Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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For the past 16 years, Greg Galbreath has carried on a tradition started generations ago by recording weather in Ritzville for the National Weather Service (NWS). On Friday, Aug. 16, Greg and his family were honored at the Ritzville Public Library for their tenured service to the community and NWS. Greg received the Thomas Jefferson Award for outstanding service in the Cooperative Weather Observer Program during the Friday morning program. The award is one of the highest...
The Ritzville Community Theatre (RCT) group is currently seeking individuals interested in joining the local live theatre cast. The amount of cast members has declined throughout the past year for a variety of reasons and the group is actively looking for individuals to join in order to continue the annual theatre events. Since its inception in 1994, the RCT troupe has performed in 32 productions with 86 actors appearing throughout the performances. The group has completed over 100 performances for locals, with an estimated...
For the past three months, residents and golfers have become accustomed to a drilling rig parked in the center of the Ritzville Municipal Golf Course near the existing water storage tank. Schneider Equipment, Inc., doing business as Schneider Water Services, moved on to the site in early May to begin drilling the city’s new well. The company based out of St. Paul, Ore., moved equipment to the Ritzville site after being awarded the $1,075,536.36 bid by Ritzville City C...
The Lind and Ritzville communities were well represented when two poised young ladies took the stage at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman Aug. 3 during the state Distinguished Young Women (DYW) program. At the conclusion of the Saturday night program, Dalyn Killian, Distinguished Young Woman of Ritzville, earned the second runner-up title and Maya Wahl, Distinguished Young Woman of Lind, walked away with two awards. Killian is the daughter of Lisa and Gordon Killian, and Wahl’s parents are James and Rena Wahl. As the second r...
With the first year of the academic cooperative between the Lind and Ritzville School Districts complete, administrators and teachers are gearing up to make the second year even more successful. The Lind and Ritzville districts begin school on Sept. 3 and along with the later start date, residents can expect to see a variety of changes in the 2013-14 school year. Superintendent Rob Roettger said the first year of the cooperative went smoothly, and faculty is currently working towards strengthening and continuing the success...
After 24 years of a career as a hairdresser, Kim Yaeger opened the doors of Shear Hair Design as a business owner on July 15. Yaeger purchased the store from Bruce Benzel in June, which previously housed The Hair Center where Benzel worked as a barber for 42 years. Yaeger began her training as a hairdresser at Glen Dow Academy, before beginning her career at 14th and Grand Salon in Spokane. Her first three years at the salon she spent cutting hair before being hired as the...
The Ritzville Public Development Authority (RPDA) has been feverishly working to update the upstairs ballroom in the building that currenly houses Columbia Bank. The ballroom is the most recent in a large amount of renovations that have been completed on the building, which sits on the corner of Main Avenue and Columbia Street. For the past two years, the RPDA board members have been offering tours of the upstairs portion of the building during the annual Historic Ritzville...
With a grand opening planned later this fall, Ag Tech Services has officially relocated its inventory and offices to a new Ritzville location. The store, now housed in the former Car Quest building on First Avenue, is operational and expected to have a grand opening in September or October of this year. Ritzville Warehouse Company purchased the 6,000 square-foot building and three surrounding lots in June and renovations of the building began soon after. Ritzville Warehouse...
After the maintenance and operation (M&O) levy failed in Washtucna last year, the levy is again finding its way back to voters’ ballots for the upcoming Aug. 6 primary election. Ritzville and Lind parks and recreation districts are also submitted M&O levies for the primary election. Ballots are being sent to voters on July 19 for the primary election and all ballots must be returned by Aug. 6. All three of the communities’ M&O levies are directly comparable with the levies placed on last year’s ballot. In Washtucna, the M&O l...
Senator Mark Schoesler addressed a large crowd of community members during the general membership meeting of the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce on July 11 to discuss the outcome of the two special sessions. For Schoesler, the two main highlights coming from the special sessions revolved around the reopening of Lyons Ferry as a state park and no tuition increases for colleges. Schoesler believes both the state park and eliminating the increase in tuition helps all of the residents in his district continue have opportunitie...
For Karin (Klettke) Neuman, it was the challenge of science classes that created the determination and passion to keep delving deeper into the field of science. A 1999 graduate of Ritzville High School and the daughter of Margaret Ringwood and Jerry Klettke, Karin began experimenting and researching during her junior and senior years at RHS. It was this experimentation that eventually led her to a career in research. Karin, who now resides in Bath, Michigan, began her career in the research field while attending Washington...
After over 38 years in law enforcement, Adams County Sheriff Doug Barger has announced his retirement from his tenured position as leader for the county police department. Barger is retiring from his position as sheriff, effective Sept. 1, before his position as sheriff ends in 2014. The decision for retirement for Barger is based on the desire to spend more time with his family and to retire from a position he loves before the passion for the job has dwindled. Barger...
