Pigskin fun

Warriors, Eagles compete in spring jamboree

COULEE CITY – Both Almira/Coulee-Hartline and Soap Lake wrapped up spring football at a jamboree in Coulee City on Friday, joined by football teams from Wellpinit, Curlew, Republic, Waterville-Mansfield and Wilbur-Creston-Keller. “I love this spring format – there’s no pressure, we’re just playing football again,” Walsh said. “It’s fun. The kids are excited about today, and they did a good job. We had a good spring camp and we’re excited for the fall.” ...

Local ag leaders join Cantwell for farm bill forum

WENATCHEE — Sen. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, joined a forum of nearly 30 state leaders in agriculture to discuss the upcoming re-authorization of the farm bill, according to a press release from Cantwell’s office. Cantwell was joined in Wenatchee by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, the release said...

Family options

A high-level look at listings in the Basin

EPHRATA – If you’re looking for a larger, but not too large, home with four or more bedrooms and 2,000 to 3,000 square feet to live in, the Columbia Basin has options right now...

GALLERY: Scenes from the field

COLUMBIA BASIN – Local athletes took to both the diamond and the football field this past week, competing in both the Pete Doumit Memorial Tournament in Moses Lake and a football scrimmage in Royal City.

Legals for June, 16 2023

News Bites for June 16

EPHRATA – The Grant County Sheriff’s Office is asking for concertgoers to be careful at the Gorge Amphitheater this summer. They recommend taking the following steps to be safe...

Moses Lake student inducted into Phi Kappa Phi

BATON ROUGE, La. — Eastern Oregon University student and Moses Lake resident Simeon Hickman was recently inducted into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest all-discipline college honor society, according to a society press release...

Moses Lake exchanges gifts with sister city

MOSES LAKE — The City of Moses Lake is giving a pair of landscape prints from a local artist to the city of Yonezawa, Japan, in response to Yonezawa’s gift of a tapestry to Moses Lake last year. “In a show of gratitude for that, we’ve decided to present them with these two prints from local artist Kim Matthews Wheaton that show the agriculture in the area and some of the local geology, which is obviously unique to our area,” said Council Member Dustin Swartz at the start of a regular meeting of the Moses Lake City Council on Tuesday.

Legals for June, 15 2023

Water conservation considered by Moses Lake council

MOSES LAKE — With the obvious decline of water levels in the aquifers that provide Moses Lake with water drinking, bathing, cleaning and lawns, the time has come for the city to stop looking at the problem and focus on solutions, according to Council Member Mark Fancher. “We know the problem. We’ve got to not spend so much time on the problem,” Fancher said during a regular city council meeting on Tuesday. “We have got to start spending a lot of hours on the solution.” ...

REC secures financing leverage

MOSES LAKE — REC Silicon has secured a $30 million loan from New York’s Standard Chartered Bank to help fund the company’s restart as well as proposed expansions, according to an REC press release...

Triple play

Knights, Mavs and Jacks wrap up spring ball with scrimmage play

ROYAL CITY – Three local football squads wrapped up spring practices in Royal City on Tuesday, with Moses Lake, Quincy and Royal competing in a scrimmage at David Nielsen Memorial Field in Royal City...

Royal parents learn to identify drug risk factors

ROYAL CITY — Between 20 and 30 people gathered at Royal Intermediate School June 8 for Healthy Youth, Healthy Families. The bilingual event, sponsored by Educational Service District 105, among other organizations, was designed to help families identify signs of substance abuse in youth. “My demographic right now is particularly 10- to 13-year-olds,” said Ariana Martinez, a student assistance professional for ESD 105 attached to the Royal School District. “They're the ones kind of keeping up with the Tik Tok trends, whether that's using tampons to get drunk, putting them in alcohol, or challenges (to see) who can show up the highest at school and not get caught.” ...

ACH grads sent off with a song

COULEE CITY — The 15 graduating seniors of the Almira Coulee Hartline High School class of 2023 gathered on the stage in the gym on the afternoon of Saturday, June 10, to receive their diplomas. And in each one of those diplomas was a sticky note with a song title. “I thought of a conversation I’d actually had with (co-valedictorian) Isabel (Brink) earlier when she was working on her valedictorian speech,” said Kelley Boyd, who is both Superintendent of the Almira Coulee Hartline School District and principal of ACH High School.

‘Do hard things’

Royal High School grads prepare to change the world

ROYAL CITY — One hundred eleven Knights sallied forth from the Royal High School football field Friday, June 2, ready to take on any dragons that might come their way. “Many things make you an exceptional graduating class,” said RHS Principal Courtney McCoy in her welcoming remarks. “You are driven. You are strong. You are gregarious. You get things done. You have that we-can-do-things we-are-going-to-do-things je ne sais quoi about you … So take that magical mojo of yours and always remember the American author Glennon Doyle's mantra: ‘We can do hard things every day.’ You can do hard things. Do them: the big, the small, things for you, things for others, things for the entire world. Our world is waiting for you, Royal High School’s wildly capable Class of 2023.”

Legals for June, 14 2023

Learning to fly: Former refugee earns scholarship for Big Bend flight training.

MOSES LAKE — Victoire Wilondja is learning to fly because he wants to do something big with his life. “The freedom of dreaming big,” said Wilondja as he sat in the Flight Training Center at Big Bend Community College. “Something that I never thought I could do.” ...

Moses Lake to host walkability workshop

MOSES LAKE — The city of Moses Lake will host a one-day workshop on Thursday, June 22, to discuss future possibilities for creating and improving walkability in Moses Lake, according to a city press release.

18U Rattlers open season in Pasco

MOSES LAKE – The 18U Moses Lake Rattlers began their season at the Kate Austin Memorial Tournament over the weekend, going 3-2 in games against teams from across the Pacific Northwest. With high school softball season having ended just under three weeks ago, it was a quick turnaround for the Rattlers before their tournament in Tri-Cities over the weekend...

Royal City gains new council members, approves water main upgrade

ROYAL CITY — The Royal City City Council swore in two new members during its meeting Monday evening. Rick Kannely and Ryan Piercy were selected to fill vacancies left when other members moved out of town. “I'm here as a volunteer to support the community, to serve the community that I live in,” Kannely said. “I love this place. It’s the best place I’ve ever lived.” ...