Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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Odessa volunteer firefighters spent Sunday, the hottest day of the year 2015 so far, fighting two fires that started on the eastern outskirts of town, caused by downed power lines. Rural fire chief Roger Sebesta said the precise cause was still being investigated, but he suspected it had something to do with the extreme temperatures and the increased electrical loads due to air conditioners in use, irrigation pumps running, etc. Spectators a serious hazard for firefighting...
Meeting Monday, April 13, in the public library, the Odessa Town Council approved the termination of the airport lease of Wilbur-Ellis and then approved a lease for the newly formed Odessa Air Service company. Mayor Doug Plinski said he had researched other small airports to see whether Odessa’s charges for space were in line with industry standards, as well as with insurance issues and environmental requirements. Although Odessa’s charges are on the low end, he said, he did...
The Odessa Chamber of Commerce celebrated the close of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 with a community gathering at the Odessa Community Center on December 31. The New Year’s Eve bash is seen by the Chamber as a thank-you to all of the volunteers throughout the year who help to put on events such as Deutschesfest, Spring Fling, the Desert 100 and so forth. The minimal charge at the door of $10 was to help offset the cost of food, decor and music for the evening’s entertainment...
Welcome to the 44th annual Odessa Deutsches Fest celebration! Odessa has been gearing up, preparing, cleaning and getting the word out for most of the summer, but the conversation about what to do for Fest really takes place all year. We have had several enquiries over The Record's use of "Deutshes Fest" as opposed to "Deutschesfest." A little history is in order. The Fest began in 1971, and up through 1990, it was spelled as two words in every issue of The Record. In the May...
Damon Pistulka, the restart specialist at TransMessis Columbia Plateau, LLC, on July 9 issued layoff notices to all employees and put them on standby status, saying, “Market conditions have forced (the company) to suspend operations while we complete the capacity expansion.” Pistulka’s notification to the Lincoln County Economic Development Council’s Margie Hall went on to say that the company anticipated calling the employees back to work by September 2, 2014. At the plant it...
On a picture-perfect Sunday afternoon, several groups of Odessa residents hiked the newly defined and marked Odessa Craters Trail north of town. The high school chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) had spent time working with Chris Shafer of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to remove encroaching sage brush and larger rocks from the existing trail, which is on BLM land. In some places, the students had placed stones aligned along the side of the trail to...
The flowering plant above is arrowleaf balsamroot, a native to western North America and associated with sagebrush communities including basin big sagebrush. The picture above was captured along the newly improved Odessa Craters Loop Trail on the hike hosted by the FBLA on Sunday, April 13. The plant's extended bloom season of April through July creates colorful vistas of yellow daisy–like blossoms along the talus slopes of basalt cliffs and throughout the scrubland areas o...
The Odessa Town Council met Monday evening to hear pressing news from the Public Works Department on the town's fleet of vehicles. PW employee Gerald Greenwalt and director Rod Webster said the town garbage truck now being used to haul yard waste collected in the yellow dumpsters in town had broken down and was thought to be hardly worth repairing. The truck was of 1988 vintage and was purchased used. It currently has a broken axle, leaking cylinders and faulty brakes that...
The noon meeting of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce at Any Occasion Banquet Hall on Tuesday found board member Justin Parr of the float committee reporting that he has been working with H.P. Carstensen, manager of the Odessa Trading Company, on a sign that will grace the outside of the float trailer that was recently puchased by the Chamber, in part through a large donation from OTC. The pickup that is used to haul the trailer currently needs repairs. Parts have been ordered...
This year's school musical at the Odessa schools was one of the best we have witnessed on the stage of the multi-purpose room. The singing, the acting, the costumes and staging were all very well done. Something new this year, though, was the youngsters in the crowd scenes who were coached to act as if they were doing something as part of the scene, not just stand and stare at the audience or the other performers. It was a very nice touch, and the kids involved were given an...
By TERRIE SCHMIDT-CROSBY Odessa's Heritage Church social hall, located in its basement with plenty of tables and chairs available, as well as good lighting, was the site for the Odessa Quilt Club's 19th annual Quilt 'til You Wilt event Monday, March 17. Quilters came (107 of them officially registered) from Odessa and points all around it in a circle stretching out to Seattle, Royal City, the Tri-Cities, Spokane and Omak. Four visitors also stopped in to visit with friends or...
Tuesday evening, Jenna Shafer, a junior at Odessa High School, was selected by a panel of judges to be Miss Odessa for 2014. Her princesses will be Katelyn Worley and Daviane Minaker, both also juniors. Each of the girls presented an essay telling why she would like to represent the town of Odessa. Each was also interviewed separately by the panel of judges. The event was held in the fellowship hall of Christ Lutheran Church. The girls will represent the Town of Odessa by...
