Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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The fate of two parks on the Snake River remains in question as federal officials continue to try to find someone to run them. Both parks are owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Last month, the corps sent out a call for someone to run the parks after their previous operators cancelled leases. Gina Baltrusch, press agent for the corps’ Walla Walla office, said that call did not net any solid responses. “We had three people poking at it, but nothing really concrete,” she said. The firms that have run the parks, Northwest Land Manag... Full story
Palouse senior Ben Weagrass helped count coins for the drive. Wanting to help with the relief efforts in Japan, school students in Palouse and Garfield spent five days digging through their piggy banks, dresser drawers, couches and their parent’s pockets. Penny by penny, the money came clinking in; $501.02 to be precise. Their coin drive raised half the total contributions that have so far been made to the Whitman County Red Cross Disaster Relief for the crisis in Japan. Jars and jars of coins lined the classroom of teacher Chris Bofenkamp w... Full story
Second and third graders watch a car they made of tinker toys gain speed down a ramp at Palouse Elementary School. Teacher Jay Iverson said the children were learning how inclines and simple machines work. Iverson timed each car and the students then modified their creation to try for a faster time down the ramp.... Full story
THURSDAY Two flights landed without incident after being stranded in the air when the lone air traffic controller working Ronald Reagan National Airport fell asleep on the job. Robert Rizzo, the former city administrator for Bell, California, at the center of a pay scandal over his $1.5 million in annual salary and benefits, pleaded not guilty in court to 50 counts of fraud, including misappropriation of public funds, falsification of records by an official custodian and conflict of interest. A vampire sex film starring famed Mexican wrestler...
Colfax mother Makayla Butler holds her new baby, Serenity, born March 20. Approximately 200 mothers or soon-to-be mothers in Whitman County are now receiving ongoing breastfeeding tips through a new county program. A $13,000 grant to the county’s Women Infants and Children program, or WIC, is paying for four peer counselors to work part-time with mothers on breastfeeding. Administered by a county nurse, Joy Grey, the program began in early March. Most WIC offices throughout the state received grant funds for the program. Peer counselors each h...
Central Ferry has turned into a boomtown since the Snake River shipping route re-opened last Friday. Barges, trucks and cranes sprouted up like winter wheat after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ended the longest-ever shutdown of the river shipping route. “It’s looked like Portland around here, there’s been so many barges,” said Bill Leonard. Leonard has a birds-eye view of Central Ferry from his seat high above the barge loading spout at Columbia Grain’s Central Ferry loading terminal. Grain is loaded into a Tidewater barge at Columbia... Full story
Schools around Whitman County are finalizing staffing plans in preparation for the May 15 deadline to issue Reductions in Force layoff notices, also known as RIFs. Whitman County schools took a $1,417,405 hit this school year, as a result of the legislature’s special session in December. Those cuts, along with uncertainties in the present session of the state legislature, may mean layoffs for some districts. The $1,417,405 reduction resulted after legislators in December cut two school programs; K-4 enhancement and EduJobs grants. Educational S... Full story
After a wait of six years and expenses of nearly two-thirds of a million dollars, Whitman County will turn on its 2005-vintage accounting software Monday. “We’ve got the oars rowing and the sails blowing and we’re heading right toward that shore,” said Chris Nelson, director of the county’s Information Technology department. The New World system replaces the existing software, which has been used by the county since 1984. County employees have been training for the past several weeks in seminars. This week in particular has seen intensive...
NOTICE OF CALL FOR BIDS BID FOR LIQUID ASPHALT WHITMAN COUNTY STATE OF WASHINGTON Sealed bids will be received on the following proposal by the Board of County Commissioners of Whitman County, State of Washington, at its office in the Whitman County Courthouse in Colfax, Washington, until 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time, on April 7, 2011 at which time they will be opened and publicly read in the Public Service Building, Conference Room A. Handicap access is available at the Mill Street entrance. Each bid is to be separately sealed in an envelope...
LaCrosse teachers Matthew Wysock and Nathan Conrath had a Blue Monday this week as part of a student project to help fight malaria in Africa. For Wysock’s environmental sciences class, Junior Annie Fleming organized a fundraising drive for the Nothing but Nets charity organization, which provides malaria nets for families in Africa. “Diseases in third world countries are not something you think about that often in your school science class,” Fleming told the Gazette Tuesday. Students and their blue-haired teachers proudly show off a donat... Full story
Radiation from nuclear power plants has been detected in the U.S. Are you scared about the effects of black rain containing nuclear particles?...
Colfax Public Works supervisor Andy Rogers reported he has located a light standard to replace the one which was downed in front of the Eagles Lodge last year. The light was one of the vintage style light standards which were installed in the downtown district in the 1998 rebuild of Main Street. Rogers said he spotted the pole at Harrison Electric where it had been stored for the city since the construction project. City crew members had been unaware that a surplus pole was in town....
A motion to compel production of audit reports in the grass seed contract suit has been filed against the Scott’s Company. Spokane Attorney Karl Kime filed the motion on behalf of Dye Seed Co., Pomeroy, one of the defendants in a suit filed by grass seed growers in this area. The motion contends The Scott Co. has cited their audit reports in its court motions, but “no substantive reports” on the audit have been made available to Dye. Scotts, Dye and Seeds, Inc., of Tekoa are co-defendants in the suit. Scotts has contended growers inval... Full story
Linda Schmidt A new business, Lotsa Stuff, opened this month in Tekoa and will share space with Scrappers Getaway which has been open since 2009. Linda and Lloyd Schmidt hosted a grand opening for the new business which sells hand-made knick knacks and other home decorations. Schmidt said her range of items, from her hand-made soap to sterling silver jewelry, justifies the Lotsa Stuff name of the new business. “I try to have the gifts priced so Tekoa can afford it,” Schmidt told the Gazette in an interview Monday. Schmidt has taken over run...
