Sheriff urges safe driving as summer fun begins

EPHRATA – Grant County Sheriff Joey Kriete has something he wants to say to the people of the Columbia Basin – slow down. “I’ve been working collisions for a long time in Grant County and the top factors that we have in our collisions that we investigate are speed, inattention and alcohol,” Kriete said. “And it’s not necessarily in that order, because it does change. And of those things, the only thing that’s really measurable for us is speed, and if we can address the speed issue that we have, then that’s a big win for us.”

Moses Lake Scorpions qualify for Spring Games

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Scorpions soccer team travels to Tacoma for the Special Olympics’ Spring Games this weekend.

LETTER: Thanks for the good reads

Hello. My name is Mr. Tony, school bus driver Rt. 29 Moses Lake School District and I want to give my most heartfelt appreciation of thanks to all those who donated a box of books to my book program. Many were dropped at the transportation office and at Fredrick’s Jewelry.

Alfred Waco "Al" Cordell

Feb. 24, 1947 – May 18, 2024

Alfred "Al" Waco Cordell, Jr., aged 87, passed away peacefully on May 18, 2024, at his home in East Wenatchee, Washington, surrounded by his family. He was a beloved father, brother, grandfather, great-grandfather, friend and community leader, who will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Spring all-league lists released

COLUMBIA BASIN – Nearly 300 athletes and coaches from around the Columbia Basin were named to their respective all-league lists during the spring sports season. Read along for a full list of selections, including numerous player of the year awards.

State tennis results

COLUMBIA BASIN – Nine local tennis players qualified for state tournaments two weeks ago, with four bringing home placements.

Time for AC?

Columbia Basin to heat up later this week

MOSES LAKE — All of a sudden, serious summer is supposed to show up, just in time for the weekend. Jeremy Wolf, meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Spokane, said temperatures in the Columbia Basin will warm up fast as the weekend approaches. Wednesday’s high is forecast to be 77 degrees.

Three Wildcats earn GNAC awards

PORTLAND, ORE. – Central Washington’s Johan Correa, Isabella Haarer and Emy Ntekpere earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference awards on Friday, with Correa winning the Male Athlete of the Year award, Haarer winning the Female Newcomer of the Year award and Ntekpere winning the Female Freshman of the Year award.

DIAMOND RECAP 2024

A look at the Basin-area high school softball and baseball seasons

MOSES LAKE – Baseball and softball seasons have come and gone across the Columbia Basin, with state tournaments wrapping up last weekend. Read along for a look at where teams finished in their leagues, as well as districts and state tournaments.

Grant County looking for new morgue site

MOSES LAKE — Grant County will need a new morgue, and county officials are looking for land to build one. Grant County Coroner Craig Morrison said the need for a new facility arose because the existing one is in Samaritan Hospital. A new Samaritan Hospital is under construction, but it won’t include a new morgue. Grant County Central Services Director Tom Gaines said that’s because there’s only so much space available at the hospital.

Spring Festival organizers plan future, celebrate success

MOSES LAKE — As anyone who was downtown - or in McCosh Park, or played 3 on 3, or went to one of the concerts, or ran in the fun run, or walked in the parade - can attest, the 2024 Moses Lake Spring Festival packed them in. In fact, there was so much going on the organizers were thinking about ways to accommodate more growth in the future.

MLSD to eliminate equivalent of 85 more positions

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District will reduce its staff for the 2024-25 school year by about 85 jobs among its classified employees. The new reductions are in addition to about 100 layoffs announced May 15. The new round of reductions affects classified (non-teaching) employees only, according to a MLSD press release. The previous reduction affected certificated (teaching) employees and administrators.

‘Everybody that’s here loves cars’

Spring Festival car show fills Moses Lake’s Third Street with cool cars

MOSES LAKE — The bass contest proved that none of the trucks at the Moses Lake Spring Festival car show had sound systems so powerful they could break windows. But anybody standing next to the orange 2005 Chevrolet Silverado felt their lungs vibrate when owner Santana Palacios turned up the volume. A lot of people were impressed.

Title secured: Knights win 1A softball championship

RICHLAND — The Royal offense exploded to put up 16 runs on the board in Saturday’s 1A state championship game against No. 6 seed Seton Catholic, as the No. 8 Knights defeated the Cougars 16-4 in six innings to take home their first state championship in fastpitch softball.

Adams Co. planning broadband infrastructure expansion

RITZVILLE — Construction could start as early as August on a project to bring fiber optic cable to the Ritzville and Lind areas. Adams County Public Works Director Todd O’Brien said fiber installation in the two cities would be the first phase of a two-phase project. The second phase will be the addition of fiber in an area south of Othello.

Huskies go 3-2 at state tournament

SELAH – No. 9 seed Othello went 3-2 at last week’s 2A State Softball Tournament in Selah, picking up wins against No. 8 Olympic, No. 14 Enumclaw, No. 12 Lynden but suffering losses to No. 1 Sedro-Woolley and No. 2 North Kitsap. The Huskies’ opening game of the tournament was a rematch of last season’s state opening round, facing off against the Olympic Trojans. Othello lost 11-3 a year ago.

Cougars take second in 2B softball tournament

YAKIMA — Reaching their first state championship game in program history, the No. 6 seed Warden Cougars fell 13-5 to No. 1 Adna, placing second in the 2B State Softball Tournament.

Wet week helps crops

OLYMPIA – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service’s weekly report for Washington indicates that the week ending May 26 was wetter than average which is anticipated to be good for crops across the state.

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.

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.