Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 77
A semi truck went off Highway 26 last Wednesday morning, July 18, just west of Colfax at the Kevin Doty ranch, side-swiped a mobile home and plowed into the Craig McCully house which was destroyed. The semi also hit a pickup truck parked outside at the McCully place. The mobile home sustained extensive damage and was knocked off its foundation. Both the mobile home and the house are owned by Doty. McCully was actually out of his house mowing the lawn and watched as the semi came straight off...
The Palouse Music Festival is back July 28 with some new and familiar names at Heyton Greene Park for the daylong event with food, arts and crafts sellers and a beer garden. A lineup of musicians perform from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., when the Senders take the stage for the last hour and a half. A new food option this year will be hot dogs and chips from the Garfield/Palouse Performing Arts boosters. Hearth of the Dragon will again serve wood-fired pizza, and the Palouse Community Center will run...
In a split vote last Thursday, Port of Whitman County Commissioners signed a letter of intent to collaborate with ports from across Washington on a telecommunications conduit along the I-5 corridor and tentatively pledged to contribute $800,000 to the project. Port Commissioner Tom Kammerzell objected to signing the letter of intent and investing $800,000. “This may be the most important vote I’ve been a part of in the six years I’ve been commissioner and it may be the most important action the Port takes in the next 20 to 40 years,” Kammerzell...
Representatives of the Pullman Civic Trust gave a presentation to county commissioners Monday, July 16, on the proposed railbanking of the Colfax-Albion-Pullman Corridor. Bobbie Ryder, president of Pullman Civic Trust, explained that they advocate for the 19-mile stretch to be turned into a trail for bicyclists/walkers/joggers, which could connect to trails into Idaho, which she said would result in economic and other benefits to the area. “Rail lines are great because they are flat,” Ryder sai...
The Tekoa city council last week narrowly voted to move ahead with a process to assume ownership of the former Tekoa Bowl building which is located behind the Post Office. Owned by two brothers, one in Bellevue, the other in Spokane, it has been offered to the town to take it over. Steve and Bud Greene inherited the building from their mother and have since talked with Tekoa Mayor John Jaeger about the building. “They're not going to do anything with it,” Jaeger said. The city council July 16...
Candidates running for District 9 State Representative and Whitman County District Court Judge set forth their views and fielded audience questions at the League of Women Voters of Pullman forum at Neill Public Library July 18. Education was an important topic among all candidates. Each offered their own approaches for improving the well-being of Washington's teachers and schools. Incumbent state representative Joe Schmick of Colfax stressed the importance of improving special education...
Palouse Advocacy League will offer literature, posters, refrigerator magnets, stickers, pens and children’s temporary tattoos all for the purpose of preventing suicide and reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness July 25, 26 and 27 at nine businesses. They will be in three locations each day for three days in a row. The league was previously called The #3 Memorial Fund which was created after the death last January of WSU quarterback Tyler Hilinski who took his own life. The league will also launch its new line of logo on T-shirts, tank t...
Palouse Patriots, a team which returned to Legion AAA action this year, will depart for Chehalis later this week to compete in the 16-team state Legion playoffs. The Patriots qualified second in the Spokane district playoffs after a grueling three-game wrap-up on Sunday. The Patriots will open their state bid against the Vancouver Cardinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at W.F. West High School in Chehalis. They are among 16 teams in the state Legion AAA finals booked into a double elimination tournament w...
The St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse/Washtucna swim team topped Colfax 643 to 558 in a two-team meet at the Colfax pool Thursday. Lyla Kjack won all four individual races in the eight-and-under girls class. Sophie Anderson won three of the four races for 10-under girls and also won the 100 meter race for girls 12-under. Ava Heglar won five of the six individual events for older swimmers in the 14-under class. Josh Huber of Colfax booked wins in all six of the individual races for senior boys and Abby...
Pullman Posse blanked Gonzaga Prep 5-0 Sunday with Carson Coulter allowing four hits to nail down a third seed entry to the state AA Legion tournament. This will be the third straight entry for the local club in the state AA Legion final show which will start Saturday in Spokane. Posse batters totaled 10 hits in the last district tournament game at Spokane. They scored two runs in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth to take control. Gonzaga qualified as the number-four team from Spokane after their last day loss to Posse. Posse rolled i...
Playing on Thursday, July 19, the Whitman County Cougars lost 14-0 to Northern Lakes in the first round of the Washington Class A American Legion baseball tournament. The Cougars then dropped into an elimination game against the Lewis and Clark Tigers. Playing again at Spokane July 20, Lewis and Clark led 13-11 in the fifth inning when the game was called on account of darkness. The Tigers first led 9-0 before Whitman County put together a comeback. The next day the game resumed. Whitman County tied it in the sixth inning before Lewis and...
