New neighbors volunteer yardwork

RITZVILLE — Jessica Quinn and Kylo Lewis have volunteered countless hours weeding a yard in town, where a house sits vacant.

"We live right around the corner, and we're just trying to make the neighborhood look better," Lewis said.

The couple moved to Ritzville from Coeur d'Alene the first of the year.

"We were hearing complaints about the neighborhood, so we thought we'd do something about it," Lewis said. She said she went to the treasurer's office to find out who owned the empty house at the corner of Alder and Palouse. She attempted to contact the elderly owner, who lives out of town, with no luck.

"So we just started cleaning up the yard," Quinn said. "Nobody's complained yet."

Lewis said they filled a dumpster four times, just with weeds.

"The weeds were probably five feet high when we started," Quinn said. "We'll mow it one more time, and we're as close to done as we can get it."