Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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RITZVILLE - Lind-Ritzville School District Greg Whitmore announced superintendents from the district continue to meet to review and set guidelines for the safe implementation of athletic competitions while also trying to avoid any setbacks in current learning models. Whitmore said for now, the league has decided to limit spectators to fans of the home school district and parents of opposing/visiting Senior (Gr. 12) student athletes only. For middle school events, no visiting...
DAVENPORT - Lind-Ritzville High School plays their first volleyball match of the season, in Davenport, this afternoon. The JV game begins at 5 p.m. and the varsity game at 6:30 p.m. Athletic Director Greg Whitmore announced the game will be live-streamed on the following link: https://youtu.be/SlMVuJ_Nj9M. The Broncos are coached by Cari Galbreath and assistant coaches Shannon Hughes and Shannon Court....
RITZVILLE – Low and moderate risk sports competitions are permitted during Phase 2 of the Healthy Washington Roadmap to Recovery, but not tournaments; with fitness and training establishments limited to 25% capacity. Outdoor social gatherings, meanwhile, are limited to 15 people from outside a household with a limit of two households. Superintendents from the Northeast 2B league met and agreed to guidelines for the safe return of athletics, WIAA Executive Board member and Lind-Ritzville Athletic Director Greg Whitmore said M...
RITZVILLE – The Broncos are looking forward to their first competition on the football field this year. A Jamboree with Davenport and Reardan, originally scheduled for Jan. 20 at Davenport has been re-scheduled for Monday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. The location has not yet been determined. "We always look forward to the Jamboree," said head coach Greg Whitmore Monday. "It is an opportunity to get repetitions at game speed, which is something we really can't mimic in practice. We've got a lot of young players that this will be an eye...
RITZVILLE – Snow fell heavily throughout the region over the weekend. Interstate 90 was blocked in the left lane Monday from a semi trailer that landed on its side near milepost 229, approximately seven miles east of Ritzville. No one was injured in the collision, which occurred shortly after 6 a.m. The left lane remained closed until around noon. Responding to the call were crew members from WSP, Washington State Department of Transportation and Adams County Fire D...
RITZVILLE – The Ritzville Eagles started serving food to go with in-town deliveries on Friday evenings, before the region got the okay to open back up to indoor dining Sunday, Feb. 14. Above, Wanda Staley picks up a couple of pizzas Friday evening, Feb. 12, from Bill Sager. "I love it," Staley said about the Eagles serving food again. "I will not cook, as often as I can. I'm smart. I got one cooked and one uncooked, to put in the freezer. That way I can have it next week." W...
SPRAGUE – The Sprague School District levy was passing solidly as this paper goes to press Monday, Feb. 15. The levy has 155 "yes" votes and 61 "no" votes for a total of 216 votes. The "yes" votes make up 71.76% of the votes, with the "no" votes coming in at 28.24%. "We're very happy with our levy passing!" Sprague School District Superintendent and Principal Bill Ressell said Friday evening. "We are very appreciative to the Sprague community for their overwhelming support by voting yes for our school and, more i...
RITZVILLE – Lind-Ritzville FFA floral students created and sold Valentine Day floral arrangements representing strawberry milkshakes. "The milkshake arrangement is one that the experienced floral students saw and have wanted to make over the past couple years," Amanda Mattingly, the middle school agriculture teacher who took the lead on the project said. "We finally had a good opportunity to make it happen this year." Mattingly said while several students were involved in t...
LIND – While the recent cold weather might not inspire thoughts of spring cleaning, warmer days are ahead, and the City of Lind has set May 15 as the annual Free Dump Day. Council members agreed to have an additional 40-yard dumpster on hand for furniture and mattresses. Watch the Journal for more details as the date draws closer. More good news for the city was shared at the Feb. 9 council meeting, with Public Works employee David Christian reporting both city wells are running properly. Patrick Sheehy of Century West E...
RITZVILLE – Local residents on a waiting list for the COVID-19 vaccination received telephone calls to come and get the shot when an over shipment of the Pfizer vaccine resulted in a spontaneous clinic set up at Hometown Family Medicine Wednesday, Feb. 10. "Whitman County got about twice the amount they requested, so Dr. Sackmann's office is doing a 200-person clinic with the Pfizer vaccine," Adams County Health Department spokesperson Karen Potts said. "Whitman County was p...
RITZVILLE – Fall sports practices are scheduled to begin Wednesday, Feb. 10, following conditioning last week. "We are excited to begin high school practices this week," Athletic Director Greg Whitmore said, advising athletes to dress for cold weather, and not come to practice if they are not feeling well. "If we have an outbreak (usually defined as two or more COVID-positive athletes and/or coaches), a pod, a team all fall sports or even the school may be forced to stop a...
WASHTUCNA – A teleconference ceremony at Washtucna schools celebrated achievements among the student body Jan. 28. Seniors Josh Crouse, Keegan Wright and Kori Curtis were recognized for being accepted into college for next fall. Curtis will be attending Central Washington University in Ellensburg; Wright will be attending Clark College in Vancouver, Washington; and Crouse will be going to Wyoming Technical College in Laramie, Wyoming. “My favorite thing about this small gro...
RITZVILLE – County commissioners discussed a remodel of the Adams County Public Services Building in Othello at their Feb. 3 meeting, and will do a walk-through of the building Feb. 24. The Public Services Building, located at 425 E. Main Street, currently houses District Court Services and the Adams County Development Council, along with Integrated Health Care Services, which includes Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities, Emergency Housing and Public Health Services. A vacancy left in the building when the B...
