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Articles from the March 27, 2013 edition


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  • Scaroni wins L.A. Marathon, women’s wheelchair

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Mar 27, 2013

    Tekoa’s Susannah Scaroni won the L.A. Marathon with a time one minute off the course record. On the first weekend of her spring break, she got up at 4 a.m Sunday morning and went to Dodger Stadium. A couple hours later she won the L.A. Marathon. Susannah Scaroni of Tekoa took first in the Women’s Wheelchair Division, her first marathon win in a racing career which includes the 2012 Paralympics in London. “It was a beautiful day, I just really loved the course,” said Scaroni. “A lot of hills, I...

  • Colfax golfers win at home

    Mar 27, 2013

    The Colfax High School boys’ golf team played Tuesday at home in a three-team match, posting the lowest total score of 219. Davenport was second with 258 while Northwest Christian had 263. Hunter Weitz led Colfax with a nine-hole score of 39 while Cody Groenning shot 42 and Casey Johnson tied a Davenport golfer with a 43. Other results included Ryan Christopherson (48), Chris Koenig (47), Cole Neu (57) and Michael Clinton (82). “I think we’re doing good,” said Colfax coach Chris Gorton. “We’re pretty young. Our top six players are three sopho...

  • T.O.R. softball team starts 4-3

    Mar 27, 2013

    The Tekoa-Oakesdale-Rosalia softball team is 4-3 in the new season under first year coach Whitney Bowerman. The team had its first league competition Saturday, March 23, with a double-header at Waitsburg-Prescott. They lost 17-2 in the first game followed by a 3-1 win. The second game provided the highlights as Alexa Lindgren went 4-for-4 with a double and pitcher M’Kenna Willey allowed no earned runs. Also last week, the team traveled to play Lind-Ritzville-Sprague and won both games of a double-header. In the first game, Mackenzie Reddish w...

  • Weather stops Southeast meet

    Mar 27, 2013

    The onslaught of spring weather last Wednesday led to cancellation of the SE District track meet for 1B and 2B schools at the Clarkston High School track last Wednesday. Colfax Coach Jason Coopler said Clarkston experienced 55 mph winds, snow, hail and lightning. The weather onslaught made it too dangerous for track competition. Baseball and softball games Thursday also were canceled because of weather....

  • Gar-Pal softball off to strong start

    Mar 27, 2013

    After winning five games last year to finish third in a four-team league, the Gar-Pal Vikings softball team has already won five this year. Playing in Garfield Tuesday night, the Vikings (5-2) beat Troy in extra innings when Cassie Martin hit a game-winning shot for a 6-5 final score. “It probably would’ve been a triple,” said fourth-year head coach Steve Witthuhn. “It was smoked out there.” Martin did not need to finish the play because the run she drove in ended the game. The hit was her third of the afternoon. On the mound, Chandler...

  • SJELW track team posts high marks at Dayton

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Mar 27, 2013

    A six-team 1B/2B track meet was held in Dayton on Friday, March 22, which was a make-up for one canceled due to weather in Clarkston the previous Wednesday. In a cold day featuring sun and clouds and occasional snow flurries, the Dayton event concluded with the boys 3200 meter race and the girls 4X400 relay held in snow thick enough to obscure the view of the runners in the far reaches of the track. In team scores, St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse-Washtucna (SJELW) took first place for the girls while...

  • Gar-Pal baseball team back at it after year out

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Mar 27, 2013

    Gar-Pal High School is back on the baseball field this spring after not being able to finish the season last year. The Vikings have started with 3-4 record after a 12-1 win over the Asotin junior varsity Monday. Wyatt Mitchell, Jesse Lopez and Cole Sanderson all had two hits in the game while Wyatt Griner pitched three innings, giving up one run on one hit with three strikeouts. Lopez pitched the other two innings in the five-inning game (10-run rule), giving up no runs on one hit, with two...

  • Colfax’s Jacobs allows one hit in win over Eagles

    Mar 27, 2013

    The Bulldogs’ Brent Becker fouls off a ball in the third inning at Endicott Monday. Becker, John Mellor, Brady Ellis, Garrett Burke, Jeff Davies and Mark Webber all had hits in the 10-0 win. Patrick Jacobs fanned 15 batters and allowed just one hit Monday when the Bulldogs traveled to Endicott to play the SJE-LW Eagles in a non-leaguer. Colfax blanked the hosts 10-0 over six innings. Wyatt West rapped a double for the lone Eagle hit on the day. He tagged the hit with one out in the sixth before the game was shut down on the 10-run rule. C...

  • FFA students teach ag classes to youngsters

    Sally Ousley, Gazette Reporter|Mar 27, 2013

    Jennings Elementary School third graders learn how nitrogen affects the environment. Above, Colfax FFA students let the youngsters get their hands dirty by letting them see how the ocean becomes polluted. Even through snow, rain and wind, nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of Colfax High School FFA students as they taught grade school students about nitrogen. Brian Long, FFA advisor, said this is the 10th year the group has organized an Ag Day. Long said the FFAers lead first- through sixth-graders through activities that taught them some...

