Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 51
#!*! Since the city chopped down the river walk trees, the singing birds have left. YYYY Freshly graded county roads. #!*! County residents who print offensive signs to get driers to slow down. Send your Pet Peeves and Okeydokes to the Gazette P.O. Box 770 211 N. Main St Colfax, Wa 99111... Full story
The Colfax School District will run its new levy proposal in April. Its first levy attempt failed last month amid taxpayer dismay over the amount of money being requested and concern over other school issues. This time the district will ask for less, eliminating the cushion for loss of equalization money from the state. With the reduced request, the new levy proposal will be in the ballpark of past levies—levies that were overwhelmingly approved. At this point, many of the concerns voiced by community members and patrons of the district at t...
Chris Gorton of Albion has been hired to coach the Colfax High School golf team this year. Gorton fills the position left vacant by the resignation of Jim Heilsberg. Gorton is known to Whitman County sports fans for his lengthy service as an official for football and basketball games. He stepped down after serving as a basketball official for 29 years, and he still calls a few football games. Gorton is a retiree from the Pullman Fire Department and is now employed by Pioneer Title in Pullman. He also has a lengthy record of coaching youth...
After winning the state title for girl’s volleyball the sixth year in a row, the Colfax varsity team was honored with a public proclamation of their success by District 9 Representatives Susan Fagan and Joe Schmick. The House passed a resolution in Olympia Feb 26 honoring the winning team. “I think it’s an honor to be noticed,” said Colfax volleyball coach Sue Doering, who has coached at the school for 22 years. Doering said Colfax has a strong program because the players work hard, she and fellow coaches have a good strategy for their program...
Bulldog boys battled through four games to bring home the eighth place trophy from this year's 2B tournament in Spokane. The trophy win was the first for the Bulldog boys since 1993. In front, from the left, are Kyle Johnson, Will Hatley, Brandon Hoadley, Tanner Gay, Brandon Gfeller and Manager Danny Robinson. In back are Coach Reece Jenkin, Dustin Huber, Assistant Coach Jeremy Bogle, Justin Berarducci, James Robinson, Caleb Bravard, Alex Teade, Ryan Conrad, Tyler McNannay, Andrew Scholz, and Assistant Coaches Jeff Robinson and Randy Daniels....
Colfax girls celebrate Saturday night in the Spokane Arena after defeating LaSalle 52-43 to end a four-game run in the state 2B tournament. The girls stacked a 14 point lead in the first quarter and held off the Union Gap team over the last three quarters. Colfax fans who watched the Bulldog girls break to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter of Saturday’s championship game against LaSalle probably asked themselves that question. For most of the season, Coach Corey Baerlocher’s "wear ‘em down" Bulldogs at some point notched up a lead and once...
The three night V-Day WSU benefit production of “The Vagina Monologues” raised over $9,000 and the majority of the proceeds will go to Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse. Also, a portion of this year’s proceeds will be donated to the Friends of the Orphans Haiti Earthquake Relief fund in honor of Molly Hightower, who was killed while volunteering in a Haitian orphanage at the time of the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12. Remaining funds will be donated to the women of the Congo, where systematic sexual violence is being used as a weapo...
The Port of Whitman County’s expansion of the long-term RV campground at Boyer Park and Marina will likely not happen this summer, Debbie Snell, properties and development manager, told port commissioners at their regular meeting last Thursday, March 4. The port is planning to turn a portion of Boyer’s day-use area into a 20-spot RV campground with electricity and water hookups. The agency had planned to begin construction on the project as early as this spring. Snell said the area needs to undergo a cultural heritage survey to determine if...
MARRIAGE LICENSES Andrew Lancaster, 23, Rota, Spain and Rochelle Duane, 23, Bremerton, WA, Feb. 25 Joshua Heim, 25, Walla Walla, and Vaness Saldivar, 23, Dayton, WA, Feb. 26 Matthew Bloshill, 25, Spokane and Meagan Robertson, 23, San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 26 Jason Kightling, 25, Prineville, Oregon and Nikkita Polley, 19, Baker City, Oregon, March 1 COLFAX BUILDING PERMITS Sander’s Apts., replace water line, 412 N. Mill, Feb. 22 Patricia Sessa, gas furnace, $4,485, 404 E. Fairview, Feb. 23 Craig Corbeill, gas heater, $2,032, 711 Vista Point D...
Katherine Cassidy, 31, Spokane, was unhurt Wednesday morning, March 3, when the 2006 Silverado pickup truck she was driving struck a deer on Highway 195 two miles north of Colfax. According to the Washington State Patrol report, she was driving southbound at 7:02 a.m. when the deer ran onto the roadway and struck the right front corner of the truck. Lance Tomiczek, 19, Converse, Texas, was unhurt when the 2001 Nissan Maxima he was driving struck a deer 15 miles north of Colfax Monday, March 1. He was driving northbound at 6:05 p.m. when the...
Colfax will pay a share of makeup funds under a plan from Cities Insurance Association of Washington, Ephrata, to comply with state Office of Financial Management requests. The plan involves retroactive assessments to make up a funding gap between 2002-2007. Mayor Norma Becker explained at the March 1 city council session that the assessment is based on reserves the insurance pool has been ordered to have on hand. The insurance pool had been able to pay off all claims. Beginning in August, members of the insurance pool will be required to pay a...
Lights fill up the Rosauer’s parking lot as Colfax police and an ambulance crew respond to a van-pedestrian accident. Officials were called to the scene at 6:58 p.m. March 4 after one person was struck by a Community Action Center van. The injured party was taken to Whitman Hospital for treatment of minor injuries and was later released.... Full story
In preparation for a possible award of federal stimulus dollars for transportation, Whitman County commissioners Monday approved the addition of four re-paving projects to the county’s six-year transportation plan. “Bring on the money,” said County Commissioner Greg Partch. Whitman County, Pullman and Colfax have applied again this year to receive stimulus funding. Those three were the only local entities to receive funding out of last year’s stimulus round. Deadline to submit project applications to state officials was March 1. State and loc...
