Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Big Bend Electric Cooperative, Inc., is hosting the 73rd annual membership meeting on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 10:30 a.m. The purpose of the meeting is to consider and act on electing trustees to fill terms currently expiring on the board of trustees, have reports from officers about the affairs relative to the cooperative and to discuss other business. The meeting is at the Basin City Elementary School that is located at 303 Bailie Blvd., Basin City WA 99343....
Washtucna Community Church is set to host a concert of the Tri-Cities men’s chorus, during regular worship service on Sunday, Feb. 26. Worship begins at 11 a.m. The Tri-Cities men’s chorus has approximately 20 members, from numerous area churches and their program consists of sacred and gospel music. The men’s chorus is under the direction of Dave Dickerson and Daryl Ballard is the assistant director. The group has been performing together for more than 12 years, has sung locally and in Walla Walla, Spokane, and Coeur d’Ale... Full story
The springtime Palouse Canyon hike from Lyons Ferry Park to Palouse Falls is on Saturday, Mar. 10. The deadline to register is Mar. 2 and registration is filling up fast. The leaders, Lloyd Stoess and Gene Kiver, can accommodate 70-80 hikers. The distance of the hike is eight miles, and follows a combination of established trails, game trails and bushwhacking. There are steep ascents and descents, but special equipment or training are not required. The hike includes discussion about geomorphology, geology, botany, zoology,...
Both the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague boy’s and girls’ varsity basketball teams earned the honor of Academic State Champions for the 2B classification. The girls had a collective GPA from the first semester of 3.898. The boys had a collective GPA from the first semester of 3.717....
A local Ritzville resident has recently begun teaching a beginner’s yoga class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to help bring fitness opportunities to residents. Pat Tremaine, who moved to Ritzville about a year ago, has been trained to facilitate yoga classes and has practiced yoga since 1999. When Tremaine moved to Ritzville, she immediately began looking for a yoga class to participate in and when she could not even find one in the Moses Lake area, she decided to go through training to become an instructor. Tremaine b...
During the monthly Ritzville Chamber of Commerce meeting, Angela Bennett from Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) discussed the business and the plans to install a fiber route to a few businesses in Ritzville. The fiber network would run from the Ritzville School District, the County Health Department building, the Ritzville Library and to East Adams Rural Hospital. NoaNet is a non-profit broadband provider that started using fiber connections in 2000 and focuses on bringing broadband service into rural areas. NoaNet...
Ben Friederichs began calling Ritzville home a decade ago. He had just landed solid employment with Big Bend Electric Cooperative and had begun embarking on a new phase in his life. Ten years ago, Friederichs graduated from St. Martin’s University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He had been living at home in Republic with his parents while conducting a job search. When BBEC came calling it seemed like a solid fit and a great opportunity to launch his pro...
The LaCrosse-Washtucna Tigercats’ season came to an end on Friday, Feb. 17, after losing a district playoff game against Rosalia. The Tigercats made it into the district tournament after finishing fifth in the league, winning two district games and losing two games. The Tigercats faced Garfield-Palouse on Tuesday, Feb. 14, winning the game with a final score of 62-51. Darcy Stamper led the team with 19 points, while Austin Summers ended the night with 16 points. Jed Zimmer and Jake Aune each had eight points, and Justin W...
Postseason basketball play for Lind-Ritzville/Sprague ended far sooner than anyone would prefer. Both the boys and girls teams have impressive histories and have earned numerous trips to the state tournament. Any hopes of a return to state were dashed last Wednesday during a pair of District 7 2B Northeast loser-out match ups. Both the boys and girls found themselves paired with Davenport. On the boys side, the Broncos wanted to avenge a narrow overtime loss during regular season play. On the girls side, the Lady Broncos had... Full story
Unlike team sports, wrestling is a one-on-one battle that proves to be just as much about mental toughness as it does physical strength. For the LRS Broncos, two proved capable of competing among the ranks of the state’s elite wrestlers. Both advanced last weekend to the B Washington Mat Classic XXIV in Tacoma. They returned home with medals for fourth place overall finishes in their individual weight classes. Keanu Niezwaag captured fourth place at 138 pounds. Grayson M... Full story
Adams County Pet Rescue would like to encourage pet owners to use their Facebook page to make contact about lost pets. Go to www.facebook.com/pages/Adams-County-Pet-Rescue to contact them about lost, or found, pets in Adams County. Pet Rescue has a high success rate of animals being found and returned to their owners through the use of Facebook and other online resources that help spread the word about missing pets.... Full story
Our new hospital board just hired a new interim CEO in a Special Board Meeting on Feb. 16. This will be the eighth CEO in 10 years and he will be only here for four to five months. He was hired at the same salary that Mark Barglof was given at $140,000. The only difference is that now we will be paying his rent while he is here. We also have new expenses of paying our new attorney, Randall Stamper, that has cost in upwards of $12,000 for the month of January. My question is why do we need a full-time attorney? Isn’t that t...
I thank you for the information from the EARH board meeting in your Feb. 2 edition. One major topic discussed at this meeting, was not in the article, and I feel the community should be informed of this information, as it pertains to the possible closure of our hospital. In late spring, it was brought to the attention of Mark Barglof and the Board of Commissioners that we had a very acute problem with the, “automatic transfer switch, electrical panel and the wiring in the facility.” Barglof started to look into the pro...
