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The Ritzville City Council approved Ordinance 2105 regarding regulations on marijuana production, processing and retail sales within the city limits. Clerk-Treasurer Kris Robbins first presented the ordinance to the Council on Feb. 7, where they held a public forum prior to the meeting to discuss possible changes to the document and approve a 60-day extension to the existing moratorium on marijuana sales and production. After reviewing recommendations made by City Attorney Mark DeWulf and the Ritzville Planning Commission,...
As the marijuana industry continues to expand after being legalized at the state level in 2012, the Adams County Board of Commissioners and Planning Commission continue discussions about establishing rules and regulations for the industry within the county limits. The Commissioners held a public forum in Ritzville on Tuesday, Feb. 21, to discuss a temporary six-month extension of the current marijuana moratorium. Commissioner John Marshall stated the current moratorium expired on Feb. 22 and the extension would allow the... Full story
The Lind Town Council approved the LED Streetlight Conversion Agreement with Avista Utilities during the regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Clerk/Treasurer Kim Michaels presented the document and stated the agreement allows Avista to convert the existing Avista owned streetlights to LED for better energy efficiency. Michaels said the town received funding through the Transportation Improvement Board for the conversion for the project, and it will be at no cost to the town. Councilmember Paula Bell questioned the cost of...
As the recent rainfall continues to melt away the snow received in Adams County this winter, the excess moisture has greatly affected many county roads, making them inaccessible and even life threatening. The severe damage led to the Adams County Commissioners declaring an emergency due to weather related issues resulting in flood damage to infrastructure. The damage reports began on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6 a.m. in the morning with a startling report of a vehicle being swept... Full story
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos ended their season with a win against Asotin and a loss to Colfax at the District Tournament hosted at West Valley High School. Head Coach Gary Kelly said the loss proved to be disappointing because the team acquired the skills to advance further into the tournament. The team traveled to Spokane on Wednesday, Feb. 15, to face Asotin for the second week of the tournament. Kelly said the Lady Broncos went to the game feeling confident to...
Junior Tucker Guiles returned to the Tacoma Dome as a competitor in the 285 weight division and placed third at the 2B Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome on Saturday, Feb. 18. Guiles qualifed as an alternate for the state tournament in 2016. Tristan Regan joined Guiles on the road as an alternate with Head Coach Jason Hilzer. In the Regional Tournament an existing knee injury forced Guiles to declare an injury forfeit in his last match prior to qualifying for state. Hilzer said...
Modern advancements are taking place at the Adams County Courthouse as the Adams County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of the DS450 Central Scanner and Tabulator and Express Vote Universal Voting System created by Election Systems and Software (ES&S). Adams County Auditor Heidi Hunt said they are looking forward to having the new machines and improving resident’s voting experiences to be as pleasant and simple as possible. Despite the fact there are no issues w... Full story
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos competed in three District Tournament matches, which resulted in two wins and a loss for the team as they move closer to their goal of advancing to the State Tournament. The team started their week by traveling to West Valley to face Northwest Christian (NWC) on Feb. 7. Head Coach Gary Kelly said he knew the team would have to start the game with confidence in order to maintain an early lead against the Lady Crusaders. Kelly said... Full story
As the Broncos wrestling team’s post season comes to an end, the two athletes who competed in the Regional Tournament will travel to the Tacoma Dome to wrestle against elite athletes for a chance to place at the WIAA 2B Mat Classic. On Saturday, Feb 11, Guiles and Regan traveled to Northwest Christian with Head Coach Jason Hilzer to wrestle in the Regional Tournament in an attempt to qualify for state. Going into the tournament, Hilzer said Regan and Guiles would have to w...
The Broncos wrestling team began their post season with four athletes competing at the South League District Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 4, to determine their ranking in the Regional Tournament on Feb. 11. The Broncos have two wrestlers who qualified for the Regional Tournament, while two additional athletes will serve as alternates. The wrestlers who competed in the tournament were Tristan Regan, Dylan Lane, Alex Whitman and Tucker Guiles. Regan wrestled at 106 pounds against Warden’s Corey Perryman. Head Coach Jason H...
The Lind Town Council approved the annual Adams County Sheriff’s office contract agreement during their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 24. Mayor Jamie Schmunk presented the agreement for the Council to approve the contract totaling $13,364 for one year of service. She informed the Council they did not sign the three-year agreement in 2016 due to the need for additional service from the Sherrif’s department. The Council expressed their gratitude for the department for being quick to respond to calls and dedicating add...
The Lady Broncos had a tough week as they lost two league matches against Liberty and Colfax. The team hosted Liberty on Friday, Jan. 27, in hopes of claiming the win against the elite team. Head Coach Gary Kelly said the Lady Broncos started out slow in the first half of the game, allowing the Lady Lancers’ top scorers Maise Burnham and Christine Denny to score 19 of the team’s 23 points in the first quarter. Liberty proved to be quick to grab the rebound and drive the ball t...
