Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 48 of 48
During the 1992 presidential campaign, then-candidate Bill Clinton famously intoned, “I feel your pain,” an attempt to reassure voters he understood what they were going through. Since then, similar statements of empathy have become a staple for politicians. But they don’t always ring true for every constituent. Take small business owners, for example. Most elected officials have no idea what it’s like to risk everything you have or to struggle to meet payroll for your employees and their families as waves of new regulations threaten to drow... Full story
President Barack Obama signed an executive order last week to authorize a commission to make recommendations to improve our elections. Some people take it as an attempt to federalize the elections and attribute nefarious motives to the order. Others say the goals of the commission are too modest and won’t solve the real problems. Regardless, our national elections have been a mess. Results are often questioned. Too many different ballot forms exist. Some have been declared difficult or misleading and prone to error. Too many different c...
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. CITY BUYS POOL ADA LIFT Colfax has purchased a lift which will provide access to the city pool for the handicapped. The lift was purchased in anticipation of approaching ADA regulations which require handicapped access. The electric powered Freedom 2 lift, which features a boom arm, has been purchased from Lincoln Equipment for $2,829, less...
The St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse-Washtucna track team traveled to Pullman last Wednesday for a nine-team meet, with the girls taking third and the boys finishing fifth. St. John junior Heather Siegel won the 3200 meters with a time of 12:34 and took second in the 1600 in 5:55. Annie Bailey, another St. John junior, threw the javelin 108 feet for first. The SJELW girls relay team then finished third in two races. Gail Harder, Madison Harder, Gretchen Van Lith and Annie Bailey ran the 4x100 in...
Colfax and the LRS Broncos booked a split Tuesday in the opening NE league round at McDonald Park. The visiting Broncos took the first game 4-2, and the Bulldogs pegged a 10-0 shutout in the second game with senior Brady Ellis throwing a three-hitter. The league split left the Bulldogs at 4-2 overall with a trip to Reardan set for Saturday to play two more NE rounds. In the second game Ellis struck out nine Broncos and walked just one. He was backed by 11 Colfax hits. Mark Webber led the Colfax offense with two singles and a double. Ellis had...
The Colfax wrestling team, which operated during the season in cooperation with St. John and Garfield/Palouse, had a season ending banquet last Wednesday. Colfax wrestling letter winners included Mitch Barney, Tyson Rogers, Reggie Jones, Dalton McNeilly, Brendan Lord, Brian DeYoung, Evan Lord and Ray Compton. Other participants were Nick McAdams, Brandon Arneson and Arron Arneson. Thomas Newton received an SJE letter and Trapper Askins, Kevin Knauff and Josh Miller, received Garfield/Palouse letter awards. Colfax wrestling awards included team... Full story
The Gar-Pal Vikings baseball team traveled to Touchet last Friday and came back with two losses, 13-0 and 12-3. In game one of the doubleheader, Jesse Lopez hit a single for Gar-Pal’s lone hit. He also pitched the first three innings, giving up seven runs on four hits with two strikeouts. Hunter Woltering took the mound in the fourth and allowed six runs on one hit and one strikeout. Wyatt Mitchell then finished in the fifth inning for no runs on no hits with a strikeout. “We didn’t look very good defensively in the first game, which is new,... Full story
A trip to Touchet proved not to be a trip to bountiful for the Gar-Pal girls softball team last Friday, March 29. Playing a doubleheader, the team lost both games, 17-0 and 10-5. Statistics included eight errors in the first game and 10 in the second. "So our defense fell apart," said Gar-Pal coach Steve Witthuhn. What about other stats? "I don’t have much," Witthuhn said. "I didn’t look. I was too depressed." He indicated that the difference in the second game was the Vikings hit the ball better against Touchet’s second pitcher. Chand... Full story
For G’s a jolly good Feller, which nobody can deny. Colfax High School’s Brandon Gfeller was named by the Associated Press as Washington’s 2B Player of the Year. For the 1B girls, Colton junior Jenna Moser was named Player of the Year after leading the Wildcats to their fifth straigth state championship, a record streak for any classification. Colton senior Paige Vincent was also named to the first team. Gfeller, a senior, is committed to play for University of Montana next year....
Colfax softball team hammered the Lind/Ritzville/Sprague Broncos in two shutout games Tuesday at McDonald Park in their first league double header. The Broncos, who are starting their season without a returning pitcher, bowed 24-0 in the first game and 10-0 in the second game. Colfax booked the the two shutouts after taking two defeats last Thursday when they traveled south to Walla Walla to play DeSales. The Irish, who derailed Colfax in the quarter-final round of the state finals last year at Yakima, have most of the same squad back this...
The St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse-Washtucna track team traveled to Pullman last Wednesday for a nine-team meet, with the girls taking third and the boys finishing fifth. St. John junior Heather Siegel won the 3200 meters with a time of 12:34 and took second in the 1600 in 5:55. Annie Bailey, another St. John junior, threw the javelin 108 feet for first. The SJELW girls relay team then finished third in two races. Gail Harder, Madison Harder, Gretchen Van Lith and Annie Bailey ran the 4x100 in...