During the recent hospital board election, three issues regarding the CEO position were raised with much concern. 1. The CEO Salary of $140,000 was deemed excessive. 2. The CEO did not live in Ritzville. There was much to do about the money leaving the district. 3. The CEO refused to assume the CFO duties. At a special meeting on Feb. 15, (the fourth special meeting called by the new board in less than two months, for which they get paid), the board hired a new CEO at a salary of $140,000 per year. He lives in Chewelah but... Full story
Regarding Mary Arlt’s letter to the Editor published on Feb. 9, I applaud you! Not malicious or vindictive, but right on point! Even after retirement Mary continues to show concern for the public by offering information of services available and the location for the services information, which should be provided by your Adams County Commissioners. Furthermore, what you don’t see from the Commissioners is Government “for the people”, and they have attempted to reduce “by the people” by eliminating the Health District an... Full story
Joyce Gering Clark passed away on Jan. 18, in Kirkland, Wash., at the age of 84. She was born Sept. 11, 1928, in Ritzville to Joe and Pearl (Fink) Gering. After completing high school in Ritzville in 1945, she entered into evangelistic work, preaching all over the United States. She had a special gift of ministering in song. Many people came to faith in Christ through her words and music. It was said by family that she showered them with love and knew how to touch all of... Full story
Cynthia LaMar passed away Feb. 16, at her home in Moses Lake, at the age of 56. She was born on Aug. 28, 1955, in Spokane to John and Evelyn Hill. She lived in Tekoa, Wash., until she was 10 years of age. She and her family moved to Lind where she graduated from high school and met her husband, Kerry LaMar. Kerry joined the Army and they traveled to Germany where their first son, Kelly, was born. Kerry’s service then took them to Georgia, where their second son, Cory, was b...
Peter “Pete” Kay Caldwell passed away Feb. 19, at the age of 68, at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane. He was born Dec. 13, 1943, in Walla Walla, Wash., to Anna (Conrad) and Stan Caldwell. He graduated from Touchet High in 1962 and played football for one year at USC. He married Patricia Martin in March of 1963. Together they raised four children and lived near Ritzville, by Benge, where he worked for Kleweno Grain and Livestock for over 20 years. In 1989, they moved to the...
Gordon Gene Gutschmidt died on Feb. 5, in Bellingham, Wash., at the age of 81. He was born on Jan. 20, 1931, to Barny and Ema Gutschmidt. He lived his later years in Ritzville. He enjoyed garage sales, wrestling and spending time with Margret. He spent his last seven months in Bellingham so he could be close to his daughter and grandson.... Full story
Jan. 21, 9:30 p.m. – Citizen assist transferred from Washington State Patrol. Complainant from Spokane Valley advised three women traveling, flat tire, don’t know how to put on the spare. Pulled in to Big Bend parking lot in a maroon Mercury Mystique. Deputy Ben Buriak contacted complainant and changed the tire. Jan. 20, 8:29 p.m. – Washington State Patrol advised of a semi in the median, not blocking lanes of travel, on Interstate 90 westbound. Adams Automotive could not pull the truck out in the current conditions, and w...
The Ritzville Lumber store’s shelves are now stocked full of merchandise and the inventory plans to continue to grow over the next couple of months. David Ahrens and his son, Nick, currently run the lumber and hardware supply store that used to be known as Best Building Supply. The father and son duo has been working to remodel and refurbish the shop, after officially opening the store doors on Jan. 14. The Ahrens main change to the shop is the hardwood floors that they refurbished since the existing surface had been installe...
Eugene and Cynthia (Sprenger) Smith of Crestview, Fla., are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Smith, to Kyle K. Hutto. Hutto is the son of Wade and Chris Hutto of Crestview, Fla. The bride is a 2008 graduate of Crestview High School and expects to finish her Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Child Science from Florida State University in 2012. The groom, a 2008 graduate of Crestview High School, completes Law Enforcement Academy at...
Megan Wilks and Sheldon Ford are pleased to announce the arrival of their first child, Wade Lynn Ford, born on Feb. 17, in Twin Falls, Idaho. At birth, Wade weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and measured 21–1/2 inches in length. Paternal Grandparents are Laura Vanderstelt and Ralph Ford of Buhl, Idaho. Maternal grandparent is Mary Wilks, Ritzville. Great grandparent is Loretta Schoonover, Ritzville.... Full story
In a year when the NBA was on the verge of losing its entire season, having a reason to watch the game was very important. I’m sure that most of the bigwigs were hoping Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade or Dirk Nowitzki would get all of the NBA fans super excited. They also probably would be happy to see the Lakers and Miami Heat or Chicago Bulls would flex their muscles to get the NBA back on track. There have been some good games this year but there was a...
The Senate spent Monday and Tuesday wrapping up the voting on bills forwarded by Senate committees. As Senate Republican floor leader, and a member of the Senate Rules Committee (which has final say over which bills land on the voting calendar), I was right in the thick of that, which forced a lighter-than-usual appointment calendar. Still, there was time this week to meet with community and business leaders from the Tri-Cities (a good amount of the Pasco area is moving into our legislative district) and a few other folks fro...