Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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When my daughter Darcy suggested I come out of retirement to write for the local newspaper, I was skeptical. After a long career with the federal government as an audit manager at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, I was enjoying the freedom of setting my own schedule, writing occasional freelance articles and ministering in my local church. Jumping back into a regular work schedule, albeit part-time, seemed unappealing. But two years later, I'm glad I accepted...
RITZVILLE – Mayor Scott Yaeger last week cast the deciding vote in the decision to negotiate with retired Moses Lake Police Chief Kevin Fuhr for an interim position. With the City Council split 3-3, Yaeger voted to begin negotiations with Fuhr as a temporary replacement for Police Chief Dave McCormick, who is retiring Sept. 30. Councilwomen Jen Verhey, Michelle Plumb and Brooke Scheel supported the interim negotiations proposed by Yaeger. Council members Dennis Chamberlain, Mike Schrag and Jessica Quinn opposed it. In a l...
RITZVILLE – Adams County initiated broadband infrastructure construction in both the city and Lind last week. At their final July meeting, Adams County commissioners took a significant step forward in enhancing broadband infrastructure for both cities by announcing plans to notify contractors interested in undertaking the construction. The Adams County Fiber-to-Home project, a key component of the county’s ongoing broadband efforts, is set to advance with a pre-bid meeting on Aug. 20 and the opening bids on Aug. 27. Pub...
RITZVILLE – Mayor Scott Yaeger has received pushback from some city council members and a resident as the search to replace Police Chief Dave McCormick continues. Ritzville resident Glen Stockwell lobbied for local officer Matt Carlson to be considered for the position, Councilman Dennis Chamberlain echoed Stockwell’s sentiments, and Councilman Mike Schrag suggested forming a committee of city council members and citizens to get input. The mayor has taken a different course. The City entered into a contract with WASPC (th...
RITZVILLE – Police Chief Dave McCormick isn’t going anywhere just yet. In a letter dated June 29, Mayor Scott Yaeger informed the City Council that Police Chief Dave McCormick has agreed to postpone his retirement to “no longer than” Sept. 30. The letter said the extension provides the city with more time to fill the position with an interim or permanent employee. “I am thankful for David’s decision to postpone his retirement, as the search for his replacement has not been an easy task, thus far,” Yaeger wrote, noting the po...
LIND – Seven men were on hand to hoist a bronze cross into place on the Lind Calvary Assembly of God church on Friday, June 28. Local bronze sculptor Lamar Thiel, who had previously designed crosses for the Church of the Nazarene and Zion Philadelphia Church in Ritzville, witnessed the installation. The cross, measuring 8 by 5 feet and weighing roughly 80 pounds, was lifted into place with a system of pulleys and ropes provided by Randy Gust. Once installed, Pastor Steve S...
RITZVILLE – Local churches are offering noisemakers, rockets, smoking snakes and sparklers to Fourth of July revelers. As in prior years, Ritzville Foursquare Church and Lind Calvary Assembly of God plan to jointly staff a discount fireworks trailer near the Interstate 90-Division Street interchange. Fireworks sales will run from June 28 through July 4, while supplies last. State law allows for fireworks sales from noon to 11 p.m. June 28, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. June 29-July 4 a...
RITZVILLE – Mayor Scott Yaeger laid out various factors regarding the replacement of Police Chief Dave McCormick during the City Council's June 18 meeting. McCormick is set to retire at the end of June. Considerations include a competitive salary, connection to the community and experience, as both an officer and administrator. "This is clearly the mayor's decision," Councilman Dennis Chamberlain said of the hiring process. "Those of us on the council can talk all we want. B...
RITZVILLE – At the city council’s June 18 meeting, Police Chief Dave McCormick presented plaques recognizing two law enforcement officers. McCormick presented “The Lifesaving Award” to officer Jeff Lane for actions he took while responding to a call for assistance with a mental subject during the late evening hours of Saturday, April 11, 2020. Lane, who was covering a shift for the Police Department, faced a life-threatening situation, the chief said. He was on the scene with Washington State Trooper Nathaniel Romanes...
RITZVILLE – The city is looking for a new manager at the municipal golf course. Daniel Duff, manager of the city golf course, is moving and will terminate his contract with the city, city records show. “My family and I are moving from Ritzville and this move will not allow me to continue my contractual duties beyond July 15, 2024,” an email to Mayor Scott Yaeger said. Duff offered to help train a replacement. At the June 18 City Council meeting, Yaeger said he had talked to a few local people interested in taking over manag...
RITZVILLE – Dennis Sackmann and local auctioneer Jerry Synder have scheduled a benefit auction to help defray some of the outstanding medical costs incurred by the family of recently-deceased youth group leader Becky Main. The event, slated for Saturday, June 29, will begin at 6 p.m. at the grade school gymnasium. It will include a “pay at the door” dinner. The auction is expected to feature wood and fabric crafts, homemade breads and desserts, artwork and other contributions. Becky Main, longtime youth leader and commu...
RITZVILLE – Last week, Scott Field of ViaVista Mapping began collecting field data and generating maps at the Ritzville Memorial Cemetery, a half-mile west of town on Rosenoff Road. Founded concurrent with the town in 1887, the cemetery added "Memorial" to its name after the Great Depression in honor of American veterans. As of Monday morning, Field had identified more than 60 unmarked burial sites in the 10.8-acre cemetery. The cemetery is divided into six sections separated...
