Good Old Days March 24

125 years ago

The Commoner

March 20, 1891

The building plans for the new brick block on the corner of First street and Steptoe avenue, at Oakesdale, to be known as Commercial block, were accepted Wednesday, says the Sun.

The plans have been changed so that the building will front 125 feet on Steptoe avenue and will be 100 feet deep.

The bank will occupy the corner, back of which will be two large rooms for offices.

Next will be 50 feet set apart for Alexander & Hexter for a double store, Wiley & Horn to occupy the next 25 feet and next Bailor & Johnston 25 feet.

Bids will be opened about March 25, and dirt will then begin to fly in earnest.

The block will cost close to $18,000.

It will have four skylights and the glass in front will be 6 ½x8 feet in size.

An elegant cornice will adorn the walls and a neat tower built on the corner.

It will be a handsome one story structure and a credit to the city.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

March 24, 1916

An effort will be made this spring to organize a Whitman County baseball league composed of the different towns of the county.

By having an organized association and a regular arranged schedule of games, a far better and more satisfactory series of games could be played.

The matter has not as yet taken definite shape but the proposition is being seriously talked about.

Winona, the town that turned out the champion baseball team last year, expects to have as good a team this year, and the other towns like La Crosse, Endicott, St. John, Tekoa, Oakesdale, Pullman and Colfax all plan to turn out good local teams.

The managers of the different teams realize that some systems should be devised in the arranging of the games in order to furnish the people with a better article of baseball.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

March 21, 1941

That Whitman County will profit financially as the result of measures adopted by the legislature, which adjourned late last week, was the assertion made by Senator Ernest C. Huntley, who arrived home Sunday afternoon and Monday called on the board of county commissioners, of which he is the immediate past chairman.

In making a new equalization of the state gas tax, Whitman County will receive $37,000 more a year than it has been receiving as its portion, and the money will be turned back to the county direct instead of under the reimbursement system, which often took 60 days for a municipality to get back what it had advanced for street improvements.

Colfax and all other towns of the county will receive no larger amounts as their share of the gas tax, but will, however, be paid their share direct. This is expected to be more satisfactory to the Colfax city administration, which has been sorely irked in the past over the state's delay in making prompt reimbursement of funds which the city had advanced for retreading and other repairs on Main street. The tax money will now be received monthly as collected.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

March 24, 1966

Consolidation of two rural school districts – Ewan and Thornton – with larger neighboring districts will probably be put to a vote before the next term of school, the Gazette learned this week.

Petitions seeking consolidation of Ewan and St. John and Thornton with Rosalia have been circulated in all of the districts involved and Orville Widman, county superintendent of schools, has been asked to call hearings on both proposals.

The hearings have been tentatively scheduled for Monday, April 4, in the courthouse with the Ewan-St. John proposal scheduled for discussion at 7:30 p.m. and the Thornton-Rosalia proposal scheduled for 8:30 p.m. before the county committee on school district organization.

Widman has requested Norman Westling, consultant with the state department of education, to attend the hearings.

At the conclusion of the hearings, the county committee must decide whether or not to hold an election on the consolidations. A favorable vote in each of the districts involved is necessary to effect the merger, but what constitutes a “favorable vote” will depend upon adjustment of each district's financial assets and liabilities.

If one of the two districts involved in each proposal is required to assume a substantial amount of bonded indebtedness of the other district, more than a majority favorable vote may be required, Widman said. “No decision has been reached, but it appears as though a 60 percent majority may be required if one of the districts is to share in the bonded indebtedness of another.”

Both consolidations have been “brewing” for a considerable length of time because of the shrinkage of enrollment in the smaller schools and increasing pressure from the state legislature and “big school” forces to trim state support for the smaller districts.

The Ewan district currently has an enrollment of 42 pupils and employs four teachers, (one part time), a cook, janitor and two bus drivers.

The Thornton district has an enrollment of 11 pupils, but 20 children living within the district attend elementary school in Rosalia and four attend school in Oakesdale. The Thornton district, one of the richest in the state, has two teachers, a bus-driver-janitor, cook and two other part-time employees (noon duty aid and patrolman at highway crossing).

