Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Sorted by date Results 729 - 753 of 1311
DAVENPORT—The city and airport can’t tear down, demolish or remove the hangar belonging to Kevin Leyva and Greg’s Crop-Care Company during the proceedings for a civil suit filed by the latter against the city, presiding judge Jeffrey S. Barkdull said in a ruling filed Tuesday, Aug. 2. The order granting the preliminary injunction was made after the court heard the original petition for declaratory judgment, the company’s subsequent motion for a preliminary injunction, the city’s response and a declaration by city administr...
REARDAN-The school district has a laundry list of capital improvements it hopes to complete in the next five years, most of which surround the athletic facilities slipping in quality behind many other area schools. Those improvements cost money, so the school board approved a motion to run a capital levy in this year's November general election at the board's July 27 meeting. The five-year levy, which comes on top of a three-year levy passed by voters in Feb. 2021, would...
DAVENPORT—Two locals were indicted by a federal grand jury for COVID-19 fraud as part of the Eastern Washington COVID-19 Strike Force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday, July 28. Stephen Murphy, 42, and Stephanie Murphy, 36, both of Davenport, were charged with nine counts of fraud for “fraudulently obtaining three PPP loans for fictitious landscaping and wood products manufacturing businesses in 2021,” according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Murphy and Murphy weren’t the only Eastern Washington...
DAVENPORT—The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office is facing critical staffing levels within its jail/dispatch staff, interim Sheriff Gabe Gants told the Lincoln County Commissioners Monday, Aug. 1. Deputy Matt Chalmers resigned his post, which wasn’t a shock to the office, but does leave the already short-staffed group even more spread thin. “We haven’t even had any applicants,” Gants told the commissioners. Gants said the office has been running status quo otherwise since former Sheriff Wade Magers retired, minus an undersherif...
DAVENPORT—The city’s financial standing for the second fiscal quarter of 2022, including its spending habits and money taken in, was presented to the finance committee prior to council’s regular meeting Wednesday, July 29. Just 60% of the city’s budgeted revenue came in for the second quarter, with $1,848,339 received out of $3,089,080 budgeted. The city received 61% of its expected revenue for property tax ($165,294), 73% of its expected sales and use tax ($220,054,) 50% of its expected motor vehicle fuel tax ($15,42...
DAVENPORT—Gabe Gants is comfortably one of the final two candidates for Lincoln County Sheriff, but his opponent in the November general election is still to be determined. Brian Telford held a slim 671-605 lead over Andy Manke after the initial results of the primary election came out late Tuesday, Aug. 2. The race between Telford and Manke is still a tossup, with 986 ballots remaining to be counted as of press time. The next tally will occur Thursday, Aug. 4 at 4 p.m. G...
Company concerning the 127,000 acre Whitney Road Fire that blazed west of Davenport between Sept. 7-16 in 2020. The fire, which was given a cause of a tree falling on a power line, started near Hawk Creek and blazed southwest through Telford toward Odessa, displacing ranchers and burning through structures in its path. Almost two years later, a group of plaintiffs that includes Susan L. Bird, Terry L. Hoffman and Cole Ranch, LLC has filed a complaint for damages against Inland Power regarding the fire. The civil suit was...
DAVENPORT—It’s budget season in local school districts, and the school board here approved the budget for the 2022-23 school year at the regular meeting Wednesday, July 27. The board accepted the budget presented by first-year business manager Dana Telecky, who completed her first budget for the district. The school district is budgeting for 540 students this year, a 10-year increase from the two previous years. The district anticipates more students than that as enrollment rose to 562.94 last year, but the plus-10 inc...
Thursdays in the summer are often a slower day in the office. The paper has already printed, local folks are getting ready for a long weekend in the sun at Lake Roosevelt and there’s still a week to consider what the newspaper will look like in seven days. Last Thursday, that led to me finally undertaking a long overdue task not done since I’ve been here, at least: organizing the newspaper archives found in our 12th and Morgan Street office. Sometimes, interested local his...
DAVENPORT-One of the longest tenured incumbents running for county office has only been in the poisition for 3.5 years, and he can be found in the assessor's office. J Scott Liebing is running to retain the position he was appointed to in 2018 and re-elected to for the 2019-2022 term. Liebing is running unopposed on this year's ballot. "The alternative would be that I have to change careers altogether," Liebing said. "The first term went by really fast, and I'm now looking...
DAVENPORT—Surging temperatures and dry conditions finally reflecting a true Eastern Washington summer have led local authorities to enact burn bans around the county. Open fires were banned in Fire District No. 5, which includes Davenport, Deer Meadows and the surrounding areas, and Fire District No. 4, which includes Reardan, Edwall, Long Lake and the surrounding areas, effective Monday, July 25. Fire District No. 6, which includes Harrington and the surrounding areas, has had a burn ban in place since July 13. Fires are a...
DAVENPORT—A civil suit filed against the city by Greg’s Crop-Care Company, a Wilbur-based agriculture business, claims that the city and airport failed to meet the terms of a hangar lease between the company and city during and after airport improvement construction in 2021. The suit, filed in the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office Wednesday, July 13, is a petition for declaratory judgment asking Superior Court to judge that the lease is an effective contract that requires the city to relocate the company’s rented hangar and lea...
