Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
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Changes in senior meal service around the county are scheduled to go into effect at the start of the new year. The Council on Aging plans to drop the meal service in Rosalia, expand the service at Colfax to twice a week and introduce meals at Endicott twice a month. Paige Collins, executive director for the council, said the Rosalia service will cease at the end of the year because of low attendance. The numbers at the Rosalia site had dropped down to a core of approximately nine people. “That made it hard for us financially to send a cook u...
At Monday’s commissioner workshop, Commissioner Dean Kinzer, who also serves on the Whitcom executive board, reported on the discussions from Friday’s Whitcom finance meeting. Whitcom is the regional emergency dispatch center. Dispatch services cover seven counties in Washington and Idaho. Kinzer explained at the Friday meeting it was suggested to bring in an outside company to do strategic planning for Whitcom. He noted that this most likely would be brought before the full Whitcom Board at its Wednesday meeting. “They are proposing to bring i...
At the conclusion of the Palouse city council meeting Dec. 10, Mayor Michael Echanove read thank you notes, swore-in new mayor Chris Cook, effective Jan. 1, and said he would entertain a motion to adjourn – after 26 years as mayor and city councilman. A motion was made and seconded. "All opposed?" called Echanove. Then he paused a moment. "Motion carried," he said. That night, they had passed the budget for next year and took in a report on the planning commission's community survey. Cook, a c...
Whitman County Commissioners Monday discussed the possibility of opening the historic preservation fund at their morning workshop. Commissioner Michael Largent reported he has been asked about interest in using the historic preservation fund for a project in Pullman. “The historic preservation fund works the same way as .09 money, you open it up to all the organizations, not just the one,” said Maribeth Becker, clerk of the board. “They will be competing with others.” Currently, the county historic preservation fund totals $60,000. These f...
Eight people were incarcerated the morning of Dec. 13 in a high-ceilinged nook of Columbia Bank, with bars made of black ribbon. By 10 a.m., six had been bailed out, leaving County Commissioner Michael Largent and Tyler Kuhl, owner/operator of Napa Auto Parts in Colfax. Then they allowed in the grandson, Mason Largent. Time ticked by and customers passed in and out of the bank, some stepping over to interact. "Do you not work at the courthouse?" said one. "Sorry, I'm gonna leave you sit there....
Colfax Mayor Todd Vanek and Councilman Al Vorderbrueggen both signed off Monday night after finishing their terms of office. Both decided not to seek another term when filing opened for this year's election. Both completed two terms of office, but Vorderbrueggen had a longer run because he was appointed to the council before he started his first term. Mayor Vanek pointed out a lot of changes have taken place along Main Street since he started his first term eight years ago. He said the business...
Forty-four years ago Artis Brannon was hired by Bill Munson to work at the Colfax Grange in the grocery department. Over the years, Brannon has watched the Colfax Grange store turn into the auto center for Four Star Supply Inc., transitioned from grocery to hardware, moved over to the current building for Four Star Supply Inc. and go through seven managers. Brannon Dec. 31 will be closing out her last day at Four Star Supply Inc. where she is now the farm store manager. "It was a hard decision...
Pullman Chamber of Commerce hosted its 102nd annual awards luncheon Dec. 10. New chamber board president Andrew Flabetich thanked outgoing president Jill Bielenberg for her service to the chamber. Ginger Flynn, new board member, was introduced and long-term member Tom Handy received a farewell. Community awards winners honored were Mike Rydbom (Hall of Fame Historical) for his longtime Chamber support and committee participation; Community Band of the Palouse (Hall of Fame Modern) for numerous community events and Pullman’s Fourth of July C...
The pre-built new office building for the county landfill is set to be delivered on or about Dec. 30. The structure, from Pacific Steel Structures of Greenacres, will be placed on a concrete foundation poured in October by the county bridge crew. The crew also put in a septic vault and extended a water line for the 14 X 54-foot manufactured building which will house two offices, a training room, break room, restrooms and storage space. The estimated final cost is $131,471. The funding came from the county solid waste operations budget. The two...
Washington State Patrol last Thursday night posted a notice of closure of Highway 27 two miles north of Rockford. Multiple slide-off accidents were reported on that segment of the highway and one accident reportedly was blocking both lanes of the highway at 8:08 p.m....
In the Gazette's Dec. 12 issue in the article “A total of 66-plus years: Miller, Mayer will finish long careers at Les Schwab” it was stated Cliff Miller has been with Les Schwab Tire Center for 33 ½ years. The correct total amount of time he has been with Les Schwab is 38 ½ years. Miller has been at the Colfax location for 13 ½ years....
On Monday, Dec. 16, Brandy Dean, county facilities management director, brought ideas of possible changes to the courthouse before the county commissioners at their Monday workshop. Dean mentioned that with the proposed new HVAC system they are trying to decide what to do with the courthouse ceilings. “The popcorn ceiling, which is quite a bit of the upstairs and downstairs of the courthouse has asbestos in it,” Dean said. “IRS Environmental came in on Friday. They are going to give us a quote on what it would be to abate the whole build...