Perfect time Good silver tarnishes with age but becomes bright again with a polishing. School buildings do not work that way! Our school has been the setting for the education of hundreds of students with bright, shiny futures, preparing them to go out and conquer the world! Those students and their success have been the source of decades of pride for the communities of Farmington and Oakesdale. We continue to have wonderful young students accomplishing great things. Our buildings, however, have seen better days. We have patched, painted, and...
Washington voters have made it more difficult for state lawmakers to hike taxes by requiring a two-thirds majority to do so. The Legislature’s response? Increase fees, instead. Gov. Gregoire has ordered state agencies to cut their budgets and streamline their operations, saying, “State government cannot conduct business as usual.” But instead, some agencies want to offset their agency’s budget cuts with higher fees. Fee hikes require only a simple majority vote in the Legislature. As a result, lawmakers are considering $350 million to $450 mi...
The ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan has sparked new conversations about how to meet future energy needs here in America. A new blanket of fear cloaks nuclear plants. Since the Three Mile Island disaster, this country has turned away from nuclear generating plants. Then, as anxiety over nuclear plants was easing, the Fukushima plants went into meltdown. Wind power, solar power and natural gas will not be enough to provide energy for the country. Alone or in combination, they fall short of demand. Coal, of course, is environmentally suspect...
Colton’s Josh Straughan threw a five-inning shutout on the way to a 10-0 shutout of neighbors from Genesee last Thursday at Colton. Straughan fanned seven of the Bulldogs, and Colton defenders scooped up seven more infield grounders. Straughan stopped the Genesee lineup with 72 pitches over the five innings. Matt Becker, Justin Meyer and Jake Straughan each had two of the eight Colton hits. Becker doubled for the lone extra-base hit. Garfield/Palouse baseball players split with Pomeroy on the Pirate’s field Friday. The Vikings took a 10-5 win i...
High school golf made its debut in windy Whitman County Tuesday afternoon with the Pomeroy boys and St. John/Endicott girls claiming top honors in a three-team match at the St. John course. Eagle Michal Schuster claimed the girls medal with a 46 round on the nine-hole par-36 course. Casey Brown of Tekoa/Oakesdale/Rosalia shot a 39 to take the boys’ medal. The Eagle girls team totaled 160 strokes to best the Nighthawks’ 219. Pomeroy boys shot 230 to top SJE’s 266 and TOR’s 304. On the boys side, Joel Myers of Pomeroy shot 41 for second, followe... Full story
The History Channel * On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, marries English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Va. Pocahontas had been kidnapped and used as a hostage for peace negotiations. By the time she was released, she had fallen in love with John Rolfe. * On April 9, 1859, a 23-year-old Missouri youth named Samuel Langhorne Clemens receives his steamboat pilot’s license. During his time as a pilot, he picked up the term “Mark Twain,” a boatman’s call noting that the river was onl...
Coaches get okay Colfax school board Monday night approved the hiring of three assistant coaches for spring sports. Randy Daniels and Todd Neu were approved for assistant positions in track. Daniels coaches jumping events and Neu is the new weight coach for the track team. Shana Largent was approved as an assistant softball coach. She will coach the girls jayvee team under Coach Terry Eng. Track Coach Jason Cooper has also recruited volunteer coaches to help due to the turnout of 64 students for the track team. Stevenson tops golfers Tyler... Full story
Runners and fans enjoy a few minutes of sunshine Saturday morning during the awards ceremony for the No Longer Orphans fun run in Colfax. The event benefited efforts by area couples to adopt orphans from overseas. A No Longer Orphans fun run at Schmuck Park in Colfax Saturday morning benefitted Robi and Lance Warwick of Pullman who plan to adopt a child from Russia. Also, Craig and Caylene Knox of Colfax were scheduled to depart for Ethiopia this week to finalize adoption of a brother and sister. The youngsters will probably arrive here after...
Colfax baseball and softball seasons remained stalled under a general case of the rainout blues with the turf at McDonald Park going into sponge mode. Latest scratched date was Tuesday when the Bulldogs were booked to open the league run with softball and baseball games at Reardan. That game date was rolled back to Wednesday, although rains remained Wednesday morning. Ready for the big scoreboard. Three giant girders have been mounted outside the fence at McDonald Park to support the big scoreboard which Colfax acquired from Gonzaga...
Waitsburg/Prescott boys and the Asotin girls won team honors March 23 when SE track teams from both B divisions assembled for an “all comers” meet at Clarkston. The Cardinal boys rolled up 118 points to edge Asotin by 22 points. Asotin girls took team honors for their side of the ledger with 128 points. The St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse combo placed second with an 82.5 Jessica Hardy took the 200 and placed third in the 100 sprint for the Eagles. Heather Siegel won the 3200 ahead of Courtney Perry of TOR. Annie Bailey won the javelin throw. Sam...
Bailey Mackleit and Taylor Lange fly over the first row of hurdles in the first Bi-County meet Tuesday at the Schmuck Park track. Hannah Knaak, right, placed third for the Bulldogs. Jaylene Hall is at left. Colfax girls posted a 46-point margin Tuesday when five Bi-County teams and Odessa-Harrington collected for the season opener on a cold Schmuck Park track. The tracksters competed in a strong wind which pushed northbound sprinters during the day. Reardan took the boys team win with a scant half point over the Bulldog boys. The Indians... Full story
