Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Whitman County Public Works Director Mark Storey briefed county commissioners Monday on a decision he and Prosecutor Denis Tracy made on whether a marijuana operation outside Pullman is allowed to grow the crop – amidst a six-month moratorium placed in March on further marijuana business in the county. At the end of May, Selway Holdings, LLC, sent a request to the county to re-examine if Selway has a “vested interest” in growing marijuana, due to their county permit from last November for a spe...
Two more yes votes for each of the Town of Farmington measures kept the two proposals over the 60 percent required for approval after the last primary election toll Monday. The funding proposals were needed to maintain the town of Farmington which lacks most of the other tax sources to fund town operations. Mark Hellinger, who just concluded a term as interim mayor of Farmington, noted Farmington tax proposals normally get a close vote. The proposal for an $8,000 street levy with the two more yes votes finished with a total of 32 in favor for...
Whitman County commissioners expressed approval Monday for a new criminal justice services agreement with the City of Pullman. Commissioner Art Swannack met with Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson and City Administrator Adam Lincoln to work out the terms of a $450,000 payment from Pullman to the county for one year. The district court will remain in Pullman’s city hall for 2020. After the first year, the two sides will have to work out another agreement for the coming years. The contract is now b...
A reminder for the crowd at the 31st National Lentil Fesitval parade in Pullman Aug. 17. For more Lentil Fesitval coverage, see page 18....
Whitman County commissioners Monday set a hearing on the intent to adopt state house bill 1406, passed May 9, to take part of the tax collected in the county to be used for affordable housing. The held back state sales and use tax could amount to $100,000 - $115,000 per year. The hearing is Sept. 3 at 11:15 a.m. The program would take a credit against the state sales tax of 6.5 percent – which would amount to the county holding back .0146 percent – to create this fund. “Just a hold back of ta...
Whitman Hospital and Medical Center staged a mass casualty incident drill Thursday, Aug. 15. The scenario was a simulated bus crash where 10 patients were transported to the hospital in Colfax. Hospital staff, emergency medical personnel, Colfax Fire, Whitman County Emergency Management and local law enforcement participated in the training...
Wylie and the Wild West has been booked to perform at the Palouse Empire Fair after the Friday night rodeo performance Sept. 6. Gustafson and his band will play in front of the fair’s new grandstand which will be dedicated just before the rodeo performance. The group’s performance was arranged by the Palouse Empire Fair Foundation in the last two days. Sponsors of the performance are the Jess Auto Family in Pullman and Jones Truck and Implement at Colfax. The group is headed by Wylie Gustafson, former Dusty resident from Conrad, Mont. Gus...
A large crowd attended the Baronesse Barley harvest day celebration Saturday morning in the barley field located on a hilltop of a field along Danaher Road south of Steptoe. Approximately 300 people attended the event which was the fourth annual celebration. The Colfax band Tone Sober played for the crowd, and craft brewers offered their products for the guests to sample. Bill Myers, proprietor of Joseph's Grainery at Colfax, reported five craft brewers and 14 home brewers had their products on...
Two men were injured in a single engine airplane crash at approximately 10:30 a.m Friday in a field on the Hammer Grade Road on the western edge of Whitman County. Sheriff Brett Myers reported the pilot of the plane apparently attempted to land after the airplane ran out of fuel or sustained mechanical problems. The airplane flipped on its top before coming to a halt. The location was south of Hooper, approximately five miles east of Palouse Falls. The pilot, Milton Ogden, 82, Kahlotus, was...
Seven light standards are now in place around the rodeo arena at the Palouse Empire Fair. The galvanized steel light standards were put in place by a crew from Avista Aug. 14. Belt harnesses were attached to the poles which were lifted to a vertical position and then put down on concrete stubs. The light standards on the fairground side of the arena are 80 feet long and tower over the new grandstand which stands approximately 35 feet along its top side. The lights around the remainder of the...
In his pre-season letter to the players, Coach Mike Morgan planted “one last thought” for players to consider before they hit the practice grind for the first time Wednesday. Morgan noted the Bulldogs last year had five games where they won or lost by a single touchdown. “Our goal is to win the games we won last year and win the games where we got beat last year,” Morgan commented. Colfax last year finished up with a 4-5 overall record and one win short of getting into the state 2B playoff grid. Under the new format with Chewelah droppin...
Webb's Slough at St. John marked its biggest race day ever with its June 16 event this year, and Saturday they hope to bump that record. Saturday's race day will mark the 25th race event at St. John for the slough which will wrap up its 13th year of boat racing competition. They started with one race date in July of 2007 and have had two race dates per year since that start. In June the slough set a record for the number of boats in the action and the number of campers on the grounds. "We have...
