Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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COLFAX – At the Monday, May 4, Whitman County Commissioner workshop, county commissioners discussed what it would take for Whitman County to apply for county variance. County variance would allow Whitman County to have the opportunity to move to phase II of the governor’s reopening plan before the rest of the state. Initial requirements to apply require the county to have a population less than 75,000 and three weeks of no new COVID-19 cases. Whitman County would need to wait until May 13 before being able to start the process to apply for cou...
About 25 people gathered outside the Whitman County Courthouse at 3 p.m. May 1 as part of the Freedom is the Cure rally protesting the governor's Stay Home order. Business owners showed up to hold LET US WORK signs. Other signs read 'Save our Business,' 'Open Washington Business,' 'Living in fear is not living' and 'This COVID-19 is Smart. It knows the difference between a grocery store & a hair salon.' Many wore shirts that read Shelter this bitch #notstayinghome. All three county...
COLFAX – Whitman Hospital and Medical Center was approved for a $3,303,562 Small Business Administration loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. In a special meeting with the Commissioners of Whitman County Public Hospital District No. 3, Abby Smith, WHMC chief finance officer, presented to the hospital's board of commissioners the terms and potential risks behind the loan. Resolution 20-02 was presented to the hospital commissioners on whether WHMC should move forward with the loan or n...
More than half of Whitman County’s initial $338,000 in spending cuts in response to COVID-19 budget impacts will likely come from the Sheriff’s Office as other departments also planned for reductions of up to 5 percent. County Administrative Services Director Gary Petrovich previously estimated an approximately $600,000 drop in sales tax revenue for the county’s 2020 budget due to COVID-19 closures. A tentative plan for budget reductions would impose cuts to nearly all of the county’s 23 departments. Sheriff Brett Myers confirmed about $200,00...
The flora and fauna of Steptoe Butte and the surrounding land soak up the sunshine and make for prime targets for photographer Kent Bassett....
COLFAX – The cancellation of the Perkins House Ice Cream Social, set for June 21, was announced April 20. Yet plans are still in the works for Colfax Crazy Days July 11. Why are the fates of two events so close together so different? The answer has to do with the people behind the event and the planning that goes into it. “You have to look behind the scenes,” said Colfax Unified Executive Director Val Gregory who is involved in the planning of both events. The big difference is there is a vast...
Precipitation in April came in almost one inch below average. A total of 0.54 inches was measured at the NRCS station with eight recorded rain days in the month. Average at the station is 1.5 inches for April. Top precipitation days were April 23 at 0.24 and April 6 at 0.17. April 6 was a Monday, so the total would include the accumulation over the weekend. May started off better than any day in April with 0.28 recorded over the weekend at the Colfax station....
The Pullman School District will receive $275,000 from a Volkswagen settlement for an electric school bus. The funds come via a state Department of Ecology grant, part of $12 million from a VW emissions settlement. The funding is intended to cover the cost difference between an electric school bus and a traditional diesel bus, but some of the grant can also be used to pay for charging equipment as well. Pullman was the only school in Whitman County and one of only two in eastern Washington to...
WHITMAN COUNTY – On Tuesday, May 5, Washington State Parks and lands managed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife were allowed to reopen. As warm weather sets in and the feeling to get outside increases, there are plenty of hikes available within the county to keep drives short and support social distancing. Steptoe Butte State Park- Located between Steptoe and Oakesdale, Steptoe Butte offers a 6.4 mile, moderately trafficked out and back trail that is suitable for all skill levels. T...
WHITMAN COUNTY – With the ban on hunting and fishing lifted May 5, sportsmen are already able to finally get outdoors to engage yet again in the struggle of man versus nature. This time of year, the most plentiful option is for fisherman with five county waterbodies already stocked or scheduled to be stocked with rainbow trout. Rock Lake is the largest year-round water body in the county. Located northwest of St. John, it was scheduled for catchable trout plants in May and October, but has not r...
COLFAX – Whitman County Commissioners received two final courthouse/jail upgrade scenarios from McKinstry Co. at their Monday, May 4, workshop. The first scenario presented included roofing upgrades to the courthouse and plumbing and lighting upgrades to the jail. The roofing upgrades would include repairing and replacing roof sections with water damage, installation of Tremco roof restoration system and installation of roof access ladders to improve roof accessibility and safety. Jail plumbing upgrades include replacing all existing penal f...