This year's Ag Expo in Spokane was well attended by Odessa and Harrington area farmers and business people, as well as the FFA chapters from both the Odessa and Harrington School Districts. Odessa's FBLA chapter also shared the spotlight by winning an award for their project partnering with the Ag Expo organizers (as highlighted in last week's issue of The Record). Implement dealers such as the Odessa Trading Company division of the Ritzville Warehouse and Walter Implement...
Former Odessa residents Clay and Jewel Floch attended the Floch Memorial Games held at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake December 7. They returned to the U.S. in September after having spent 4.5 years in China working as foster parents at an orphanage for disabled children. The Flochs lost their two sons, Ryan and Drew, in a fishing accident in the Pacific Ocean that also took the lives of Jewel's father and a nephew. Ryan and Drew were both graduates of Odessa High...
Head coach Kim Kruger said of the season’s first games, “The girls played very well [last] weekend, showing that they are starting to have a better understanding of what I am wanting them to do. I’m looking forward to a great year.” Republic Additional information on the Republic game is included here, as it arrived too late for inclusion in last week’s paper. Lanessa Simon had 3 rebounds, 3 assists; Hannah Schmidt 6 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals; Jordyn Tanke 13...
Monday night’s town council meeting on November 25 brought a big smile to the face of Odessa mayor Doug Plinski, as he announced that the town had been approved to receive a grant in excess of $760,000 for the purpose of rebuilding the Fourth Avenue roadway. The town is expected to come up with $30,000 in matching funds. Hoping to combine the Fourth Avenue project with the already approved Fifth Avenue project to provide economy of scale, Plinski said all of the hard work o...
The O-H Titan volleyball team came home from Yakima without a trophy this year but nevertheless showed real sportsmanship and an ability to keep playing their best. The state 1B volleyball tournament at the Yakima Sun Dome began Friday, November 15, with the Titan girls facing off against Tekoa-Oaksdale, the eventual tournament winner for the third straight year. Friday morning's scores were 25-16, 25-14 and 25-22, as T-O took three straight from the Titans. It was an...
Tuesday, November 19, brought out young children, their parents and volunteer readers from high-school students to professional business people for an evening of varied activities which included story time, cookie decorating and gift-wrapping of books to give away. More than 75 parents and children signed up for the event ahead of time. The program used grant money applied for by elementary teacher Kim Todd, as well as new and used books donated by members of the Odessa...
TransMessis Columbia Plateau is the new name of the Odessa biodiesel plant formerly known as Inland Empire Oilseeds, LLC. An investor group from Houston, Texas is providing the financial backing required by the Odessa Public Development Authority (OPDA) prior to signing the agreement to lease the facility to the new management team. Damon Pistulka, a resident of Edmonds, Wash., will be the manager, as the plant gears up to restart production after several months of forced...
Barbara Greenwalt is the newest member of The Odessa Record's staff. With a background in office management and as an administrative assistant in local government offices, she has the necessary tools for making a major organizational contribution to our office. Barbara is married to Gerald Greenwalt, formerly and now once again, a resident of Odessa. Gerald was raised in Odessa and graduated from Odessa High. Barbara is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, the youngest of four...
The town council met Monday night to set the dates for public hearings on revenue sources, property taxes and the proposed annual budget for the Town of Odessa. The first two public hearings mentioned will take place on November 12, and the annual budget hearing will take place on November 25. Rental fees Council members Lois Hubbard and Loid Harp had met wiht Odessa Chamber of Commerce representative Lyndsy Starkle to discuss a pricing arrangement for rental of the community...
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce, Washington state senator Janea Holmquist Newbry of Moses Lake welcomed Odessa and Lincoln County into the 13th legislative district, then gave a presentation on current legislative issues. As chair of the Commerce and Labor Committee in the state senate, she said she was well aware of the challenges facing small businesses in the state and, particularly, in eastern Washington. She pledged to work for her constituents b...
Against Entiat on October 4, the Titans earned a 58-34 win.Because the scorekeeper was not available, there are no quarter breakdowns for the teams. Sam Schafer rushed for 2 touchdowns of 20 yards and 2 yards and passed for 3 touchdowns of 5 yards, 55 yards and 50 yards, all in the first half. In the second half, he rushed for 2 TDs of 60 yards and 4 yards. Steven Braun rushed for one 6-yard TD in the first half. Carsen Weber had on TD reception of 55 yards, and Dakota...
Odessa’s main drag may have lost another business with the closing of KD Meats, but at the same time CPoW’s livestock-processing plant has gained a manager with a wealth of experience and knowledge in the field. Darren Summers has accepted the position of plant manager of the Livestock Producers Cooperative Association (LPCA) facility at the Odessa Industrial Park. Several other new hires are also now working, joining production manager Tally Ross, processing manager Dillon Su...
At Monday night’s town council meeting, the Odessa Planning Commission submitted a report on its review of the town’s zoning with regard to Washington’s new law permitting marijuana use (state initiate 502). It was noted that the state has been in the process of developing regulations defining and controlling the industry, so the commission saw no need to go beyond what the state has already done. Regulations pertaining to business sites, building size, etc., commi...
