, owner and founder of Bunyard Automotive, said the change came from wanting to spend more time with his family. "The job comes with a big price and that price is not spending as much time with family," Bunyard said. "I'm always at the office and didn't have much time to see my family." He said he was given another opportunity working in the North Slope of...
The Colfax High School jazz band competed at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Feb. 29 for the first time since 1997 and took first place. The Colfax jazz band was named the B Senior Instrumental Winner after a day of competition. The students were invited to perform at the Young Artist's winners Concert the evening of Feb. 29. In this concert, the Colfax jazz band competed against four other ensembles to be named the festival's overall High School Instrumental Sweepstakes winner. The overall winner went to Edmonds-Woodway High School in...
Pullman firefighters responded to a fully involved mobile home fire Tuesday afternoon. Pullman police officers immediately got the neighbors to evacuate their residences as fire crews There were no injuries. The mobile home was destroyed and an estimate of damage to the structure and contents will be determined later. Police also notified the American Red Cross to help provide housing to the two residents. The cause of the fire is under investigation....
Leona J. Ailor, 89, a resident of Deary, Idaho, died on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at her rural Deary home. Leona was born on Feb. 4, 1931, in Potlatch, Idaho, to Ferris (Shorty) and Eva (Young) Irving. She attended grade school at Avon, Idaho, and graduated from Deary High School in 1948. Leona married Homer Ailor on Nov. 21, 1948, in Potlatch and the couple made their home in Deary where they farmed, ranched and raised their family. Homer died in 2014. Leona started working at Gritman Memorial... Full story
Beverly Hope Glass, 77, Palouse, died on Jan. 17, 2020, at her home. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 14 at 1 p.m. at the Palouse Federated Church with Rev. Corey Laughary officiating. A reception will follow after the service. Kramer Funeral Home of Palouse is caring for the family. Online condolences and order flowers for the family can be left at www.kramercares.com.... Full story
Richard (Dick) Eugene McCully passed away on March 3, 2020, at the age of 86. He was born January 8, 1934, to Elmer (Curly) McCully and Lena (Smith) McCully in Colfax. He spent his early life on the Snake River and went to elementary school in Almota. Later, he crossed the river in his boat at Almota, picked up his car and went to Pomeroy to high school. He graduated from Pomeroy High School in 1952 and married his high school sweetheart, Marjorie Hannas, in 1954. Dick farmed and ranched his... Full story
Shirley Ellen (Bergland) Tulin, long time Colfax resident, passed away March 3, 2020, at the Whitman Health & Rehab Center in Colfax. She was 86. A Memorial Service to celebrate her life will be held Friday, March 6th, at 1:00 p.m. in the chapel of Bruning Funeral Home. Pastor Bob Ingalls will officiate. Shirley was born December 12, 1933 in Seattle, Washington, to Paul and Verna Tanner Bergland. The family moved to Colfax in 1944 and Shirley completed her education there, graduating from... Full story
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. ANNUAL PIANO SALE AT UI The University of Idaho and Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival will again offer slightly-used pianos for sale March 6-7, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday. The student and professional stage pianos come from the non-profit Pianos for Students...