Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling team finished their regular season with the Mix and Match event at Gilson Gym on Jan. 23 and the final South League match on Jan. 27 in Reardan. Six Bronco wrestlers competed in the Mix and Match contest. Jesse Ryan, wrestling at 132 pounds, went 1-1 for the day. In his first match, Ryan came back from a 5-4 deficit to pin Royal’s Miguel Acasta in the first period. He lost his second match to Royal’s Christian Calderon, who pin...
Four Lind-Ritzville/Sprague wrestlers represented the Broncos at the Coyote Classic Tournament in Kittitas on Jan. 20. Tristan Regan, wrestling at 113 pounds, was one of two Bronco athletes to finish in fourth place in their weight class. Regan pinned Lake Roosevelt’s Everett Schmidt in 40 seconds to advance to the quarterfinals, where he scored a pin over Wahluke’s Hector Cruz in 55 seconds. In the semifinals, Regan wrestled Selah’s Evan Anderson, who pinned him late in the first period of their match. After the loss, Regan...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with back-to-back Northeast 2B League wins. On. Jan. 19, the Lady Broncos executed a 66-33 victory against Wilbur-Creston in Gilson Gym. The next night, they traveled to Kettle Falls where they defeated the Lady Bulldogs, 43-34. Head Coach Steve Wellsandt said he thought the team played well against Wilbur-Creston on both offense and defense. The Lady Broncos came out of the gate with a...
More than 100 people gathered at the Ritzville Rodeo Association’s annual banquet at the American Legion Hall on Jan. 14 to watch the coronation of the 2018 Ritzville Rodeo royalty court members Queen Aaliyah Yaeger and Princess Brianna Kin Kade. Together, Yaeger and Kin Kade will spend the next year traveling to different rodeos and parades representing Ritzville Rodeo and promoting the annual Labor Day event. After they were introduced to the audience, Yaeger and Kin Kade e...
During the Jan. 9 meeting, the Lind Town Council approved several action items, including two resolutions for 2018. The first resolution established the wages of Town employees for 2018. The resolution was originally scheduled to be voted on at the Dec. 28 meeting, before it was postponed due to extreme weather. The resolution states the Clerk/Treasurer will make $14.42 an hour while the Deputy Clerk earns $14.04 an hour. The Public Works Supervisor will make $18.25 an hour while Public Works/Sewer employee will earn $13.12...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling team earned some success last week. The team competed in the South League match on Jan. 11 in Pomeroy. Two days later several wrestlers competed in the Crusader Classic at Northwest Christian. Tristan Regan went 1-1 in the league match. In his first match, Regan wrestled Colfax’s Nolan Burrill, who pinned him in the second period. Regan rebounded from the loss to face Burrill’s teammate, Kolby Sisk, who had defeated him, 4-0 in their match at the Springdale Tournament. Regan wou...
The hardships continued for the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos’ basketball team as they entered the final three weeks of the regular season. The Lady Broncos posted a 55-34 loss to Northeast 2B North League opponent Davenport on Jan. 9, then endured a 63-53 defeat against league opponent Northwest Christian two days later. The Lady Gorillas jumped to an early lead, outscoring LRS 14-9 in the first quarter. The Lady Broncos outscored Davenport, 9-6, in the second quarter t...
The Ritzville City Council went through a light agenda at the Jan. 4 meeting with one of the items being a council consensus for Mayor Gary Cook to sit on Adams County Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) for another four-year term. Cook said council did not have to approve his appointment to the committee, yet Adams County officials wanted the meeting minutes to include the council’s agreement of him serving as the City of Ritzville’s representative on SWAC. He said he enjoyed serving on the committee because it allows him...
During the Jan. 5 special meeting, the Lind Town Council approved the proposed 2018 budget, totaling $2,720,339.02. The proposed budget was originally going to be an agenda item on the Dec. 28 meeting, but the meeting was postponed due to extreme weather. Clerk-Treasurer Kim Michaels informed council the Town received an extension to approve the budget in January. Mayor Paula Bell explained the budgeting process took longer than expected because employees had to create three new accounts in the budget to account for the Feder...
During the Dec. 20 regular meeting in Othello, the Adams County Board of Commissioners approved the 2018 budget, totaling $30,332,995. Commission chairman Jeff Stevens explained one of the goals for creating the 2018 budget was to utilize the financial resources the county had to maintain operations without making cuts to various departments. Stevens said maintaining operations can be difficult because the revenue does not increase at the same rate as operating costs. Stevens explained some departments are doing well within...
When Loretta Walker moved to Washtucna in 2004, she traveled to Ritzville apply for a library card at the public library. She learned she was unable to utilize the Ritzville Library’s full services because she lived outside of the city, which Walker said was disappointing for her at the time. On Jan. 4, Walker’s goal of obtaining a library card came true as she and other Washtucna residents applied for a card at the East Adams Library District (EALD) grand opening for the Was...
