Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
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DAVENPORT—The county commissioners went through the formality of approving the final preliminary budget before they approve the final 2022 budget and attempt to close a budget gap that’s grown to $1.3 million. The preliminary budget was approved Monday, Dec. 6. Typically, the commissioners balance the gap with a cash reserve and try to stay conservative with revenues to not oversell the potential for revenue, commissioner Rob Coffman said. A budget gap is typical for a small county. The current expense fund approved in the...
SPOKANE – The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern Dist. of Washington has reported that Esther Rae Tuller, age 40, of Moses Lake, has pleaded guilty to tampering with morphine medication while working as a registered nurse. Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Bastian accepted Tuller’s guilty plea and scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 17, 2022, in Spokane. According to court documents and information disclosed during Tuller’s change of plea hearing, between August 2019 and April 2020, Tuller was a Washi...
DAVENPORT—The Reardan wrestlers earned a second place finish at the Davenport Invitational Saturday morning, Dec. 4. The host Gorillas finished in sixth place out of nine competing schools. Lake Roosevelt won the invite with 262 points, while Reardan had 180.5. Kittitas was in third place with 140.5 points, while Kettle Falls was fourth with 97 points. Medical Lake had a fifth-place finish with 95 points, while Davenport had 91 points. Oroville had 55 points, Wilbur-Creston had 38 points and Innovation had 32 points. R...
ODESSA – The return of Christmas Fest to the Odessa Community Center on Dec. 1 was another sign that the local community is more than ready for a sense of normalcy to return. Vendors filled the building with all kinds of merchandise, much of it homemade. It also appeared that a larger percentage of the vendors were local residents this year. Perhaps staying home and riding out the pandemic gave folks a chance to find their inner artist, and Christmas Fest gave them a chance t...
DAVENPORT--Washington State’s Public Works Board (PWB) awarded Lincoln County a broadband construction grant in the amount of $4,162,072.00. Lincoln County's goal is to build off continued momentum to provide open access rural broadband to all of Lincoln County for digital inclusion. The fiber-to-the-home Project will include Hawk Creek, Odessa, Reardan and Sprague. Lincoln County Commissioners and the Economic Development Council will continue to prioritize high-speed broadband for all. This construction grant is one of m...
DAVENPORT-The statewide process of redistricting has been confusing, bizarre and unconventional. Not so at the county level, where the proposed commissioner redistricting maps that occur every 10 years with the advent of new census data indicates just one change. West Larene and its 100 citizens would shift from Commissioner District No. 3, which is Rob Coffman's district, to Scott Hutsell's Commissioner District No. 2. The change was brought before a public hearing at the...
DAVENPORT-Seventh-grader Jenna Abernathy's peace poster entry has been selected as the Lions Club District Peace Poster winner. Her poster has been sent to the next level of competition, which includes nine other areas. Abernathy will be awarded a prize at the annual Spring Conference. "I was truly inspired by this project and the theme of 'we are all connected.' It was easy for me to devote the many, many hours it took me to finish this project," Abernathy, a Davenport...
DAVENPORT—Winterfest is back this year after a one-year COVID-19-created hiatus, and rival high schools Davenport and Reardan are competing for the coveted “Golden Plunger” award this week after a years-long hiatus. Winterfest will culminate with the boys basketball game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11. The Golden Plunger will be awarded on a scoring system based on the percentage of students that dress up in the required themes during the five school days this week and the number of canned food items donated in a food drive...
Editor's Note: An abbreviated version of the Harrington news was submitted this week by a friend of Marge Womach, who is under the weather. A bright corridor of sparkling lights on Third Street in Harrington set a festive background for the week's seasonal events. A "Holiday Glow Party" girls' night out held the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 1, featured shopping, mini-facials, scalp massages and brow shaping by local vendors and artisans. Friday, Dec. 3, kicked off the first day...
Ann Hennings of Sprague checks to see if Santa Claus's (Ron Hennings) beard and moustache is real....
DAVENPORT-It appears whether the sport is football or basketball, Davenport and Liberty are destined for heart-pounding games this school year. Unlike the football game in October, however, it was Liberty coming out on top of the nonleague contest in overtime 89-86 Tuesday, Dec. 7. A combined 47 points from junior leaders Tennessee Rainwater and Brenick Soliday in the second half and overtime weren't enough for Davenport Tuesday, which faced Liberty's own dynamic duo of Ethan...
REARDAN – Four seconds. That's what was left on the clock when the Reardan boys pulled ahead of the Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves in a basketball matchup Friday night, Dec. 3. Reardan won the non-league game, 64-62, in the closing seconds. The Class 1B Timberwolves (1-1) led the entire second half, until Reardan junior forward Tristo McCrea ducked under the defense for a 2-point shot inside the key with just 4.2 seconds remaining in the game. That shot lifted Reardan to its f...
DAVENPORT-The Liberty Lancer girls are the No. 5 ranked 2B team in the state, and sophomore point guard Teagan Colvin has a "90" rating out of 100 on ESPN.com. Both of those facts were plainly obvious Tuesday, as Liberty came into Davenport and had no trouble with the Gorillas while earning a 55-25 victory. The Lancers jumped out to a quick 16-4 lead after a quarter, and built that lead to 31-10 at halftime. Davenport scored first in the second half, but Liberty led 51-19 afte...
