Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 51
The concept of a 51st state with a division of Washington along the crest of the Cascades has surfaced again. Reports on the concept, which has been around the block a few times in the past, surfaced in two recent editions of Colville's Statesman Examiner newspaper. One report noted a large crowd gathered at the Colville's Agricultural Trade Center to hear State Rep. Matt Shea, a Republican from District 4 in Spokane Valley, introduce what he called eight steps to freedom in order to bring about a state split and create Liberty State. In Shea's...
Cherry Alice Van Tine, a member of the Late Bloomers gardening club, presented a request at the May 7 city council session for $3,836 to replace the wooden sign at the back corner of Codger Park with a monument. The sign, which had previously been scheduled for repainting, has deteriorated to the point where it has to be removed. The $3,836 sought is the cost quote from Colfax Monument for replacing the sign with a stone monument which would duplicate the inscriptions on the sign. Van Tine pointed out the number of people who stop to see the...
Coroner Annie Pillers May 9 reported Christopher Brown, the Rosalia resident who was found dead at the scene of a one-car accident north of Tekoa last Friday, died of cardiac arrest. The finding was made after a coroner's investigation of the cause of death. Pillers reported Brown had underlying heart disease. A medical cause was suspected at the accident scene because the car Brown was driving did not sustain extensive damage. Mr. Brown was driving northbound when he failed to negotiate a curve on Highway 27 just south of Fairbanks and went...
Dan Harder of Colfax collected first prize money for the annual Lake Pend Oreille K & K fishing derby by boating a 18.54 pound rainbow trout during the nine-day event which concluded May 6. Harder landed the giant fish after a 45-minute battle off Indian Point across from Garfield Bay. The K & K tourney pot totaled approximately $4,000 with 387 anglers putting up $50 each to enter. Harder noted he has entered the derby many times, but this was his first win. The number-two fish in the nine-day...
Colfax baseball players, who wrapped their NE title string last Tuesday at Medical Lake with wins over Kettle Falls and Asotin, will face Kittitas/Thorpe in the first game of the regional baseball round at Wenatchee Saturday at 10 a.m. Kittitas/Thorpe qualified as the number-three team out of the Central Washington League. The Colfax-Kittitas game will be followed by the Tri Cities Prep-Liberty Bell game. Winners of the first two games will play for the regional ticket to the state final four next week at Centralia. The Wenatchee regional is...
Colfax booked a comeback win and then sustained a decisive loss Tuesday at the Merkel softball complex in Spokane to win entry into the state finals next week at Yakima. The district finish contrasts with last year when the Bulldogs were jolted by Springdale in the last round of district play. Colfax Tuesday posted a 13-8 win over Kettle Falls, number-two finisher in on the NE north side. They then sustained a 15-0 pounding from Northwest Christian, a team which finished the NE undefeated this year and carries a top rating into the big show at...
Colfax senior Chance Weitze booked a 79 Monday on the par 72 Chewelah course to take the NE championship with a 150 total for final round at last week’s sub-district. Dawson Strobel of Tekoa/Rosalia, who led last week after the first round, finished with an 82 at Chewelah for a 152 total and second place overall. Augie Allenbach hit 80 in the Monday round and finished one stroke back of Strobel at 153 overall. Bennett Gray carded 84 for and eighth-place finish at 164. Weitze, Allenbach and Gray all qualified for the NE top 11 which will a...
Kirk Douglas Lee, 37, former resident of Albion, was sentenced to nine months in jail Friday in superior court after pleading guilty to a charge of trafficking in stolen property. The property involved was hydraulic equipment which Lee had stolen from the Town of Albion. He is a former town employee. The plea also involved thefts from a Colfax area residence where Lee had been employed on a construction job. According to the arrest report by Deputy Paul Reavis, he received a report from Albion's public works director that he had discovered a...
Colton sophomore Kian Ankerson leads off first on the way to a 12-1 win. The Colton Wildcats are again one of eight 1B baseball teams left playing in Washington in mid-May as they travel to meet Naselle High School Saturday for a state quarterfinal game in Winlock., Wash. Game time is 1 p.m. Colton advanced by beating Cusick May 12 in an elimination game in Colbert. The Wildcats opened the postseason the week before with a 15-7 loss to Odessa. Naselle, in Pacific County, is a logging town just...
Colton split two games at Medical Lake May 12 to advance to a state-qualifying game Saturday against Selkirk at 12 p.m. back at Medical Lake. Last weekend, meeting Sunnyside Christian first, Colton’s Emma Schultheis pitched all seven innings and had three base hits in the 9-6 win. Other hits came from Jordyn Moehrle, Josie Schultheis, Abby Kelly, Taylor Thomas, Rylee Vining, Addison Kinzer (triple) and Maggie Pluid. On the mound, Emma Schultheis gave up eight hits with three earned runs, four walks and seven strikeouts. Playing again in the D...
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers announced Thursday she introduced language that could provide a way for the Port of Whitman to exchange land with the Army Corps of Engineers. “We’re really in just the very beginning,” said Joe Poire, Port executive director. McMorris Rodgers introduced the Port of Whitman Economic Expansion Act which Poire explained is a necessary first step to even start the conversation about the possible transfer. The last time an exchange like this happened between the port and corps, the Port of Whitman had to install a 400-a...
The Lessons Learned presentation by Tony Nelson, Spokane Fire District #8, set for May 17 has been cancelled. Nelson was set to speak about lessons learned from the Freeman High School incident in Colfax this evening. The event was cancelled because Nelson has been deployed to Omak and Okanogan County to help with the emergency response due to flooding. According to Whitman County Emergency Management, which was hosting the event, the presentation will be rescheduled....