COLFAX – As of Monday, May 4, the Whitman County Solid Waste Facility is accepting "self-haul" waste from residents who use credit/debit cards for payment. "The previous exchange of either cash or checks was too risky for solid waste facility staff just due to the amount of people they come in contact with during a single given day," said Whitman County Public Works Director Mark Storey. According to a press release from the Public Works Department, anyone who is self-hauling and wishes to p...
COLFAX – With the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order from Governor Inslee extended until the end of May, Whitman County Auditor Sandy Jamison said the Auditor's office will continue to accommodate those who need their assistance, but will be operating as they have been, closed to the public. While the Auditor's office is only operating behind closed doors, this does not mean work has slowed or stopped. In preparation for this fall's elections, candidate filing has begun and work continues. In Whitman County, offices that are open for elect...
For anyone familiar with geocaching, the May 5 lifting of the ban on outdoor recreation is like a late anniversary gift as it was May 3, 2000, when the original geocache was placed in Beavercreek, Ore. Now this union of treasure hunt and great outdoors has grown to include more than one million caches worldwide – some even in the towns and country roads of Whitman County. With the right devise and coordinates, anyone can turn a walk into a treasure hunt, whether they are hiking Kamiak Butte o...
America’s unemployment rate is suddenly approaching historic levels. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began almost two months ago, roughly 30.3 million people have filed for jobless benefits. “That is more people than live in the New York and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and it’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. It adds up to more than one-in-six American workers,” Associated Press writer Christopher Rugaber reported at the end of April. However, the Economic Policy Institute (EP...
Pet Peeves People who talk all the time and don’t listen. People that talk ALL the time and do not do their work. Talk less...work more... QUIT TALKING!!! LISTEN FOR ONCE!! The new publishing of the district court filings. When strangers throw residential garbage in other’s commercial bins....
Colfax building permits: David Bennett, sewer line repair, W. Cooper St., April 2. Purpose Roasters, install gas piping and vent, S. Main St., $500, April 7. Spencer Clawson, 8,000 square foot pole barn, N. Palouse River Rd., $75,000, April 8. Shelly Elkins, install drain, plumbing, water heater, S. Main St., April 10. Alexander Otero, sewer line repair, N. Perkins Ave., $500, April 16. Greg Harizon, install mini-split unit, S. Main St., $4,048.97, April 28. Colfax Cemetery, install backflow device, $4,200, April 28. District Court filings:... Full story
COLFAX – Bruce Blood has worn one uniform or another the majority of his adult life. Now he is donning another as the interim Chief of Police. Blood was born and raised in Spokane. When he graduated high school in 1972, the Washington State Patrol had a requirement that troopers be at least six feet tall. At five feet, seven inches, Blood could not apply and joined the Air Force. He served as a navigator on a B52 bomber, including one year with the United Nations serving in Israel and Syria a...
Kenneth Robert Hames, 91, our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away on April 27th, 2020, at the VA community living center in Spokane, of natural causes. Ken was born in Sprague, Wash., to Luther and Vevean (Johnson) Hames on February 13, 1929. He was the fourth of six children. Ken spent his childhood in Lamont and moved to Rosalia in 1942. While at Rosalia High School he met Veva Jean Kjack after she fell out of a pick up on the way from the school to the... Full story
COLFAX – In the fall of 2019, a countywide community-based task force was established to build resiliency within communities, educate and train community members to identify early-on common mental health issues, develop effective interventions and responses to suicidal crisis and provide support after a death by suicide. “We see the wake of trauma that follows suicide,” said Annie Pillers, Whitman County coroner. “We decided to reach out broadly to help the community.” She said when the task force was formed they realized the first people to...
PULLMAN – Two women were booked into Whitman County Jail for possession of heroin April 30 following a traffic stop. Whitman County Deputy Tyler Langerveld pulled over a U-Haul vehicle on SR 195 near Armstrong Road for speeding just after 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning. The driver, Teleshia Reynold, 30, Lewiston, allegedly stated she realized she was speeding. Seated in a lawn chair on the middle of a cab with no seatbelt was Katrina Taylor, 50, of Clarkston. Both exhibited signs or recent heroin use and Deputy Langerveld observed drug p...
ALBION – Whitman County deputies served a search warrant May 1 to seize any and all cats from a home in Albion. Deputies worked with the Whitman County Humane Society and Pullman Animal Control to retrieve 20 cats that day from the home. Approximately 30 more were voluntarily placed with the Humane Society from that residence during the previous 10 days, according to a Whitman County Sheriff's Office release. The Humane Society contacted the Sheriff’s Office about two weeks ago with concerns that there was ongoing animal neglect at the residenc...