Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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During the Sept. 25 Lind Town Council meeting, Century West Engineering Projects Manager Steve Nelson provided updates on the Town’s infrastructure improvement projects. Nelson said the first phase of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) street improvement project is completed and in the closeout phase. As for the FEMA project’s second phase, Nelson met with Mayor Paula Bell and Town Engineer Joe Pessutti regarding the water line under Sixth Street. He explained crews will need to replace some of the water met...
Businesses and organizations seeking 110 funding in 2019 need to submit their applications by Oct. 10, and are encouraged to attend the 110 presentation meeting on Oct. 16. During the Ritzville City Council meeting, Mayor Gary Cook said 110 funding applications have been distributed to local organizations. The deadline to turn in applications is Oct. 10. The Council also voted to designate Oct. 16 at 5:30 p.m., as a time to 110 funding presentations from applicants. The 110 funding presentation is not the only scheduled item... Full story
Ritzville residents who walk by the H.E. Gritman Building in the next couple of weeks may see crews working to restore the structure’s brickwork. Building owner Brenda Owens said she contracted with Wolf Creek Contracting to rehabilitate the brickwork, which is scheduled to be finished before the end of October. The H.E. Gritman Building is one of the structures in the Ritzville Historic District in the downtown area. The 116-year-old building houses the H.E. Gritman Senior Center, as well as local businesses like R...
Children who want to learn the basics of coding can attend the East Adams Library District’s (EALD) Coding Club every Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Ritzville Public Library. The Coding Club provides children, and adults, with an opportunity to learn fundamental coding skills that could lead them to program their own video games, websites or mobile phone applications. EALD Youth Services Library Assistant Millie Hopkins said the Ritzville Library Foundation provided the resources t...
Novelist Layne Hansen visited the Ritzville Public Library on Sept. 22 as a part of the East Adams Library District’s (EALD) local author series. During the event, Hansen read the introduction and prologue from his book “Careful Measurements,” which was published in June. He explained the book title was taken from a quote of Whittaker Chambers from his autobiography “Witness.” Chambers was an American journalist and a Communist spy, who defected from communism in 1938. Han...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos cross country team began league competition with a Northeast 1B/2B League meet at the Colfax Golf Course on Sept. 18. Linnea Schafer finished 14th in the 2.95-mile womens’ race with a personal record (PR) of 20 minutes and 43.08 seconds. Jordyn Fode completed the event with a PR of 34:45.75. Sam Michels led the Broncos boys after he finished the mens’ race with a PR of 17:29.30 Eli Michels clocked in at 23:59.08, while Erik Hughes recorded 37.11.96, a PR for both athletes. Head Coach Mor... Full story
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos volleyball team hit a few mid-season hurdles after they went 0-3 in competition last week. LRS began with a 3-1 loss to defending Northeast 2B South League champions Colfax in a league match on Sept. 18. The Lady Broncos won a first close set before the Lady Bulldogs rebounded to win the next three and the match: 26-24, 17-25, 17-25 and 20-25. Head Coach Cari Galbreath said LRS competed well against Colfax in the beginning and was glad...
During the Sept. 11 meeting, the Lind Town Council approved a loan repayment schedule with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology). The repayment schedule is for the loan for the Storm Water Project. The Council terminated the contract with Stantec Engineering at a March meeting. In March, Stantec Engineering Alan Gay recommended the Town terminate the contract because the company could not complete the project before the June 2019 deadline. Gay said the Town does not owe Stantec any funds. However, Lind would...
The East Adams Library District (EALD) hosted an artist’s reception for interim Menno Mennonite Pastor Lyn Hershey to showcase his paintings and discuss his artwork with library patrons on Friday, Sept. 14, at the Ritzville Public Library. The reception is a part of EALD’s exhibit on Hershey’s artwork, which will be on display in the library until the end of December. The library began showing Hershey’s work earlier this month. The artwork on display consists of Hershey...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos volleyball team opened Northeast 2B South League play on Sept. 13 in Tekoa, with a 3-0 sweep against the Lady Timberwolves. The Lady Broncos controlled the match with scores of 25-20, 25-15 and 25-13. The win improved LRS league record to 2-0 overall. Head Coach Cari Galbreath said the league victory was a good win for the Lady Broncos. She felt LRS played well throughout the match, as well as capitalized on mistakes Tekoa-Rosalia made during the contest. Lacey Miller led the match...
At the Sept. 4 meeting, the Ritzville City Council approved a request from the East Adams Library District (EALD) and the Washington State University Extension Office to close traffic on Main Avenue, from Adams Street to Washington Street, on Sept. 29 from 12-5 p.m. The street closure is for the My Farm, Your Table event, which is scheduled from 1-4 p.m. In a letter to the City, EALD Director Kylie Fullmer said the additional closure time allows organizers to set up and clean up the event. Ritzville Police Chief Dave... Full story
Area residents at motocross events might want to look out for a couple of familiar faces. Cousins Julio Cardenas and Robert Valdovinos, both of Lind, compete in motocross, an off-road motorcycle racing sport. Valdovinos and Cardenas compete in the 2018 Airway X Motocross Series, and have also raced at events in Horn Rapids, Coeur d’ Alene and other tracks throughout the Inland Northwest. The cousins have been competing in motocross for the last two years. After racing sporadic...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos cross country team opened the season with a busy week of competition. The Broncos ran in the Wilbur-Creston jamboree at the Big Bend Golf and Country Club on Sept. 5. The team ran a distance of two miles during the race. Although the course was not 5,000 meters, Head Coach Morgan Walker said the jamboree was an opportunity to see the progress athletes have made since the first week of practice. Linnea Schafer finished in fourth place in the girls’ two-mile race with a time of 14 minutes a...
