Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Whitman County’s decision on a proposal to abandon two stretches of little-used roads will be held off until harvest season is over. Crow Road and a portion of the File Road are on the county’s chopping block. Both are in the Oakesdale district. Commissioners held a public hearing Monday on taking them off the roster of county roads. No one from the public spoke at the hearing, but Public Works Director Mark Storey suggested commissioners postpone a decision until after harvest so neighborhood residents can have a chance to weigh in on the matt...
Katy Lautenschlager of Endicott returned in late July from a trip to Hollywood for a modeling and acting conference. Lautenschlager, 15, has an interest in acting or modeling, both fields which the conference addressed. She raised her own funds to attend the competition, called the World Championships of Performing Arts. Scouts from different U.S. agencies attended the conference. Talent from other countries attended as well. Lautenschlager walked away from the conference with a silver medal in the modeling category for her age group and a... Full story
For those who have trouble paying the rent or staying long in one place, a transitional housing complex in Pullman is almost finished. The nine-unit complex will be a transition home complete with life skills classes and an on-site staffer who helps watch over residents. “They can become self-sufficient- that is the goal,” said Dale Miller, co-director of Pullman Community Action Center. CAC is actively working on getting families into low-income CAC-built housing in Colfax, Pullman and Palouse. The project in Palouse has plans for four sti... Full story
Washington state’s audit of Whitman County’s 2009 financial statement began Tuesday morning. County officials met with representatives of State Auditor Brian Sonntag’s office to chart out a schedule of the state’s review of the county’s books. The county has not submitted a full report of its financial activities since 2003, when it switched from a cash accounting method to the more intricate accrual system. Accrual accounting tracks the value of all county-owned assets, instead of just financial transactions. The 2008 audit report, released...
The North Palouse River saw a less polluted future Aug. 28 after a team of volunteers spent the day cleaning it. Tires, an old wagon wheel, railroad debris and run-of-the-mill roadside trash were all items the volunteers picked up along the river. The Palouse Conservation District has for months been planning the day in step with a nation-wide river cleanup day. A separate group of citizens, independent of the district, came up with the idea of a cleanup day after Palouse resident Carie Saunders complained in a letter to the town mayor the rive...
1. PSYCHOLOGY: What is aviatophobia? 2. HOLIDAYS: When did Christmas become a federal holiday in the United States? 3. FOOD & DRINK: What color replaced tan in M&M candies in 1995? 4. ASTRONOMY: Triton is a moon of which planet in our solar system? 5. LITERATURE: Who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007? 6. HISTORY: What startling discovery did Howard Carter make in 1922? 7. MUSIC: Who composed the opera “Tristan and Isolde”? 8. FASHION: When was the first modern brassiere invented? 9. ENTERTAINMENT: What were the names of the five Mar...
* It was author, journalist and political consultant Vic Gold who made the following sage observation: “The squeaking wheel doesn’t always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.” * The record for the longest space flight in history is held by Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov. In 1995 he completed a 438-day stay aboard the Mir space station. * It’s commonly believed that Eskimos have 50 or more words for different types of snow but no word for just plain snow. In point of fact, that statement is misleading, as the Eskimo language is comp... Full story
The 15h annual EWU Fall Shootout 3 on 3 basketball tournament will be Oct. 16-17 at the Eastern Washington University Sports & Recreation Center. Entries must be received by Oct. 1, according to Mike Campitelli, director of campus recreation programs. The shootout is sponsored by EWU Associated Student and private sponsors. Format will be double elimination. Entrants can download an entry form or call 359-3836. www.ewushootout.com...
Colfax parents and fans are invited to a “Meet the Bulldog” session at the football field tonight, Thursday, to meet members of the football, volleyball and cross country teams and the cheer squad. A hamburger barbecue with pop will be served at 6 p.m. for $5. Bulldog players will be introduced at 6:30 and youth football teams at 7 p.m. Participants in a football cheer camp for youngsters from kindergarten through grade six last Friday will give a special performance at 7 p.m., and a “dunk your coach” concession will be available as a fund ra...
A motorcycle poker run has been scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 19, in memory of the late Don Yates of Colfax. Starting point will be at the Les Schwab parking lot at Colfax with registration from 8 to 10 a.m. The event will feature bug splat bingo. Mr. Yates, a resident of Colfax since 1981 who was a machinst at Bill’s Welding in Pullman, died Aug. 16 at Whitman Hospital. He was a long-time motorcycle enthusiast and was known by other riders as Grumpy. A memorial fund in his name was established at the Bank of Whitman....
Colfax football will launch again this year with a jamboree outing. The Bulldogs will be one of seven teams in the round-robin competition at the Broncos’ field in Ritzville Friday night. The Broncos, Liberty, Davenport and Reardan will be other Bi-County teams in the scramble. Other invited guests will be Bridgeport and Newport. Teams will be limited to 40 plays for the night. Coach Mike Morgan said Colfax will take 30 players to the season’s first action. The Colfax football roster now is up to about 40, but the Bulldogs have players who hav...
With a speedy receiving corps and a veteran offensive line, Coach Ken Lindgren’s Nighthawks of Tekoa, Oakesdale and Rosalia will look to improve off of last year’s 3-6 record. The TOR season opens on the road Friday at Springdale. Members of a practice unit that took the field one member short of a full team run bear crawls as a reminder to count everyone on the field. The three-school combo team will be the lone 2B entrant in the tough SE 2B league this year. Coach Lindgren entered camp with 40 players who hit the practice turf for pre...
