Celebrating all things Warden

WARDEN — The annual Warden Community Days kicked off this past weekend, drawing crowds for a series of events celebrating the region’s agricultural heritage and community spirit. As the Labor Day festivities unfolded, residents gathered to enjoy activities ranging from a vibrant parade to an inflatable costume race, marking the occasion with laughter and camaraderie. “Warden Community Days is a way for us all to come together,” said Warden Mayor Rosaelia Martinez. “It’s wonderful to see everyone supporting one another. This event brings a great sense of pride to our agricultural community.” The event began on Saturday with a classic car show, followed by a free community dinner featuring hamburgers and hot dogs—a highlight for many attendees.

McGill earns offensive player of week after Rodeo Bowl win

ELLENSBURG – Wildcats quarterback Kennedy McGill was named the Lone Star Conference Offensive Player of the Week, according to a statement by the conference. This comes after he aided the Wildcats to a 41-14 win over Colorado Mesa in the Rodeo Bowl.

WA businesses preparing for new retail sales taxes to hit consumers Oct. 1

(The Center Square) — One month from Labor Day, a slew of Washington businesses will be subject to new retail sales taxes, which will be passed onto consumers. The 2025 Washington State Legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill (ESSB) 5814, which added new business activities to the definition of retail sales. Those new taxes will be collected starting Oct. 1. According to the Washington Department of Revenue, new business activities impacted by the tax include advertising services, live presentations, information technology services, custom website development services and more. “Not only is it going to be a significant new tax on a

Cougars soccer aims high with senior leadership

WARDEN – The Warden Cougars girls soccer team is returning to the field for the Fall season with aspirations to build off what they accomplished last season. “It was a good season, we didn’t make it to finals, but we played hard,” said head coach Barbara Landeros. “We had a lot of new girls coming from middle school, so we had a strong team. There was a lot of learning and fun experiences throughout the season.”

Legals for September, 2 2025

Friday jamboree helps area teams finalize strategies

EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers hosted a jamboree Friday afternoon to kick off the football season. The Tigers were joined by the Moses Lake Mavericks, the Royal City Knights and Wenatchee High Panthers. “I think it just kind of gives that little taste of competition against that other team where then you can’t wait to play that next game,” said Tigers head coach Patrick Mitchell.

BASIN SENIOR EVENTS: September 2025

COLUMBIA BASIN — The grandchildren are back in school, the summer family visits are done and there are plenty of things to get out and do this month. Here are a few:

Wenatchee Valley Symphony unveils 2025-26 season schedule

WENATCHEE — The Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra’s 2025-2026 season will be entitled “Season of Hope,” according to an announcement from the orchestra. Under the leadership of Music Director Nikolas Caoile, the season will offer a dynamic mix of timeless masterpieces and bold contemporary works, showcasing the talent and versatility of the orchestra, the WVSO announcement said.

Cougars rally behind new coach ahead of fall season

WARDEN — The Warden Cougars are striving to go above and beyond this season and bring up a new love for football in the community. “I’m ready to get some dubs, have some good times with my teammates and make lots of memories,” said junior Kameron Jensen, Cougars quarterback. For senior tight end Hunter Golladay, this season will be about returning to full swing following an injury that took him out of the final three weeks last season. He said that he broke his kneecap and irritated an old tear in his meniscus and made a full recovery in the spring, just in time to prepare for the fall season.

Huskies aim for a state championship title

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies return to football again following their success last season. Last year the Huskies finished the season with a 9-2 overall record and made the state tournament. “It sounds cliché, but there was quite a bit of adversity with our starting quarterback going down and other injuries,” said Huskies Defensive Coach Kevin Hale. “The kids managed to fight through it; it could have been a situation where they could have easily folded, but that didn't happen, and we made the state playoffs.”

Lions look forward to increased roster for ’25-26 season

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions are preparing for the upcoming football season with high expectations as they enter their third year of the school’s football program. “We have most of our team back, only lost a few seniors, so looking to build our team chemistry and do good this year,” said Johnathan Ferguson, Lions quarterback. Athletic Director and Head Coach Josh Kast said the team ended its previous season 5-5, earned second in the Central Washington 1B league, and played in the state tournament. “(We) ended up having a tough matchup first round,” Kast said. “We got beat up pretty good over against Naselle in the playoffs.

Wahluke ready to prove they belong

MATTAWA — When Wahluke Warriors Head Coach Anfernee Cortez looks back at last season, he sees a great learning opportunity. Though they went 2-7, the Warriors headed into the off-season motivated to make a change, he said. “I know we didn't have the season we wanted or expected, but that just gave us a better mindset of how we need to attack the off-season and the things we need to do to get better," Cortez said. “I think that has been helping us create a mentality of the type of work we need to be doing, and the type of commitment we need.”

Eagles set sights on state

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles are preparing to come back into this season after ending last year with a 5-4 record and being two points away from making the state playoffs. “(We) had a couple of costly fumbles in a couple of different games,” said Eagles Head Coach Garrett Devine. “We were right there, but the top three from our league go to state and we ended up fourth.”

BASIN EVENTS: September 2025

COLUMBIA BASIN — The days are cooling off – well, maybe a little – and the kids are back in school, which means fall is just around the corner. Here are some things to do to help you recover from the summer.

Positive drama: High school theater gives students confidence, people skills

MOSES LAKE — If, as Shakespeare wrote, all the world’s a stage, then a high school drama club must be the perfect place to prepare for life. “(Students who participate in drama) have a place where doesn't matter what's going on in school,” said Marla Allsopp, drama advisor at Ephrata High School. “They might feel like they don't quite fit in, but when they come to the theater, they're part of that group.”

Green School offers gardener training online

MOSES LAKE — There’s more to gardening than just filling a pot with dirt and seeds and waiting for something to grow.

QUINCY MAYORAL RACE: Candidate Q&A

QUINCY — The Quincy Mayoral Race consists of candidates, incumbent Paul Worley and Manny Rodriguez. Both candidates were given the same deadline and set of questions, that they answered as follows. Q: Data Centers and food processing are the two major industries that we see in Quincy. What diversification of the city’s economy would you like to see and how would you go about making that happen? Worley: I would like to see all types of businesses come to Quincy. Motels, fruit and vegetable processors, industries, retail stores like Target, and various types of sit-down restaurants. We will continue working with the Port District, Chamber of Commerce, along with the School, Hospital, and Fire Districts to make Quincy an inviting place to attract businesses for our citizens to enjoy.

Warden Community Days coming this weekend

WARDEN — If you happen to have an inflatable costume – maybe a T-rex, or a cow, or a cartoon character – sitting around in the closet, Monday will be the perfect time to unearth it and try it on. Warden Community Days is introducing an inflatable costume race to the Labor Day festivities this year. “Basically, you put on these inflatable costumes and run through a small obstacle course,” said Renay Jorgensen, chair of the committee that organizes Warden’s annual festival. “One of the gals that I work with actually ordered a flying eagle costume … My boys had a bull rider costume.”

55th Ritzville Rodeo begins tomorrow

RITZVILLE — The folks watching the rodeo will sit a little more comfortably this weekend. “We have brand-new grandstands,” said Ritzville Rodeo Board Member Julie Hartz. “We’ve been working on those all summer. Everybody has a pretty good tan that worked on them.”

COLUMN: Supporting local athletics this fall

MOSES LAKE – The end of August might be one of my favorite times of the year. It signifies the best season, Fall. I’ll finally get to dust off my favorite cardigan and I won’t bore you with the pumpkin spice latte hype.