Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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You know what's scarier than Halloween on a Friday night? Having National Guard duty the day after. While everyone else was sleeping off sugar comas or regrettable costume choices, I was living the true soldier's nightmare: clerical work. Yes, the "hurry up and wait" game was in full swing - times ten. Thrilling? Not even close. My highlight was probably refilling my pen ink. But before duty called, Halloween itself went off without a hitch. It was my first one in my own...
This past weekend, I was a little out of county — okay, fine, completely out of county — headed to Moses Lake to cover a wedding. My second full wedding shoot ever, and let me tell you, I’m still finding glitter, bobby pins, and soggy lens wipes in my backpack. The rain across Eastern Washington didn’t ruin anything — it somehow made the photos even dreamier. I fueled myself on what may have been too much coffee while editing over 400 photos in two days — my fastest tur...
This week, Winnie and I set out with a simple goal: catch dinner. And catch dinner we did. But while I was proud of the smallmouth bass we landed, Winnie had a different mission - showering our finned friends with kisses. You'd have thought that crappie was her high school sweetheart, or at the very least, on a third date. Our haul wasn't just limited to the two decent bass we brought home; we reeled in a whole chorus line of smaller fish, enough to make any angler smile. For...
If you've ever stepped on a gym scale and heard it sigh, you know the feeling. My first weigh-in for this 12-week program was Aug. 4, and I approached it like I did basic training back in 2023-straight-backed, eyes forward and praying it wouldn't yell at me. It all started with a simple question. I asked Barb Badgley-our town's resident fitness superhero and retired bodybuilder-if she knew anyone who could help me get back into shape. Instead of giving me a name, she said,...
This weekend's National Guard duty handed me a new challenge: the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. Or, as I like to call it, "the gun that grows you chest hair on contact." Seriously, this thing isn't so much a weapon as it is a personality test. The second you touch it, you're expected to sprout a beard, start driving a lifted truck, and casually refer to deer season as "harvest." Clearly, the M2 was not designed with women - or anyone under 200 pounds - in mind. The first...
This past weekend, I returned to my National Guard unit, prepared for the usual: early mornings, heavy lifting, and perhaps a small existential crisis in the motor pool. But instead, the Army decided to have a little identity crisis of its own and made us... pretend to be Navy. Yes, you read that right. They threw a bunch of Army National Guard soldiers-arguably the most "cats hate water" branch-straight into the Snake River for water combat survival training. If you've ever...
This weekend I did what any respectable Harrington transplant does when the sun's out, the breeze is mild, and the fish haven't yet filed a restraining order against me: I grabbed my fishing gear, my wiener dog, and hit the great outdoors. Somewhere between Odessa and Harrington-coordinates redacted because a girl never gives away her secret fishing hole-I set off to finally catch the fish that have eluded me all season. But let's start at the beginning. Saturday morning...
There are a few emails in life that change you. College admissions. Job offers. And one from Brian Curtis - Vice President of the Davenport Road Knights - personally inviting you to ride in his 1948 Chevy Fleetmaster for the Pioneer Days Parade. That, dear readers, is what we in the industry call a hard yes. I didn't even finish reading the message before I was mentally picking out my parade-day sunglasses. With that, I handed over the Parade photography assignment to our...
When I first saw the smoke rise over the hills on Wednesday, July 9, I was driving home from Cheney. Within minutes, Fire Watch confirmed what my gut already told me - it was growing fast. I dropped Winnie off at home, changed into my field gear, and got out there. For three straight days, I documented as much as I could. From Cayuse Cove to Western Pines Road, from the destruction at Moccasin Bay to the cliffs above Seven Bays. I walked through scorched fields, down roads...
There are few things more humbling than a freshly graduated 23-year-old-lovingly called "Big City Girl" by her small-town friends-trying to become a homesteader after moving straight from college to Harrington. I like to joke that I "served" my time in Detroit before enlisting in the Army, but let's be honest: 8 Mile was a warzone long before basic training. These days, my biggest battles are with haybales and sourdough. Speaking of battles, let's talk garden warfare. I...
“You remind me of the Fourth of July… makes me want a hot dog real bad.” – Jennifer Coolidge in Legally Blonde 2, and me, basically every summer. There’s something about the Fourth of July that just lights a firecracker in my soul. Maybe it’s the smell of grilled meat, the feeling of an explosion in your chest as colors fill the dark sky, or the sheer joy of watching someone try to relight a dud firework with a beer in hand like they are suddenly a demolition expert. Now...
Lately, I’ve been taking full advantage of this summery weather here in my newly adopted hometown—soaking in the air, basking in the sun, and quite literally feeling on top of the world while zooming past semi-trucks on my Kawasaki Ninja like the main character in an action movie… only, you know, the law-abiding kind. No police calls have been made about me—yet—and that’s not for lack of opportunity, but rather because I revere the law like a cow reveres the herd. (Peacefully. Lovingly. Occasionally confused.) Now I know...
