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Articles from the March 22, 2012 edition


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  • Seasonal visitors at Heyburn Park

    Mar 22, 2012

    Majestic Tundra Swans glide in for a landing during their seasonal stopover at Heyburn State Park east of Plummer on Lake Chatcolet. These swans Sunday were feeding at the lagoon next to the parking lot for the new headquarters building at the park. The swans arrived at the lake about a month ago and are nearing the end of their seasonal stopover before they conintue their migration north....

  • New Bluegrass suit filings contest 20-cent bonus

    Mar 22, 2012

    Another round of filings in the Kentucky Blue Grass growers damage suit was logged March 14 in superior court. Seattle attorneys for Scotts Company LLC filed a motion for the court to drop a revised claim for damages filed against them by some of the growers. The growers’ amended damage claims seek payment of an additional 20 cents per pound some of the growers have alleged due under a bonus provisions for seed produced in the 2009 and 2010 production years. Scotts response contends the 20-cent bonus was not included in modifications of c...

  • Letters

    Mar 22, 2012

    All about sales tax In the Gazette dated March 15th, there was a letter from a resident of Moscow who argued against the proposed Hawkins development. As has been noted in the editorial of that same date, the decision by the Board of County Commissioners to have county government bear a heavier burden to finance the infrastructure has stirred controversy. As the previous Whitman County Planning Director, now retired, my opinion of the matter has been solicited by a couple of county residents. I desired originally to keep my opinion to myself,... Full story

  • County to update flood plain ordinance

    Mar 22, 2012

    Whitman County commissioners approved Monday morning a new ordinance governing development around flood plains. The previous ordinance was deemed to be out of compliance by officials within the state Department of Ecology. Planner Alan Thomson said the Federal Emergency Management Authority, or FEMA, requires certain language about the agency’s flood programs be written into county code in order for those who own homes in flood plains to receive federal disaster assistance in case of floods. Thomson said language for the new ordinance was taken...

  • Spokane Seed to add shed at Cashup

    Mar 22, 2012

    Spokane Seed Co. plans to build a 3,000-square-foot building at the company’s elevator facilities at Cashup. The 20-foot tall building will be used to distribute seed stock. Whitman County’s board of adjustment will hold a public hearing on a conditional use permit for the seed shed and several possible future improvements at the Public Service Building tonight. In addition to the seed shed, the conditional use permit will give Spokane Seed the county’s preliminary approval to build two more 60-foot grain bins, a 1,200-square-foot scale house... Full story

  • Good Old Days

    Mar 22, 2012

    8 years ago March 25, 1887 With the sunshine and flowers of the season come thoughts of a city park, a much needed place of resort for our citizens. We need a park and now is the time to secure necessary ground. Sid Benton has erected a windmill on his Island Street residence property which supplies water for various purposes about the premises. The outfit will render gardening a pastime. C.B. Hopkins is engaged in organizing an electric light company in which the business men of the city manifest an interest that insures putting in of a...

  • Don Brunell: Paying more for less

    Mar 22, 2012

    When you talk about state health insurance exchanges, people’s eyes glaze over. (See, it’s happening right now.) The subject seems far too complicated and confusing. But we need to talk about them because, as you read this, state bureaucrats in Olympia are making decisions that will affect the cost and availability of your health care benefits. Your insurance company isn’t taking part in the state exchange? It doesn’t matter. The rules will still affect your choices and your costs. State exchanges are a creature of the federal health care la...

  • My Son's Research Paper

    Mar 22, 2012

    My Son’s Research Paper Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2007. When my son was in grade school, his favorite homework assignment was the research paper, because he enjoyed really digging into a subject and making things up about it. Recently, I was searching for some vital documents that I knew I had carefully filed away under the heading “Important Stuff.” Unfortunately, that’s where I file everything, including old grocery lists (well, groceries are certainly important, aren’t they?), so I was forced to s...

  • Gordon Forgey: Hiring a local police chief?

    Mar 22, 2012

    Colfax’s police chief will be retiring soon. The city has been advertising for candidates. In fact, the application deadline is Monday. All the professional requirements of the candidates will be scrutinized. Naturally, too, the personality, philosophy and demeanor of the applicants will be taken into account as will their perceived suitability for rural police work. Unfortunately, there is one factor that will not be considered. That is whether or not the new chief will live in Colfax. Local residency is not a city requirement. It cannot be a...

