Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 193
RITZVILLE – Jeff Kissler enlisted in the U.S. Army two weeks after graduating from Ritzville High School in 1994. For the next 23 years he served in wide-ranging deployments from Europe to the Middle East to Southeast Asia to duty stations in Georgia and Texas. "Here I am, age 46, and sometimes I wake up and can't believe I put my body through all that stuff," he said. "Sometimes, I'm surprised I'm still here. "I had a lot of close calls on my deployments. It's given me p...
RITZVILLE - At the city's Main Street parade this year, band teacher Jennifer York discovered a troubling fact: The float representing the Ritzville Festivals Association was taking a farewell lap due to a lack of volunteers. So a few weeks ago, York and her friends accepted the challenge. "We met with the previous board and discussed transferring responsibilities to the new group," she said. "They voted us in as the new board." Josh Riedt will be the president/treasurer....
RITZVILLE – A local man is facing charges connected with vehicle prowling and other crimes after being arrested Monday, Dec. 5 Caleb Broff, 31, was arrested in the early morning hours, records show. Police Chief Dave McCormick said Broff had been considered "a person of interest" in a rash of vehicle prowling incidents and gasoline thefts over the past year. He was observed numerous times late at night riding a bicycle that carried a gas can, the chief said. After midnight Dec...
RITZVILLE – For the past 35 years, residents, families and friends have gathered at the New Ritz Theater to stroll, jog or trot along the path winding through the fairgrounds, above the Haag baseball fields, past Little League fields and back to the starting point on Main Street. The Turkey Trot is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24. Participants can register on a clipboard at the theater. Kids and canines, grownups and toddlers are welcome, organizers said. In 2020, 61 people signed in and enjoyed t...
RITZVILLE – Scouts helped feed local families Nov. 16 following their food drive. At noon Wednesday, Boy Scout Troop No. 888 and Cub Pack No. 73 presented canned food donations to the local food pantry. They also presented a monetary donation to Gritman Senior Center. The donations stemmed from the previous Saturday, when the boys and their scoutmasters had gathered in the parking lot of Akin's Fresh Market for several hours to collect canned goods and cash d...
RITZVILLE – On a chilly Wednesday morning, Nov. 16, veterans in the Patriot Guard Riders stood in a circle at Love's Travel Stop. They had gathered to escort the unclaimed remains of 99 U.S. military veterans, 14 spouses and 10 dependent children to Washington State Veterans Cemetery outside Medical Lake. Their mission was the second part of a two-day event - known as "The Last Mile" - that began in Seattle two days earlier. On Nov. 14, Evergreen Washelli Funeral Home h...
RITZVILLE – A tripped Adams County Election's Office alarm Friday afternoon, Nov. 11, had some residents concerned about ballot tampering. The "commercial burglary alarm" at 3:08 p.m. on Veterans Day came just three days after the Nov. 8 general election. The alarm at 106 W. Main St., caught the attention of some area residents who had a police scanner and later notified The Journal after hearing the broadcast exchange between Police Chief Dave McCormick and a dispatcher. R...
RITZVILLE — There won’t be a new sheriff in Adams County, at least not in the near future. At the end of the first day of counting in the Nov. 8 general election, incumbent Dale J. Wagner of Othello was leading challenger Matthew Carlson of Ritzville. In the early tally, Wagner had 1,091 votes (56.24%); Carlson received 832 votes (42.89%). “I’m happy with the results, thus far,” Wagner said. “I just want to get back to the business of the Sheriff’s Office.” On election night, Carlson was working a shift for the Ritzville P...
RITZVILLE – A local entrepreneur is entering her third month operating a delivery business. With input from ladies at the local Nazarene church and encouragement from her sister, Ashlee Simonsen. 31, started a delivery service in September. "I was working at Akin's Fresh Market and we received a lot of phone calls from people who needed shopping help. I thought, 'This is the perfect time,'" she said. "I gave Akins a month's notice and worked harvest to earn enough to get s...
RITZVILLE – It all started a hundred years ago. Back then, government officials and others saw great potential in the high desert lands of Adams County and surrounding areas. Originally, the Columbia Basin Project — with Grand Coulee Dam as its centerpiece — was designed to provide irrigation water to over a million acres of land in the central part of Washington State, including the counties of Adams, Douglas, Franklin, Stevens, Okanogan, Grant, Lincoln and Walla Walla. But the project stalled and remains unfinished. Colum...
RITZVILLE – The City Council mulled over a lease agreement for the golf course restaurant known as Porky’s Clubhouse Grill during its regular meeting Nov. 1. The terms of the proposed lease require the restaurant to pay the city a monthly rental fee of $350 for November and December 2022. The agreement exempts the months of January and February, but rental charges will resume next year and continue from March through December. If accepted, the lease will require the restaurant to provide, at a minimum, snack food, beverages a...
RITZVILLE - It's looking like there won't be a new sheriff in Adams County, at least not in the near future. At the end of the first day of counting in the Nov. 8 general election, incumbent Dale J. Wagner of Othello was leading challenger Matthew Carlson of Ritzville. In the early tally, Wagner had 1,091 votes (56.24%); Carlson received 832 votes (42.89%). "I'm happy with the results, thus far," Wagner said. "I just want to get back to the business of the Sheriff's Office."...
