Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 26 - 38 of 38
COLFAX — The Whitman County Elections Office is expected to continue processing ballots into next week as staff work through duplicates. “It’s very time consuming,” Auditor Sandy Jamison said The Washington Administrative Code defines ballot duplication as: “the process of making a true copy of valid votes from a physically damaged ballot or a ballot that is unreadable or uncountable by the tabulation system onto a paper or electronic blank ballot to ensure the ballot may be correctly tabulated by the tabulation system.” Duplicate ballots can...
COLFAX - Whitman County Commission challenger Tom Handy is leading incumbent Dean Kinzer in a race that has yet to be decided. As of 4:55 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, 9,153 votes (50.25%) were tallied for Handy and 8,966 (49.23%) for Kinzer. The next count is scheduled for Wednesday; an estimated 700 ballots remain, which are almost all duplicates, according to Whitman County Auditor Sandy Jamison. Duplicate ballots are those that a person marked a vote that they crossed out and changed to a different...
COLFAX — A heightened awareness of the election process has some poll watchers questioning why their abilities were hampered in Whitman County. Poll watchers for both Democrats and Republicans noted they were put in an exterior room removed from the ballot opening, signature verification and other processes. “The workers and ballots were in an unobservable side room,” Democrat poll watcher Casey Shiprek said. “It was difficult to see what was going on,” Republican poll watcher Sandra Brabb said. Under the Washington Administrative Code 43-250-1...
COLFAX — The Whitman County Planning Commission is recommending new rules regarding commercial marijuana production, processing and sales. “We’ve never debated something like this,” County Planner Alan Thomson said after the commission approved the proposal Nov. 4. “Wind turbines were controversial, but marijuana is a different level. We’re in a another league when we’re talking about drugs.” If approved by Whitman County Commissioners, the new rules would allow indoor marijuana production in areas zoned for agriculture, heavy commercial, lig...
COLFAX - Two area residents were injured in a 7:30 a.m. crash Friday, Nov. 13, near Milepost 33 of U.S. Highway 195, about three miles south of the city. Jackie D. Wright of Colfax and Jennavieve G. Nuccitelli of Pullman were both transported to an area hospital, according to the Washington State Patrol. The incident occurred in wintry conditions, with gusty winds blowing snow across the roadway, where it was accumulating. Wright was southbound in her 2004 Cadillac DeVille; Nuccitelli was...
ROSALIA — A local man was booked into the Whitman County Jail on Monday, Nov. 16, after allegedly attempting to burn down a church. Samuel Owens, 45, will make his first appearance in Whitman County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon. He was arrested without incident and booked into the jail on charges of first-degree attempted arson, criminal trespass and malicious mischief, according to Whitman County Sheriff Brett J. Myers. Deputies were called to Community Baptist Church, 818 N. Whitman Ave., for a man threatening to burn down the c...
COLFAX —With the Pullman school board holding off on a return to in-person education until Jan. 4, some families are looking to send their kids elsewhere in Whitman County. Colfax Superintendent Jerry Pugh reports 12 students have transferred from Pullman in the last few weeks. “We’ve had more calls than that,” he said. He explained the decisions to allow the outside students to the school board Nov. 9. “In talking to the principals, where we can add a few here, add a few there, that’s what we’re going to do,” Pugh said. “We still have social...
COLFAX - With winter coming on, Whitman County Public Works looks to withhold plow drivers from quarantine by keeping crews separated from each other. If they lose a group at one shop, another crew from another has to fill in. “If we get hit hard by COVID, how do we keep the plows out?” said Mark Storey, Public Works director. “If we’re down five to ten people, we’re gonna have a hard time keeping the roads cleared. We struggle even when we have all hands on deck.” Last week, Storey put out a reminder on operational precautions to the roads c...
COLFAX—Scammers have a new angle from which to extract vital information from victims. A Colfax resident called Whitman and Latah county sheriff’s after receiving a call from someone posing as a Medicare representative. He was told Medicare was updating its information and needed his name and card number. When he resisted, multiple “supervisors” tried to convince him to give the number; “very pushy” all the time, the intended victim, who is in his 70s, told the Gazette. “Never give your information out,” Undersheriff Chris Chapman advised...
DIAMOND—New vehicle, coveralls and members, oh my! The Diamond Fire Department has seen a lot of improvement since the Labor Day fires, mostly due to support of other fire departments in Rural Fire District #11 and a Rural Community Grant. “There was a lot of cooperation that happened to get this done,” Rob Shindler, two-year fire chief, said. Shindler was specifically speaking of the addition of a 2000 Ford Med-Tec aid rig and receiving an aid license. That means now the department can respond to medical calls and do initial patient care...
COLFAX—The Port of Whitman County signed a letter of engagement with consulting group Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc., as most preliminary step in a potential project that would “re-develop” the WSU coal plant into a multi-use building. “This is just the first step in what I think will be a long process as the port evaluates this building,” Debbie Snell, port properties and development director. The consultant at this stage would do a limited scope feasibility study to assess if the property would be eligible for certain grants and potential...
COLFAX—Washington State Patrol responded to more than half a dozen incidents yesterday, Nov. 23, all connected to road conditions or inconsiderate deer. One driver was transported to the hospital as a precaution, but no other injuries were reported. All information taken from WSP collision memos. There were three non-reportable collisions and one call troopers were unable to locate. -No injuries were reported after a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban rolled off Highway 27 after 7 a.m. Brianna Bell of Olympia was driving southbound and lost control on i...