Hailey Roderick was the sole athlete who representing the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague wrestling team in the Girls’ Mix and Match tournament in Springdale on Jan. 5. Four Broncos wrestlers traveled to Springdale the next day to compete in the Springdale tournament. Roderick, who wrestled at 135 pounds, captured her first medal after she took second place in the tournament. In her first match, Roderick wrestled an East Valley wrestler, who she pinned in the first period. Head Coach Jason Hilzer said Roderick showcased an i...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos basketball team began 2018 with back-to-back losses. The Lady Broncos endured a 56-30 loss to Columbia-Burbank on Jan. 2. They returned to Gilson Gym on Jan. 6 where they lost 51-39 to league opponent St. George’s. Against Columbia-Burbank, Wellsandt said the Lady Broncos struggled against the Lady Coyotes’ press defense, which only allowed LRS seven points in the first quarter and nine points in the second quarter. The Lady Broncos only...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling team returned to action to compete in the Pomeroy Tournament on Dec. 29. The next day, they traveled to Coulee City to compete in the Banks Lake Brawl Tournament. At the Pomeroy Tournament, Aarron Phelps took fifth place in the 220-pound weight class. In his first match of the day, Phelps lost to Potlatch athlete, who pinned him in the first period. Phelps rebounded from the loss to pin a Colfax wrestler in the first round of their match. After he was pinned by a Clearwater Valley...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos basketball team ended 2017 on a high note, with a 53-14 nonleague win against Dayton on Dec. 30. Head Coach Steve Wellsandt said the Lady Broncos had a consistent lead throughout the game, but started slow against the Lady Bulldogs, scoring only 11 points in the first quarter. The team maintained the advantage, adding 13 in the second quarter and 11 in the third. The Lady Broncos had a surge of momentum in the fourth quarter, outshooting Dayton, 18-7, with eight of those points coming...
Memories Diner opened its doors to their customers one last time on Dec. 30. Lori Gorman-Anderson and Scott Gorman, who both own and worked in the restaurant, held a semi-retirement party as a way to say thank you to their customers and the community for all of the years of support and business. Memories Diner opened on its doors April 22, 2013. The diner was opened by Jessika Wolf and her mother Lori Gorman-Anderson. The duo spent numerous weeks renovating and decorating the...
The Ritzville City Council finished their 2017 meeting schedule on Dec. 19. One of the action items approved by council was Ordinance 2112, which authorizes amendments to the 2017 budget. During the public hearing for the budget amendments, Mayor Gary Cook explained there were additional revenues and expenditures in three funds not anticipated for the 2017 budget when council first adopted it in December 2016. The Current Expense fund had an additional $100,000 in revenues and expenses relating to contracts for the airport...
During the Dec. 19 meeting, the Ritzville City Council approved an ordinance adopting the 2018 budget for the city, totaling $8,625,445. Prior to adoption, the council held two public hearings for the budget. The city budgeted the Current Expense fund at $1,116,920 for the next fiscal year. Several city departments within the Current Expense fund experienced increases in operations. Administrative costs increased by 2 percent, while the Police Department’s budget was raised by 6 percent. One percent of the increase in the d...
Hours after Washtucna students and staff left for winter break, the echo of laughter and R&B Christmas music could be heard from the building’s cafeteria and gym. The noise was a product of the Washtucna Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter’s first Christmas Extravaganza event on Dec. 20. FBLA members, along with volunteers, spent three hours preparing dinner and entertaining community members, who enjoyed a night of food and fun activities. FBLA chapter mem...
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague girls basketball Head Coach Steve Wellsandt used one word to describe the Lady Broncos’ 1-1 split from last week: interesting. The Lady Broncos began the week with a 54-59 nonleague loss to Southeast 1B St. John-Endicott in overtime on Dec. 19. LRS would rebound from the loss the next day to pick up a 55-13 league win against Mary Walker, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process. Against SJE, Wellsandt said LRS did not start the game well in t...
The Lind Town Council approved an increase in utility rates for 2018 at the Dec. 12 meeting. Next year, the residential water rate will increase to $6.70 per gallon and the residential sewer rate will be set at $68.05. The annual water and sewer rate increases are from an ordinance council adopted in 2009. Council also voted to increase the garbage rate 50 cents to make it $20. Mayor Jamie Schmunk said raising the garbage fee as a way offset the increase in dumping fees. Council also voted for a monthly $2 storm water...
The smell of chili filled the Ritzville Grade School cafeteria on the night of Dec. 15 as people stopped by the cafeteria for the Chili Feed Fundraiser, hosted by the Ritzville Foursquare Church. All of the proceeds from the event went to the fund drive for eight-year-old Zoey Fannin and her family, who live in Ritzville. For a donation, folks enjoyed a helping of chili and cornbread. While some people ate their chili at the cafeteria, others took their food in a box to eat...
Five athletes from the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos wrestling team traveled to Newport to compete in the Newport Invite on Dec. 16. While the Newport Invite is classified as a girls’ tournament, the event included time for boys to wrestle two exhibition matches against other athletes, which allowed them to accumulate additional time on the mat. Hailey Roderick, who wrestled at 140 pounds, was the only Broncos’ wrestler officially competing in the Newport Tournament. In her first match, Roderick wrestled an Othello ath...
It was a busy week for the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos basketball team in Northeast 2B South League play. The Lady Broncos earned a 56-42 league win against Reardan on Dec. 12 to capture their first road victory of the season. After the Reardan win, LRS lost back-to-back league games, the first on Dec. 15 to Liberty, 58-50, then a 71-34 loss to Colfax the next day. Head Coach Steve Wellsandt said the games against Liberty and Colfax showed him where the Lady Broncos...
The Adams County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution for the 2018-2023 Six-Year Transportation Improvement Plan during their Dec. 11 meeting. Adams County Public Works Director Todd O’Brien and Adams County Engineer Scott Yaeger presented the plan to the commissioners during a public hearing. The plan includes 12 projects in priority ranking order and funding has been secured for seven of them. Priority No. 1 – The reconstruction of McManamon Bridge on McManamon Road. The cost of the project is $2,112,...