THURSDAY A multi-national study published in the journal Science concluded a 9-mile wide asteroid smashing into Earth at Chicxulub, Mexico, is the only plausible explanation for extinction of the dinosaurs. The asteroid is thought to have hit Earth with a force a billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. An Israeli soldier was “unfriended” by the nation’s army after posting details of an impending West Bank raid on his Facebook page, causing abortion of the mission. Police in Odessa, Texas, went on a wild 30-minute chase...
Whitman County’s 2010 budget deficit swelled to $338,792 after commissioners approved the year’s first budget amendment Monday. Monday’s adjustment added $180,354 to the gap between revenue and spending. “We’ve got the reserves to withstand this,” said Commissioner Greg Partch. “But we’re going to have to watch it closely.” “We’re going to have to go back and take another look. I don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Commissioner Pat O’Neill. Commissioners are now considering using a portion of those reserves to cover the primary increase...
Five eastern Washington businesses sold alcohol to minors during compliance checks Feb. 25 conducted by the Washington State Liquor Control Board. Spangle Foods, Webb’s Empire Foods in St. John, Corner Chevron in Colfax, Tekoa Market and Bullfrog’s Country Store in Fairfield failed the compliance check. Two other businesses, Rosalia Market and McLeod’s Palouse Market, passed the tests. Liquor enforcement officers conducted compliance checks assisted by investigative aides between the ages of 18 to 20. They are instructed to present true ident... Full story
Whitman County’s attempt to establish laws regarding commercial wind turbine installations hit the doldrums again last week. The hangup came when Superior Court Judge David Frazier said he will need research time after a hearing on the process which led up to adoption of the law last November. Thursday’s hearing was on Prosecutor Denis Tracy’s motion to dismiss two appeals on planner Alan Thomson’s decision that the ordinance presents no significant environmental impact. Thomson made that decision before the Whitman County Planning Commiss...
Gazette Reporter Whitman County’s jailhouse has been a soggy bastille the last few years in which inmates and jailers alike count away the hours listening to drips in a bucket. The roof of the county jail is leaking badly. “We need a new roof real bad,” said Jail Capt. Bob Ingalls. The 26-year old roof has been leaking so badly that the ceiling, hit by leaks, has cracked in spots and is sagging. “It just doesn’t make sense to put on a flat roof in this country,” said Bob Reynolds, county facilities manager. “But it’s cheap to do it, so they...
Ronald Rutledge, Jr., 28, was arrested in Colfax March 2 as a suspect in the burglary of a storage unit on Valentine’s Day in Olympia. According to a report from Sheriff Brett Myers, a late model Dodge pickup truck which matched the description of a vehicle involved in the burglary had been spotted on Highway 195. The report said Rutledge was stopped on probable cause for involvement in the Rosalia burglary. They allege he admitted cooperating in the burglary. They also allege a small amount of methampetamine was found in the truck. An i... Full story
A story last week in the Gazette on the Colfax school levy discussion included mention of the status of long-time teachers who could retire. The story pointed out some of the would-be retirees would still be too young to qualify for Medicare benefits. Teachers who qualify for state retirement have the option of purchasing insurance through the State Department of Retirement Systems....
Days get even longer this weekend, as daylight savings time kicks in Sunday morning at 2 a.m. Clocks will move ahead one hour to 3 a.m. Daylight savings time was first proposed in 1895 by George Vernon Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist. Wikipedia reports traffic fatalties decrease during daylight savings. Daylight savings time has proven controversial over its history. Regions of Arizona do not observe the switch, and eight counties in Indiana switch from the central to the eastern time zone when the daylight savings switch... Full story
Two Whitman county sheriff’s deputies Monday received their scheduled pay raises, despite the disapproval of County Commissioner Greg Partch. Partch refused to sign routine orders authorizing the raises during Monday’s meeting of county commissioners. The raises would take effect whether or not they were signed by commissioners, but Partch said he wanted to “make a statement.” “I still think the deputies need to be a part of the solution,” said Partch, referring to the county’s budget straits. County employees are moved up a classificatio...
Druffel in battle fatigues gets ready to move out of his transporter to consult with an Iraqi judge. Knee-deep in a foreign world of battle gear, Arabic and thousands of miles away from home, Whitman County’s deputy prosecutor Bill Druffel is four months into his deployment in Iraq. In an e-mail interview with the Gazette from just outside Mosul, Druffel painted a picture of a military branch set on re-establishing an ailing nation and one Whitman county native who spends his days advising American soldiers on legal matters. He described Iraq a...
After almost a month of sometimes heated public debate, the Colfax school board Monday night unanimously voted to place a special levy request of $950,000 for next year and a $970,000 for 2012 before the voters April 27. “I am happy. I feel like we met our goal…I feel like the school board listened and did what they needed to do,” said Michelle Miller, former substitute teacher who was part of a campaign to reach voters after the levy failed. Voters in the school district rejected a $1.3 million levy Feb. 9. The district had proposed that...
Colfax girls Saturday night lined up under the special lighting of the Spokane Arena before their chamionship game with the LaSalle Lightning in the state 2B tournament. Each team ran a 3-0 mark over the first three days of the Spokane show before going into the championship round, the last of 52 games in the area. After the lights came back and the refs put the ball in play, the Bulldogs ripped to a 14 point lead in the first quarter on the way to a 52-43 title win to bring the big trophy back to Colfax.... Full story