First game adventures for three of the county’s veteran eight-man teams will be varied this year. The Colton Wildcats, LW Tigercats and SJE Eagles will all be on the road to distant destinations. All will play in non-league battles and expect to get some idea of how they will do when the expanded SE Eight league campaign launches. Garfield/Palouse, now sanctioned for eight-man ball, will start their season next week at Selkirk. Wildcats will start against TCP champs Coach Clark Vining and the Colton Wildcats, who battled into the q...
Coach Sue Doering and the Colfax volleyball team will officially launch the season Saturday with a jamboree on the home courts. The Bulldogs, who won an unprecedented sixth straight state title when they swept the 2B opponents in 12 games last November at Yakima, graduated six seniors, but they have a lot of talent back to forge a new bid. “We’ll be strong on some spots, and a little young in others. It will be interesting to see everybody find their places,” Coach Doering said. The Bulldogs started their practice season after placing third...
Canadian racer Cory Johnson and navigator Gary McNeil spit muddy water out of the slough channel as they take a corner in their number 55 boat Liquid Addiction. Before a record-breaking Webb’s Slough crowd and national TV film crews, Canadian sprint boat racers Cory Johnson and Gary McNeil claimed the top spot in two separate race classes Saturday. The duo from Maple Ridge, B.C., topped the Super-Modified and Super Boat classes by booking clock-burning runs in the finals of each event. Johnson and McNeil’s number 55 Liquid Addition boat bro...
THURSDAY Yoshifumi Takabe, a 30-year-old Japanese man, pleaded guilty to burning down his family home after his mother threw away some of his favorite toy robots. Scientists discovered a frog the size of a pea, the smallest ever found, on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo. Adult males of the new micro-species can fit on the tip of a pencil. The U.S. government proposed a $24.2 million fine against American Airlines for alleged maintenance violations that led to thousands of flight cancellations two years ago. It is the biggest-ever fine by...
A little bridge on Big Alkali Road became the focal point of hungry construction firms recently. Eleven contractors submitted bids to Whitman County on a job to replace the charred Aune Bridge over Alkali Flat Creek. Award of the job went to Harry Johnson Plumbing and Excavating, Walla Walla, on a low bid of $502,226. Public Works Director Mark Storey said the late-season bid attracted a lot of contractors who are in search of projects to keep their employees on the job. “I think you’re looking at a number of factors,” he said. “We put this bi...
Permitting First Wind’s proposed wind farm on Naff Ridge and Granite Butte could result in up to $100,000 in cost reimbursement from the applicant. An agreement under consideration by both the county and Palouse Wind, the offshoot company created by First Wind for the project, lays out permitting costs the company will pay. County code requires applicants looking to permit projects pay for the costs incurred in the permit process. On smaller projects, that cost is capped at $800. That code was revised in June to require applicants of p...
Using an Appel family crane, volunteers place the renovated belfry atop the Jones Schoolhouse at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds Friday evening. The school was donated to the fair this year by the Repp family of east Dusty. A bell donated by the Steigers will ring inside the belfry when construction is complete.... Full story
Restructuring of Whitman County’s finance department came one step closer to finality Monday. County commissioners officially created an Administrative Director position under their authority to oversee county finances in conjunction with a companion position in the auditor’s office. Creation of the job means the hiring process can begin. Help Wanted ads for the position will be posted in newspapers in Spokane, Portland and across the Puget Sound area. “I know King County, they’re cutting back,” said Commissioner Pat O’Neill. “There migh... Full story
A fire burned up more than 60 acres of wheat on Aug. 26 around noon, just outside Oakesdale.The crop was owned by Casey Jones of Oakesdale. Jones said his land was insured and did not know the exact cause of the fire, but believed it could have started from a combine in the field. High winds contributed to the blaze. Crews from Oakesdale, Garfield and Colfax rural fire departments responded. The field is about a half mile off Oakesdale road....
Palouse Conservation District sponsored a clean-up day Aug. 28 on the Palouse River in step with a nation-wide river clean-up day. A source incorrectly told the Gazette the district had organized the day as a result of a citizen complaining about debris along the river in July....
Paul Cocking, left, and Ray Nelson visit Saturday in front of contrasting equipment at the Courtyard car show. Cocking brought out his blue, 1979 Lincoln Mark V for the show. It was on display next to Wimpy, Colfax Fire department’s 1919 American LaFrance fire pumper....
Rabbi Jacob Izakson points to a sign in Co-Ag’s Rosalia elevator that reminds employees not to smoke, eat or drink near the grain pit. Signs like this are one of the key parts of keeping grain kosher. For millions around the world, eating kosher is an important part of their lives. Rabbi Jakob Izakson of Spokane said there’s no secret to making sure food is kosher, no blessing is required. “Wheat, peas, lentils, barley, garbs – they’re all automatically kosher because they grow, because nothing out in the field can be contamina... Full story
Pictured with Lois Hanson at a gathering at her home recently are Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove, Joyce Beeson, Doreen Hanson, Marie Dymkoski, Lois Hanson, Ami Kramer, Scott Beeson and Corey Laughary. Board members not pictured are Bev Pearce and Rosemary Gage. The Palouse Community Center project received a gift of $100,000 from the family of Raymond Hanson. Mr. Hanson, who died last year, is especially remembered in the hilly Palouse country for his invention of the automatic leveling device for combines. He was well-known for designing...