LONG LAKE- Lincoln County prosecutor Adam Walser first took his role in Jan. 2021, and now wants the position for a full-four year term. Walser is running unopposed in this year's election. He has been practicing law for 11 years and has worked in the Prosecutor's Office in 2016. Prior to that, he was a prosecuting attorney in the Marine Corps. "Being a prosecuting attorney is a calling...I didn't anticipate doing it," Walser said. "In the Marines, I got pigeonholed into...
DAVENPORT-A full-fledged, full force Pioneer Days was in action last weekend here. People flocked to the Saturday parade, wandered Park Street for vendors, enjoyed the Lions Club barbeque, visited the Lincoln County Museum and stuck around for the return of the belly flop contest at the Water Park. Davenport Fire hosted a beer garden at the fire station, while children fished for trout in Cottonwood Creek at the fishing derby and showed off their artistic inclinations in the...
DAVENPORT – Races for Sheriff, Treasurer and County Commissioner have generated the vast majority of local interest, but impactful statewide, legislative and congressional races will appear on Lincoln County ballots this election season. Voters will see races for United States Senator, 5th Congressional District Representative, Secretary of State and State Representative on their ballots. For the first time since the 2021 redistricting process, Lincoln County voters will e...
DAVENPORT – Dan B. Johnson's one regret is not vying for a seat on the bench sooner. He'd like to make up for that by holding the District Court Judge seat as long as possible, with the 67-year-old having eight more years before he is required to retire. Johnson, a Minneapolis native, was appointed July 1, 2015 and has since been re-elected twice unopposed. "I'm not ready to retire yet," Johnson said. "I find the job enjoyable." Johnson has been involved in law for 42 y...
DAVENPORT – Longtime director Rick Becker's retirement created some holes to fill at the Lincoln County Public Works Department. Ultimately, the county commissioners awarded Becker's job to David Orvis, a 14-year member of the department. Orvis officially began his duties Tuesday, July 5. "I'm trying to learn everything as soon as possible," Orvis, of Davenport, said. "Rick (Becker) left us in a good spot management and structure-wise." Orvis's decision-making is aided by depa...
DAVENPORT – A case accusing now-former Sheriff Wade Magers with three misdemeanor charges is not likely to go to trial as a resolution has reportedly been reached, Lincoln County District Court staff told The Record-Times this week. A pre-trial, originally scheduled for Wednesday, July 13, was continued in an agreement by both parties and will likely be pushed to Friday, Aug. 5, court staff related. Magers, who retired as Sheriff June 30, is charged with obstructing a law e...
DAVENPORT-Locals hoping to learn more about the candidates running for Lincoln County Sheriff and Lincoln County Treasurer will have that chance soon. The Chamber of Commerce is hosting a forum as part of the Pioneer Days festivities Thursday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium. The nonpartisan forum, which was originally suggested by city clerk Dave Leath at an April Chamber meeting, will be moderated by Record-Times editor Drew Lawson and sponsored by the...
DAVENPORT-There's a new superintendent to be Chad after last Wednesday's school board meeting. On the same night former district boss Jim Kowalkowski was recognized heading into his retirement, Chad Prewitt was sworn into the position by board chair Deanna Fitzpatrick to conclude the June 29 regular meeting. Prewitt took the oath of office with Kowalkowski by his side as Fitzpatrick read him the rather complicated pledge to recite. He officially became superintendent...
DAVENPORT-In a midnight move that did, indeed, occur at midnight, Gabe Gants was sworn in by the Lincoln County Commissioners as the 26th Lincoln County Sheriff Friday, July 1 before a deputy-dominated crowd in the commissioner chambers at the County Courthouse. Gants was appointed by the commissioners to conclude the retired Wade Magers' fourth elected term through this year. He was one of three finalists, along with Jeff Barden and Andy Manke, chosen by the Lincoln County Re...
DAVENPORT—Michelle Leigh Hopkins, 49, was sentenced to three months in county jail and three months of electronic home monitoring Tuesday after she entered a guilty plea on amended charges of first-degree computer trespassing the previous Tuesday. Hopkins was sentenced by presiding judge Dan B. Johnson July 5 and immediately booked into jail. The charges were amended from the previous accusations, which were 25 counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first and second degree. Pr...
DAVENPORT—Lincoln County’s self-funded medical program providing benefits to its employees may not be the most financially feasible way to go quite soon. The main reason? Rising medical claims, and the simple truth that county employees are getting older. Dan Fisher, senior vice president for employee benefits with HUB International, warned the county commissioners that employee medical claims are projected to increase through 2023, with rising costs the result. “The county had been low (in claims) for eight to nine years...
DAVENPORT-It took just one retirement announcement for Gabe Gants to decide to throw his hat into the five-man race for Lincoln County Sheriff. Gants, a sergeant and 18-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, made his decision when now-former Sheriff Wade Magers announced he wouldn't seek reelection this November. "I really wasn't going to make my decision until I knew what the current situation with the administration was," Gants said. "All the employees up there asked me to ru...
SPOKANE-The weather ceased its "Juneuary"-like theme just in time for the return of Hoopfest this last weekend. Thousands of teams took the hundreds of courts in front of tens of thousands of spectators in the annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament that dominates downtown Spokane over a June weekend. This year's tournament was the first since 2019 after two years of pandemic-related closures. Plenty of Lincoln County competitors took to the blacktops last weekend. Here's several...
