Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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DAVENPORT--The oft-controversial firework bans of 2021 enacted by many local municipalities due to heavy drought conditions aren’t due for a repeat in 2022. Most local fire districts and cities weren’t planning to ban or discourage fireworks during Independence Day weekend this year. Fire District No. 5, which includes the greater Davenport, Seven Bays and Deer Meadows areas, is among those districts that banned fireworks last year but isn’t this year. “We have not put any burn bans out as of yet,” District chief Craig Swe...
Davenport superintendent Jim Kowalkowski's 15-year tenure in the position ended Wednesday, July 29 after the school board meeting. Area superintendents, community members, family and past and present school board members accumulated to send the longtime educator off into retirement. Here, Kowalkowski gathers with those present who have served on the school board at some point since he began in 2007. Next week's issue will cover the news of the school board meeting, which...
DAVENPORT—Michelle L. Hopkins pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree computer trespassing and will be sentenced next week after her original charges of 25 counts of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the first and second degree were amended by the Lincoln County Prosecutor’s Office. Hopkins, 49, entered the guilty plea in a court appearance Tuesday, June 28. The prosecutor’s office motioned for an amendment pursuant to a plea agreement Tuesday, according to court records. The f...
DAVENPORT—Any future court appearances by Wade Magers will now occur after the longtime lawman retires from his 15 ½ year tenure as Lincoln County Sheriff. Magers’ pre-trial concerning three criminal charges he’s facing stemming from an alleged Feb. 2021 incident was continued two weeks from June 29 to Wednesday, July 13 this week. The two parties agreed to continue the pre-trial date “to work out some issues,” according to Lincoln County District Court staff. A July 25 trial start date was struck. Magers will either cha...
DAVENPORT-Dozens of family members, law enforcement officers, county elected officials and community figures packed the Lincoln County Commissioner's chamber to bid Sheriff Wade Magers and Undersheriff Kelly Watkins a happy retirement during a celebration Wednesday, June 22. Magers and Watkins are both set to retire June 30 after working together with Lincoln County for 32 years. The current sheriff has been in his post for 15 ½ years and is retiring six months before...
DAVENPORT-After a 37-year career in outdoor law enforcement, 27 years of which were spent as Lincoln County's resident Fish and Wildlife officer monitoring pesky cougars, black bears and litterers, Curt Wood headed for retirement May 25. Wood, a Wisconsin native who now lives in Mill Canyon, hung up his badge and now looks forward to more time spent with his four grandchildren. He doesn't plan to stay indoors, as his retirement plans include plenty of hunting, fishing and trav...
DAVENPORT—The Willow Ridge apartment complex and safe house for victims of abuse or violence is expected to transfer from Family Resource Center to Rural Resources Monday, June 27, Cruze Thompson of Rural Resources told the Lincoln County Commissioners Tuesday, June 21. The transfer has been in process for months, and issues at Willow Ridge have occurred for four years, commissioner Scott Hutsell noted. All residents at Willow Ridge now have their own accounts with the city, Thompson said. However, the contract with Rural R...
HARRINGTON—A tanker rollover crash at the intersection of Duck Lake Lamona Road and Duck Lake Road involving a truck carrying 8,840 pounds of anhydrous ammonia resulted in no leaked chemicals and no injuries to the driver. The crash occurred Thursday afternoon, June 16. According to a police report by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office chief criminal deputy Kody Becker, driver Timothy Pitman of Edwall was distracted by a deer in the field to his left as he drove off the roadway in a Valley Ag truck. The truck stopped on a ste...
SEVEN BAYS-The current police chief in Reardan wants to level up. Andy Manke, a former Lincoln County Sheriff's Office deputy and a 22-year retired veteran of the Army/National Guard, is one of five candidates running for Lincoln County Sheriff this election cycle. The decision to run was an easy one for the county native. "I have the biggest leadership resume out of all the candidates combined," Manke said. "I've had professional development in leadership, not to mention the...
DAVENPORT-Partisan candidates running for Lincoln County audiences had a chance to speak to the public and, in some cases, answer questions from concerned citizens at a forum hosted by the county Republican Central Committee at the high school auditorium here Friday evening, June 10. After moderator Sue Lani Madsen offered an invocation and Committee chair Mary Blechschmidt led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, uncontested candidates Adam Walser (prosecutor), Chandra...
DAVENPORT-Adam Johnson may be in law enforcement outside Lincoln County, but the Airway Heights officer believes the position of Lincoln County Sheriff is a natural next step for him. Johnson is running for Sheriff after considering a campaign for the past 18 months. "When I first got into law enforcement, I thought that every place I've ever gone...I worked my way up," Johnson said. "Sheriff has always been one of those opportunities that I want to make, and I can tell you...
CRESTON-The current trio of Lincoln County Commissioners has been in office together for nearly a decade. Jason Debord wants to change that, and he's running against incumbent Rob Coffman for the District 3 seat in this year's election. Debord, who is the project manager for Huppin's in Spokane and has been with the company for 17 years, said he decided to run the week before Filing Week in May after several people told him he should throw his hat in the ring. "I talked with...