  • Adele Ferguson: Jay Inslee's chances said slim in gov's race

    Mar 22, 2012

    WELL, THIS TIME I guess he really means it. When Democrat Congressman Jay Inslee announced last year that he was going to run for governor again this year (he ran in 1996 and lost in the primary and was hinting at another try in 2004 but got cold feet) my response was I’ll believe it when I see it. But resigning his 1st district seat effective March 20 to devote fulltime to his guber (I really hate the word gubernatorial) campaign proves this is where he hopes to go. Personally, I don’t think he can beat Republican Rob McKenna who is giv...

  • Bulletin Column

    Mar 22, 2012

    These reports are from the previous four 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. PULLMAN ‘TAGGER’ SENTENCED Gilberto Villalobos, Jr., 22, Pullman, was sentenced to a year in jail with all but 30 days suspended after he pleaded guilty Friday to two misdemeanor charges of malicious mischief in superior court. He was allowed to work off the jail sentence with 240 hours of community service and was ordered to pay $7,121 in fin... Full story

  • Schuster tops SJE golf start

    Mar 22, 2012

    St. John/ Endico-tt’s golf squad opened up defense of the girls team’s state title Tuesday afternoon in a four-school scramble over a par-36 nine-hole course at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Clarkston. Michal Schuster, top returnee for the Lady Eagles, took the medal in girls play with a 40. Team scores for the girls were not tallied. Schuster’s 40 matched boys medalists scores for Riley Bott and Joel Meyers of Pomeroy. SJE took five girls and six boys to the match, hosted by Asotin. The Eagle boys placed fourth in scoring with a combined 182 f...

  • Trivia Test

    Fifi Rodriguez|Mar 22, 2012

    1. LANGUAGE: What is the meaning of the Latin phrase “novus ordo seclorum,” located on the Great Seal on a U.S. $1 bill? 2. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: What is the name for a seashell collector or expert? 3. ART: What Mexican muralist was married to Mexican painter Frida Kahlo? 4. COMICS: What was the name of Casper the Friendly Ghost’s horse? 5. SPORTS: Where did the sport of jai alai originate? 6. GEOGRAPHY: Where is Death Valley located? 7. TELEVISION: Which PBS documentary series featured the song “Ashokan Farewell” as its theme music? 8. MEDICINE:...

  • SPORTS QUIZ

    Chris Richcreek|Mar 22, 2012

    1. Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro set a record in 2010 for most RBIs in a major-league debut. How many did he have? 2. In 2011, Atlanta’s Brian McCann became the second person in major-league history to have a pinch-hit, game-tying homer in the ninth and followed with a game-winning home run. Who was the first? 3. Who was the last coach of the Houston Oilers before Jeff Fisher took over in 1994 and the team eventually moved to Tennessee? 4. Entering the 2011-12 season, Kentucky was the No. 1 team for total victories in Division I college...

  • Youth League uniform issue day upcoming

    Mar 22, 2012

    Colfax Youth League uniform nights for fitting and ordering will be next Monday and Tuesday, March 26 and 27, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the kitchen area of the Public Service Building. Participants in senior and junior softball teams, and major, minor and Babe Ruth baseball teams are required to attend....

  • STRANGE BUT TRUE

    Samantha Weaver|Mar 22, 2012

    • It was Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw who made the following sage observation: “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” • We’re all familiar with the act of CPR — we often see a film or television character come to the rescue and save a life using the technique. And on TV, according to a recent study, CPR is shown as being successful 75 percent of the time. The reality is not quite so rosy, though. A study conducted in 2010 found that when CPR is used in real life, only about 8 percent of... Full story

  • Records

    Mar 22, 2012

    MARRIAGE LICENSES Christopher M. Haartshorn, 41, Germantown, Maryland, and Maria V. Rosales Soto, 37, Pullman, March 19. Osvaldo J.B. Alcantara, 19, and Elise A. Fenich, 18, both Pullman, March 19. WHITMAN COUNTY BUILDING PERMITS Ryan Morris, LaCrosse, home remodel, $5,000, March 19. Bill Swannack, Lamont, re-roof, $11,000, March 19. Bill Stern, Garfield, mobile home, no value listed, March 13. Rod Mills, St. John, pole building, $16,000, March 12. Robin Widman, Rosalia, new home, $17,500, March 8. COLFAX BUILDING PERMITS Steve Warwick, air... Full story