The Broncos wrestling team is gearing up for the South League District Tournament after competing in a Mix and Match Tournament in Ritzville and a League Match in Pomeroy last week. The team had their first and only home tournament on Tuesday, Jan. 24, in the Gilson Gym. Competing in the tournament were wrestlers Tristan Regan, Dylan Lane, Alex Whitman, Garrett Correll, Tucker Guiles, Maisa Ferderer and Chelsie Watterson. Regan wrestled first against Connick West from Warden... Full story
The Lind-Ritzville Cooperative School Districts received grant funding for upgrades in technology and welding equipment through the Hagan Foundation, due to the efforts of Lind-Ritzville Middle School Agriculture Instructor Justin Palmer and Educational Service District (ESD) 101 Technician Andy Jones. Creating a comfortable learning environment where students can not only succeed, but also prepare for a future career, is a primary goal for Palmer. As a Lind High School gradua...
The Ritzville City Council reviewed and discussed Ordinance No. 2105 pertaining to establishing regulations for marijuana production, processing and retail sales within the city limits during their meeting on Thursday, Jan. 19. The meeting had been postponed due to weather conditions. The Ritzville Boy Scouts began the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Scout Leader Bill Banner expressed his gratitude to the Council for allowing the scouts to participate in the meeting. Clerk-Treasurer Kris Robbins presented the ordina...
The Broncos Wrestling team showcased improvement in their overall skill during the Coyote Classic Tournament in Kittitas On Saturday, Jan. 21. The athletes who competed in the tournament were Tristan Regan, Alex Whitman, Dylan Lane, Garrett Correll, Maisa Ferderer and Chelsie Watterson. Regan wrestled first against an athlete from Colfax at 106 pounds. Head Coach Jason Hilzer said Regan remained ahead 3-0 going into the second period but ended up losing by pin. Hilzer said despite the loss, he is impressed with how Regan...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos are gearing up for the play offs as they played two league games this week against Springdale and St. George’s. On Friday, Jan. 20, the Lady Broncos hosted Mary Walker with plans to showcase their offensive improvement and motivation to earn the league win. Due to weather conditions, the Lady Broncos were unable to have consistent practices, causing them to fall behind in their conditioning and fundamental skills, said Head Coach Gary Ke... Full story
A new face has joined the staff at U.S. Bank branch in downtown Ritzville. Sarah Kissler, former manager of the Sprague branch, said she is looking forward to providing community members with a positive banking experience as the new assistant manager. Born and raised on a wheat farm in Odessa, Kissler said she has always appreciated the family-like attribute small town communities provide. At eight years old her family decided to move to Sprague where they worked with hay and... Full story
During their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Lind Town Council filled their vacant council position after Councilmember Craig Cooper announced his resignation at the previous meeting. Lind residents Richard Baldwin, Gary R. deMoss Sr. and James (Jim) Dworshak presented letters of interest to the Council which included their qualifications for the position. Each of the applicants where required to attend the meeting, voice why they should be selected and state their goals for the town as a councilmember. After an...
The games against Wilbur-Creston and Kettle Falls proved to be a turning point for the Lady Broncos offense as they claimed two league wins last week, said Head Coach Gary Kelly. The team began their week by traveling to Wilbur to face the Lady Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 13. Kelly said the high level of scoring during the game proved to be impressive due to the lack of offensive consistency in previous games. The team began the game determined to out-play their opponents by...
The Ritzville City Council announced Soup it Up has been chosen to take over the Ritzville Golf Course Clubhouse contract during their meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 3. Scott Yaeger stated since the current Ritzville Golf Course manager contract expired Dec. 31, 2016, and with minor changes to the verbiage of the contract, he suggested a motion for the mayor to approve the changes and to work toward completing the document. The Council approved the motion. Yaeger then informed the Council the Parks and Recreation Committee met to... Full story
The Adams County Board of Commissioners approved the 2017 budget totaling $28,428,966, during their regular meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 21, in Othello. Chairman John Marshall said one of the county’s goals regarding the budget is to contain consistent funding and he ensured there were no major changes this year. Remaining consistent can prove to be difficult, said Marshall as he said they received an additional $1.2 million in requests than anticipated. In an attempt to keep their goal, Marshall said they matched the 2016 a... Full story
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos mat squad spent the week on the road traveling to showcase improvement in their overall skill in league matches and the Springdale Tournament. Dylan Lane, Alex Whitman, Samuele Bortolato and Tucker Guiles traveled to Liberty on Thursday, Jan. 5, to compete in multiple league matches. Lane wrestled first at 138 against David Just from Waitsburg. Hilzer said Just proved to be more experienced than Lane and quickly pinned him in the first round. Whitman wrestled next at 145 pounds against Nate... Full story
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos continue to lack offensive consistency in their games as they began the week by losing two low scoring games against Dayton and Davenport, before claiming a win against Northwest Christian (NWC) on Saturday. On Wednesday, Jan. 4, the Lady Broncos faced Dayton for a nonleague game in Ritzville. Head Coach Gary Kelly said the holiday break did not benefit the team’s physical conditioning leading up to the game. Despite the lack of e...
The Lind Town Council approved the town’s 2017 budget and wages during their council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 27, in the absence of Mayor Jamie Schmunk. Clerk-Deputy Kim Michaels presented the pay request from Stantec, which had been approved during their meeting on Dec. 13. The Council approved the request for up to $700 due to the fact they had not received the physical statement yet. Council members Paula Bell and Kathy White had opposed the motion. The payment totaled $649, said Michaels. Michaels then presented O...