Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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ST. JOHN — Parents will rally on behalf of local control of schools at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, in the city park. The event is being organized by Amy Swannack and Micah Armstrong. It comes after a rally last week that attracted 450 parents and public school employees opposed to masking students and mandating vaccinations. “There are many difficult topics that have arose, trickling down from our government leaders (in Olympia),” Armstrong said in a social media post....
A fire broke out Saturday afternoon on the Adams-Grant County line west of Deal Road, south of Interstate 90. The fire quickly burned dry brush and grass, sending a dark smoke plum high into the air visible for miles. Grant County fire crews were visible alongside the interstate, as was a farmer plowing a fire break around the blaze. Other details were not available at press time....
RITZVILLE – Lind-Ritzville High School tennis team members were recognized recently for their efforts during an abbreviated season. Hunter Cameron received the Most Improved Award, coaches Janna Gingrich and Chelsea Kneale reported. He was the team's lone sophomore. Alexis Melcher received the Most Inspirational Award, and Amy Anderson received the Best Technique Award, the coaches reported. Both girls were juniors. And Serena Block was recognized as the team caption, the c...
RITZVILLE – Adams County Human Resources Manager Amalia Perez met with the Board of Commissioners on Monday, Aug. 9, to discuss updates to the COVID-19 Operations Plan for departments and employees. The updates are intended to move away from language like "shall" or "must" and instead use softer language such as "may" or "recommend" in the COVID plan. Since the start of the pandemic, employees have been self-screening for coronavirus symptoms and keeping their own log of those screenings including temperature. C...
RITZVILLE – Longtime resident Rod Larse has joined the newsroom of The Ritzville Adams County Journal as a reporter. Larse, 62, was hired Aug. 4 as a part-time reporter. "Rod's interest in providing accurate, up-to-date news coverage of Adams County will be an asset to The Journal, our readers and our advertisers," Publisher Roger Harnack said. As a reporter within the Free Press Publishing group of community newspapers, Larse will also contribute news to the Franklin C...
RITZVILLE – With an additional 400 late-arriving ballots counted Thursday, Aug. 5, the general election picture is clearing up. Meanwhile, most of the maintenance and operations levies for parks and recreation and cemetery districts are passing. In the Ritzville mayoral race, incumbent Mayor Linda Kadlec will move on to the general election, having received 55.02% of the vote, or 307 votes, as of the most recent tally. Her opponent appears to be Dennis R. Chamberlain, who received 142 votes, or 24.45%,, and leads t...
KENNEWICK – A Franklin County woman is the first to be infected with West Nile virus this summer in the area. The woman, in her 50s, lives in Franklin County, but works in Benton County and has traveled to Walla Walla, Benton Franklin Health District officials said. The virus was detected during routine screening when she went to donate blood, officials said. She didn't have any symptoms. “Most cases of West Nile virus are mild,” Benton Franklin Heath Officer Dr. Amy Person said. “However, serious illness and death are also p...
Proper watering is key to gardening success, but untangling and dragging heavy hoses across the yard, smashing delicate flowers and young vegetable plants along the way is a common occurrence in many yards. If this describes your escapades when watering garden beds and planters, it may be time to look for some time-saving solutions that reduce the hassle of hand watering. Protect edging plants, especially those at the corner of the bed with hose guides. You can make your own...
RITZVILLE – A local girl was among the finalists competing for 2022 state Distinguished Young Women Program title Saturday, Aug. 7. But Lind-Ritzville High School senior Dakota Killian came home empty-handed from the contest won by Moses Lake's Esther Roeber. The Moses Lake High School High senior received a $3,500 cash scholarship a $500 scholastic award with $200 awards in the talent and fitness judging categories. Roeber will go on to compete at the annual program s...
Parents of public school students in the 9th Legislative district have had enough of coronavirus-related mandates from Olympia. Shutter schools, curtail sports, wear masks, limit field trips and restrict access to graduation. Those actions have not been embraced here. And neither has Gov. Jay Inslee’s renewed call for all public school students to remain masked for the upcoming 2021-22 school year. Area parents are pushing back. This week, led by a group from Fairfield, many p...
Massive forest fires in the western parts of our country are not only choking us with layers of thick smoke, but are leaving behind millions of acres of scorched hillsides, ridges and valleys. Simply, there are not enough trees to absorb CO2 and prevent erosion. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, record wildfire seasons in recent years have destroyed millions of trees. Many forests have burned so severely that natural regeneration is not possible, which makes replanting...
SPRAGUE – A Montana traveler was killed in a Friday afternoon crash about two miles east of the city along Interstate 90. Kenneth H. Tooley, 69, of Libby, Mont., died after his 2001 Ford F150 pickup went over an embankment about 3:51 p.m., the Washington State Patrol reported. Tooley was westbound on Interstate 90 when he lost control of his pickup, went over an embankment and struck eastbound vehicle, the patrol said. The driver of the eastbound vehicle, a 2020 Peterbilt t...
Minimal rain finally falls in Ritzville RITZVILLE – A brief rain shower blew through the city late Sunday morning, Aug. 8, bringing a small amount of precipitation. The shower was accompanied by 15 mph winds from the southwest as temperatures dropped to the low 60s. A rain gauge located on the northwest edge of the city recorded 0.05 inches of rainfall during the 20-minute shower. That is the most single-day precipitation measured at that location since February. Bronc Booster Membership Drive RITZVILLE – The Lin...
SEATTLE – State workers who fail to get inoculated against the Wuhan coronavirus virus may be fired under an order from Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday, Aug. 9. During a press conference, Inslee said he is now requiring most state employees and on-site contractors and volunteers to get one of the experimental vaccines for the virus as a condition of employment. The order also requires private health care workers and long-term care employees to get vaccinated or face termination, a...
RITZVILLE – It’s about to get hot, again. The National Weather Service has issued a new excessive heat watch for most of Eastern Washington, and Ritzville is in the center of the heat map. The next excessive heat watch runs from Thursday afternoon through Sunday evening. “Dangerously hot conditions with afternoon temperatures in the upper-90s to 106 degrees possible,” an advisory from the weather agency said Monday, Aug. 9. The hot temperatures are expected across most of...
RITZVILLE – City residents and business leaders should be receiving a survey this week seeking input on a variety of services, amenities and ordinances. One question new to the annual survey this year is about fireworks. City Clerk/Treasurer Julie Flyckt told the City Council last week that the survey was about ready to go in the mail. Just prior to her report on the survey, the council was discussing a possible public hearing on what to do about fireworks in high fire d...
OTHELLO – Three local residents were killed in crashes in Grant County late last week. Deena Romero Ramos, 19, was killed in a crash early Saturday morning on Road 9-Northeast near Moses Lake, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office reported. And Perfecto Rojas Meija, 45 and Romeo Velasquez Diaz, 58, were both killed on Road E-Southeast when their vehicle was hit by a flatbed truck Thursday. In the Saturday crash, Ramos was in her 2009 Toyota Corolla when she failed to neg...
Adams County Othelo Parks and Recreaction District No. 1 – M&O Proposition No. 1 Approved 516 54.09% Rejected 438 45.91% Lind Parks and Recreaction District No. 3 – M&O Proposition No. 1 Approved 194 76.08% Rejected 61 23.92% Ritzville Parks and Recreaction District No. 4 – M&O Proposition No. 1 Approved 548 70.71% Rejected 227 29.29% Cemetery District No. 1 M&O Proposition No. 1 Approved 73 78.49 % Rejected 20 21.51% Cemetery District No. 3 M&O Proposition No. 1 Approved 190 73.93% Rejected 67 26.07% Lincoln County Prose...