Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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DAVENPORT – The school district received approval from the Department of Health to extend its in-person learning days to 2 p.m, superintendent Jim Kowalkowski said. The new school day will run in-person from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Friday will remain a remote learning day. The extended school day schedule begins Jan. 26....
DAVENPORT – According to the state’s vaccination plan, teachers will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 inoculation soon. However, local school districts don’t know whether the state will make receiving the vaccine a requirement, similar to MMR vaccination requirements presently in place. Davenport superintendent Jim Kowalkowski said that his staff hasn’t discussed any required vaccine dosage for teachers and staff. He guessed that eventually, the vaccine will be mandated by the state for educators, unless they have a medical...
There’s an old story about Elizabeth Willing Powel, the wife of the Philadelphia mayor, asking Benjamin Franklin, as he left the Constitutional Convention, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Ben Franklin supposedly answered: “A republic, if you can keep it.” This legislative session, which started on Jan. 11, will require you as a citizen to work harder than ever to keep our representative democracy…well…representative. Access to democracy is a majo...
School Board Recognition By proclamation of the governor, January is School Board Recognition Month. It’s a great time to recognize our elected community members who selflessly give their time and energy in support of high-quality public schooling for our youth. School boards are charged with making decisions that can sometimes be quite difficult, or require sifting through a great deal of information. They also bear responsibility for developing a vision that will guide the school district for years to come. Through c...
DAVENPORT – Gov. Jay Inslee and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) announced Tuesday the move into Phase B1 for COVID-19 vaccinations. The phase includes individuals age 65 and over and those over 50 who live in a multigenerational household. Lincoln Hospital and Clinics is now providing COVID-19 vaccinations to this group of people as the vaccine supply is available. “We would love to vaccinate everyone who wants it, but we have to have the vaccine to do it and we have to follow the state’s distribution plan,” K...
OLYMPIA – Three students are covering the state Legislature in Olympia this year for the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. They are Sydney Brown, from Washington State University, Joseph Claypoole from the University of Washington, and Patric Haerle, also from the University of Washington. Brown, who graduated from WSU in December, served as Editor in Chief, Managing Editor, section editor and reporter at the Daily Evergreen, the student newspaper at WSU. She’s been involved in journalism since high sch...
DAVENPORT – Arloine "Barlee" Brown, formerly Boyk, remembers World War II, growing up during the Great Depression and has spent over 80 years of her life combined here. Now, she's celebrating her centennial birthday Jan. 22. Brown, who is called "Barlee" by most who know her, was born in Rocklyn, but grew up on a farm about four miles from Bluestem and eight miles from Davenport. She spent her time riding horses and singing with her parents and three siblings, all of whom s...
Incident log Editor’s note: Most items in this section reflect the starting point for response by local police and emergency agencies. The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office does not release names of individuals who report possible criminal or suspicious activities to dispatchers or alleged victims for this column. January 10 Traffic stops: 1 A woman reported at least six cows in her pasture belonging to unknown persons. She said this has been a recurring issue. A woman reported an injured cat in her yard. Suspicious cir...
REARDAN – Another option for female student-athletes hoping to compete in sports is coming to the school district. The school board approved the launch of a girl’s soccer team at its Jan. 14 board workshop meeting with little hesitation. Superintendent Eric Sobotta said the district hopes the team can launch by Feb. 1, or by the date fall sports are officially a go. Girl’s soccer will be added after a year-plus long process the district went through to add another girl’s sport in order to come to Title IX compliance. The pro...
DAVENPORT – Many high school sports leagues around the state are making their own decisions about how to proceed with fall sports, which the WIAA had tentatively planned for Feb. 1. The Northeast 2B League decided to aim to start all fall sports that day after an league-wide athletic director’s meeting Jan. 15, with the possibility of another delay coming. Reardan co-athletic director Eric Nikkola, who took part in the meeting, said that a final decision on whether to start Feb. 1 will come Jan. 25. If COVID-19 case num...
All-time greatness surrounds the quarterbacks in one game this weekend, while young superstars man the position in the second. I speak, of course, of the NFC Championship game between Aaron Rodgers' Green Bay Packers and Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the AFC Championship game between Patrick Mahomes' Kansas City Chiefs and Josh Allen's Buffalo Bills. Rodgers and Brady, two of the most recognizable football names in the last 20 years, square off at frigid Lambeau Field f...
RENTON – The WIAA Executive Board voted on Tuesday to approve the schedules for WIAA Seasons 2 and 3, setting dates for traditional winter and spring sports. Traditional spring sports will be held in WIAA Season 2 which will begin with pre-contest practices on March 15 and end on May 1. Traditional winter sports will be moved to WIAA Season 3 which will begin on April 26 and end on June 12. The decision comes after the Executive Board voted at its January 6 meeting to begin traditional fall sports on February 1. While the E...
COULEE DAM – Campers will have to pay more beginning Jan. 29 if they want to stay overnight along Lake Roosevelt. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area camping fees will increase from $9 per night to $11.50 per night from now through April 30. On May 1, the fee will jump to $23 per night, up from $18 per night during the 2020 summer season. That fee will remain in place through September, then drop back to $11.50 for the 2020-21 winter season. At this time, camping at Lake Roosevelt is limited to Kettle Falls loop 1, F...
