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Articles from the August 23, 2012 edition


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  • Grid refs seek new recruits

    Aug 23, 2012

    Southeastern Washington Football Officials Association is actively recruiting men and women interested serving in this area of the state. Karl M. Johanson, assigning secretary, said there is a particular need are new officials from the smaller communities and rural areas outside the Pullman/Moscow area. The association provides officials for approximately 120 games during the season. The assignment sheet includes varsity, junior varsity and junior high games. Johanson explained the association needs officials from towns around the county to...

  • Snake River will open Sept. 1 for chinook, steelhead

    Aug 23, 2012

    Starting Sept. 1, Anglers will be able to catch and keep hatchery fall chinook salmon as well as hatchery steelhead on the Snake River through Oct. 31. Predicting a strong return of upriver bright chinook salmon this year, state fishery managers have expanded the daily catch limit to include three adult hatchery chinook, plus three hatchery jack chinook under 24 inches in length. Anglers may also catch and keep up to three hatchery steelhead, but must stop fishing for the day – for both chinook and steelhead – once they have landed their thr...

  • SPORTS QUIZ

    Chris Richcreek|Aug 23, 2012

    1. In 2010, the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez set a record for most consecutive seasons of at least 30 home runs and 100 RBIs. How many seasons? 2. Name the four major-league players to play in at least 140 games for 16 consecutive seasons. 3. When was the last time before 2011 that the Detroit Lions started a season 5-0? 4. Harvard made the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in 2012, the first time for the Crimson since when? 5. Who is the leading goal scorer in Buffalo Sabres history? 6. Which NASCAR Cup driver has the most victories at Richmond (Va... Full story

  • Sprint boats aim to top June

    Aug 23, 2012

    Sprint boat racers will try to follow up on an action-packed race from June as they return to cap the United States Sprint Boat Racing Association’s regular season Saturday at Webb’s Slough in St. John. The June race featured a number of crowd-dazzling crashes, with boats jumping the banks of the channeled track and one boat even dancing on its nose for a few seconds. Colfax racer Scott Ackerman and navigator Mike Hall will return to Webb’s Slough after missing out on a few earlier races elsewhere on the circuit this summer. “We were just tr... Full story

  • Horrifying sight at Curley’s: Poker game at Tekoa Saloon in 1912 led to the violent deaths of four men

    Aug 23, 2012

    One hundred years ago today, Patrick Collins and C.E. Lewis traveled from Endicott to Tekoa, and the next night they went to Curley’s Bar, a saloon in Tekoa which was located under the Commercial Hotel. They joined in a poker game with the proprietor, Milford “Curley” Gardner, and others. In the early morning hours an argument broke out and Collins reportedly hit Gardner. The proprietor then went behind his bar, came back with a gun and struck Collins. Collins, who was later determined to be from Enumclaw, was discovered two hours later beside... Full story

  • Another gridworks remodeling

    Aug 23, 2012

    It’s not a major stadium reconstruction project on the scale undertaken by the WSU Cougars, but it has been getting a little extra notice. The Colfax gridworks at Schmuck park has added a press box on top of its press box. Colfax Athletic Director Shawna Kneale said the addition was accomplished with a lot of volunteer help and donations. The aim of the addition was to provide more space and better vision. “It has been getting pretty crowded in there,” Kneale noted on the press box space assignments in recent seasons. The press box actua... Full story

  • Bulldog nets return with veteran lineup

    Aug 23, 2012

    Colfax volleyball season, which went all the way to the state 2B title game last year at the SunDome, will return in high gear with several veterans back for more action. Now starting her 25th season as head coach for Colfax, Sue Doering will have two of three players who wrapped up last fall’s campaign on the all tourney team. Amelie Bruya will return as a senior setter and Taylor Larsen returns as a junior hitter after being named to the all-state 2B tourney team and the all NE team at the end of last season. The third Colfax all-stater w... Full story

  • The world

    Aug 23, 2012

    THURSDAY A Norwegian driver who swerved his car on a rural road to avoid running into a moose died after his maneuver ran him into a massive brown bear. A massive galaxy cluster, one of the largest structures in the universe, has been discovered about 5.7 billion light years from Earth. The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said cluster SPT-CLJ2344-4243, or Phoenix, is the largest cluster ever seen. FRIDAY Twenty-six active-duty soldiers are believed to have committed suicide in July, more than double the number reported for June and...

