Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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After 32 years serving as pastor to the Lutheran community of southwest Whitman County, the Rev. Dennis Bay will have to find a new identity in his upcoming retirement. “Someone called the other day and asked for Dennis. I had to think for a second before I realized I was Dennis,” said Pastor Bay. “After so many years I’ve just been Pastor Bay. I may have to get used to Dennis again.” Since 1979, Pastor Bay has presided over funerals, weddings and Sunday services at the domed Selbu Lutheran Church on Mud Flat. He will give his last sermon to...
Bank of Fairfield opened its new loan production offices in Colfax and Oakesdale last week. Tim Bruya and Jon Kehne, both formerly with AmericanWest Bank, will take over as loan officers for Bank of Fairfield. Chief Financial Officer Tim Cassels said the staff is currently operating both the Colfax and Oakesdale offices, with the Oakesdale loan office open by appointment. The Colfax branch is in the 1,250-square-foot office next to the Codger Pole, last occupied by AAG Insurance. The Oakesdale office is in the 1,700-square-foot former...
A Friday arraignment date for Jeremiah J. LaFave, Pomeroy, was scheduled for this Friday after he appeared in Whitman County Superior court last week. LaFave, 27, is a suspect in the alleged robbery at a Pullman apartment on Northwood Drive. LaFave appeared in court after being brought here from Grangeville. He was arrested in Idaho June 4 and a warrant for his arrest was issued from Whitman County. He was booked into the jail here last Wednesday. Bail amount set on the arrest warrant was $100,000. The Pomeroy man was formally charged June 3...
Ben Stein, financial commentator, actor and comedian, well known for his role as the teacher in “Feris Bueller’s Day Off,” described the players in the debt ceiling crisis as “careless” people. They agilely ran up the national debt and then threatened not to honor it. They selfishly jeopardized, for political gain and ideology, the very security of the nation. Then, at the last minute, they approved to hike the debt ceiling only to move the budget debate to a different, delayed venue. The debt ceiling crisis was of the politicians own makin...
I NEVER HEARD of social media or social networking until the other day when USA Today ran a pitch for it from educators. It apparently involved Facebook, the Internet, Twitter and the YouTube, all of which I know little about other than they are uses of the computer that can be dangerous not only to the young and ignorant but the old and senile. I mean, most of the publicity I’ve seen about any of these concerned ways in which one person can humiliate or cheat another person. How many news stories haven’t we read where some gullible teen is...
Lost in the news over the economic crisis in Europe and the debt ceiling debate in the United States was the unceremonious end of NASA’s space shuttle program. When Atlantis touched down in Florida just before dawn on July 21, there were no marching bands or boastful speeches, and the small crowds at the Kennedy and Johnson space centers were composed mainly of NASA workers and their families. In fact, the ending of the shuttle program barely merited a mention on the network news. After 135 flights in 30 years, the space shuttles are now h...
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking nominations for its Game Management Advisory Council, which advises the department on issues including hunter-access opportunities, resource allocation, funding options and research projects. Nominations must be received by 5 p.m., Aug. 31. Nominations must be submitted to Dave Ware, Game Division Manager by email at David.Ware@ dfw.wa.gov. For more information, contact Dave Ware at (360) 902-2509....
At left, Jaydon Soncarty’s shih tzu/maltese mix Dungy goes nose-to-nose with Lauren Moore’s black lab Angel. Dogs and their owners descended on Eells Park in Colfax last Friday for a session with professional dog trainer Sara White. At right, White lends Soncarty a hand in helping young Dungy relax while on his leash....
A hole-in-one dropped in Colorado Friday by Al Kirkpatrick of Colfax was reported to the Colfax Golf Club. Kirkpatrick was playing with family members at Eagle Ranch, Colo. He used a seven iron to drop an ace on the 168-yard number-five hole. Kirkpatrick was in Colorado to attend the wedding of his son, Cody, who was playing with his dad Friday and served as a witness to the feat. Al Saturday returned the favor for Cody, serving as a witness to his marriage....