RITZVILLE — After the initial count for Adams County Commissioner District No. 3, incumbent Terry Thompson holds a lead in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, general election. The unofficial, preliminary total shows Thompson received 953 votes, (51.93%) at the end of the first day of counting. “I appreciate the support I’ve received throughout Adams County, and not just in the panhandle,” he said. Challenger Miguel A. “Mike” Garza trailed with 858 votes (46.76%). “I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the opportunity to...
RITZVILLE – When city Clerk-Treasurer Julie Flyckt laid out details of the city’s 2023 preliminary budget at the City Council meeting Nov. 1, she emphasized it’s strong fiscal condition heading into next year. Though budget numbers showed an increase in year-over-year expenditures in some areas, she noted the city’s overall financial health remains strong. Preliminary budget estimates show 2023 expenditures exceeding revenues by approximately $815,315 ($10,317,406 - $9,502,061). Nevertheless, the city has retained adequat...
RITZVILLE – Adams County's overall jobless rate has been dropping substantially. According to August data released in October by regional labor economist Donald Meseck, the county's unemployment rate dropped 1.7% between 2020 and 2021. For the month of August, the county's reading of 3.6% is the lowest rate recorded in more than two decades. Meseck's Adams County Labor Summary report shows an encouraging trend in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and mandated s...
RITZVILLE – Twice on October 26, busses packed with kids from local grade schools unloaded at the Ritz Theater. In morning and afternoon puppet shows for over 200 Lind and Ritzville grade schoolers, puppeteers from the Columbia Basin Allied Arts organization shared a familiar fairy tale. Puppets that included a beleaguered princess, a family of serpentine monsters, and a talking toad performed on center stage, causing gales of laughter to fill the auditorium. The show was a...
LIND - At the end of September, Jeff Field retired after working four and a half decades as an employee of Jim's Market on West Second Avenue. "Three quarters of my life was in that store," he said. "I started in May of 1976 and worked there until September 30 of this year. I retired the day after I turned 62." His family lived in Toroda Creek near the Canadian border, not far from Field's birthplace in Tonasket. They moved to Lind in the summer of 1972, and a few years later...
LIND – The Lind Ministerial Association recently disbursed donations totaling nearly $50,000 to five families impacted by the wildfire that swept through this area in August. The blaze destroyed four homes, including three homes on the hill above town and one home on the south side of the railroad tracks. Pastor Steve Schofstoll, representing the Lind Ministerial Association, said donations were collected from more than 80 individuals and organizations. Donors included Warden Hutterian Brethren, Home Center furniture store i...
RITZVILLE – The City Council during its Oct. 18 meeting established public hearing dates for the proposed annexation of 2 acres south of Interstate 90, next to Love’s Travel Stop. Hearing dates have been set for Nov. 15 and Dec.14 to give the public opportunity to present testimony and hear evidence. Clerk-Treasurer Julie Flyckt shared details of the proposed annexation in a report to the council. “The land has been used for a variety of commercial uses and the property owner is currently under contract with Les Schwa...
RITZVILLE – After a two-day "Honor Flight" tour, Army veteran Lamar Thiel returned to the Spokane International airport on Tuesday evening, Oct. 4. The tour celebrated roughly 120 soldiers, sailors, and airmen who served during American's wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Attendees also included two World War II veterans, "one of whom landed on the beaches of Normandy at age 19," Thiel said. Their flight departed Spokane on Monday morning and landed at Dulles a...
RITZVILLE – What's the deal with that yellow-and-purple service station on the corner of First Avenue and Jefferson Street? Why is it painted those vibrant - some might say outlandish - hues? Was the owner a UW Huskies fan...or what? A little background helps to unravel the mystery. In 1960, Chuck McCormick, father of Ritzville Police Chief Dave McCormick, purchased a small Chevron station at 309 W. First Ave., the site of the current station. According to Dave McCormick, C...
RITZVILLE – Call it a success. Wheatland Bank Branch Manager Dolly Blankenship was thrilled with the response to the bank's Sept. 30 baked potato fundraiser for local first responders. "This particular branch has supported the School District, senior center and veterans, and we decided to support first responders through this fundraiser," she said. The Schoonover Hutterian Brethren donated potatoes; Akin's Fresh Market provided brown bags, butter, sour cream, napkins, f...
LIND - In a brief address to the Lind-Ritzville School Board on Sept. 26, retired high school English teacher Kris Schwisow provided an assessment of employees. Schwisow, 72, noted widespread discouragement among school employees. She has never encountered so many “unhappy and overwhelmed” staff in 38 years of teaching, she said. Schwisow encouraged board members to communicate directly with school staff — including teachers, custodians, bus drivers, and parap...
LIND – The town’s Sept. 27 council meeting began calmly enough. The pledge of allegiance, approval of prior meeting minutes, discussion of upgrades to the wastewater plant’s security system — all proceeded in a routine manner. Nothing on the agenda appeared to raise the ire of Mayor Paula Bell, the city council or the audience. Twenty minutes into the meeting, however, the mood changed. Discussion of evacuation plans pivoted toward a related topic – the city’s imposition of watering restrictions. As previously reported in...
RITZVILLE – When Lamar Thiel's ancestors homesteaded here after trudging thousands of miles on the Oregon trail, they couldn't have guessed that one of their descendants would one day fly in the opposite direction. In early October, Thiel will travel east to Washington, D.C. on an "Honor Flight" celebrating veterans who served during "recognized periods of conflict." In Thiel's case, that "recognized period" was the inception of America's involvement in Vietnam. "I married m...