Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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RITZVILLE – Bicyclists from the Fuller Center, an ecumenical Christian group, had dinner and stayed the night May 27 as guests of the Zion Philadelphia United Church of Christ, at 310 E. Broadway St. Prior to arriving in Ritzville, the riders also stopped in Othello to work on a Habitat for Humanity project, organizers said. Fifteen riders and four support personnel are on a cross-country trek, raising funds and working on housing projects along the way. Group leader Gary S...
CHENEY – Two Lind-Ritzville athletes brought home state titles Saturday from the culminating 1B/2B/1A track and field meet at Eastern Washington University. Junior Myra Miller won the state 2B girls discus championship May 27. Meanwhile, senior Kydney Kinch won the girls pole vault. Miller won with a personal best throw of 125-05, beating out Lexi Lafferty of Okanogan by 1 foot 4 inches. Miller saved her best for last, having consistently finished behind Asotin's Haylee A...
LIND – The combined Lind and Ritzville school boards unanimously approved adding the Harrington to the existing Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna athletic combine during a meeting Monday, May 23. Earlier in the month the Harrington School Board voted to accept an offer to join the combine, by a 3-2 vote. In other business, Lind-Ritzville Superintendent Don Vanderholm reported the combined school district currently has five open positions, including athletic director, which could be filled in one of three possible c...
SPRAGUE – One person was injured in a single car crash on eastbound Interstate 90 in the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 25. According to the Washington State Patrol, Daniel A. Mishler, 33, of Redmond, Wash., was transported to a Spokane Hospital following the crash. Mishler was driving a 2002 Ford Focus when he left the roadway near Milepost 238, at the south end of Sprague Lake. The vehicle went off the left side of the roadway onto the rumble strips, at which time the driver overcorrected to the right, sending the v...
RITZVILLE – Valedictorian and Salutatorian have been announced for Lind-Ritzville High School Class of 2022. Valedictorians are Dakota Killian, Sydney Kinch and Amy Anderson. Salutatorian is Alexis Melcher. All three valedictorians have 4.0 grade-point averages. The Salutatorian has a 3.99 GPA. Dakota Killian is the daughter of Lisa and Gordon Killian. She plans to attend Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake in the fall and play basketball, ultimately attending Brigham Y...
LIND – Lind-Ritzville Transportation Bus Driver Jamie Schmunk placed first in the Educational Services District No. 1010 "Bus Roadeo" on May 14 in Spokane. The "'Bus Roadeo" includes a written test and demonstration of 11 other driving skills in a school bus. There are 725 points possible. Schumk placed first out of 24 drivers and will move on to the state-wide competition, in Kennewick, June 26. The state competition is special for Jaime Schmunk, and her husband Lind S...
RITZVILLE – A sitting city councilman is threatening legal action if the mayor continues to try to ban him from City Hall. Ward No. 4 Councilman Dennis Chamberlain said May 17 that may have to resolve the access issue through the legal process if Mayor Linda Kadlec continues to try to prevent him from entering City Hall, 216 E. Main St. For more than a month, Chamberlain has been attempting to work on city business remotely after Kadlec wrote a letter April 18 claiming she has the authority to ban him from the building. ...
HATTON – The Washington State Patrol is investigating a May 5 crash involving an Adams County Sheriff’s Office deputy. The deputy, who Sheriff Dale Wagner declined to name before press time, sustained minor injuries in a crash during a police pursuit, records show. A minor was arrested in connection with that chase, records show. The name of the minor – although public record – has yet to be released. According to Adams County records, the crash followed a report of domestic violence in the 400 block of A complainant called...
LIBERTY LAKE – Lind-Ritzville senior Sydney Kinch won the girls pole vault at the 2B District 7 Championship, held Friday and Saturday, May 20 and 21, at Ridgeline High School. Kinch cleared a personal best 10-00.00 in winning the event. She also won the long jump with a leap of 16-03.00. As a team, the Broncos didn't fair as well. The girls finished ninth overall with 24.5 points. Davenport won the girls title with 170, followed by Jenkins (Chewelah) with 129.5. The Bronco b...
RITZVILLE – Several Bronco athletes are headed to state competitions in golf, tennis and track this week. Amelia Court and Hunter Dinkins are headed to the state golf tournament in Deer Park on May 24 and 25. Lance Williamson is an alternate. In girls doubles tennis, Amy Anderson and Alexis Melcher will play in the state tournament in Yakima, May 27 and 28. And in girls track and field, Sydney Kinch will compete in pole vault, long jump and the 4x100 meter relay. Teammate Myra Miller will compete in discus and the 4x100 r...
RITZVILLE – Northern Pacific Railway Depot Museum volunteers are looking for old film of trains and railway depots in the city and Adams, Lincoln and Grant counties. The goal is to assemble the collection of film on a DVD, which would be shown to visitors at the museum, volunteers said. Individuals who have footage of trains, depots and other rail road facilities in the tri-county area can loan their film to the museum volunteers, where it can be copied and included in the D...
TOKIO – A Moses Lake-area man was arrested May 19 in connection with a theft at Big B Truck Stop on April 27. Andrew M. Packer, 32, was arrested and booked into the Adams County Jail for third-degree theft and other active Adams County warrants, records show. His arrest follows an April 27 reported theft at the truck stop at the Tokio-Interstate 90 interchange. Deputies responded to the truck stop for a reported theft of a smoking device, valued at $500, records show. S...