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos volleyball team began the 2018 season on Sept. 6 with a nonleague win against Columbia-Burbank. LRS defeated the Lady Coyotes in four sets, 25-12, 18-25, 27-25 and 26-24. The Lady Broncos opened with a strong lead to clinch the first set. After they dropped the second set, LRS rallied to clinch the next two sets and seal the win. Head Coach Cari Galbreath felt the Lady Coyotes were not in the game until the second set. While the Lady Coyotes were scrappy throughout the match, she felt...
Adams County submitted a measure proposing a sales and use tax increase in the Nov. 6 General Election ballot. If approved, the measure would increase sales tax in Adams County in the amount of three-tenths of one percent. The revenue generated from the tax increase would be divided between the cities and Adams County for the purpose of enhancing law enforcement and criminal justice services. Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner explained the tax increase would apply to goods sold in the county, including food and gas. The Adams...
During the Sept. 4 meeting, the Adams County Commissioners opened bids for the Lind-Hatton and Damon Road Overlay project. The project consists of an overlay of a .93-mile portion of roadway from Lind-Hatton Road to Damon Road. Adams County Public Works received three bids, one being from Central Washington Asphalt for $1,389,029.25. Poe Asphalt Paving Inc. provided a bid for $1,926,676.77. The third bid from Granite Construction Company was for $1,299,999.99. The bids from Central Washington Asphalt and Granite Construction...
The Lind Town Council voted 4-0 at the Aug. 28 meeting to approve a contract amendment between Consolidated Disposal Services Inc. (CDSI) and the Town for garbage collection. Council Member Kathy Vedder was absent. At the Aug. 14 meeting, Mayor Paula Bell said she and Clerk-Treasurer Kylie Buell reviewed the current rates to the adjusted amounts and none of the increases are over $1. The rate increase only applies to the rate the Town pays the CDSI for garbage collection. It does not change solid waste rates for Lind...
Lind-Ritzville High School seniors Devin Schafer and class Co-President Lakai Panter have attended the annual Wheat Land Communities’ Fair over the years. However, the 2018 fair was the first year the two students participated in a dunk tank. The LRHS senior class ran the dunk tank at the fair on Sept. 1 to raise money for the senior class trip. The dunk tank was one of the new activities at the WLCF. Throughout the afternoon, fairgoers had the opportunity to dunk Panter, S...
The East Adams Library District (EALD) is hosting an exhibit featuring paintings by Lyn Hershey at the Ritzville Public Library. Hershey currently serves as a pastor at the Menno Mennonite Church. Hershey noted some of the paintings on display are a compilation of older and recent work. EALD will host an artist reception for the exhibit on Sept. 14 from 2-4 p.m. He was born and raised in Paradise, Pennsylvania, and has been married to his wife Jeanie Hershey for 60 years. He...
The Adams County Commissioners awarded the McManamon Bridge project bid to Halme Construction Inc., at the Aug. 27 meeting. Halme Construction Inc. came in as the low bidder at $1,742,171.02, which was $100,526.95 under the engineer’s estimate. In other business, the Commissioners approved project applications for the 2019-2021 Rural Arterial Program (RAP). Public Works recommended submitting three projects for RAP funding at a July meeting. The first project is the Lind-Hatton Road Project No. 3, which consists of r... Full story
The Washington State Auditor’s Office completed an exit conference with Adams County regarding a financial statement and federal grant compliance audit for the 2017 fiscal year. The conference was held during the Aug. 27 Adams County Commissioners meeting. State Audit Lead Heather Peterson said the audit report will be published on the Auditors’ website in two weeks. Peterson said there were no uncorrected misstatements, or material misstatements in the financial reports during the audit. The auditor’s did not find any signif...
During the Aug. 21 meeting, the Ritzville City Council approved an ordinance to modify the 2018 city budget. The ordinance amends the budget and the salary schedule to include wage increases for Ritzville Police Department records clerk Marsha Bradshaw, and part-time officer Jeff Lane. It also includes a wage increase for deputy clerks Michelle Asmussen and Julie Hartz. The wage increases, which the Council approved at the Aug. 7 meeting, will take effect on Sept. 1. In other...
Washington State Senate Republican candidate Susan Hutchinson stopped at the Lasting Legacy Wildlife Museum in Ritzville for an event on Aug. 23. Elected officials, and residents of Adams County attended the event, which was hosted by Sherri Brewer, Heidi Hunt, Mike and Connie Klein, and Michele Kiesz. During the event, Hutchinson met with guests and toured the museum. Hutchinson, the former Washington State Republican Party chair, will challenge incumbent and Democratic... Full story
The Adams County Commissioners voted 2-0 to adopt an interlocal agreement for the county Solid Waste Comprehensive Management Plan at the Aug. 20 meeting. Commissioner Chairman John Marshall was absent from the meeting. Public Works Director Todd O’Brien said the five municipalities in Adams County had signed the interlocal agreement, which is effective for 10 years and automatically renewed every five years. O’Brien will send the document to the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) for a final review. After he... Full story
During the Aug. 14 Lind Town Council meeting, Mayor Paula Bell presented a draft of the consultant agreement with Century West Engineering for engineering services. The Town selected Century West from three finalists for engineering and consultation services at the July 24 meeting. According to the agreement, Century West will provide the Town with planning, design and construction management for projects relating to water, sewer, storm drainage, streets and traffic. The company will also perform construction surveying,...