  • Colfax will fill grad gaps to work behind veteran line

    Aug 23, 2012

    Colfax football Coach Mike Morgan and staff once again are faced with checking out the lineup of football recruits and putting together a team which can pick up a head of steam as the season advances. Last year the Bulldogs rolled out a string of wins and advanced undefeated until the state semi-final round in Pasco. Waitsburg/Prescott stopped the Colfax bid with a big win in the semi round and went on to take their first state title over Morton/White Pass in the Tacoma Dome. Last year, Coach Morgan keyed the season launch by moving Justin...

  • Theft-Arson Fire

    Aug 23, 2012

    An Oct. 15 trial was slated for Jocelyn Elise Gates, 23, a suspect in the motor home theft from Pullman which was subsequently discovered burning along Highway 26 in the LaCrosse area. She pleaded not guilty last Friday in superior court to charges of burglary, theft and arson. She was released on her own recognizance after being arrested June 20 on a warrant at her residence in the Yakima area. Another suspect in the case, Damon McCart, was not at the residence at the time deputies served the warrant. He has subsequently been arrested in...

  • Highway to return to normal

    Aug 23, 2012

    Final work on the Highway 195 project Monday included painting over the temporary lane markings, cleanup and removal of traffic signs and markers. The highway was returned to its normal mode in Colfax after the wrap-up work was completed by a small crew from Central Washington Asphalt. However, work and a flag crew continued Tuesday on the southbound outside lane in the S curves. The crew which was working in Colfax has now been assigned to work on a paving job along I-90 on Snoqualmie Pass, according to a report from the CWA office in Moses...

  • Proposal: Farmington mayor salary may be eliminated

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    A matter of the mayor’s salary came up at the Farmington city council meeting Monday night. Councilman Dave Baker brought a proposal to formally abolish the mayor’s wages, since the funds have been used for a raise for the city clerk. When new mayor Ron Dugan took office in April, he refused the $150 per month salary, suggesting the town should use it to give Barb Dial-Flomer a raise. The council approved. Since the money is now claimed, Baker suggested the mayor’s pay be eliminated, to be su... Full story

  • Election results final; 115 county primary ballots disqualified

    Joe Smillie, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    All election results held firm as Whitman County’s canvass board finalized results of the Aug. 7 primary election Tuesday morning. Closest decision was the Colfax cemetery maintenance levy request, which passed with 60.5 percent of the vote. The 597 yes votes were five more than the $150,000 measure needed to exceed the 60 percent mark required for approval. Farmington’s $15,000 current expense levy passed by two votes; its’ 42 yes votes gave it a 62.7 percent approval. Art Swannack of Lamont and Bill Tensfeld of Rosalia officially advance to t...

  • Palouse selects Brownfields excavators

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    The bid process is complete and the Palouse Brownfields project will move to the excavation stage later this month. The Palouse city council Aug. 14 approved a bid of $436,867.68 from the firm of P.S.C. Burlington of Kent. The one-fourth acre environmental cleanup project is on the site of a former gas station and fertilizer producers operation. At the Palouse city council meeting last Tuesday, the council participated in a conference call with Michael Stringer, project manager from engineers Ma... Full story

  • County to close L. West road to repair bridges

    Joe Smillie, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    L. West Road south of Palouse will be closed for two weeks early next month as Whitman County crews repair a pair of wooden bridges. Public Works Director Mark Storey reported Monday the road will be posted as closed from Sept. 4 through Sept. 13 to allow crews to replace rotting wooden pieces of Robinson and Turnbow Flat bridges on the dirt portion of L. West Road. The L. West Road runs between Highway 27 and Lawson Road on the east side of the highway. It intersects with Highway 27 about one and one half miles south of where the Clear Creek R...

