Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 57
#!*! Avista sending elderly people letters telling them they used more energy than their neighbors not using electric heat. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
"If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with bulls--t." That's just one of the rules of the Washington Swamp. A case in point is the statement from Marc Kasowitz, the New York attorney who has long represented private citizen Donald Trump in his various shady dealings, and who now has brought his hired gun to the really dark corners of the new Trump presidency. When James Comey, the former FBI director fired last month by Trump, testified about his dealings with the chief executive (who came across as The Godfather),...
Two Tekoa brothers won the Slippery Gulch Days egg toss with a toss of 60 feet Saturday in Tekoa. Eduardo, 17, and Esau Alonso, 15, outlasted an estimated 270 competitors, to make it to the last three teams, then two, then one. “We do have a third-place prize,” called out announcer Chris Smith. “It's that paper towel that was just handed to you.” After the Alonso brothers took first place, contest monitor Monte Morgan paced off 93 feet for an attempt to tie the Tekoa toss record. The record was set in 2014 by Jeff Bruce and Gabe Smith. Their e...
A contrast in fines and fees, and the trail of publicity they generate, surfaced this week in the run of news. One dealt with a couple of small fines here and the other dealt with a large fine, one of the largest on record, which really turns out not to be a fine. Monday the Washington State Department of Ecology posted a list of companies which had been penalized in the first quarter due to "non-compliance." The report notes Ecology works with thousands of businesses and individuals to help them comply with state law. The penalties are issued...
Al Kirkpatrick of Colfax hit a hole-in-one last Monday, June 12, on the Paradise Ridge course in Pullman. He used a five iron to ace the 191-yard sixth hole in a downhill shot with a strong wind in the direction of the drive. The ace was the second for Kirkpatrick in his golfing career. He was playing in a foursome with Colfax golfers Mark Johnson, Brian Johnson and Mike Roberts....
The slough launch area was busy for most of the day. These boats are in the 400 class, with Dwight Negraliff of Vernon, BC, in the 57 boat, and Skylar Smith in the 34 machine. For more pictures see Weekly Pages: June 22...
J.J. Robinson of Colfax was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 33rd round of the major league baseball draft last Wednesday, June 14. Robinson last week said he planned to catch a flight to Florida Monday to sign a professional baseball contract with the Twins. The team's spring training site is in Fort Meyers, Fla. "I'm pretty excited about going down there and starting my professional baseball career," Robinson noted. He added he wasn't sure what would follow signing of a contract, but he expected to undergo some type of orientation sessio...
Colfax Blue ended the senior league softball season with a run of four wins last weekend in the tournament at Pullman. Blue defeated Colton in the title game Saturday night. They finished 10-0 in league play before the run in the league tourney. In front, from the left, are Dani Getz, Olivia Ng, Helina Hahn, Justice Brown, Zoey Larosa, and Alyssa Mantz. In back, from the left, are Coach Dan Brown, Ellie Nails, Sam Larson, Karmen Akkeson, Perry Imler, Anni Cox, Delaney Imler, Abby Lobdell,...
Pullman Posse hammered the LC Tigers Tuesday night 16-1 to keep rolling in the Spokane Legion league. The locals rapped 10 hits at the Tigers and posted a 12-1 lead after three innings. The game at Quann Field in Spokane shut down after five frames on the 10-run rule. The Tigers booked six errors over the five innings. Posse pitcher Hogan Heytvelt, one of two Pomeroy players on the Posse this year, held LC to just three hits. He struck out three and walked just four batters in booking the big win. Kyle Appel of Colfax rapped a single and two...
Dan Morrison and Cara McGuire in the Wicked Racing 10 boat topped the unlimited class after four rounds of elimination runs in close competition Saturday at Webb's Slough in St. John. Dennis and Sam Hughes of Spokane in the Overkill boat placed a close second. The opening round for the American Sprint Boat season saw tough competition and some tough luck as drivers attempted to sort out new equipment in the first competition runs of the season. The opener before a huge crowd at St. John drew 23 boats with nine in the modified class, eight in...
Mel Craven and Jason Christ of Spokane, crew of the Showtime boat, greet four-year-old Ryan Hutchings during the drivers' parade at Webb's Slough Saturday. Dennis and Sam Hughes of Spokane set a new fast time in the early qualifications on this run in their Overkill boat. The first stop for the American Sprint Boat racers at the slough Saturday filled the terraces for a full day of racing. The sprint boats competed in three different classes with the fastest run on the course on the 30-leg...
A superior court jury June 14 found Tyler E. Hanson, 21, Pasco, not guilty of the burglary charge which was filed against him after Pullman Police investigated an alleged rape report early Oct. 31, 2015, on Spaulding Street in Pullman. The jury deliberated for approximately one hour June 14 after testimony and arguments concluded in the trial which began June 12 with selection of the jury. The alleged victim in the case said she was in bed at her boyfriend's apartment and waiting for him to return when a male entered the room and had...