RITZVILLE – Following Mayor Gary Cook's letter of resignation submitted to the city January 27 the city is again calling for anyone interested in being mayor to send in a letter of interest by Feb. 25. The qualifications to run for mayor are to be a register voter and a resident of the city for at least one year. Mayor Cook's resignation becomes effective March 31. “I would like the council to think about moving forward, and I put it in your capable hands,” Cook told council members at their Feb. 2 meeting. Council membe...
RITZVILLE – A jury trial in the case of Grayson Douglas Wrae Morris scheduled for February 23 has been continued by Superior Court Judge Steve Dixon to April 27. Morris is being held in Adams County Jail on $3 million bail. Morris is charged with one count of murder in the first degree and one count of burglary in the first degree with a firearm enhancement. Morris, 27, is the prime suspect in the May 14, 2020 shooting death of his father, Douglas Morris at his home in R...
RITZVILLE – City council members unanimously agreed to accept an offer to settle with contractor Kirby Hunt in a lawsuit before the State of Washington over the Well No. 9 pump station. The $750,000 cash settlement will be paid to the City of Ritzville water fund. In the settlement, the city agreed to allow Kirby Hunt to retain the non-working pump originally installed in 2015, and that this settlement resolves all claims which remain or could have been made in the pending lawsuit. “The city has been embroiled for sev...
OTHELLO – An all An alleged illegal alien will be tried March 23 in the slayings and dismemberment of two women whose remains were found in an abandoned vehicle last month. Mauricio Nava-Garibay, 28, believed to have been living in Othello, is facing charges of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon enhancement and second-degree murder in the slayings of Dora Elia Martinez, 57, and her daughter, Guadalupe Martinez, 30, records show. A jury trial has been set for 9 a.m. M...
SPRAGUE — Unofficial special election results tallied Tuesday night, Feb. 9, show the School District levy passing with overwhelming support. According to the Lincoln County Auditor's Office, the initial tallied showed with 145 votes in favor of the measure and 60 votes opposed. That's 70.73% support in the first count of the measure that included 0 ballots returned from Adams County precincts in the district. The replacement, two-year educational and operational levy would tax property owners $1.68 per $1,000 of assessed val...
RITZVILLE – Mayor Gary Cook submitted his letter of resignation to the city Jan. 27. Cook’s resignation will be effective March 31, 2021. He submitted a letter of resignation to resign March 31, 2020, before rescinding that in light of the city’s March 13, 2020, Covid-19 emergency declaration to close city hall. After Cook’s resignation takes place, city council members have 90 days to appoint a new mayor. “If they can’t decide on someone, or come to a standstill, the county...
RITZVILLE – School Board members and those listening in on last week’s conference call heard some positive news at the Jan. 27 Lind-Ritzville School District board meeting. High School Principal Kevin Terris recognized Donna Koch for this month’s Above and Beyond award. The award is given to school staff members in recognition of outstanding efforts. Koch is the Family and Consumer Science Education teacher. “Donna is one of those people who, the work that she does often g...
RITZVILLE – Adams County Sheriff's office has a new 911 Systems Manager. Angie Fode, who has been employed with the sheriff's office 29 years, retired Jan. 31 and Melissa Shepherd took over Feb. 1. “It's exciting and terrifying, all at the same time,” Shepherd said. Shepherd has been working with the county the past 14 years as a dispatcher. "Melissa brings experience and leadership capabilities needed to lead the team forward in so many ways," Sheriff Dale Wagner said. "Meli...
RITZVILLE – Adams County Commissioners hired a new director for East Columbia Basin Irrigation District 1. Don Osborne of Moses Lake interviewed for the position January 27, along with Mark Booker of Wenatchee. Booker said he was eligible to run, as a landowner of property in the district leased out for farming. The commissioners chose Osborne for the position. He joins board members Kevin Lyle, Reid Baker, Duane Anderson and Bernie Erickson. The board of directors oversees the manager of the district, which is Craig S...
RITZVILLE – School board members approved a proposal for the school district to move forward to Stage 5 in their back to school plan, at the Jan. 26 board meeting. While not a full-scale re-opening, Stage 5 brings all grade levels on to campus Monday through Thursday. “This approval comes with the realization that local health conditions and/or school-related infections or transmission rates may necessitate a delay in this forward step,” Superintendent Don Vanderholm said in a press release Jan. 28. “We will do our best to...
SPRAGUE – Voters will be deciding whether or not to approve a two-year educational and operational levy for the Sprague School District. Ballots were mailed out Jan. 20, and must be returned postmarked no later than Feb. 9. The levy would replace an expiring two-year levy approved in 2019, and the rate will not be increasing. “We’re not asking for what we could,” said Superintendent Bill Ressel. “We are anticipating at least 76 students, which doesn’t sound like a lot for most districts. But we could be asking for $2,650 per...
SPRAGUE – Loi Lutes was selected from nearly a dozen nominees as the Sprague Citizen of the Year at the Chamber of Commerce Jan. 21 meeting. Chamber vice president Tim Wilken said it was the most nominations the chamber had ever seen. Wilken, who sat on the committee to select the Citizen of the Year with other past Citizens of the Year, said Lutes was someone who “goes above and beyond” in her career, while finding time to help with the local 4-H, her church and other group...