Nothing flavors a burger better than gunpowder and CPO. That's what my sergeant told me the other day while I was elbow-deep in rifle grime, scrubbing carbon off like I was auditioning for an Army version of Mr. Clean. We're back in Lewiston, Idaho, for the final stretch of annual training and our June drill weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with the time-honored military tradition of weapons cleaning, let me break it down for you: imagine cleaning the same rifle over and...
Listen here, privates-kidding, kidding! Listen up, Lincoln County-said in the tone of someone who once forgot their own keys while holding them and is now somehow nearly licensed to operate a 22,000-pound combat truck. That's right, your managing editor has traded the newsroom for night vision and a whole lot of sunscreen. I've been out in the Idaho desert for a little over a week with the National Guard, and while this field training isn't forever, it has definitely been an...
Memorial Day has come and gone, but its meaning hasn't left me-not even out here in the dry heat of Boise, Idaho, where I'm currently in the thick of my Annual Training with the Army National Guard. This year, something small caught my eye-and heart. Coins, carefully placed on the headstones of military graves. It's a tradition I had noticed in the past, but only recently took the time to understand. And now that I do, I can't stop thinking about it. For those unfamiliar, the...
You know it's been a big week when the most exciting events in the county happen three blocks from your own driveway. I'm still reeling. If this past week were a movie, it would be called "Harrington: The Musical," starring classic cars, camera flashes, kids who now call me "camera lady," and a dog with a big attitude in a tiny package. It all started with something I've had on my calendar for nearly two months: speaking to the students at Harrington School-with some visitors...
As the managing editor of the Lincoln County Record Times, I usually spend my days wrangling headlines, triple-checking AP style, and chasing down quotes. But this week? This week I traded my laptop for a Cannon, and kicked off my side hustle with the most relaxed and blissful country weekend imaginable. I took part of Friday off (because, yes, even editors need a break) and headed to Quincy to photograph my first-ever wedding. That’s right—me, who usually sticks to snapping h...
I was invited to attend the annual Semi-Formal Odessa Soirée and live auction on Friday, May 2, and let me tell you-it was one for the books. Let me take you to the scene of my latest public lesson: Odessa's Town Hall during a semi-formal soiree. Fancy silent auction tables hugged the walls, the center of the room was all elegance and fairy lights, and wine and beer tasting stations dotted the room like little adult reward zones. Clark-our resident MC and part-time voice of...
If you had told me last week that I'd be sipping pink lemonade sold by future Shark Tank stars, fangirling over quilts, and eating the best pecan pie of my life (apologies to the Midwest hometown bakery scene), I would have asked if you were feeling alright. This past weekend, I had the honor-and the pure joy-of covering Odessa's Spring Fling celebrations. And let me tell you: for a small town over a thousand miles from where I grew up, Odessa sure knows how to make a...
This Easter, instead of spending my weekend elbow-deep in deviled eggs or politely ignoring Peeps, I climbed aboard a 100-plus-year-old train and pretended I knew things about railroads. I did not. But I learned fast. It started at the Inland Northwest Rail Museum, where I figured I'd poke around a few vintage cars, take a photo or two, and head home feeling vaguely cultured. What I got instead was a deep dive into railroad history that included a private tour, an impromptu...
You haven't truly lived in a small town until you've run into a church basement in the middle of a queen's coronation, slightly out of breath and dressed in what was supposed to be a classic black cotton blouse. But we'll get to that. Let's rewind a bit. Saturday was a day for the books. My little sister ended her reign as Queen of Tekoa, and on the same day, I got to witness the crowning of Alyx Scheller as the new Miss Odessa. It was a full-circle moment - one queen stepping...
This past weekend, I did something wild. I swapped my reporter's notebook for combat boots and spent 72 exhilarating, exhausting hours playing soldier with the Idaho Army National Guard. If you thought journalism was chaotic, let me introduce you to my weekend. As part of our prep for Advanced Training-coming up next month in southern Idaho-I found myself not analyzing intelligence, as my job title might suggest, but instead learning how to operate military vehicles that are...
It was a day for walking, running, hiking, and, most importantly, dirt-flying fun. I arrived at the Odessa Grand Prix just in time to catch the tail end of the riders’ meeting on Saturday. The moment I stepped onto the course, I was immediately greeted by the roar of engines, racers from across the state, and the warm Eastern Washington sun. Enter Randy Niles—the man, the myth, the legend—who organizes the weekend’s chaos. Without hesitation, we hopped into what can only be...
There are many ways to start a day, but locking myself out of my house with my car keys inside, before work, was not the ideal choice. Yet, I stood outside in the brisk morning air, watching my life choices flash before my eyes as I realized my door was locked, and so was my fate for the foreseeable future. It all started so innocently. I had taken Winnie outside, as responsible pet owners do. I locked the door behind me, because, you know, safety first. And then, just a few m...
This week was like living in two parallel universes, one that involved ambient purple lighting and infrared heat therapy, and the other, dust, exhaust fumes, and a whole lot of "HELL YEAH." If you ever wondered what it's like to feel like you're in a science fiction movie one day and the next, an action-packed car chase, buckle up. Here's how my Friday and Saturday went from serene space pod relaxation to rally racing madness. Let's start with Friday. I was invited by Barb, th...