When Starla Meighan graduated from high school and subsequently started college at Troy State University in Alabama, she remembers her picture being in the school newspaper along with a caption about her intended major. “When I was first out of high school, I got a scholarship to a local college, and I wanted to major in journalism,” she said. “It’s something I’ve always been interested in. I think I just knew I wanted to do something with writing. I wanted to tell stories.” That plan did no...
-Paige Collins photo The Council on Aging kitchen at the Colfax Food Pantry is down to bare bones in preparation for construction this fall. Volunteers from Catalyst Church assisted in clearing and cleaning up the space June 10. KACI Construction is contracted to do the kitchen work with a grand opening planned for after the first of the new year. According to Paige Collins, COA executive director, the main purpose of the refurbished kitchen is to relocate the Colfax senior meal to the building...
The town of St. John plans to be saving some green by going green. Last week the town was awarded a $413,414 solar grant for installation of a 100 kilowatt solar unit next to Well #5 which is located near the east entrance of town on the north side of Highway 23, near the former Arrow Machinery building. “The solar panel will essentially run that well,” said Mayor K.B. Trunkey. The grant was awarded by the state Department of Commerce and Avista. While the power produced by the solar panels will...
It is back. Colfax’s Haunted Hospital at St. Ignatius will soon return. The building two weeks ago was purchased by two Wisconsin residents. They purchased the building from Anthony Girges, who lives in California and had owned the building for about 15 years. The investor pair has decided to allow the Haunted Hospital to resume for the time being. “His goal is to have us use it until they figure out what they want to do with it,” said Valoree Gregory, Colfax unified executive director. One of the buyers was in town this week to evaluate the b...
With two of the season’s First Thursdays in the books, Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory is looking toward next year and the future of the once-a-month event. Gregory reported that she and volunteers from the Colfax Downtown Association will be working with business owners in the coming weeks and months to determine the scope for First Thursday. “We’re going to do a survey with the businesses to see if they like Thursdays, to see if it’s effective and worth it for them,” she said. Wanting to know just how the event, now in it...
Trees would be thinned or removed as part of proposed work which may be funded by the Cohn endowment at Goldenrod Cemetery. A planning meeting took place June 9 with Tekoa Mayor John Jaeger and two of the three city appointees who make up the trustees for Goldenrod Cemetery. The subject was $2.2 million endowed to the cemetery by the late Eleanor Cohn, a Tekoa accountant/bookkeeper who died in 2009. Another meeting is planned for July to discuss what needs to happen before the money may be used...
An American Red Cross blood donation stop has been scheduled June 29 from 1 to 6:15 p.m. at Palouse Community Center and at Pullman June 30 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the WSU Smith Center. Donors can save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, prior to arriving at the blood drive....
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. PNW GIFT MAKES CENTER PACKAGE A $2,500 donation from Pacific Northwest Farmers Cooperative has completed the funding package for The Center project at Whitman County Library, according to Kristie Kirkpatric, library director. She estimated donations, grants and volunteer time will push the grand total of The Center project to more than $...
Linda Hammerly, 64, Moscow, died of injuries sustained in a two-car collision at 5:55 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, on Highway 26 at mile marker 119 just east of Dusty. She died at the scene of the accident. Two Mount Vernon residents were injured in the collision. Shannon M. Carmody, 32, was transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane by Lifeflight helicopter, and Colin Curwen-Adams, 32, was taken by ambulance to Whitman Hospital and Medical Center. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Hammerly was driving a 1995 Toyota Camry...
Demolition work commences between the Whitgro office and scale house and the grain elevators in Endicott. To ease congestion and improve traffic flow, the basketball park at Endicott is being relocated. Work began last week on the basketball courts which sat between the Whitgro scale house and grain elevators. “It was a really tight corner,” said Heath Barnes, Whitgro general manager. Previously, grain trucks pulled into the scale house pointing west, then turned eastward once off the scale to...
Garfield’s LaDow Grange members will be given a 90-day notice of a vote to disband, due to a continued lack of officers. A letter will be sent next week to all residents of Garfield and Farmington by James Woomack, secretary/treasurer of LaDow which was formed in 1931. Without a required slate of officers, the Grange will be forced to close, according to its bylaws through the Washington State Grange. Wayne Miller, deputy for the state Grange, came to the Garfield chapter’s meeting last wee...
Lee Burchfiel bought Tekoa Hardware June 1 after spending 16 and-a-half years working in software in the Seattle area. It was the bus ride from Bothell into downtown Seattle that did it. It took Lee Burchfiel to his job in the I.T. Department of Nordstrom, after 15 years working for Amazon and Microsoft. But that commute ultimately took Burchfiel, his wife Kelsey and three daughters to Tekoa, where he is the new owner of Tekoa Hardware. “In Bothell, I’d work on projects around the house alm...
The Aug. 1 election date is coming up, and voter registration deadlines are now approaching. The standard deadline for registration, which is for applications for new voter registration or updates to current registration, is Monday, July 3. Those applications can be submitted online or they can be mailed. If mailed, they must be postmarked by July 3 to be valid. In-person registration for those not currently registered to vote in the state can be completed at the elections office in Colfax or the Pullman city clerk’s office at Pullman City H...