Stronger-than-expected returns of summer chinook salmon moving past Priest Rapids Dam have prompted fishery managers to reopen chinook fishing in select mainstream pools and tributaries of the upper Columbia River. Starting July 25, anglers can again catch and keep hatchery adult chinook from Rocky Reach Dam to Wells Dam, and in the Wenatchee and Chelan rivers. In addition, the chinook fishery will open Aug. 1 from Wells Dam to Chief Joseph Dam, including the Okanogan and Similkameen rivers. The daily limit of hatchery adult chinook is two...
Jacob Ward, 11, Colfax, topped the putting portion of the putt, chip and drive golf competition July 18 at the Golfland par-three course in Pasco. The event was a local round to qualify for the national event, which is sponsored by the PGA. Ward finished with 55 points in the overall event, but fell short of qualifying for the sub-regional round for his age class. Points are awarded for all three events and the top point winners qualify to advance. The putting segment requires entrants to putt from distances of six, 15 and 30 feet. Ward...
The massive Berkeley Pit in Butte, Mont., is one of the world’s largest superfund sites and has been described as a giant sink filling with metal-laden, acidic water from over 10,000 miles of underground mine workings. It has been a ticking time bomb since 1982 when the mine owner turned off the pumps which kept the subsurface tunnels dry for miners. The pit has collected 50 billion gallons of toxic water. While the rising pit water is a looming environmental threat if it seeps into the area’s g...
My niece and nephew recently came to visit from the Midwest. They had never seen this part of the world, and I thought they would be impressed with the variety of ecosystems in Eastern Washington. Thus, I was a bit surprised when their initial request was to take a ride in “Uncle Frank’s snazzy convertible.” We mounted up, and I was about to start the engine when they asked for help with their seat belts. These kids, ages five and nine, were conditioned to buckle up before the car was put in motion. I was impressed with the results of quali...
REAL ESTATE Javier D'Acosta and Sarrah Marron, to P. Ronald and Sarah Wachter, unit at Tuscanny Condominim on Verona Drive, Pullman, $330,000, June 29. Anna Lou Anderson, Spokane, to Jacob and Valerie Weaver, Pullman duplex, NW Webb Street, Pullman, $324,000, June 29. Ginger Sorenson, McCall, Idaho, to Chris and Terri Badger, Colfax, house on S. Mill, Colfax, $148,000, June 29. P. Ronald and Barb Wachter, Pullman, to Ian Richardson, house on NW Linda Street, Pullman, $310,000, June 29; Warren Street Agriculture LLC, Bellevue, to Kyle and...
Last Tuesday, three days before ballots for the primary election hit the mail, Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman brightened the news keyboards with word that for the first time voters will be able to cast their ballots and return them through the U.S. Postal Service without having to ante up the cost of a stamp. The second sentence of Wyman's report expresses thanks to Kim Wyman, Gov. Jay Inslee and county officials statewide. The new "no postage" ballot return somehow suggests all those state and county officials around the state believe...
Is it possible that only Ivy League law schools produce attorneys who have what it takes to climb to the top of this country's jurisprudence heap? This heap's pinnacle, of course, is the U.S. Supreme Court. Apparently, we have evolved to a nation where the SCOTUS ivory tower is exclusively the Ivy tower. Even President Donald Trump. the rabble rouser in chief, is said to have factored in Brett Kavanaugh's Yale pedigree when he chose him for another new haven. Assuming the Senate complies, he will cluster with the Supremes: five Harvard, three...
In an era of partisan polarization, it is rare to get agreement on anything, but about this there should be a consensus: The Supreme Court is an undemocratic institution whose power should be carefully circumscribed. The right has long been of this view, and the left is suddenly and opportunistically partway there. In an essay capturing progressives' newfound skepticism, Ezra Klein of Vox wrote that the Supreme Court "has always been undemocratic" and is now becoming even "more dangerous." This represents a welcome turnabout from cheering the...
Pet Peeves County road crew not spraying weeds and mowing roadsides. Instead, tax-paying citizens are having to do this. What do our tax dollars do anymore - pay employee raises? Courthouse employees who park along Main and Island Street during their workday, making customers park far away to do their business inside. Bad rap given to former licensing department manager. She happened to be the most knowledgeable, kind, efficient employee in that office. Might want to do some “house-cleaning” elsewhere from now on!...
It is my pleasure to endorse Dan LeBeau for Whitman County District Court Judge. I have known Dan both professionally and personally since he began working for Whitman County 13 years ago and have found him to be a sincere, honest and fair person. Dan is extremely hard-working and committed to always making the best decisions with the information he is given. Observing him over the years, it is clear that he is both an honorable individual and a dedicated public servant. I have heard Dan say, and I agree, that Whitman County will be in good...