East Adams Rural Hospital gained the experience and expertise of physical therapist Dale Nelson when he began working full time at the facility last week. Nelson has been a part time physical therapist for the hospital for the past few months and focuses on his expertise of myofascial release therapy. Originally from Rexburg, Idaho, Nelson has been practicing physical therapy in Ephrata for the past 32 years after receiving his degree from the University of Utah. For the past...
Ritzville High School graduate Justin Ziebell has officially taken on the role of the LaCrosse-Washtucna/Kahlotus football coach for the upcoming season. Ziebell is stepping into the role of head coach following the 23-year career of previous coach Jeff Nelson. Ziebell joined the LWK coaching staff last year as the defensive coordinator and spent the season working alongside Nelson, helping Ziebell develop as a coach. Last season provided Ziebell with an opportunity to work...
The Lind Community Garden and Education Center has started to take shape and with a recent donation by the Columbia Basin Foundation, garden directors are encouraging community members to become involved with the garden. The community garden is located near the Lind Pool and is being spearheaded by project director John Claypool. Claypool started the project after considering a way to sell worms and worm castings from his worm farm, and realized his hobby could be beneficial...
For the past 42 years, Bruce Benzel has stood behind his customers as a friend and trusted barber at The Hair Center. Thursday, June 27, marks Bruce’s last day as a barber in the same shop and at the same chair where he began his career decades ago. Bruce’s journey began in high school when he visited his uncle, Fred Benzel, in the shop and began to develop an interest in cutting hair. Over the course of his high school career, Bruce would bring friends into the shop and Fre...
Current Lind-Ritzville High School business teacher Guy Strot has been hired to take the helm as the Lind School District principal for the upcoming 2013-2014 school year. Strot has resided in the Ritzville community for the past two years and previously taught at Centennial High School in Portland, Ore. The step up to an administration role is a position Strot has anxiously been awaiting the opportunity to serve in, and he has already begun preparations for the upcoming...
Lind residents and dedicated civic volunteers Howard and Phyllis Heil have received the honor to lead the grand parade in Lind on Saturday, June 8. The couple will proudly ride through the town they love, leading the annual parade at 11 a.m. While the designation of grand marshals came as a surprise to the couple, they both look forward to kicking off Saturday’s festivities as the town’s representatives. The Town of Lind has always been home for Howard, while Phyllis mov...
Eight students stood proudly in front of a large audience in Washtucna on Saturday, June 1, where they earned their high school diploma as the Class of 2013. Two students, Jared Stark and Amber Dainty, also celebrated completion of 12-years as students of the Washtucna Schools. The class was led by valedictorian Sam Harder and salutatorian Sawyer Hostetler who each took time to thank families, community members and school staff for supporting the class throughout the years....
Following Dennis Greenwalt’s retirement of post commander from the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post No. 11446, the local post elected new leadership to fill the space where Greenwalt served for over 20 years. The VFW and American Legion Post No. 51 elected post commanders and assistants during a meeting last month to serve the two local posts over the next year. Robert Reynolds has been elected to serve as post commander for the VFW, while Mark Shepherd will take the h...
The seventh annual Historic Ritzville Days Western Art Show went on without a hitch last weekend as over 60 artists proudly displayed their artwork in downtown Ritzville. The annual show provided visitors with a variety of activities, a wide selection of artwork and foot-tapping music to keep the weekend lively and entertaining. Event chairman Jennifer Saunders explained this year’s show displayed the widest variety of artwork and also had one of the best musical lineups t...
With a combined 68 years of teaching at Benge Elementary School, Marcia Honn and Mary Ault have announced their decision to retire at the conclusion of the school year. The duo has served as the primary educators for the rural school district, which typically enrolls around nine students a year. Ault began teaching in Benge in 1970 and has spent the last 43 years focusing on teaching math and science. Honn began teaching at the school 25 years ago and specializes in teaching...
Lifelong Ritzville resident Dennis Greenwalt recently announced his decision to retire from the position of post commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 11446 after over 20 years of service. Greenwalt announced his decision to resign in early April in hopes of having the younger generation of veterans with the local post step into leadership positions. Greenwalt intends to stay on in an advisory position to help the new post commanders of the VFW and the American...
A 15-year-old male subject was booked in Martin Hall on May 11 following an investigation after fire crews and local law enforcement officers responded to a bush fire next to the old high school near the agriculture shop in Ritzville. At 9:25 p.m. on Saturday, the Adams County Sheriff’s dispatch center received multiple calls advising of a bush and tree on fire at the vacant building on Division Street. Ritzville Police Sergeant Mark Cameron was two blocks away and r...
A small town start with the Ritzville Fire Department has helped Duane Leisle continue a successful career as a firefighter. A 1975 graduate of Ritzville High School, Duane has spent over 30 years dedicating his life to fighting fires and protecting those in his community. Duane’s years of selfless service, and his willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty, is being rewarded Saturday when Duane is set to receive the Arizona State Firefighter of the Year Award. Duane...