MLSD board approves 2023-24 budget

MOSES LAKE — The general fund budget for the Moses Lake School District will be $152.47 million for the 2023-24 school year. Moses Lake School Board members passed the budget without discussion at their regular meeting Thursday. The vote was 4-0. Board member Alana DeGooyer did not attend the meeting...

DK’s Drive In

Local eatery looks to provide customers with quality food and a clean visit

EPHRATA – DK’s Drive In in Ephrata serves hamburgers, fries and other fast food items while trying to provide customers with quality food and a clean establishment...

Design details

Expertise can help with projects large and small

QUINCY — Wild Willow Interiors owner Sherri Van Diest said her design business started during a conversation with a good friend who was in the process of building a new house.

Legals for August, 25 2023

MLI donation will pay for new GCSO K-9

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Sheriff’s Office brought some of its coolest vehicles and all but one of its K-9s to Moses Lake Industries Thursday at lunchtime to thank the company for its donation. Chief Operating Officer Brent Hansen said MLI officials looked on the donation as a way to contribute to public safety and to thank law enforcement and first responders in general for what they do for Grant County...

PBR bucks into Kennewick

KENNEWICK — Fans of Professional Bull Riders will have the chance to see the PBR in Kennewick early in September, with riders coming to Kennewick for the Challenger Series’ Tri-Cities Classic on Sept. 8 and 9. This is the third straight year that the PBR is coming to Tri-Cities, with the first event being held in 2021 when Newport native Cody Casper won with a three-for-three performance. Bill Henry won the 2022 edition of the Tri-Cities Classic. The Tri-Cities Classic is part of the PBR Challenger Series, which includes more than 60 events from May through October and ends with a championship hosted in Las Vegas in late October. The top 14 riders in the Challenger Series are all within 500 points of one another.

BBCC proposes Tech Hub for Grant, Adams

OTHELLO – The Adams County Board of Commissioners met in Othello Wednesday and heard a presentation from the Othello School District and Big Bend Community College on making Grant and Adams a national tech hub and supporting Othello students along the way. Big Bend Community College Vice President of Instructional Programs and Student Services Bryce Humpherys and Othello School District Student Services Director Amy Parris, who is also on the Big Bend board of trustees, ran the presentation...

Legals for August, 24 2023

Cost reduced for new Samaritan hospital construction

MOSES LAKE — The construction of a new Samaritan Hospital will cost about $2.1 million less than first projected. Construction will begin sooner than originally anticipated, with site preparation scheduled to begin in mid-September. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 6...

Calling out cancer

Moses Lake City Council declares September to be Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake City Council declared during Tuesday’s regular city council meeting the month of September would be officially recognized by the city as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The council also unanimously passed a graffiti regulations ordinance...

Ephrata boil advisory lifted

EPHRATA — The boil water advisory for the city of Ephrata was lifted shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, Ephrata City Administrator Ray Towry said. The advisory had been issued because of some concerns with water pressure and backflow into the city’s water infrastructure. “We felt very confident the results would indicate there was no threat to the community based on the situation, and we think the state drinking water people felt the same way. That’s why it was an advisory boil and not a full-blown boil order. It was strictly a precautionary step,” said City Administrator Ray Towry...

Directing futures

CWU hires new dean of the College of Business

ELLENSBURG — Central Washington University recently hired a new Dean for the College of Business, Faiza Khoja, who took over for Jeffrey Stinson according to a June 27 press release from CWU. Khoja said she officially accepted the position in June, ahead of the 2023-24 school year. Her first week in the position began Aug. 15...

Othello Port Commissioner Kenny Schutte not running for re-election in the fall

OTHELLO – Kenny Schutte is opting not to run for re-election as a Port of Othello commissioner for District No. 1. Schutte said that he will serve until Jan. 1, 2024, leaving the position to one of the two candidates running in November.

Ephrata boil-water advisory still in effect

EPHRATA — A boil-water advisory remains in effect in Ephrata, at least until city officials learn the results of tests on water samples taken Monday. Full test results are expected Wednesday morning. The advisory was issued for the northeast and southeast parts of town, wrote city Administrator Ray Towry in a Tuesday press release. It does not include the Grandview Heights neighborhood. The boil-water advisory was issued Monday afternoon following a malfunction of sensors that regulate the city’s water reservoir system. City officials expected some preliminary test results Tuesday night.