The City of Palouse has a signed a contract for the final phase of the Brownfields environmental cleanup, moving a step closer to selling the Main Street lot to private ownership. City council members May 8 approved an expenditure for $7,500 to their longtime consultants Maul Foster Alongi, an engineering and consulting firm, to facilitate the process to transfer the site to new owners. Based in Seattle, the firm will now help Palouse market the quarter-acre lot, which has already drawn...
Endicott second/third graders at Kamiak. When the month of May moves in, Janel Goebel at the Whitman County Parks Department rolls to elementary classes in Endicott and Colfax to teach the three-day Environmental Education Program. “I don’t know if I’m willing to give it up; this is way too much fun,” she said. Last week Goebel was in the Endicott second/third grade class on two separate days with a trip to hike Kamiak Butte the day between classroom visits. The two classroom sessions are abo...
No Discover Pass will be needed June 2, 9 and 10. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission invites the public to enjoy three free days at state parks in June. On free days, visitors don’t need a Discover Pass for day-use visits by vehicle. The first free day is Saturday, June 2, in recognition of National Trails Day. The next free day is Saturday, June 9, to celebrate National Get Outdoors Day. The third free day is Sunday, June 10, which is the second day of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (WDFW) Free Fishing Wee...
A mobile collection unit from the Inland Northwest Blood Center will be at the Colfax Library Friday, May 18, from 1:45 to 5 p.m. to receive blood donations. Those present to give blood can be entered to win a BBQ four-burner gas grill. www.inbcsaves.org Appointments can be made by calling toll 800-423-0151 or online at www.inbcsaves.org. Priority is given to those with pre-scheduled appointments. Walk-ins will be seen on a first come, first served basis with photo I.D. required. The entire list of eligibility criteria can be found by...
The final count for the 2018 St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event at Colfax High School for childhood cancer research is more than $16,000 in donations. The goal was $15,000, set by student ASB leaders who organized the campaign. An assembly for head shaving was held April 19. It was the fifth time the event was held at Colfax. The St. Baldrick’s program began in 2000 with the first head-shaving event in New York City. It has since funded $234 million in childhood cancer research grants....
The Perkins House Ice Cream Social will be Sunday, June 24, from 1 until 4 p.m. at 623 N Perkins Ave, Colfax. The event will feature Ferdinand’s ice cream, homemade pies, live music by the Snake River Six, vintage cars, a fashion show and tours of the Perkins House. Everyone is welcome. For more information, visit www.whitmancountyhistoricalsociety.com or call 509-553-9729....
From left, Keith, Cash, Rye and Julie Niehenke on stage. Rye and Cash hold their prizes from placing in the Regional Fiddling Contest. It is safe to say that twins Cash and Rye were born into music. Their parents, who had both logged long musical careers already, formed the band “The Hankers” after getting married. Their father, Keith Niehenke, had been touring and playing fiddle for some big names for more than 20 years and mother Julie had been performing as a professional anthem singer. Whe...
Granite Point can be seen beyond a station which supplies bags to “pack out what you pack in” for visitors to the Army Corps of Engineers’ owned location. The jutting rock of Granite Point on the Snake River three miles upstream from Wawawai County Park is back open after closing in the aftermath of a crowd of hundreds leaving litter and graffiti April 27. After an initial cleanup by the Walla Walla District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an assist from WSU and University of Idaho...
The sheriff's office last week announced the death of K-9 Unix May 4 at his residence. He had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer during a regular checkup the prior week. Unix was nine years old. A German Shepherd, Unix had been serving with the sheriff's office since 2011 and over the past seven years has patrolled with Sgt. Keith Cooper. He had participated in hundreds of drug detection searches. Sgt. Cooper and Unix were recently featured in a public demonstration for youngsters at The Center in Colfax. Unix was cremated and...
Two interlocal agreements with seemingly no connection are being tied together and causing consternation for Whitman County commissioners at the county and port. The two interlocals are for the PCC Rail Authority and Martin Hall Juvenile Center. The PCC is a four-county interlocal that makes decisions on rail business and provides direction to the Washington State Department of Transportation for rail improvements. The four counties involved are Whitman, Grant, Lincoln and Spokane. Port of...
The Colfax school board will consider written documents May 23 detailing all proposed changes to the junior/senior high school as part of the $18.9 million bond passed in February. District architect Ned Warnick will present the text which is to focus on what changes may be made to the junior/senior high school building. “We’ll touch every part of that building, even if it’s just with a brush of paint,” said Warnick. If the board approves, Warnick and Design West of Pullman will move on to the s...
Whitman County Commissioner Michael Largent, District Three, left, shares a joke with Sandy Jamison, county auditor candidate, as they file for election on-line in the elections office Monday morning. Behind, Sheriff Brett Myers glances over as he enters the office to file likewise. The Whitman County Elections office was a popular place Monday morning at 9 a.m. as candidates turned out to file for this year’s election. Monday was the opening day for candidate filing which will end May 18 at 4 p...
The annual Garfield May Day celebration returns Saturday. The day-long town event is on Armed Forces Day each year. The schedule begins with the Boy Scouts breakfast, now run in conjunction with the Awanas, a local church group, at Garfield Middle School from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. A 5K color run follows, beginning with check-in at 7 a.m. at the city park. The run starts at 8 a.m. Participants will pass through “color zones,” in which they will be sprayed with non-toxic powder. Cost is $25 for adu...
