Good Old Days: February 27, 2020

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

February 27, 1920

W. E. McCroskey stated this week that the census returns showed that Colfax was the largest town in Whitman County. Mr. McCroskey stated that the government would issue the census figures and these figures would show that this city still retains its lead as the largest town in the part of the state.

Pullman has had a rapid growth during the last five years as many of the retired farmers have been locating in the college town for the purpose of sending their children to the Washington State College. Many of the people of that city have insisted that Pullman had the greatest number of people but this statement has always been refuted by the people of Colfax. Colfax is expected to make a wonderful growth within the next few years and there will be small chances of any town in the county surpassing it in population in future years.

Colfax is the county seat and it is the banking center of this section of the Inland Empire. The four banks in Colfax do an enormous amount of business and the deposits of the four banks in this city equal the deposits of all the other banks in the county. Many of the retiring and wealthy farmers of the county are locating in Colfax and the growth from this source is expected to be rapid in future years.

75 years ago

The Colfax Gazette-Commoner

March 2, 1945

The Red Cross war fund drive to raise $5,000 as the city’s quota got started at a kick-off luncheon held Wednesday noon at the Colfax hotel under the sponsorship of the chamber of commerce.

Guest speaker was Mrs. H. W. Pugh, executive secretary of the Whitman County chapter of the Red Cross, who said that it costs the American Red Cross $6 a second to carry on its program.

Whitman County, said Mrs. Pugh, with its quota of $32,000 has been asked to provide funds with which to carry on the work for one and a half hours, which is little enough considering the wealth of the county.

Colfax has been asked to bring the Red Cross to a soldier’s side for 14 minutes, said Mrs. Pugh.

Highlights of the work the Red Cross is doing in its programs of providing prisoner of war food packages, blood plasma, home, camp, club and hospital services were outlined by Mrs. Pugh.

50 years ago

The Colfax Gazette

Feb. 26, 1970

Farmers attending a property tax meeting at Whelan Grange hall near Pullman Tuesday night pledged to withhold payment of nearly a third of a million dollars in property taxes in protest against “ever-increasing levies,” the Colfax Gazette learned yesterday.

Most of the estimated 200 attending the meeting were residents of the rural areas of the Pullman school district, where the current tax levy is over 100 mills. The levy varies from 103.15 to 104.30 mills in the Pullman rural area, depending on the fire district involved; in the City of Pullman, the levy is 116.04 mills. The highest levy in other rural areas of the county is 82.19 in the Palouse district with most rural levies around 60 to 65 mills.

Melvin Kimble, Union Flat farmer, was chairman of the meeting but declined to give the Gazette any details on the meeting other than to mention the total amount of taxes farmers had pledged to withhold. He said that the “committee will issue a statement to the press soon” and said committee members declined to be quoted individually because “their statements might be misinterpreted.”

25 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

March 2, 1995

Cities should pay their fair share of court costs, Whitman County Commissioner Jim Potus told the Washington Senate Government Operations Committee last Thursday.

Potts, representing Whitman County and the Washington Association of Counties, testified in favor of a senate bill which mandates that cities pay a fee for misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor charges filed by the city but tried in the county courts.

A misdemeanor has a maximum sentence of 90 days imprisonment and a fine of $1,000. A gross misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of one year and a $5,000 fine.

If passed, the fee will be set by an agreement between the city and county, according to the bill, which calls for an arbitrator if an agreement cannot be reached.

***

Whitman County will not give $1,500 to fight the designation of the Eastern Columbia Plateau aquifer as a sole source. County Commissioners Monday defeated a motion by Commissioner Les Wigen to pay $1,500 to the Northwest Council of Governments and Associates.

The commissioners previously gave $500 to the group and have issued a statement opposing the designation.

NWCOGA was formed to fight the designation of a sole source aquifer and consists of officials from the counties that would be affected by the sole source designation, ranchers, farmers, business people and association representatives.

Commissioner Nora Mae Kiefer said she voted against the motion because the Department of Ecology has recommended to “wait until there’s more information.”

***

Experience seems to be the underlying lesson the Colton High School jazz band learned last weeked at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.

Music teacher Bill Bolick and 22 Colton music students joined about 12,000 others from across the nation at the 28th annual jazz festival in Moscow, Idaho.

The festival activities included workshops, concerts and competitions where a variety of jazz musicians gathered for a common cause – four days to celebrate and learn about a specific style of music. World-renowned jazz musicians Lionel Hampton and Lou Rawls were part of the festival line-up.

However, the main benefit gained by the Colton students was experience, Bolick said. The experience of listening to great artists, gaining ideas from the clinics and learning from other groups rounded out their trip to the festival.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

March 4, 2010

For four and a half years, mothers in Palouse sweated away to earn the $36,000 it will take to purchase a pre-school friendly playground set for the Palouse city park.

Bake sale after bake sale and silent auction after silent auction, the unsung mothers of Palouse amassed the needed funds for their toddlers to run wild.

“I’m very proud of this,” said Shelly Goertzen, leader of the Little People’s Park Project.

This summer, the fruit of their labor (the playground equipment, not their babies) will be constructed at the city park.

The set of equipment measures 22 feet by 19 feet and will be on a 34 feet by 34 feet “fall zone” of soft bark.