Palouse Lyons Park took on an old-timey mountain feel Saturday as bluegrass bands from across the Northwest hit the town’s sixth Annual Bluegrass Festival. At top left, Jason Hackwith of Wanigan warms up his fiddle in the parking lot. Top right, never a bad spot in the beer garden. Bottom left, Shiloh Sharrad waits her turn on the stage. Dolly Parton’s "Nickels and Dimes" was among her repertoire. Bottom right, fans take in the afternoon performance of Forgotten Freight....
What is all the to-do about the big worm? If you can't find him, how are you going to protect him? He lives underground and you can't "track" him. I think your opening statement in the article is exactly right: "The Giant Palouse Earthworm will continue to live without protection." After all, he's made it this long without "help" and will likely continue to do so if you don't tear up his habitat looking for him. I say, leave the worm alone. If you like the sound of "listing him as an endangered species," fine--list away, but otherwise, don't...
Youth Outdoors Unlimited crew sets up blind. A wooden box was set up and covered in camoflauge outside Colfax Saturday to prepare the first hunting blind for the Youth Outdoors Unlimited program. Youth Outdoors is a Moses Lake-based organzation formed to give youth with life threatening illnesses or physical disabilities the opportunity to hunt and fish. “Our goal is to just teach them that even though you have some challenges, you can still get out there and hunt and have a good time,” said Cindy Carpenter, founder of the organization. “Yo...
MARRIAGE LICENSES C.M. Tanner, Thornton, 26, and Joleen A. Laue, 24, both Pullman, July 28. Bradley E. Flodin, 45, Genesse, and Adrienne I. Schroeder, 30, Moscow, Aug. 1. David K. Waterhouse, 22, and Sarah A. Waterhouse, 22, both Seattle, Aug. 1. REAL ESTATE SALES Harry Druffel, Inc., Genesee, to Washington RSA No. 8 Limited Partnership by Inland Cellular Telephone Co., Lot 2 Druffel’s Skyview II Short Plat, Pullman, $100,000, Jan. 21. Robert J. and Tiffany Rosie, Olympia, to Paul Carbon, Anchorage, 1997 Fleetwood, 66 x 14 mobile home, NW G...
W. BRUCE CAMERON I’ve always thought that I’d make a pretty good police officer, except maybe for the danger part. I have a rare medical condition that makes it difficult for me to risk getting shot, so probably I’d have to be one of those officers who work in “do not shoot” areas. Here’s the sort of police work at which I’d excel: Two men were recently arrested in New Jersey for breaking into a police van. They were pretending to be apprehended in order to take goofy photographs of themselves. They discovered, though, that once they were in...
Shania Bailey and Darien Manfreeda book a close finish in the 14-under girls breastroke race. Swimmers from seven novice teams will converge on the Colfax pool Saturday for the 46th edition of the Jerry Cluckey Memorial Swim meet. Competition will get underway at 10 a.m. Colfax Coach Matt Ross, who serves as league director, said 175 swimmers have been entered in the meet this year. Pomeroy, which has a smaller team this year, still figures to be the power club and will aim at taking the Cluckey Cup home for the fifth straight year. The...
Washington State Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation announced funding will be available for the next two years for the Heritage Barn Rehabilitation grant program. Established in 2007, the grant program assists with rehabilitation projects designed to stabilize and preserve designated historic barns. Since its establishment, three barns in Whitman County have received rehabilitation funds; the Old Bush Place on Carothers Road between Colfax and Pullman, the Heidenreich Barn on the Palouse Highway outside Colfax and the Cook...