Colfax High School Jazz Band made stops to play Christmas music Tuesday morning. They played first at Hill-Ray and then finished the tour at The Courtyard. The band included music students from seventh grade through seniors....
“Little things: Big impact,” a workshop for farmers and interested residents in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, will be presented by the WSU Extension Farmers Network, starting at 7:45 a.m. Jan. 15 at The Courtyard Marriott in Pullman. It will cover research-based insights on managing soil biology, the role of soil microbes in nutrient cycling and crop rotation, soil carbon and diversifying dryland cropping system. Speakers will be from WSU and the US Department of Agriculture. This workshop has been approved for seven Certified Cro...
Shiloh Johnston, 20, Mountlake Terrace, was assigned a three-year sex offender alternative sentence Dec. 11 in superior court on a conviction for child molestation. Johnston pleaded guilty to the charge Oct. 8, and the Dec. 4 sentencing followed a pre-trial investigation evaluation report by the Department of Corrections. Johnston was sentenced to 60 days in jail with credit for time served and placed on community custody for three years to undergo offender training. He was charged with molesting a juvenile boy in Pullman last March 12, while...
Compiling responses from 155 residents, the Palouse Planning commission has finished its community survey, the first in seven years. Jim Fielder, commission chair, presented results to the city council Dec. 10. “We were pleased,” Fielder said, noting it was the first time a town survey was done online, with subsequent technical issues with the web address. “Overall it shows very positive feelings about Palouse and the direction things are going. We didn't feel there were any surprises.” Among ar...
A southbound truck driver lost control of a vehicle transporter at about 4 a.m. last Wednesday, Dec. 11, and crashed into the guardrail at the top of Buck Canyon grade on Highway 195. The truck and loaded trailer went out of control on the curve near the top of the grade and slid across the highway and into the guardrail. The driver of the truck in the early Wednesday morning accident at the top of Buck Canyon grade was identified as Matthew Bridwell, 36, Pinehurst, Idaho. Bridwell was unhurt...
Whitman County Humane Society was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Petco Foundation as part of its Holiday Wishes campaign. The grant was awarded through the Moscow Petco outlet. In its seventh year, Petco Foundation is awarding grants that total $870,000. "This year we received thousands of stories from individuals across the United States and the Petco Foundation is rewarding grants totaling $870,000 to organizations across the country to save even more animal lives," said Brad Johnson, Moscow...
Opening three manila envelopes, Whitman County commissioners took in bids Monday for 80,000 tons of rock crushing at Repp Quarry near St. John and Union Center Quarry. The first bid was from Western Construction of Lewiston for $673,561. The next envelope was from Seubert Excavators of Cottonwood. They submitted a letter saying that they will not have time for the project. The last envelope was from DeAtley Crushing Company of Lewiston for $882,405. The order is for 30,800 tons of furnish and stockpile maintenance rock at Repp Quarry and...
Colfax and Tekoa/Rosalia rattled through two overtimes Tuesday in the first league match of the season for the boys at Colfax. The Bulldogs, who trialed the Timberwolves through most of the game, pulled it out with foul shots in the second OT for a 72-68 final score. Colfax sophomore John Lustig, who finished with 44 points, hit two toss shots and Layne Gingerich hit one of two to get the four point edge in the final seconds. At the end of the first overtime Lustig hit a reverse hook along the...
Tekoa/Rosalia boys took wins over two teams from the north side over the weekend. They defeated Kettle Falls 52-50 with a final-second shot at Rosalia Friday. Scoring for the Timberwolves were Garrett Naught 9, Anthony Gehring 18, Mitchell Billings 7, Riley McLain 10, Keegan French 3, Kenneth Lenoir 2, Zach Saens 2. Saturday, the Timberwolves hosted Mary Walker of Springdale at Tekoa and booked a 73- 42 win with Naught finishing with 23 points. Other scorers for the T-wolves were Gehring 14, Billings 11, McLain 9, French 4, Lenoir 6 and Zane...
Colfax girls stacked three straight wins during the week to stretch their season record to 5-1. The Bulldogs defeated a determined Columbia of Burbank team 45-39 on the Colfax court Friday night. They traveled to St. George’s Saturday and played a close game with the Dragons before pulling out a 43-36 win. Tuesday on the home court the Bulldogs out-paced a young Tekoa/Rosalia team for a 56-13 win in the first league game of the season. Friday night on the home boards, Colfax worked to take 2...
The Garfield/Palouse girls and their four returning starters have begun the season with wins over Potlatch and Tekoa/Rosalia, and a loss to Pomeroy. Back for 2019-20 for the Vikings are Paige Collier, now a junior point guard; Lexi Brantner, a senior guard; Kenzi Pederson, sophomore post, and Macy Brantner, another sophomore post (Lexi’s sister). In the fifth spot is Madi Cloninger, a sophomore guard, who filled in last year when Lexi Brantner was injured. The team is coached by Garrett P...
