Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Ideal weather on Sunday, June 2, set the stage for a large turnout of bikes and trikes for the ninth annual Colfax Ride For A Cure. The event is a fundraiser for cancer research. Although the final tally is not yet available, approximately $4,000 was raised this year, with $1,111 of that coming from raffle ticket sales for a quilt with a design that honored the caregivers of cancer patients. About 130 riders traveled the 125 mile route on approximately 80 machines through springtime vistas in...
Discussions are underway between county commissioners and Mark Storey, Public Works director, about putting the question to voters whether to raise the road tax collection rate for residents of unincorporated areas. The county’s annual road levy is allowed to increase one percent per year, by state law. “We are losing buying power over the years,” Storey said, citing increasing costs of three to four percent each year. “We’re falling behind on our ability to supply rock to maintain gravel ro...
A Colfax city move to reinstate Rick McNanny as police chief, issue him back pay since the date he was terminated Jan. 17 and then demote him was rejected by the Colfax Civil Service Commission in a session Tuesday afternoon. The commission session on their normal first Tuesday meeting day featured arguments from attorneys for both sides, with McNanny and Mayor Todd Vanek seated at opposite tables before the three-member commission. Leslie Cloaninger, retired Colfax lawyer who chairs the commission, said she didn't believe the city could take...
Last agreements are coming in on the delayed Almota Four road work, including one which county agents obtained from a hospital patient in Puget Sound. On Tuesday, two county representatives, one of which is a notary, drove west, where an Almota Four landowner is in the hospital. The woman, who had expected to be released and back to the Palouse by this time, requested she sign the papers from where she was. In turn, county right-of-way agent Dan Hall and Brandon Johnson, administrative...
Palouse city councilman and school board member Chris Cook is the lone candidate to replace Michael Echanove, the city’s four-term mayor. Cook submitted his name to run during the initial filing period in May. “I was approached by a number of different people and, in the end, in talking to others who may have been interested, circumstances and timing for other folks didn’t work out,” said Cook. “So I put my hat in the ring.” A 14-year Palouse resident and eight-year school board member, he...
The 40 graduates of the Colfax High School class of 2019 each received a special gift from Principal Carrie Lipe, who will be leaving the district after serving here for three years. The miniature Bulldog figures lined the front of the stage during Saturday's hour-long commencement ceremony. Lipe said she selected a Bulldog model which included a construction hat to mark the year that remodeling commenced at the high school. Air conditioning at the high school gym was not functioning Saturday, and most of the overhead lights were left off...
Kody M. Schneider, 21, the Moscow resident who was originally charged with robbing the Bud Hut marijuana shop along the Pullman-Moscow Highway April 8, was sentenced to 60 days in jail Friday morning after pleading guilty to a charge of second-degree theft in superior court. The charge against Schneider was reduced to theft after an investigation led deputies to believe the clerk at the Bud Hut, originally thought to be a victim of the robbery, was alleged to be a cohort. The store clerk, Jeremy West, has also been charged with second-degree th...
A July 12 date for a plea and sentencing of Ashley Myers, who faces a charge of murder, was set Friday morning in superior court. Myers was placed on the court docket for Friday, and met briefly with her attorney, Steve Martonick, who asked for the delay. She was charged with fatally shooting Kenneth Allen, 55, Coeur d'Alene, last Sept. 28 while he sat in a car parked near the intersection of Airport Road and Highway 26. Myers, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, has undergone extensive psychological examination, and negotiations...
A Pullman woman escaped injury May 29 when the pickup truck she was driving malfunctioned at the bottom of the Palouse Highway grade into Colfax. The driver of the runaway truck managed to roll across all four lanes of Main Street before hitting a service truck parked on the one-block section of W. Canyon. Colfax officer Perry Tate said the 1979 Chevrolet pickup was moving at a slow speed, but the driver could not get it to stop. The driver was Gaudencia Mbithe, 29, Pullman. Tate said the truck collided with the front wheel of one of the...
