Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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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. CITY OKAYS RAILROAD OFFER A negotiated purchase of railroad right-of-way under Railroad Ave. in north Colfax was approved by the Colfax City Council Monday night. The city has negotiated purchase of the Railroad Ave. right-of-way and two blocks of siding right-of-way between Last and Island streets for $10,000. The city will also be required to... Full story
Colfax volleyball players, the defending state 2B champions, started their season with 30 girls hitting the boards for the new sports year. The Bulldogs rolled through the season last year with a 36-1 record in match scores on the way to the 2B title match at Yakima. Colfax took the trophy with a run of 12 games, the minimum for a state win. The SunDome charge finished a season in which the Bulldogs rolled out 36 match wins, an all-time high for the school. Game wins for the campaign last year...
Twenty-two sprint boat crews, some of them making their first stop at St. John, turned up the notch Saturday in the second session at Webb's Slough. The day of competition on a tough course included finishes within a half second. The slough, known as the tightest course on the circuit, again proved a challenge with 30 turns charted for the Saturday event. The third turn out of the start, a short piece of the backstretch, proved to be the toughest for the drivers. One notable feat in the...
Launch time for the high school football season starts sooner this year with teams Friday headed for the jamboree at Ritzville. Under a WIAA rule change teams are now allowed to start the season after eight practice sessions. Friday’s Ritzville Jamboree start will include four of the NE league schools with a mix of other entrants, mostly from the A division. Connell, Warden and Medical Lake will be the big school factors with Tri Cities Prep also visiting as a 2B entrant from the SE division. Other NE schools in the mix with Colfax will be N... Full story
The Garfield-Palouse Vikings are back on the football field with a new coach and six returning starters. Gar-Pal Athletic Director and English teacher Scott Thompson resigned as football coach this spring after five years leading the Vikings. “I’m taking some time to do some things family-related,” he said, one of which is traveling to watch daughter Cassie Thompson play volleyball for the University of Laverne (Calif.). Taking over is one of Thompson’s assistants, Will Woltering, whose son Hun... Full story
Two Palouse residents have been granted more time to live in an RV with a city sewer and water hookup while they build a house. At an Aug. 12 meeting, the Palouse City Council elected to allow a 60-day extension while a new zoning code is adopted, after which the couple would need to apply for a conditional use permit. Scott Storch and Ardis Wraspir were granted their first 60 day exception to the city’s 29-day RV limit policy June 10 so they could advance work on their house project. The d... Full story
The International Longshoremen and Warehouse Union voted on and ratified a new contract which will bring long-term stability to grain exports from the state’s export facilities. Announcement of a tentative accord occurred Aug. 11 and resulted in Washington State Department of Agriculture inspectors immediately returning to work at United Grain Corporation in Vancouver. The union voted and ratified the contract Tuesday, with 88.4 percent voting in favor of the contract, according to Michelle Hennings, executive director of the Washington A...
The proposed new comprehensive plan for the city of Palouse is moving forward; a public hearing was set to resume Tuesday night. The plan has been in front of the city council since July 22 with the start of the public hearing period. In the process, the council has suggested small changes to the document which would replace the 1997 plan which includes an update to the zoning map for the first time since 1986. “I’m so proud of our planning commission,” said Palouse Mayor Michael Echan... Full story
With most of the grain harvest complete and in grain bins, farmers are now moving on to garbanzos, according to local farming agents. Stephen Van Vleet, WSU Regional Extension Specialist, Associate Professor of Agricultural and Natural Resources, based in Colfax, said the spring wheat was surprisingly good in most areas of the county, getting average yields. He said that about 60 percent of the crops were lost in areas that went through hail storms. Winter wheat yields decreased 15 to 30 percent, mostly because of disease, Van Vleet said....
Shayne A. Holt, 40, a former employee at Whitgro Inc. in St. John, has been summoned to appear in court Sept. 19 after a charge of first degree theft was filed Aug. 21 in superior court. Allegations in the investigation report conducted by the sheriff’s office say Holt took a total of $488,600 from the cooperative by writing bogus checks to himself and cashing or depositing them. The investigation report includes a listing of the checks from Sept. 9, 2009, until Oct. 8, 2012. According to the arrest report, Holt worked for the cooperative as I...
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers made the last stop on her “Conversations with Cathy” tour in Colfax Aug. 22. She started her Fifth District tour in Walla Walla Aug. 19, then stopped in Dayton and Clarkston on Aug. 20 and finally Colfax. She stopped at the Gazette office, where she sampled some rhubarb bread, and then spent about an hour in the Public Service Building auditorium. McMorris Rodgers said when Congress gets back in session members will have a lot of work to do. She said the app... Full story
Justin Welch of Pullman/Albion scrapes old paint off bleachers at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds Aug. 21, during preparation for next week’s fair....
A Parvin area fire burned fields and brush in a seven-hour battle late Aug. 20. The fire at one time threatened houses, a barn and other structures at Parvin. Colfax crews the morning of Aug. 21 responded to a flare-up in the burned area above Parvin. Heavy smoke was generated by the flare-up. Albion crew members reportedly stayed on the scene until 3 a.m. Aug. 21 and observed several smoldering sites. The first fire call at Colfax Aug. 20 was logged at 4:38 p.m. and rural crews and tankers responded from four different districts. The log shows... Full story
Lindsay Webber, a 2013 Colfax High school graduate, has been selected as one of four finalists in a national contest on singing the national anthem. The grand prize winner will be determined by a popular vote with internet voting open from today, Aug. 28, until Sept. 18. As one of the four finalists, Lindsay received a $5,000 scholarship and an all-expense paid trip to Nashville where each of the four finalists recorded their version of the national anthem with professional musicians. The winner...
Port of Whitman County commissioners Aug. 21 saw and heard about problems at the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in the port’s industrial park in Pullman. In a PowerPoint presentation, Jana Schultheis of SEL showed commissioners photos of the streets, focusing on the Terre View entrance to the industrial park. She pointed out cracks and weeds growing along the curbs and implied the port should be maintaining the streets and sidewalks. Also she showed photos of five sandwich boards advertising various businesses, along with weedy areas, a...
Property taxpayers in parts of the county got a surprise in their mailboxes Tuesday. According to county Treasurer Bob Lothspeich and county Assessor Joe Reynolds, approximately 850 statements were mailed Monday explaining tax roll corrections. The problem stems from a “finger flub” error in which the original statement to one taxpayer was based on a property valuation which included several erroneous zeros on the property valuation, to the tune of $36 million. That made the tax bill out of line, but the county was unaware of the problem unt...
Colfax School District Board discussed ways, Monday night, in which they might designate money for a proposed new track at the high school. Listening to information from District Business Manager Reece Jenkin about what funds board members might designate and how to go about it, the board then discussed the matter. The “C-Town Project,” led by Colfax High track coach Jason Cooper aims at boosting funds available for rebuilding the Colfax High School track. The drive began last spring when the sc...
The Whitman County Library’s Book Bear gets doused with ice water Monday in response to an “Ice Bucket Challenge” from the Asotin Library staff. The practice sweeping the country is a benefit for ALS research, in which people agree to donate to the cause or get doused with ice water. Many do both. Whitman County Library Executive Director Kristie Kirkpatrick said that the event was a tribute to the late Marie Doak, who was a longtime library staff member who suffered from ALS. She retired from...
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