On a sunny day in Colton last Saturday, in the bottom of the seventh inning, Jordan Druffel drove a base hit to left field to score Jake Straughan. The run gave Colton a 5-4 win over previously unbeaten Grangeville. It was the first game of a doubleheader which preceded a 10-3 loss. “It’s nice to beat Grangeville, at least once,” said Colton coach Pat Doumit. “In dramatic fashion. It would’ve been nice to parlay that into a second win on the day but that didn’t happen.” Druffel led the Wildc...
On a sunny day in Colton last Saturday, in the bottom of the seventh inning, Jordan Druffel drove a base hit to left field to score Jake Straughan. The run gave Colton a 5-4 win over previously unbeaten Grangeville. It was the first game of a doubleheader which preceded a 10-3 loss. “It’s nice to beat Grangeville, at least once,” said Colton coach Pat Doumit. “In dramatic fashion. It would’ve been nice to parlay that into a second win on the day but that didn’t happen.” Druffel led the Wildc...
Tekoa Empire Theatre committee is seeking more hands. President Cheryl Morgan said she plans to resign next year and hopes to get a successor lined up early enough to train. In addition, Morgan said the 10-member committee seeks a sound and light person and helpers for advertising and booking. “We deliver about a 100 flyers around Whitman County, Idaho and into Spokane for every event we have,” said Morgan. Morgan, who has lived in Tekoa all her life, said she plans to keep involved with the...
Colton High School horticulture class is growing plants for the Colton FFA plant sale April 26. These include six-inch pots and 10-inch hanging baskets with ivy and zonal geraniums along with calibrachoa and other plants. The class is also growing an assortment of annual bedding plants such as petunias, pansies, moss roses, marigolds, impatiens and lobelia.... Full story
The first day of spring was celebrated March 20 at the Colfax library with a workshop. After the basic tips for early spring yard work, class attendees made hanging planters. Plastic liter bottles with part of the bottoms cut off were used. The bottoms’ edges were lined with colored duct tape, four holes for the rope were punched into the edges, then the containers were filled with a soil and compost mix. A colorful mix of trailing pansies were planted in the containers. Judi Gray, Whitman County Recycling coordinator, said people this time of...
Students from Jennings Elementary School in Colfax planted trees as part of a conservation effort to avoid runoff from the hill to Clay Street. At right, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Private Lands Biologist Eric Lewis shows animal skulls to students before the planting begins. Below, two of the students carefully plant a shrub into the Palouse soil....
A New York-by-way-of-Palouse artist will be featured in a show and reception at the Bank Left Gallery in Palouse April 13. Ariel Zakarison, a graduate of Pullman High School, grew up on her father and grandfather’s farm south of Palouse and is now a graduate student at Hunter College in Manhattan. She will show 13 pieces at the Bank Left, including paintings, prints and a lithograph. Some of the work on display will be abstract landscapes from Zakarison’s memories of Whitman County. She has liv...
Daffodils show bright yellow against the green grass and an old wagon wheel on a farm on Union Flat. Warmer temperatures made the flowers bloom and farmers were out in the fields fertilizing and seeding. Deer were also seen feeding in a meadow on Tuesday afternoon. The warm temperatures are due to give way to cooler weather with a chance of rain later in the week.... Full story
Finders of the prize eggs at the Colfax Easter hunt Saturday took time out for a trophy picture with the CHS League rabbit. From the left are Katie Trump, who found the lucky egg in the pre-school section of the hunt; Kaelyn Gfeller, who found the prize egg in the toddlers area, and Cole Baerlocher, prize finder in the grade school area of the hunt. Mason DeBolt, at right, used a few pre-start seconds to check out the Easter bonnet option that came with his basket.... Full story
Whitman County commissioners in the next few weeks will be interviewing applicants for two main county jobs to replace one position. With the impending retirement of county Public Health Director Fran Martin, 67, who also oversees the emergency management department, commissioners decided to divide her position in two. “We’ve talked about splitting the position for two years,” said Commissioner Michael Largent. “We asked ourselves if emergency management was tied to public health and the answer is no.” The emergency management departmen...
The third suspect arrested in connection with the death of Donavin Stapert, 17, March 6 in Malden, made an appearance in superior court Monday. Bail for pre-trial release on Bobby J. Bilderback, 44, Malden, was set at $1 million. Bilderback, who was brought to jail here Friday after he waived his extradition rights in Montana, had not been formally charged as of Tuesday. In the warrant issued for his arrest, the state said his arrest was sought on probable charges related to the death of Stapert at Malden, March 6. They included controlled...
Easter egg hunters in the grade school division charged off for the far reaches of Schmuck Park Saturday morning after hearing the start whistle. The youngsters spent a few anxious minutes waiting for the sound after Judy Moore, CHS League advisor, told them to wait for the whistle. The egg hunt was sponsored by the Colfax High student group....