RITZVILLE – This past school year, Cindy Julien, a foreign exchange student from France, took part in this rural community and gained firsthand experience of its culture. Last August, Julien arrived from Sainte-Flour, a town of about 6,000 inhabitants in a mountainous region of central France. She hails from a small-town community where her parents and relatives are farmers. As a result, her transition to life in Ritzville has not been a tremendous culture shock. Previous f...
RITZVILLE – At a relatively short June 4 meeting, the City Council addressed three primary issues on its “action agenda.” First was the approval of bid advertisements for two street and sidewalk projects. Both bids will be opened Wednesday, June 26. One project will involve pavement maintenance and curb ramp replacement covering 2.5 blocks along East First Avenue, from Division Street through mid-block on Palouse Street. The other project will involve demolition and reconstruction of sidewalks along both sides of Sixth Avenu...
RITZVILLE — Following a tasty meal at the C.J. Newland American Legion Memorial Hall on Tuesday evening, May 21, about 20 community members, mostly parents with young children, attended a presentation by Soren Newman, Ph.D, The associate director at Arrowleaf Consulting, she presented preliminary results of a child care needs assessment conducted from March to April. Newman shared data gathered from listening sessions, interviews, and a survey. The goal: building a multi-purpose space for early learning. She noted that the f...
RITZVILLE – Gilson Gymnasium was a scene of jubilation and exhortation as the Lind-Ritzville High School commencement took place Saturday, June 1. Attendees sat in 17 rows of folding chairs spread across the gym floor. There were folks wearing shorts, jeans, T-shirts and flowered dresses. A man in a wheelchair sat in the front row and held a squirming infant on his lap. The commanding strains of "Pomp and Circumstance" filled the gymnasium as parents raised cellphones to r...
RITZVILLE – Stroll down Main Avenue and you'll see characters being painted on a building next to Umpqua Bank. Tina Turner, working with John Rankin and Linda Kubik, is adding barkeeps and customers to the building exterior. The depiction is based on a black-and-white photo from the era when the building was a tavern called The Office. Rankin will complete the "ghost signage" and Kubik will add an awning. Turner said she typically works on commission, painting scenes of f...
RITZVILLE – This year’s All-Community Vacation Bible School will be at Emmanuel Lutheran Church from Tuesday through Thursday, June 11– 13. The theme is Scuba, which the curriculum creator describes as kids being “immersed in oceans of fun” and “a hands-on learning where kids will discover God is a friend who will love them forever.” Vacation bible school classes are scheduled for 9:30–11:30 each morning, and are open to children from Ritzville, Lind and surrounding communities. Kids from preschool through those entering...
RITZVILLE – Fifth-graders from Ritzville, Lind, Benge and Harrington sat in a real Adams County courtroom May 17 without suffering the angst of real prosecution. It was Law Day. Students played roles as they read a script depicting a fictional case. The judge, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, defendant, witness to the alleged crime and jury - all played roles in the trial. As in an actual criminal proceeding, the jury heard the evidence, lawyers made objections and d...
RITZVILLE – The City Council authorized Mayor Scott Yaeger to sign two bid documents for road and sidewalk improvements east of Division Street during its Tuesday, May 21, meeting. Both bids have scheduled openings in June, and the projects are scheduled to be completed by September. The first bid provides for pavement maintenance and Americans with Disabilities Act curb ramp replacement for about 2.5 blocks along East First Avenue from Division Street to Palouse Street. Project specifications include removal of existing c...
RITZVILLE – Resident Keith Graham is remodeling a building at 114 W. Broadway Ave., next door to the American Legion Hall. The building formerly housed a Buick dealership called Rogel Motor Co., according to a 1960 Journal-Times. Graham noted that roll-up garage-style doors on the Broadway side of the building were replaced by large windows. County records show the building's current owner is Kurtis Graham, brother of Keith Graham. Keith Graham said he plans to remove most o...
RITZVILLE – A new restaurant officially opened on Main Street with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, May 11. D's on Main, 214 W. Main Ave., occupies the building formerly owned by Mi Jalisco, which moved to a building near Interstate 90. The D's on Main building was known as The Circle-T Inn for more than 50 years. A historic sign at the building's entrance states that Del and Bob Templin built the original restaurant in 1946 and later expanded it with a bar and dining r...
RITZVILLE – Massage therapist Roxanne Potter recently set up shop downtown, adding local clients to her services in Lacrosse and St. John. Potter, her husband David, and their three daughters moved from upstate New York to Eastern Washington in 1994. "David changed jobs and we hooked up with Judy Harder in Hooper," she said. Hooper, located along the southern bank of the Palouse River, is a rural community east of Washtucna in Whitman County. Her husband was farming and r...
RITZVILLE – Florida-based ViaVista Mapping will begin collecting field data and generating maps next month at the Ritzville Memorial Cemetery. According to a service agreement with the city, mapping services will include scanning for sub-surface anomalies and unmarked burials using ground-penetrating radar. The devices can also detect disturbed soil caused by wooden or metal caskets, voids in the earth with little to no surviving skeletal remains, ceremonial burial objects, vaults, improperly positioned or unmarked graves, a...
RITZVILLE — Twenty-two local residents were among the estimated 27,885 people competing in this year’s 48th annual Bloomsday run on Sunday, May 5. The 7.46-mile course (12 kilometers) left many wet to the bone as they slogged the slippery streets of Spokane in a constant downpour and 45-degree temperatures. 1. Along the course, participants were regaled by bands singing gospel songs, accordion players and drummers playing folk tunes, rock’n’ rollers belting out oldies and pro-Palestinian protesters chanting their favorit...