Little opposition to consolidation has been voiced in the Ewan district with most opinions either opposing consolidation altogether or favoring consolidation with St. John.

The story is different in the Thornton district – some patrons are opposed to any consolidation, some want to merge with the Rosalia district, some with the Oakesdale district and a few with St. John.

Under the school reorganization law, the district cannot be split up and the pieces joined with separate districts, but once the district is merged with another, individual property owners living along the borders can petition for transfer of their land to the adjoining district.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

March 21, 1991

The Washington State Patrol wrote 475 citations during the spring break exodus of WSU students from Pullman last weekend, according to Sgt. Lee Boling.

Troopers gave more warnings than citations, Boling added.

The “safety and speed emphasis patrols” responsible for the number of stops were highly publicized on television and in newspapers, including the University of Idaho's Argonaut and WSU's Daily Evergreen.

The patrols will continue this weekend as students return from break.

Troopers concentrated on the 135 miles of Highway 26 between Colfax and Vantage where they use an airplane to pace traffic in the wide open spaces of the center of the state. During a typical three-day period, troopers stop about 60 vehicles on that stretch of road.

A spotter plane was used to identify speeding drivers which then were stopped by ground patrols. The rock pit by LaCrosse reportedly was filled with cars being cited by state troopers.

Most of the stops were for speeding. Some were for following too close and improper passing. A large number of seat belt infractions also were issued. The highest speed recorded was 90 miles per hour and several were in the mid to high 80s.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

March 23, 2006

The Pullman Wal-Mart dispute moved into Whitman County Superior Court Friday when attorneys for Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development filed a land use petition. The filing challenges the Feb. 24 ruling issued by John Montgomery, Spokane attorney who acted as hearing officer for the PARD appeal against the City of Pullman decision which allowed the Wal-Mart plan to advance.

Wal-Mart has proposed a 223,000 square foot Supercenter on a 28-acre parcel on Bishop Boulevard in Pullman.

Friday's land use petition was filed by David A. Bricklin and Jennifer Dold from Seattle. The 20-page petition was filed three days before the March 20 deadline for a court appeal of the decision made by Montgomery.

Listed as respondents of the petition were CLC Associates of Spokane Valley, the firm developing the Wal-Mart project, City of Pullman and S&W Land Co. of Colfax, owners of the Bishop Boulevard site.

The petition asks the court to void the site plan and remand it to the city with directions to deny it. It also asks for an order reversing the city's determination of non-significance and remanding it for an environmental impact study.

The petition noted members of PARD live in close proximity to the supercenter site. Those residents would be injured or prejudiced by increased traffic generated by Wal-Mart, insufficient access to Pullman Regional Hospital on Bishop Boulevard and slower response time by emergency equipment, the petition said.

The petition contends the appeal hearing included unlawful procedure and erroneous interpretations not supported by evidence. It said the hearing examiner incorrectly concluded the project was consistent with Pullman City Codes and ignored the applicable goals, policies and standards in the city's comprehensive plan.

The petition alleges 16 specific errors made by the examiner. Among them was allowing the city to fail to undertake a fiscal impact study and approving the plan while Wal-Mart was allowed to withhold information on traffic impact.

Also listed were 40 points on which PARD relies to sustain a statement of error on the part of Montgomery, the hearing examiner.

A copy of Montgomery's Feb. 24 decision on the hearings was attached to the petition. The petition filing includes a summons which requires a response within 20 days after the respondents receive notice of the suit. A preliminary hearing has been slated on the court's April 28 civil matters calendar.

The PARD appeal which led to the hearing by Montgomery contests Pullman's determination of non-significance on the project under the State Environmental Policy Act and approval of a site plan for the project. Those decisions were issued in August and September by Pullman Public Works Director Mark Workman.

In its petition to the court PARD is described as a diverse non-profit organization comprised of business people, religious leaders, working people, teachers, students, retirees and homemakers, among others.

PARD was formed after the initial announcement of Wal-Mart's plans for the Supercenter were made in the fall of 2004.