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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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DAVENPORT – -Masks will still be a part of sports this year, but face covering rules won’t be as restrictive to start the 2021-22 school year. The state Department of Health released new guidelines that mandate masks in some athletic settings, but not in others. The guidelines come on the heels of the state once again requiring masks in K-12 schools this year, regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status. Athletes won’t have to mask up during competition or practice for any outdoor sport. Masks aren’t required for low or mode...
DAVENPORT – School leaders and the board aren’t happy with recent mandates brought down by the state, state superintendent Chris Reykdal and Gov. Jay Inslee. After making some tweaks, the board agreed to sign on to a letter penned by Davenport superintendent Jim Kowalkowski, middle/high school principal Chad Prewitt and elementary principal Noelle Carstens to Inslee with three specific requests at the board’s Aug. 16 meeting. The first request asked Inslee to pivot from Reykdal’s recommendation that all school employe...
SPRAGUE – Paul Belmont Brown, 61 and Lenora Ellen Brown, 65, pleaded not-guilty to a second-degree theft charge in Lincoln County Superior Court before being booked and released Aug. 10. The duo is accused and charged with stealing a bird net from Star West Development in the city in early June. Brown and Brown were originally arrested on charges of theft, trespassing and vandalism outside U.S. Bank on First Street in Sprague June 4, according to police records. Star West Development contacted the Lincoln County S...
DAVENPORT – The most exciting part of council’s Aug. 11 meeting may have been Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputy Jon Evans jokingly threatening to ticket councilmember Cory Hollis for tuning in to the meeting via Zoom while driving a harvester. Otherwise, council quickly passed two action items relating to budgets and grants before adjourning after 25 minutes. The first resolution was to repeal the previously approved Resolution 2021-09 and replace that with a new authorization for mayor Brad Sweet to enter a grant agree...
DAVENPORT – 15 community members consisting mostly of district parents used the public comment section of the school board’s Aug. 16 meeting to voice their concerns and complaints with school mask mandates, a procedure that would allow students to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender they identify with and vaccination requirements that may be looming for K-12 school teachers and staff. The 90-minute public comment period showed large opposition to last week’s announcement from state superintendent Chris Reykdal that...
LINCOLN—Details of a crash involving a personal watercraft (Jet Ski) and boat during the evening of Aug. 14 have been released by Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers. Nicholas Densley, 24, of Spokane suffered serious head injuries and was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane when his personal watercraft crashed into a boat around 9 p.m. on Lake Roosevelt that smoky Saturday night. “The two collided kind of in the front third of the boat and the starboard side of the personal watercraft,” Magers said. Densley remai...
SPRAGUE – The primary race for Sprague mayor has one candidate holding a solid position to advance to the general election, while the second spot remains contested between three candidates as of press time. M. Shawn Coombs had 53 votes as of press time and is in first place. Sunnie Fortin was barely in second place with 23 votes, but Sprague business owner Dorothy Giddings was right behind with 19 votes with 10 ballots left to count countywide. Timothy Wilkens isn’t far behind Giddings with 16 votes, while fifth can...
DAVENPORT – A busy agenda as approvals were concerned was passed by a short-handed council, with just two members present in-person and two councilmembers attending via Zoom. Council passed three resolutions and two first readings regarding grant funding, ARPA dollars and budget amendments at its July 28 meeting. The first resolution passed established authority to execute distribution of Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and Airport Coronavirus Response Grant programs. The second resolution e...
DAVENPORT – Negotiations between Lincoln County and Teamsters Local 690 to update the Sheriff’s Office’s contracts for commissioned and non-commissioned officers continued for about 90 minutes during the county Board of Commissioners meeting Aug. 2. No final agreement was reached, but the two sides agreed to continue discussing matters Aug. 16 and Aug. 30. The meeting was the fourth negotiation between the county and Teamsters. During previous negotiations July 6, about an hour was spent on the commissioned officer contr...
DAVENPORT – 6th Street Café and Pizza and Romriell Dentistry are temporarily closed due to COVID-19 issues amongst employees. Both closed their doors last week and will be closed through the start of next week. COVID-19 rates had plummeted in Lincoln County by the beginning of July, but the widespread Delta Variant has caused a surge in local cases. The county had seen 25 new cases in a 14-day span as of July 30 and has had nine more cases this week, creating 34 new cases in a 19-day span. The county had almost zero CO...
REARDAN – Nick Landt submitted his resignation from the Reardan-Edwall School District Board of Directors after almost 12 years on the board. The remaining and present board members accepted his resignation at the board's June 28 meeting. Landt said he resigned to avoid a conflict of interest as his wife, Shannon Landt, a longtime substitute teacher in the district, looked to apply for the position being vacated by Larae Peterson. He said his proudest accomplishment he h...
SEVEN BAYS – The life of a local Fish and Wildlife officer can take one from Clark to Seven Bays, or from Seven Bays to Sprague, or all the way into Spokane County by Medical Lake and Airway Heights, as The Times learned Friday, July 30 when invited on a ride-along for the day with Lincoln County Fish and Wildlife officer Curt Wood. The day started with a drive to Seven Bays via Hawk Creek Road and Miles Creston Road to inspect a bear trap that had been planted there for a...