Colfax cross country team will start its season with a first turnout Monday. Coach Jamie Kinley will welcome many runners back from the two squads which marked a high point for the program when both the boys and girls teams placed sixth in the state all-B run at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. Colfax qualified both boys and girls teams for the state run after both placed second the previous week at the district races at Harrington. Senior grads off the boys team were Carson Cloaninger, Ryley Griffiths and Evan Henning. Lone grad of the girls...
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine to assist with construction of its elk hoof disease research facility. Construction began in May on campus in Pullman. “Hoof disease is affecting more and more elk in the Pacific Northwest,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “This facility will give researchers a hands-on opportunity to better determine its cause as well as why and how it spreads.” The $1.2 million, structure is the only such oper...
New high school coaches are set for Oakesdale for the coming school year, following the departure of Brandy Brown, girls volleyball coach, and Dan Brown, girls basketball coach, earlier this summer. McKinzie Turner returns for the volleyball team, the coach of the 2014 Oakesdale state 1B champions. “We’re pretty excited to have her back,” said Jake Dingman, Oakesdale superintendent. Originally from Pomeroy, Turner spent the past three years teaching and coaching at West Valley High School in Sp...
Results from Thursday’s play over nine holes: 8-10 year olds: Kaitlynn Ward 52, Vivian Riley 61. 11-12 year old: Jacob Ward 59....
The Oakesdale and Colton school districts have both been awarded $25,000 grants from a Monsanto-Bayer ag education program, announced earlier in August. Oakesdale applied for the grant specifically to add another greenhouse, for use by Jessica Moore's FFA/ag classes. The 30x40-foot structure, to go up on the old tennis courts, will be at least triple the size of the existing greenhouse. Colton will use the $25,000 for three purchases – a classroom set of laptops more capable than the s...
MARRIAGE LICENSES Jesus Roberto Lopez, 22, and McKenzie Marie Wells, 22, both Pullman, July 31. Ryan William Kirkpatrick, 25, and Lauren Augusta Beckley 26, both Pullman, Aug. 1. Ryan Thomas Schmitch, 35, and Katelyn Denise Brown, 29, both Pullman, Aug. 2. Benjamin Charles Revard, Hillsboro, Ore., and Katherine Ann Brunell, 28, Pullman, Aug. 5. Johnny Gesup Sim, 27, and Julianne Kirstie Deitrich, 27, both Pullman, Aug. 5. Ian White Yoder, 26, and Emily Marie LaFrance, 24, both Pullman, Aug. 5. Kevin Fitzgerald VanDyke, 55, and Heather Lhea...
Final day of operation for the Colfax swim pool will be Aug. 31. The last free midnight swim will be Friday, Aug. 30, with Greg’s Electric and the Colfax Chamber of Commerce as sponsors. Colfax youngsters this year will face an eight-day gap between when the pool closes and the start of school which has been set for Sept. 9. The late school start this year is part on the schedule designed to allow as much time as possible for contractors who are working on the construction project in both schools. Parks Director Steve Larkin noted the start o...
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. McGREEVY RITE SET AUG. 31 Margaret (Maggie) McGreevy, 85, long-time Pullman resident and former Whitman County commissioner, died last Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2019, at her residence in Pullman. McGreevy and Nora Mae Keifer of Pullman were elected in the 1988 election. They were the first women commissioners in the county. McGreevy was the first D...
Some very nice changes have been accumulating along Main Street in Colfax. The city still has some vacant storefronts, but the feel and atmosphere has been improved. It is, in fact, more welcoming. A few years ago a woman from Texas purchased several buildings in Colfax with the promise of revitalizing the town. It did not happen. This round of new activity is basically because of local effort and investment. They are the result of both private individuals and community organizations. The changes are widespread. The partnerships are inspiring,...
When Joe Biden says he's running for president, he means it literally. He likes to be seen jogging around at his various campaign events. Obviously, that's his way of showing that at 76, he's not too old for the grueling physical and mental challenges of being POTUS. But it does raise a question: Is he aware that the bigger problem is his running off at the mouth? Now, this is not a new concern. Joe Biden, after all, taught us what a "gaffe" was -- he's been at it for a generation. He describes himself as "a gaffe machine," tripping over his co...
The Jeffrey Epstein case establishes beyond a doubt that if you're a sexual predator, it pays to be a rich and connected sexual predator. Epstein, now dead of an apparent suicide before his accusers had their day in court, worked the system and benefited from advantages and breaks unimaginable to anyone who didn't jet around with influential friends. The multimillionaire financier who lived in Palm Beach, Fla., and Manhattan, N.Y., used his resources to build a network of sexual predation and then used his resources to escape meaningful legal...