  • Weitman benefit set

    Mar 27, 2013

    A benefit for John (Glen) Weitman will be Saturday, April 6, at the Colfax Eagles Banquet Room. The benefit includes a spaghetti feed from 5 to 7 p.m. at $5 per person. A silent auction will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Weitman was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer last November....

  • Newly remodeled Grillbilly Cafe in LaCrosse gears up for April 17 opening

    Mar 27, 2013

    LaCrosse’s new restaurant, the Grillbilly Cafe, will open Wednesday, April 17. Owner Dionne Evans said Tuesday that remodeling the 100-year-old building has been a challenge. “We ran into more technical difficulties,” she said. New lights are now installed in the cafe and plumbers were working in the cafe on Tuesday. Evans said after talking to residents, she has adjusted the hours the cafe will be open. Grillbilly will be open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and the second and fourth Sunda...

  • Whitman, Palouse conservation districts combine for annual plant sale April 5-6

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Mar 27, 2013

    Drew Schuldt, natural resource coordinator for the Palouse Conservation District, tends to conifer tree seedlings stored for the district’s April plant sale. The seeds came from the Palouse and the seedlings were grown in Western Washington. Now they are stored in Pullman in a refrigerated former ocean-cargo container for the annual Whitman/Palouse Conservation Districts’ Plant Sale. On April 5-6 in Pullman, the two districts will sell an array of conifers, shrubs and flowering bushes inc...

  • March for Meals slated for April 13

    Sally Ousley, Gazette Reporter|Mar 27, 2013

    The eighth annual March for Meals in Whitman County will be Saturday, April 13, in Colfax and Pullman. The fundraiser is a walk held in Colfax at the CHS track from 10 a.m. to noon, and in Pullman at the Mooberry track from 1 to 3 p.m. Suzy McNeilly, nutrition program director for the Council on Aging, said the walk will include prizes in several different categories. Walkers are encouraged to get pledges as well as cash donations. “Five dollars can feed a senior,” McNeilly said. Last year they raised more than $14,000 and all funds rem...

  • LaCrosse, Tekoa, Palouse projects on clean water list

    Mar 27, 2013

    The Washington Department of Ecology has selected 72 clean water projects to receive a share of approximately $162 million in loans and grants starting in the state’s next fiscal year beginning July 1. Included on the list are projects at LaCrosse, Tekoa and Oakesdale. The funding is contingent on a final state budget. Projects include upgrades and expansion of sewer plants and collection systems; septic system improvements, water re-use facilities; water protection and cleanup projects; stormwater projects; stream-side restoration projects a...

  • Auditors point out flaws in Election Office contracts

    Sally Ousley, Gazette Reporter|Mar 27, 2013

    A recent federal audit found that Whitman County did not comply with two state and federal requirements, but county officials say they began correcting the flaws even before the audit. Whitman County spent $108,134 through its Help America Vote Act grant to remodel its Election and Voter Registration Office in Colfax in 2011. For federally-funded construction projects that exceed $2,000, the Davis-Bacon Act requires contractors to pay federally mandated prevailing wages to workers. Construction contracts must require payment of prevailing...

  • Over the top

    Mike Day|Mar 27, 2013

    The Rosalia Fire Department completed the first of two days of rope rescue training last weekend. The volunteers worked off the former Milwaukee Railroad Bridge, now part of the John Wayne Trail at Rosalia, rappelling and rescuing “victims” hanging halfway down the bridge. They also spent time setting up haul systems. The training will continue Saturday....

  • Easter Bunny ready to go

    Mar 27, 2013

    The Easter Bunny made a stop at Jennings Elementary School last Wednesday before this Saturday’s Colfax egg hunt in Schmuck Park at 10 a.m. The event is put on by the CHS League, a service organization, with prizes for three divisions: ages 1-4, preschool to first grade and second grade through fifth grade. Pictured are Jennings students and siblings from first to fifth grade, Hannah and Cole Baerlocher, Hayden and Hope Fulfs and Lauryn and Kierstyn York. See the Page 2 calendar for more egg hunts....

  • Malden: Missing teen believed dead, three arrested

    Mar 27, 2013

    Donavan Stapert, the 17-year-old Malden teenager who was reported missing March 8, is now believed to be dead and three people have been arrested to date on probable charges. Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said deputies now believe the youth died at a Malden residence and his body was later moved from the residence. The sheriff’s office March 8 issued a missing person report on Stapert. At that time deputies gave a description of what Stapert was wearing. Deputies said they believed he could have been going to Spokane or Grants Pass, O...

  • 3/28/13-Legals

    Mar 27, 2013

    NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS Whitman County, State of Washington April 2013 Special Election The Canvassing Board of Whitman County, pursuant to RCW 29A.60.160, will hold public meetings at the dates and times listed below. The meetings of the Canvassing Board are open, public meetings under the applicable provisions of chapter 42.30 RCW, and each meeting shall be continued until the activity for which the meeting is held has been completed. April 3 – April 23, 2013 Processing of Ballots 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Whitman County Election Department - 304...