SPRAGUE-The primary race for Sprague mayor has one candidate holding a solid position to advance to the general election, while the second spot is hotly contested between three candidates. M. Shawn Coombs has 48 votes upon early returns and is in first place. Sunnie Fortin is barely in second place with 19 votes, but Sprague business owner Dorothy Giddings is right behind with 17 votes. Timothy Wilkens isn't far behind Giddings with 14 votes, while fifth candidate Trace De Gar...
SPRAGUE – The seat up for election with the most candidates in Lincoln County this year is that of mayor of Sprague. Five candidates filed during filing week in May, making the race one of just two nonpartisan races in the county with two finalists yet to be determined before the Aug. 3 primary. Sunnie Fortin, M. Shawn Coombs, Trace De Garmo, Dorothy Giddings and Timothy Wilken are all vying to take the Sprague mayor seat. Only Fortin and Coombs responded to multiple invitations from The Times to discuss their desires to run...
DAVENPORT – Dry and hot conditions dominating the weather cycle in 2021 have led many farmers in the Davenport/Harrington/Reardan area to start wheat harvest early, while others are sticking with a traditional start the first week of August. Many farmers in Davenport and Reardan started harvest this week, while several in the Harrington area started last week. Each farmer is different and starts on their own time, so there are exceptions to every rule, but generally harvest i...
DAVENPORT – 12 new laws changing the way law enforcement conducts its job that passed state legislature in May and went into effect Sunday, July 25 are causing concern and an adjustment period for local officers, sergeants, deputies, chiefs and sheriffs. The laws, which vary from restrictions on pursuing vehicles to banning chokeholds to requiring mental health calls to be responded to by mental health professionals or EMS workers instead of law enforcement will change the way many emergency calls and situations are h...
DAVENPORT – Since the COVID-19 vaccine became available to all adults in the United States in mid-April, debate and confusion has raged regarding vaccine requirements, HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) violations and rights and how that impacts employers, customers, businesses, schools and other regular walks of life folks have become accustomed to. The Times reached out to Lincoln County public health administrator Ed Dzedzy to separate fact from fic...
DAVENPORT – The school board approved two finance-related resolutions at its July 26 meeting. One was petitioning OSPI for a 2020-21 budget extension due to increased expenditures caused by the pandemic, and the other was approving the 2021-22 budget. The budget extension will raise general fund expenditures from $8,608,710 to $9,062,976, a rise of $454,266. The district must petition OSPI as a state requirement. “We’re required by the state to ask to spend more money than we originally thought,” business manager Leslie...
REARDAN – The school board officially dropped the "Indians" mascot from the district following the passage of House Bill 1356, which outlaws the use of Native American mascots or logos amongst public schools in Washington unless the nearest tribe grants permission for an exception. The decision was made at the board's July 28 meeting. A new mascot, however, wasn't yet chosen due to funding concerns. Superintendent Eric Sobotta informed present board members Jeff Anderson, R...
After a long five-year hiatus, the world’s greatest athletes have converged for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. When I haven’t been busy putting together this week’s paper, I’ve been watching these athletes compete in a bevy of sports while feeling insecure about my athletic shortcomings compared with the unbelievable feats achieved by the competitors. It’s an American tradition to sit on our couches and watch TV for six hours while wondering why we aren’t as athletic as...
DAVENPORT – City councilmembers discussed an ordinance placed before them that would give the local fire chief authority to enact a fireworks ban on the Fourth of July during times of extreme fire danger, such as the dry conditions oft discussed this year. The discussion took place at council’s July 14 meeting. Mayor Brad Sweet and Fire District No. 5 issued a ban this year which reduced firework usage in the city, but legally, the ban had no teeth. State law dictates that a municipality must have an ordinance written int...
DAVENPORT – The city has spent just 43% of its budgeted expenditures through the second quarter of 2021, leaving the city in the black through two quarters this year. $3,249,078 was budgeted for spending, and just $1,403,084 has been spent. $741,299 has been spent from the current expense fund, which pays for legislative and executive positions, law enforcement, fire, animal control, planning, building, park/pool and interfund transfers. Law enforcement was the highest expenditure at $159,094 aside from “all others (including...
DAVENPORT – Wheat harvest may start as early as next week in the Davenport and Reardan area, which would be seven to 10 days earlier than normal. Though this is not certain until farmers officially begin to harvest, HighLine Grain Growers manager Beau Duff and his company expect an early start to the season. “It seems like harvest is 7-10 days early,” Duff said. “But we don’t know for sure until farmers actually start to harvest.” Typically, harvest in the Davenport area starts around the end of July into the beginning o...
DAVENPORT – Grandview Ranch, a 1,125+ acre property with a northeast high-bank border overlooking the Spokane arm of Lake Roosevelt, has sold for $3.2 million to two Spokane-based brothers who reportedly wish to use the ranch as a retreat for their family and grandkids to enjoy. The ranch had been owned by three friends based in Palouse under the business name Lakeview Orchards, Inc. The three friends went to Washington State University together many years ago and have been tr...
TELFORD – Life Flight helicopters who need to land at the Telford Rest Area to transfer or pick up a patient from an ambulance no longer must land in the parking lot and clear visitors out of the way. A new helipad at the rest area that was funded through this year's legislative budget through a special provision was unveiled by the Department of Transportation-Aviation Division, Life Flight, Lincoln County Fire District No. 7 (Creston area) and 13th Legislative District R...