A major national crop chemical and biotech company is moving into Whitman County, as Dow AgroSciences announced it has purchased Northwest Plant Breeding at Pullman. Kay Kuenker, vice president of Dow AgroSciences, an offshoot of the Dow Chemical Company, said the purchase gives Dow a foothold in the Pacific Northwest with which the companny can expand its wheat seed program. The Northwest Plant Breeding assets provide a research station, germplasm, several active patents and plant variety protections. Two years ago Dow purchased a major...
Summertime turns the focus on parks around Whitman County. Klemgard Park has overseen a facelift over the past year. At left, is a new bridge which was completed on July 11 for the hiking trail. The wider bridge, with two handrails instead of one, replaced the original log bridge, which dated to the park’s creation in the mid-‘70s. At right, the structure’s new roof shines in the sun while Justin Juneau, a seaonal park aide for Whitman County Parks, mows the grass at Klemgard Park. The metal roof was finished in June....
Three short Whitman County roads will be on commissioners’ chopping block in the next three weeks. The county’s public works department has been working for the past two years to rid the department of small roads that serve only one property owner. Public Works Director Mark Storey said doing so gets the properties back on the tax roll and reduces the county’s costs for maintenance like plowing and grading. On the block at a hearing later this month will be Emerson Road by Uniontown, T.W. Walters Road in Colfax and a piece of land by the Winon...
Grain bins can now be built as tall as possible in Whitman County, though many already are. County commissioners Monday approved changes to the county’s ag zone ordinance that removed a statutory 50-foot height restriction on grain bins. Commissioners and planning staff noted many elevators have already been built taller than that restriction. “We have lots of people that are out of compliance already,” said Commissioner Greg Partch, who asked rhetorically why the restriction had not been removed decades ago. Had the restriction not been in pl...
Colfax attorney Gary Libey booked a late celebration of his 60th birthday last week when he competed in the Race the River Triathlon at Riverstone in Coeur d’Alene. Libey marked birthday number 60 June 24. Libey finished third in the 60-64 age division of the “Clydesdale” class of competitors, contestants who tip the scales at more than 200 pounds. He said he tried to keep up with his son Patrick, 30, Moscow, but was quickly left in the younger Libey’s dust. Libey finished the half-mile swim, 11-mile bike ride and 3.1-mile run in just over on...
Only two new homes were permitted for construction in rural Whitman County during the spring of 2011, according to a report issued Monday by Dan Gladwill, county building official. One of those permits was for a stick-built home. The other was for a manufactured home. The 2011 permit rate represents a six-year low in Whitman County home building. Over the previous five years, an average of nine homes were built in rural Whitman County during the second quarter. “It looks like the recession has finally gotten to our doorstep,” Gladwill told com...
Jordanna Wiley of Newport gets ready to reel in a goat for the senior girls goat tying event. The Drovers Junior Rodeo Association’s D.R. McEachran Memorial Championship Rodeo marked its 26th edition over three days at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds last weekend. A total of 146 wranglers from Washington, Idaho, Oregon and British Columbia competed. The rodeo was moved from Davenport to Colfax this year. J.P. Melton, one of the organizers for the association, said the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds’ facility and camping areas helped bring the eve...
It’s different out there on the roads. The cost and practice of getting a driver’s license in Whitman County has gone through some changes. As recently as the 1970s, teens or their parents still paid as little as $5 to learn to drive and prepare for the all-important state test. The state took care of the rest. Today, with state funding long since defunct, families pay $350 and, going against the national trend, local kids are still taught by the school districts. Many young drivers in more pop...
In a decision filed July 28 in Superior court, Judge David Frazier ruled The Scotts Company acted in bad faith and came up with “meritless excuses” when it refused to make payments for Kentucky Bluegrass Seed which was harvested by farmers under contract and delivered to Seeds Inc. at Tekoa and Dye Seed Co. at Pomeroy. The finding was part of a ruling which denied a motion by Scott’s attorneys to limit any claims for damages in the suit filed by the growers. Scotts had asked the court for a ruling to limit any claims for damages to those allow...
