Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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CLARK – The Keller Ferry, also known as M/V Sanpoil, re-opened Wednesday, Aug. 4 around 5 p.m. after being shut down for four days for repairs. The ferry had previously opened July 29. That lasted about two days before the ferry was shut down again Saturday, July 31 due to more mechanical issues with no timetable for re-opening. Before the July 29 short opening, the ferry was shut down for 20 days for more repairs. Drivers from Lincoln County heading north had to take 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 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...
A combine displaying the Wazzu Cougars logo harvests the field by the Washington State University Extension on the east side of Davenport Friday, July 30. Harvest has been ongoing in the area for many farmers in Davenport and Reardan for a couple weeks. Dry and smoky conditions have led to an early harvest for a majority of local farmers this year....
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--A Red Flag warning was issued across the Northern Columbia Basin, Palouse and Spokane area from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today, Thursday Aug. 5 due to the possibility for thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are expected to be scattered across the affected area with lightning and little precipitation. Winds are expected to be 15-25 miles per hour, but gusts could reach up to 45 miles per hour. The hot and dry conditions this summer has shown increases the fire risk from potential lightning strikes. Lightning has caused several...
ODESSA — Candidate Alberto Reyes racked up nearly double that of his opponents combined Tuesday, Aug. 3, in the initial count of the primary election. Reyes receivd 140 votes, or 65.73%, in the first day of counting. Candidate Amanda Wallace was a distant second with 50 votes, or 23.47%, early count results showed. Ryan Frick was third with 21 votes, or 9.86%. Only the Top 2 candidates advance to the Nov. 2 general election. Lincoln County was reporting it had received 1,834 ballots, or 22.68%. The county has 8,085 r...
RITZVILLE - One incumbent candidate is leading and another trailing in two separate races for city leadership positions in the Aug. 3 primary election. In the race for mayor, incumbent Linda Kadlec had a commanding lead over challengers Glen R. Stockwell and Dennis R. Chamberlain. Kadlec had 234 votes, or 57.35%, at the end of the initial tally Tuesday night. Chamberlain was second with 97 votes, or 23.77% and Stockwell third with 72 votes, or 17.65%. In the city council race, incumbent Mark Weigand isn't fairing as well,...
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...
KELLER--The Keller Ferry had re-opened as of 11 a.m. this morning. The ferry, located 15 miles north of Wilbur, links Lincoln County across Lake Roosevelt to Ferry County and the Colville Reservation via Highway 21. The ferry, also known as M/V Sanpoil, had been shut down since July 9 for repairs. The ferry had previously shut down this year due to high winds and dust concerns. WSDOT estimates that 60,000 vehicles per year rely on the service to cross Lake Roosevelt from the reservation to Lincoln County and...
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 – A pickup truck towing a trailer with five cattle crashed on Highway 2 just east of Bennett Road about six miles east of here after a tire in poor condition blew out on the trailer and caused the truck, carrying two passengers, to tip over and end up facing east. The crash occurred around 10:45 a.m. Sunday, July 25. One cow was killed in the crash, but the two people in the truck were uninjured. The driver and passenger were a husband and wife whose names were not explicitly disclosed in reports from the Lincoln C...
Students and staff in local schools will continue to be masked in schools this year. Gov. Jay Inslee announced the state would be following CDC recommendations and requiring masks among all staff and students in K-12 schools this year, regardless of vaccination status. The announcement came as Inslee also recommended, but didn't mandate, mask-wearing indoors in areas where COVID-19 is once again surging. Since June 30, school staff members hadn't been required to wear masks in settings such as school board meetings if they...
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...
MOHLER – A horse stuck in the mud in a creek near here had the good fortune of receiving help from Sergeant Jerad McLagan, a cowboy with horse expertise. Deputy Jon Evans received the initial call about a horse, “TJ,” just keeping its head above water at Sandygren Ranch on Coal Coulee Road and requested McLagan’s help in the evening of July 22. John and Lisa Sandygren were working with their daughter Jessica to free TJ, but were having no luck. McLagan removed his law enforcement gear and hopped in the creek before submerg...
DAVENPORT – A special 3-day filing period is coming up Tuesday, Aug. 10-Thursday, Aug. 12 for candidates wishing to file for positions that weren’t filed for in May’s regular filing period. The filing period is exclusive to those positions…any positions that had candidates file in May aren’t part of this filing period. Eight positions need filing in the Davenport/Reardan/Harrington area. Harrington treasurer, currently filled by Michael Cronrath, didn’t have anyone file in May. Reardan town council seat No. 3, currently occup...
ODESSA – The Old Town Hall Rejuvenation Society is thrilled to be one of the 100 impact projects that are the cornerstone of 100 Hometowns, an initiative to celebrate Lowe's centennial. Lowe's received more than 2,200 submissions to the 100 Hometowns program, which invited people across the country to nominate their hometown projects in need. The 100 Hometowns program will complete 100 projects across 37 states that rebuild areas reeling from natural disasters, repair c...
ODESSA – Harvest in Odessa is progressing rapidly this year. The lack of rain and the higher than normal temperatures have reduced yields across the board by about 40 to 50% according to Mark Cronrath of the Odessa Trading Company. Quality is also just so-so, he says. Odessa area farmers were blessed with several back-to-back years of very good crops leading up to what Cronrath calls this "insurance year" in which low yields will lead many farmers to file insurance claims o...
ODESSA – After months of only ZOOM meetings via computer, followed by more months of social distancing in the community center, the Odessa Town Council met at its ‘normal’ venue, the public library, on Monday evening, with access also available via ZOOM and Wi-Fi. A few community members also attended. Council members had their first look at a proposed 10-year contract with Consolidated Disposal Services, Inc. that is due for renewal in March of 2022. No action was taken, as council opted to take more time to study the propos...
LINCOLN COUNTY – Washington State’s Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) recently awarded Lincoln County a broadband construction grant. With a unanimous vote from CERB, Lincoln County was awarded a $2 million grant to start the first fiber build. The grant comes after the county applied earlier this year. That application passed the required threshold, and representatives from the county were invited to present “Connecting Lincoln County” to CERB July 14. Petrichor Broadband will handle management of the network...
ODESSA – The July 4 car, truck and bike show held in downtown Odessa drew 12 car entries, six truck entries and six motorcycle entries to town. Ed Riederich of Ritzville entered a vehicle he has dubbed Atilla Da Hun Da. Roger and Melissa Simmons of Soap Lake brought their Laguna-type S-3. Roger Egbert of Davenport entered a 1956 Chevrolet. Charles Green of Moses Lake brought a 2009 Dodge SRT8 called Midnight Wolf. Stan Vangen, also of Moses Lake, entered a Chevrolet C...
OLYMPIA – Washingtonians will begin to see fewer plastic bags littering the state’s roadsides, parks, and streams beginning Oct. 1 when the statewide plastic bag ban goes into effect. The bag ban prohibits the distribution of single-use plastic carryout bags by restaurants, retail, small vendors and grocery stores. The ban was originally scheduled to begin Jan. 1, 2021, but the limited availability of compliant bags prompted Gov. Jay Inslee to delay it through a proclamation. The proclamation was recently rescinded. “Si...
VICTORIA, British Columbia — The border closure between British Columbia and Washington will be lifted for some U.S. residents beginning Aug. 9. Canada will allow vaccinated Americans into the country, provided they have been “fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to entering Canada,” according to a press release. “All travellers, regardless of vaccination status, will still require a pre-entry COVID-19 molecular test result.” If the number of coronavirus cases doesn’t explode after that, the Canadian government...
