Work on Vantage Bridge expands to seven days per week May 31

MOSES LAKE — It being a holiday weekend - and bringing with it a lot of traffic - most road projects will be taking a break for Memorial Day, with many resuming Tuesday.

ESD 105 Superintendent reflects on service district’s operations, goals

YAKIMA – Serving four counties, including Kittitas, Yakima and portions of Klickitat and Grant County, Washington’s Educational Service District 105 provides support for 25 school districts – including Royal School District and Wahluke School District – and more than 66,000 students. ESD 105 Superintendent Kevin Chase explained his perspective on the basic purpose of an ESD.

Moses Lake Rotary gives out $75,000 in scholarships at awards banquet

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Rotary Club gave out $75,000 in scholarships during Tuesday evening’s Rotary Scholarship Foundation Awards Banquet, held at Pillar Rock Grill in Moses Lake, bringing the total of Moses Lake Rotary’s scholarship awards since 1980 to $950,000. The ceremony began with a few words from a former Rotary Club scholarship recipient, Elena Bewick...

Knights open state playoffs with win over Klahowya

RICHLAND – No. 8 seed Royal opened up the 1A State Softball Tournament with a win against No. 9 Klahowya on Thursday, defeating the Eagles 10-0 at Columbia Playfields in Richland. “I think the girls were confident and really meshing well after four games on Saturday at districts,” Royal Head Coach Lisa Lawrence said. “They came in aggressive and ready to play.” The Knights picked up 11 hits in the win, led by senior Raegan Wardenaar, junior Lily Delarosa, sophomore Taylor Webb and junior Adalynn Andersen, who all had two hits.

State Fire Marshal releases Memorial Day safety tips

OLYMPIA – According to a Wednesday statement from the Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office, during Memorial Day weekend in 2023 there were 10,658 incidents in Washington State requiring Fire or EMS response. These incidents resulted in $3,489,572 in property loss. “Please keep fire safety in mind as we honor those that have fallen,” the statement said. The statement urged members of the public to follow these tips to stay safe during this year’s Memorial Day:

Legals for May, 24 2024

Six Basin squads reach state softball tournaments

COLUMBIA BASIN – It all comes down to this; six Basin softball teams qualified for their respective state softball tournaments, with games being hosted in Richland, Selah and Yakima beginning Thursday afternoon. Read along for a look at where teams were seeded in their brackets as well as a look at first-round matchups.

Harvey Raymond Ruff

April 20, 1944 – May 13, 2024

The family of Harvey Raymond Ruff, 80, of Warden, Washington is saddened to announce his passing on May 13, 2024. He was born April 20, 1944, to Raymond and Hilda Ruff in Ritzville, Washington and was the older brother to his sister, Bonnie. Harvey was raised on a dryland wheat farm in Ruff; his love for farming and agriculture carried throughout his life. After graduating high school and Big Bend Community College, he married Barbara Gail. They had two daughters, Lori and Lisa, and he started his own farm raising wheat, hay and peas. He left the farm and became the manager for Brotherton Seed Company for 46 years before retiring. Harvey was a 4-H leader; he loved sharing his knowledge and skills with the youth in his community. He started raising sheep to ensure the best stock for his daughters and other 4-H members. Harvey spent a great deal of time, yearly, at the Grant County Fair supporting the 4-H and FFA organizations plus enjoying the rodeos.

Cruise Night Out

Moses Lake Classic Car Club to host cruise through Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Classic Car Club will take to the streets to celebrate its 50th birthday with a Cruise Night Out.

Moses Lake’s Gephart signs with CWU

MOSES LAKE – Friends, family and coaches gathered in the gymnasium at Moses Lake High School to celebrate senior Sylvie Gephart signing her letter of intent to run cross country and track and field at Central Washington University on Tuesday afternoon.

Customer opinion sought on future Grant County PUD rate structure

MOSES LAKE — Grant County PUD electrical rates, relative power use and revenue and rates in the future were topics of discussion and questions during a “rate strategy” presentation from PUD employees Tuesday in Moses Lake.

Survey: More young adults in Washington smoke weed on a daily basis

(The Center Square) – Members of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board were briefed Tuesday on the latest Young Adult Health Survey.

Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport opens new $92 million terminal free of debt

(The Center Square) - Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport opened the doors to its new terminal Wednesday morning, sending its inaugural flight to Seattle and back before noon.

Fire report: Wildfires slow down with cooler weather

COLUMBIA BASIN — Perhaps due to the cool, wet weather, wildfires were nowhere to be found Wednesday in the Columbia Basin. In Kittitas County, the Pumphouse Fire, which had been discovered Monday near Ryegrass Summit on Interstate 90, was controlled at 3 acres. A few prescribed fires continued to burn in Stevens and Ferry counties. The largest were the 300-acre Mima Mounds Fire and the 208-acre Bitterbrush Fire, both on the Spokane Reservation. These other wildfires were burning around Washington Wednesday afternoon:

Columbia Basin Herald closed Monday for Memorial Day

MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Herald will not publish an edition Monday in recognition of the Memorial Day holiday. The office will be closed. Publication will resume Tuesday.

North Central ESD Superintendent talks district services, goals moving forward

WENATCHEE – Washington’s North Central Educational Service District, also known as ESD 171, offers more than 140 programs and services that address all areas of K-12 education and administration, according to the NCESD website. Superintendent Michelle Price discussed what differentiates NCESD from other service districts and what similarities are shared between the nine different districts. “In the realm of student support, we provide all kinds of opportunities that would help with student outcomes in each school district,” Price said. “For instance, connected learning. We have a whole team on the ground that helps connect industry partners and school districts to help make experiences available for students that they would not otherwise have, to explore careers, to investigate careers and maybe even to go into internships and apprenticeships.” The other aspect of NCESD’s services are directed toward school districts more than directly to students.

Bids awarded for Soap Lake street rebuilding, resurfacing

SOAP LAKE — No start date has been established for two street repair projects planned for Soap Lake this summer. Contracts for the projects were awarded by the Soap Lake City Council last week. Tommer Construction, Ephrata, was awarded the bid on a project to resurface streets throughout town in an effort to prolong their life. Tommer bid $992,000. The city received a grant from the Washington Transportation Improvement Board to pay all the costs of the project. Selected streets will be resurfaced with a process known as scrub seal. Michael Woodkey of Gray and Osborne, the city’s engineers, said in an earlier interview that scrub sealing will slow down deterioration of city streets. It’s similar to chip seal, but it includes a step to push the rock and tar material into the existing cracks.

Janea Fowles Pixton

Janea Fowles Pixton, 70, was a loving wife, a devoted mother, a favorite among grandmas, a caring daughter/sister/aunt, a loyal friend, and a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What more can be said of a great woman who left an undeniable imprint upon the hearts of everyone she met? Born on July 10, 1953, in Sandpoint, Idaho to proud parents LaVelle and Evona Fowles, Janea was the youngest of six children. While her family didn’t have much in material possessions, they more than made up for it with love in their home. Undoubtedly, Janea knew she had parents and siblings who loved her and that was enough.

GALLERY: Basin spring sports

COLUMBIA BASIN – The spring sports season comes to a close this week, with state championship events being held in baseball, boys soccer, golf, tennis, track and field and softball.

State golf first-round scores

COLUMBIA BASIN – The first round of boys and girls state golf championships was held on numerous courses around the state on Tuesday, with some local golfers posting high marks on the opening day.