  • Whitman County lowers revenue forecast

    Joe Smillie, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    Whitman County’s revenues for 2012 are coming in slower than expected. So, however, is spending. County Administrator Gary Petrovich reported actual revenues are trailing projections set forth in the June budget amendment. Petrovich revised the county’s total revenue for the 2012 current expense budget from $14.2 million to $12.7 million. “I’m estimating that our actual revenues for the total of 2012 will come in about $12.7 million,” Petrovich told officials in a meeting in the commissioners’ chambers Monday morning. Financial Administrat...

  • SEL building lone tax adjustment by assessor

    Aug 23, 2012

    Assessed value of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories’ recently-built solutions delivery center in Pullman was dropped from $11,650,668 to $8,117,522 by the Whitman County commissioners acting as the board of equalization. Asssessor Joe Reynolds recommended commissioners approve the change, the sole contest of Reynolds’ office’s official property valuation brought to the board of equalization this year. Reynolds said the change would not change the county’s tax rolls, as the change in valuation is more a change in tax classification. The cou...

  • Statute of limitations cuts list: State revises rustling charges against Hughes for 2nd trial

    Aug 23, 2012

    A motion to amend the state’s charges against James Hughes, Endicott farmer and trucker who has been charged with stealing truckloads of grain from the Whitgro cooperative, was approved in a hearing Friday morning in Whitman County Superior Court. The Hughes case remains on the docket after a jury July 20 reported they were unable to come up with a verdict following a week-long trial. After the hung jury outcome, Prosecutor Denis Tracy said he would continue prosecuting the case. Tracy last week filed a motion to again amend the charges a... Full story

  • Will primary results impact Hawkins deal?

    Joe Smillie, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    Despite the results of their respective races in this month’s primary, Whitman County commissioners Pat O’Neill and Greg Partch see no impact from the results on the Hawkins shopping mall proposal. “I made the vote January 3. And right now, that’s all there is,” said O’Neill. Much of the focus on the campaign centered around the county’s agreement to fund $15 million worth of infrastructure for the shopping center site which totals 714,000-square feet. Partch, who lost his bid for a fourth term by finishing third in the primary race, decline...

  • Farmington lifts alcohol ban for Harvest Festival

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    Farmington’s city council has amended a 1989 ordinance to allow alcohol to be served on town property for their upcoming Harvest Festival which has been scheduled for Sept. 22. The town took up the issue after learning Farmington has an ordinance which prohibits sale of alcoholic drinks on town property. In its regular meeting Monday night, the council revised the ordinance, then formally voted to make an exception. The matter was not fully resolved, because Mayor Ron Dugan wants to first have a...

  • Mammoth tooth found in Tekoa

    Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter|Aug 23, 2012

    The Tekoa water project has turned up almost every street in town. Last week, it added a mammoth tooth. In the late morning of Aug. 6, a crew from Granite Excavation was installing a storm-drain catch basin at the corner of Henkle and Broadway when pipe layer Don Zufelt saw something in the dirt. They stopped digging and summoned Dr. Ula Moody, archaeologist who was monitoring a different crew. Moody said the tooth was in loess soil about 3.5 feet below the road grade. Loess is the wind-blown...

  • A brand new harvest view

    Aug 23, 2012

    Palouse Wind turbines dwarf the John Deere 9600 combine of Larry Brown as he harvests wheat from the hills around Naff Ridge Sunday afternoon. The blades on the turbines in the background were placed on towers last Thursday, the first three of the 58 turbines to be completed. Blades are currently being put on more turbines farther up Naff Ridge. This year marks the last year Brown’s farm will harvest wheat from this ground east of Highway 195 just south of the Horn School Rest Area without the turbines spinning above. Palouse Wind will sell a...