  • Eagle girls place second in big Central Idaho meet

    Mar 22, 2012

    The Eagle girls Saturday placed second in the big Central Idaho invitational at Lapwai with 91 points, just 6.5 behind the win posted by the big Grangeville team. The Eagle boys finished in sixth place with an even 50 points behind the Grangeville winners who tallied 110. Garfield/Palouse/ Colton boys booked 12 points, and the girls finished with three, all from Colton senior Grace Druffel who placed 15th in the 100 sprint and sixth in the 300 hurdles. SJELW girls who booked wins included Sami Bailey in the 1600 with a 6:08.9, Heather Siegel in... Full story

  • Colfax track team pegs strong start at WV meet

    Mar 22, 2012

    With a lot of the competitors back from a solid track season last year, Colfax Coach Jason Cooper looks for more good things in the coming season. Cooper’s crew marked their first outing last weekend at the big West Valley Invitational which included 15 teams on the guest list, including some of the biggies in the Spokane area. Colfax girls finished in ninth place with 80 points behind a power win by the Cheney Blackhawks who rolled up 283 points in the big meet. Lone win for the Bulldogs was a 5:27.6 booked in the 1600 by Morgan Willson who re... Full story

  • Bulldog baseball squad rocked in spring debut

    Mar 22, 2012

    Spring training rust showed up in the final frame as the Colfax nine got rocked at Asotin 10-0 in the season opener Tuesday afternoon. “It’s spring. We’re still trying to get a good feel for it,” said Coach Mike Parrish. Starting pitcher Patrick Jacobs put up five strong innings, but early season rust set in the sixth as the Panther bats caught up with his fatiguing arm. “Patrick pitched a real nice game. He just got real tired there in the sixth,” said Coach Parrish. With backstop Brent Becker calling the game, Jacobs struck out four in jus...

  • Three seniors get farewell at Colfax girls hoop dinner

    Mar 22, 2012

    Colfax girls honored three seniors Tuesday night and presented team awards to put a cap on another Colfax basketball season. The Bulldogs girls were again stopped short in a season which saw the Bi-County league compete under the shadow of the undefeated Reardan Indians who defended their state 2B trophy on championship night at the Spokane Arena. Colfax was bumped out of the playoff hunt after they lost to Reardan in the District 7 title game and then lost to Northwest Christian the next night for the last chance ticket to the regional round....

  • Seven Bulldog seniors get farewell on the wake of 2B champioship run

    Mar 22, 2012

    A unique boys basketball celebration which hasn’t been marked in Colfax since 1979 was observed Monday with seven seniors seated at the head table and the state B championship globe on its own table off to the side. The seven seniors wore special matching state championship T-shirts. Below the trophy was a “have no regrets” motto, first announced by one of the seniors before the start of the season. “It’s not over,” Coach Reece Jenkin, who took over as Colfax coach when this year’s seniors were freshmen, commented. “We will always have the...

  • The World

    Mar 22, 2012

    THURSDAY After 244 years, the Encyclopedia Britannica is going out of print, citing its obsolescence in the digital age. Final version of the leather-bound reference books once sold by door-to-door salesmen is the 32-volume 2010 edition, which weighs 129 pounds. Greg Smith, a Goldman Sachs executive, resigned with a scathing editorial exposing the firm as greedy profiteers who referred to their clients as “muppets.” Smith, who noted he won a bronze medal for ping pong in the Jewish olympics, also criticized the sun for rising in the east. A G...

  • State GOP chair urges on the troops

    Mar 22, 2012

    “We need you to turn out in big numbers to stop those wild-eyed, drug-crazed Seattle liberal hippies,” Washington State GOP chair Kirby Wilbur of Duvall implored Whitman County Republicans Sunday. Wilbur was the featured guest at the grand opening of the local party’s 2012 campaign headquarters on Bishop Blvd. in Pullman. High turnout will be key, he said, for Republican candidates to take over seats at the state and federal levels. Particularly, he added, gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna, who is campaigning against Democrat Jay Insle... Full story

  • Offer in Hawkins suit still awaits reply

    Joe Smillie, Gazette Reporter|Mar 22, 2012

    Almost a month has passed since the attorney for a citizen group suing Whitman County offered to drop a portion of the suit, and the county has yet to respond to the offer. Timothy Esser, the Pullman attorney for the Organization to Void Illegal Conduct or OVIC, said his clients will drop a charge that commissioners violated the state’s open public meetings act if the county’s legal bills were paid by the developer for whom the county has pledged to build $15 million worth of infrastructure. The open meetings violation is one of three arg...

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