Going to market

Hard work pays off for youth at livestock sale

MOSES LAKE — It’s kind of a high point, the moment when hard work is rewarded in hard cash. Livestock sales are an integral part of a county fair, when a 4-H or Future Farmers of America student sees the benefit from all the effort they put in through the year raising a heifer or a pig or a goat. “What’m I bid? What’m I bid? Do I hear 1,900? 1,900! Do I hear 2,000? All done, all gone…” said auctioneer Chuck Yarbro Jr., machine-gunning the ritual auction phrases Friday morning at the Grant County Fair’s Kenny Ardell Pavilion as one young person after another brought a critter into the ring to be sold. The teens looked nervous but proud as they showed off several months’ to several years’ worth of work.

Spokane-area fires claim two lives, trigger evacuations

SPOKANE — Fires in the Spokane area, including two over 10,000 acres, claimed at least two lives as well as causing evacuations and traffic hassles over the weekend. A body was found in the area burned by the Oregon Road fire north of Spokane on Sunday afternoon, according to an Associated Press report. Another person died in connection with the Gray fire that started Friday west of Spokane. The Gray fire had grown to 10,014 acres by Monday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The fire was 10% contained Monday and costs were estimated at $1,250,000. The blaze prompted the evacuation of the entire city of Medical Lake, as well as the communities of Lakeland Village and Four Lakes. Interstate 90 is closed to traffic between the Four Lakes and Tyler interchanges until further notice, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. Traffic is being detoured both directions on SR 904 through Cheney.

Chamber, sponsors give breakfast to fair youth

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, with help from local businesses sponsorships, provided breakfast for 4-H, Future Farmers of America and Washington State Grange members and their families Sunday morning at the Grant County Fair. The breakfast was served from the window of the Chamber’s vendor building at the fairgrounds. Chamber President and CEO Debbie Doran-Martinez said that the breakfast is specifically meant for children and families who are busy packing up and preparing their livestock to go home on Sunday. “We do it every year,” said Doran-Martinez. “Those kids have worked really hard all week long, with their animals. They're part of the attraction of the fair for city kids to come and see that life, and so we just want to want to feed them.”

'It’s always a good show'

Roundup wraps up with strong showings from competitors

MOSES LAKE — The 80th year of the Moses Lake Roundup was celebrated Thursday through Friday, when competitors from around the world traveled to Moses Lake for a chance to take home thousands of dollars in the rodeo. “It’s a good rodeo, good contractors,” saddle bronc rider Jake Clark said. “Great hospitality – they treat the competitors great here.” The stands in the Rodeo Arena were packed each of the three nights of the Roundup, watching the numerous competitors take part in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, breakaway roping, tie-down roping, barrel racing and bull riding. “This is a great crowd; they all get into it the whole rodeo. It’s not just the bull riding,” bull rider Laramie Mosley said. “It makes it fun when you show up here and see the stands full, everybody cheering and hollering. It makes it enjoyable.”

Hundreds attend Grant County Fair Livestock Awards

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County branches and chapters of 4-H, Future Farmers of America and Washington State Grange partnered to host the annual livestock awards at the Grant County Fair Saturday afternoon in the Sale Barn. The awards honored youths for their livestock showings throughout the fair week. Bleachers surrounding the hay-covered floor were filled with hundreds of children, teens and family members waiting to see if they won an award or to support other youth livestock competitors. The Washington State University Extension Animal Sciences Regional Specialist Sarah Maki Smith – who works with and organizes 4-H and FFA educational programs – was one of the organizers of the awards and one of the many presenters at the event itself.

Pedal tour

Swedish father and son travel across U.S. by bike

OTHELLO — Axel Andersson said his travels on a bike, which brought him and his dad Eric to Othello Thursday, started with a dilemma back in 2018. “It was after my first year in university, and I didn’t know what to do during the summer,” he said. “So I said, ‘I’m going to bike through Sweden.’ And the longest I’ve ever biked before that, I think, was seven miles or something like that.” ...