COULEE DAM—Winter camping is available at Lake Roosevelt this year. However, with reduced staffing and resources during the winter, facilities and services are limited. During the winter season, camping is only available in the Kettle Falls, Fort Spokane and Spring Canyon campgrounds. Campsites are limited to Kettle Falls Loop 1, Fort Spokane Loop 1 and Spring Canyon’s Lower Loop. Reservations are required but can be made in advance or from the campground upon arrival with adequate cell phone service. Reservations must be...
REARDAN—The varsity girls got off to a 2-0 start this season with convincing victories over Newport and Tekoa-Rosalia before suffering their first loss this season at Lake Roosevelt. Reardan demolished the Timberwolves of Tekoa-Rosalia 61-5 and didn’t allow a point in the first or fourth quarters Friday, Dec. 3. Reardan was led by a balanced scoring attack. No player scored in double figures, but four players scored at least eight points while three more scored six points. Kassidy Koch and Lana Shevchenko had nine points api...
Friday, Dec. 10 Reardan basketball at Colville @ 5:45 p.m. Davenport basketball at Lind-Ritzville/Sprague @ 6 p.m. Harrington basketball vs. Valley Christian @ 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11 Davenport wrestling at Liberty (Spangle) @ 9:30 a.m. Reardan boys wrestling at Othello @ 9:30 a.m. Davenport vs. Reardan basketball at Davenport @ 6 p.m. Reardan girls wrestling at Warden, time TBD Tuesday, Dec. 14 Davenport wrestling vs. Medical Lake @ 1 p.m. Davenport basketball at Odessa @ 6 p.m. Reardan wrestling at Medical Lake @ 6 p.m....
WENATCHEE – Sen. Brad Hawkins would like to see fewer small districts in the state. On Monday, Dec. 6, the Wenatchee Republican pre-filed Senate Bill 5487 to entice small school districts to consolidate or merge with larger neighboring districts. Under his bill, newly formed consolidated or merged districts would receive a 10-year increase in a state assistance formula that provides matching funds for construction, expansion and renovation. Hawkins, the chairman of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee, said...
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. Nov. 29 Traffic stops: 42 A Lincoln County Jail inmate was transported to Lincoln Hospital for a COVID-19 test before being shuttled to Spokane County. A Reardan man said someone used his identity to open an acc...
ODESSA – Odessa High School's FBLA chapter is working to bring the spirit of Christmas to Odessa by completing nine operations that spread kindness and joy throughout the community. Lowe's gave all winners of its 100 Hometowns Project $2,000 in gift cards to be used to purchase items for Christmas gifts from Lowe's. The company suggested community volunteers, working parents trying to make ends meet and/or community organizations that help others as the recipients of the g...
YAKIMA – Members of the Odessa High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America made their first in-person visit in almost two years to the Washington State FBLA Fall Conference. The event was held at the Yakima Convention Center, where keynote speaker Brad Killmeyer, a professional speaker and author, inspired students to engage in making positive changes in their lives and communities. Current Odessa High freshmen and sophomores have never experienced a live FBLA c...
DAVENPORT – Washington State’s Public Works Board awarded Lincoln County a broadband construction grant in the amount of $4,162,072. Lincoln County's goal is to build off continued momentum to provide open access rural broadband to all of Lincoln County for digital inclusion. The fiber-to-the-home Project will include Hawk Creek, Odessa, Reardan and Sprague. Lincoln County Commissioners and the Economic Development Council will continue to prioritize high-speed broadband for all. This construction grant is one of many mil...
ACH Warriors 1B state football champs Odessa’s neighbors on Almira-Coulee-Hartline High School’s football team became the 1B state football champions on Dec. 4 at Mt. Tahoma High School’s athletic field in Tacoma, defeating Quilcene by a score of 50-20. Quilcene defeated Odessa in the semifinals played the previous weekend to earn their way to the championship game. They were really no match for ACH, which remained undefeated all season long. Quilcene ended their season with a 10-2 record, while ACH was 12-0. Quarters 1 2 3 4...
Under the guise of water conservation, the state Department of Ecology is once again moving to take water rights from farmers, ranchers and other private holders. Last month, the agency announced plans to fund creation of local “water banks,” in addition to the state “water bank” already in existence. The agency says the program helps municipalities buy water rights from private owners. It has set $14 million aside for the program. The goal, agency spokesman Jimmy Norris...
Due to the federal government changing the unemployment benefit eligibility rules mid-pandemic, some Washington residents, who have been receiving unemployment benefits, will now have repay the benefits despite being approved to receive benefits initially. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, launched shortly after the pandemic started, did not fully verify that a benefit claimant was eligible for program benefits. Claimants that applied under the rules of the...
OLYMPIA – The state Supreme Court on Friday, Dec. 3, declined to redraw new legislative and congressional maps. The decision follows an attempt by the Redistricting Commission to reapportion the state in the wake of the 2020 Census. And it means that the maps previously submitted by the commission will likely be the establishing documents for new legislative and congressional districts. If the maps are retained, Lincoln County, including the towns/cities of Odessa, Davenport,...