DAVENPORT-After a brief 19-month retirement from law enforcement, Brian Telford is trying to get back in the game as the elected Lincoln County Sheriff in this year's election. The former Chief Criminal Deputy under Sheriff Wade Magers said he believes in a proactive, not reactive response to crime. "We're going to have some of those issues, it's just the nature of the beast," Telford said. "But if you don't put your thumb on it, it will get out of control, and once it gets...
DAVENPORT-It didn't take the Lincoln County Commissioners long to nominate Sergeant Gabe Gants to the position of interim Sheriff, effective July 1 following current Sheriff Wade Magers' retirement June 30. Gants was chosen from three finalists given to the commissioners by the Lincoln County Republican Central Committee. The finalists, which included Gants, Andy Manke and Jeff Barden, are all running for sheriff in this year's election. The committee interviewed six candidate...
DAVENPORT—Commuters going east and west on Highway 2 between here and Reardan have been faced with the choice of sitting in long construction delays or testing their knowledge of area farm roads during the past month as crews continue work on the state highway’s 13-mile stretch. This week, the delays have come in Davenport city limits and just east of the city. Crack sealing was done Monday, June 6 as traffic was piloted through the city. That work was expected to continue east toward Reardan as crews crack-seal roadway sho...
COULEE DAM—Workers at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area have been tasked with a smelly dilemma: what to do about the fish cleaning stations throughout the park? Various fish cleaning stations have been closed due to several issues at Lake Roosevelt. Fish cleaning stations are located at boat launches at Fort Spokane, Spring Canyon, Evans and Kettle Falls and day-use areas at Porcupine Bay and Hunters. “While evaluating and trying to repair the Fort Spokane fish cleaning station and associated septic system, it was dis...
DAVENPORT—A quick look through this week’s issue of The Record-Times indicates one fact quite clearly: it is election season. Stories about interim sheriffs, candidate forums and county and city business dot the pages this week, with plenty of graduation and Mule Days coverage to ease any tension or rising blood pressure one might feel from reading about local politics too much…ha! As I feel the paper and county residents have made clear, the upcoming August primary is the m...
DAVENPORT—The county commissioners passed a resolution adopting the Lincoln County capital facilities plan Monday. The plan lists projects that are needed and what funding will be required to achieve those projects, which include improvements at the courthouse, fairgrounds and jail. The first need listed included updating the kitchen in the jail. Cabinets would be replaced, and the dishwasher would be updated. This would cost $15,000 and be completed this year. Other projects budgeted for this year include redoing the c...
DAVENPORT-An indoor graduation open to all members of the public for the first time since 2019 was a welcome sight on a rainy, windy day for locals looking to celebrate the 37-member Class of 2022 during a ceremony Saturday, June 4 in the high school gym. Family members, friends and community members filled the bleachers and floor seats facing the stage set up on the north end of the gym, where the graduates proceeded at the start of the ceremony to the typical tune, "Pomp...
HARRINGTON-Girl power was on display at this year's graduation, as an all-female Class of 2022 was recognized in a ceremony in the high school gym Friday, June 3. This year's class included Caroline Slack, Patience Clark, Emily Nixon and Kaylen Behrens. The four walked in one-by-one around the gym before heading up the aisle to the stage as "Pomp and Circumstance" echoed through the speakers. The school band played the National Anthem before valedictorian Caroline Slack...
DAVENPORT—A caller from Lincoln Hospital twice reported seeing a cougar behind the hospital Saturday, May 28, but authorities were unable to track down and vanquish the puma. According to police records, a hospital employee called the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office to say another employee saw a cougar walking around while depositing trash into hospital dumpsters. Two deputies and one sergeant from LCSO and a trooper with National Parks Service responded to the initial call, which came at 9:52 p.m. Saturday. Officer Chr...
DAVENPORT—A resolution to terminate a private lease with a tenant at the airport here was tabled by city council pending further discussion at council’s regular meeting Wednesday, May 25. The airport committee met prior to council’s meeting and discussed a resolution going before council to allow Mayor Brad Sweet to revoke Gary Stuckle’s lease “for non-compliance,” according to council documentation. The committee, chaired by Jonathan Chapman, however, recommended that the resolution should be tabled to allow for further dis...
REARDAN—For the first time in three days, the local Mule Days celebration is a go this upcoming weekend from Friday June 3 to Sunday June 5. Mule Days, which began in 1904 and has only been interrupted by World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic, was renamed Community Day several decades ago and features many local events. Chief amongst those events is the Mule Days Parade, which this year is on Spokane Street from Cedar Street to Lake Street. Attendees can expect to see community floats, equestrian showcases, rodeo royalty a...
CHENEY-A personal record jump of six feet three inches gave Reardan sophomore Richard Alsept Lincoln County's lone individual 2B state champion at the WIAA 2B State Championships held at Roos Field on the campus of Eastern Washington University Thursday-Saturday May 26-28. Alsept's high jump mark was two inches higher than his second place competitor, senior Tre Seydel of Raymond. Senior Jarrett Jacobsen of Davenport finished third in the event. The Davenport boys had the...
REARDAN-Two varsity high school coaches are leaving their posts. Longtime head wrestling coach Rick Perleberg and inaugural girls soccer coach Brian Scott both resigned from their positions in letters accepted by the school board Wednesday, May 25. Perleberg, who said he is just retiring from the position and not from his teaching career, has been the head coach since 2015 and worked with the wrestling program since his arrival with the district in 1999. In that time he's...