ODESSA – As of Jan. 4, 2021, Odessa Golf and RV has new owners. D & H Rentals, LLC, a local Odessa company, has purchased the business. A second local business, Odessa Farm Links, LLC, has been established by Dillon Jahns and Hannah Schmidt to lease the golf course and RV park and manage all related operations. The two say they have plans to keep up with the current level of maintenance that has garnered much attention since Jahns began working at the course in 2013. His l...
HARRINGTON – The Harrington City Council met by Zoom for its Jan. 13th meeting with the following present: Mayor Nathan Luck, council members Justin Slack, Peter Davenport, Levi Schenk, Stephen Hardy and David Buddrius, Clerk Janice Cepeda, announced visitors Joe Armand and Cherie MacClellan and others unidentified. The council is showing interest in questioning the expenditures going out of city hall, as was the habit of Mike Cronrath when he served on the council from 2001 to Jan. 2019. Rubber-stamping of the budget was r...
Allen Ivan Kuest was born on January 11, 1936 to Reinold Kuest and Leona Fink-Kuest at Irvy, WA. Allen passed away on January 14, 2021 in Odsessa, WA. Allen graduated from Odessa High School in 1954 and was a lifelong farmer in Odessa. He is also the former owner of Al’s Roofing. Allen was a member of the Odessa VFW and served 4 years in the United States Army. He served as President for the Vernonia Oregon Booster Club and was also a member of the Odessa Riders Club, M...
JANUARY The year 2020 began with Odessa High School sports as the #1 story of the new year, as the Tiger football team received accolades and honors for its undefeated season, which culminated in the team’s second consecutive 1B state championship. Odessa senior running back Marcus King was named Player of the Year in the 1B category by the Associated Press and was also placed on the first team statewide as a linebacker. He was joined on the first team by wide receiver Brady Walter, linemen Jaden Hunt and Pilot Weishaar and d...
Alice Schmierer – One day at a time sweet Jesus, was a favorite line from one of the many tunes Alice Schmierer loved to sing. Her last day with us here was January 15th, 2021. She passed away peacefully to join her Lord in heaven and to hold hands once again with her husband Alvin Schmierer. Alice was born in a 3 room house just a few miles up a gravel road from Odessa, WA. The town she would call her home for all of her 96 years. She was raised on the family homestead farm w...
1 years ago Jan. 21, 1921 All arrangements have now been completed for the Odessa Fire Department boys’ dance, which will be held at the Community Hall next Friday night. For a number of years the annual firemen’s dance was considered the social event of the season, and the fire lads are determined this dance shall be no exception to the rule. They have engaged the OCB orchestra to furnish music for the occasion and request the dancing public to come early and stay late and have one of the best times of their lives. The...
REARDAN – On Jan. 15, 2021 Deputy Dain Harden made a traffic stop on Little Falls Road north of Reardan. Through a license check from the Department of Licensing, Harden learned that the operator had a suspended Washington State driver’s license. The three other occupants of the vehicle also had suspended driver’s licenses. Harden observed multiple needles and tin foil in the vehicle, said Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers. The driver was identified as Angel Cork, who was operating the vehicle with a suspended license and e...
ODESSA – The Odessa Chamber of Commerce met via Zoom on January 12 to nominate officers for the coming year and discuss other business. Present via the Zoom feed were President Zach Schafer, Larissa Zeiler, Jeff Huiras, Norm Ott, Laura Estes, Terrie Schmidt-Crosby and Matt Roberson (briefly, until he got busy at his store). The nominations from those attending were: President: Jeff Huiras Vice Pres.: Norm Ott Secretary: Terrie Schmidt-Crosby Treasurer: Larissa Zeiler At-large board members (2): Matt Roberson, Michelle M...
With COVID-19 vaccines being widely dispensed, will an end to this pandemic halt “work from home?” Will workers return to downtown offices at pre-pandemic levels? Not likely! However, it is not an either/or question, said Stanford Professor Nicholas Bloom, who is co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s productivity, innovation and entrepreneurship program. “Working from home will be very much a part of our post-COVID economy,” he added, “so, the sooner poli...
There’s an old story about Elizabeth Willing Powel, the wife of the Philadelphia mayor, asking Benjamin Franklin, as he left the Constitutional Convention, “Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?” To which Ben Franklin supposedly answered: “A republic, if you can keep it.” This legislative session, which started on Jan. 11, will require you as a citizen to work harder than ever to keep our representative democracy…well…representative. Access to democracy is a majo...
ODESSA – The windstorm that tore through Odessa and the rest of eastern Washington on the night of January 12/13 uprooted trees and sent garbage cans and other items not battened down into the streets and other people’s yards. At the home of Annie Walter of Odessa, a large evergreen tree toppled onto the garage, damaging a wall and part of the roof. At the home of Tracy Walter, a similar scenario prevailed, although the tree that toppled did not hit any structures. Folks woke...