By Madysen McLain Gazette Reporter Bob Clements, St. John/Endicott ag teacher, will retire this year following a 29-year career for the St. John/Endicott High School. Clements said he began teaching after he farmed for four years in the Endicott area and obtained his college degree. A close friend, who had farmed with Clements, recommended he become the ag teacher for St. John/Endicott. “I wanted to do something close to farming,” Clements said. “Becoming an ag teacher was as close as I could get.” He also taught ag in Tekoa for one year. A...
Summer is on for annual town-sponsored events in Whitman County, with Rosalia's Battle Days last weekend, which followed Garfield's May Day on May 18 and the St. John Stock Show & Community Fair April 25-28. Colfax first Thursdays start June 6. Town celebrations will continue with Tekoa's Slippery Gulch Days June 14-15, LaCrosse Farm Festival June 21-23 and Oakesdale's Old Mill Days July 12-13. Pullman's annual Lentil Festival will be Aug. 16-17 and Palouse Days will be Sept. 13-14....
Rosalia school board members discussed improvement projects for the summer and watched a Rosalia senior demonstrate his senior project at Thursday night's meeting. Marshal Howard, Rosalia School maintenance employee, reported there are two projects to be completed this summer. The school board approved all the school windows to be replaced. Steve's Glass in Colfax gave the lowest bid of $44,000 for all windows, Howard said. The windows will be vinyl sliders, and are believed to be more...
State representatives Mary Dye of Pomeroy and Joe Schmick of Colfax stopped in at the Whitman County Gazette last Friday for a discussion about the completed session in Olympia. “I'm probably happier than I've been,” said Dye of what she thought of the session overall, which ran from Jan. 14 to April 28, with a new budget agreed to 20 minutes before midnight. “I think we gave voice to our constituents.” She noted things she was happy about, as well as some things she was not – items from Governor Jay Inslee, also a Democratic candidate for pres...
The Whitman County Public Health Department and WSU recently formed a partnership to create a medical hub in Pullman in the event a major outbreak were to occur. Sarah Blatner, WSU emergency management coordinator, said the partnership was signed into effect in mid-May. If a major public health outbreak happened, like a large group of people with measles, the partnership would allow face masks, medicine and immunizations to be distributed. The measles outbreak in western Washington has been a concern for eastern Washington, but the medical hub...
Gavin Merritt, Rosalia high school senior, started his running career in middle school, but it wasn't until high school when he began to succeed. At the state track meet in Cheney last week, Merritt placed second in the 3200 and fifth in the 1600. Last fall he placed third at the state cross country meet. Merritt said his inspiration to run came from wanting to be better than his brother. "I wanted to be like my brother," he said. "I wanted to be fast." Merritt said his brother, Gage, competed t...
Colfax baseball players have converted to the summer season with players on five different teams. McDonald Park will be a stopping point for most of the teams as the Legion and Babe Ruth teams roll through the season. Colfax Coach Scotty Parrish is head of the Bulldog’s Babe Ruth team made up of 13 through 15-year-olds. The team has already played five games and has posted a 4-1 record with a sixth game booked Wednesday night. The Colfax team, which includes St. John recruits, is competing in the Moscow Babe Ruth league. The league is made u...
No football team will play this fall for Garfield/Palouse High School. After seven senior players graduated last Saturday, the number of interested kids was too low to field an eight-man team. Scott Thompson, athletic director, and other school officials made the decision not to have a team in 2019. The Garfield, Palouse and Pullman school boards are now in the process of approving a combine to allow Garfield/Palouse students to go out for football at Pullman High School. Combines may be set...
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 EYES TRAILS LINKUP Councilman Blaine Golden reported at Monday night's city council session that park board members plan to meet with Colfax Golf Club members to discuss linking up the trail segments at McDonald Park and on the dike along the North Flat. The McDonald Park trail starts at t...
The D-Day landings took place in Normandy France, June 6, 1944. That was 75 years ago during World War II. The landings were a great gamble. They were a do or die situation intended to gain a foothold in Europe for the United States and its allies and to open a second front against Nazi Germany. Thousands of troops landed on the Normandy coast of France. Thousands parachuted behind German lines. Those on the beaches faced the daunting Atlantic Wall, a series of defenses that the Germans had been preparing for years. It was a massive effort....