RITZVILLE – The City Council meeting, May 17, produced a discussion on downtown homelessness. At-Large Councilwomen Marsha Smith started the discussion by asking about an individual – identified by Police Chief Dave McCormick as John Tryon—sleeping in front of a closed store front on Main Avenue. “There is no ordinance against sleeping on Main,” McCormick said. He went on to say there is an ordinance against sleeping or camping in City Park, but not where this individual is living. Homelessness is a problem faced by many c...
RITZVILLE – With candidate filings closing last Friday, two county offices will be contested in the 2022 election cycle. In the race for Adams County sheriff, Ritzville Police Officer Mathew Carlson of Ritzville will challenge incumbent Sheriff Dale J. Wagner of Othello. Both candidates prefer the Republican party. For County Commissioner District No. 3, incumbent Terry Thompson of Othello is being challenged by Miguel A. “Mike” Garza of Othello. The two ran against each other in 2018, with Thompson winning the general the el...
RITZVILLE – Longtime Lind-Ritzville Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Greg Whitmore has been named Entiat School District superintendent. Whitmore announced his selection in an email earlier this week, noting he will be leaving his post with the Lind-Ritzville School District at the end of the school year. "It is with excitement, but some bitter sweetness, that I am letting you know that I have accepted the position of superintendent for the Entiat School District," W...
RITZVILLE – The hometown Broncos scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th and had the tying run at the plate, but it was not enough to knock off the visiting Davenport Gorillas in a Northeast 2B play-in game Monday, May 16. The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna girls fastpitch softball team lost the game, 13-10. Davenport's Gorillas earn a berth in the District playoff and for the Broncos the season is over. The play-in game was set up when Davenport and Lind-...
RITZVILLE – Lind-Ritzville senior Sydney Kinch took top honors in girls pole vault and long jump May 10 during the Northeast 2B-South division track and field championships here. Kinch cleared 9-00.00 to win the pole vault and jumped 15-11.00 to take the long jump event. She was also a member of the girls 4x100 relay team, which won that race in 55.79 seconds along with teammates Savannah Carruth, Myra Miller and Claire Wellsandt. Kinch placed second in the 100-meter race w...
RITZVILLE – Captain's Cod food truck set up shop at 702 W. First Ave. on May 10, to the delight of local fish lovers. Business was brisk during lunch time as locals lined up for the fresh sea food offerings. The truck serves wild Alaskan cod, and can be found at locations in Washington from Bellingham to Omak to Kennewick to Ellensburg, and many locations between. Each order is served with house-made tartar sauce and a spicy Siracha Aioli sauce. The all-important malt v...
RITZVILLE – The Ritzville Festival Association will dissolve by the end of the year. The remaining five board members reached the difficult decision at their March meeting. “We’re old,” Secretary/Treasurer Debbie Balfe said, referring to herself and fellow board members, John and Janis Marshall and Chris and Vicky Johnson, who are all in, or approaching, their 70s. For decades, the association sponsored the community float, appearing in nearly 20 regional parades each year. T...
RITZVILLE – The rise in tuberculosis cases in Washington state has the Adams County health officer concerned. During a Wednesday, May 11, meeting with county commissioners serving as the board of health, Dr. Alex Brzezny discussed his concerns. Tuberculosis cases are rising in the state, including Adams County, Brzezny said. At issue is the care and handling of patients in the county jail, and also monitoring patients who may not cooperate with treatment, after they are released. Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner was also p...
HARRINGTON – The Broncos athletic combine appears to be growing, with more athletes joining local teams. The School District annonced that it is joining the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna athletic combine on a one-year trial basis. Lind-Ritzville Athletic Director Greg Whitmore welcomed Harrington to the combine in an email Friday, May 13. “This will be quite a change for Harrington, but I know it won't be long until they are also saying ‘It's great to be a Bronco,’" he said. The change to the athletic combine is awaitin...
RIZTVILLE – The City Council continued discussions on the amended nuisance ordinance, May 3. The ordinance applies to unsightly and/or unsanitary conditions on property within the city. Several questions were raised over the proposed changes, as well as some unchanged portions of the ordinance. A particular stumbling block appears to be the idea of adding unpaid charges for the clean up of offending properties to the tax rolls. Adams County Treasurer Kayla Meise said “that’s more of a notion” and has a meeting scheduled with...
RITZVILLE – Two different organizations are providing grants to area recipients. Big Bend Electric Co-op’s Caring Neighbors is providing $2,290 grants to local organziations. And Spokane Teacher Credit Union is providing $100 to a local teacher. Overall, Big Bend Electric Co-op’s non-profit is providing 9,000 in grants to area organizations. Local Caring Neighbor's grants include: $750 to Cub Scouts Pack No. 73, Ritzville, to fund scouting activities. $200 to the Ritzville Aerie/Auxiliary Eagles to assist with the commu...
SPOKANE – Six students from Lind-Ritzville High School won the State Championship in the Future Farmers of America Livestock Judging Contest on May 4 at the Junior Livestock Show at the Spokane County Fairgrounds. In addition to the team award, several local students received individual state honors at the event held last week. Local team members placing in the contest are as follows: Alyssa Williams, 2nd; Taylor Galbreath, 3rd; Zoe Galbreath, 4th; Addy Colbert, 6th; Raegan S...
RITZVILLE – The first annual Mud Wars were held at Lind-Ritzville High School, May 4. The competition features teams of students, dressed in a theme of their choosing, engaging in a tug-of-war in a pit filled with mud. Eight teams of girls entered the mud pit and pulled on the rope, while boys served as coaches. A team dressed in orange jump suits, calling themselves "The Convicts" won the double elimination tournament. A team dressed as rock musicians calling themselves "Heav...