News Bites for June 19, 2023

MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake Police Department officers arrested Kyle L. Knemeyer, 33, of Spokane and Mandilynn A. Law, 25, of Clarkston on June 9 after they allegedly stole a pistol out of a vehicle parked at the WinCo Foots at 960 N Stratford Road in Moses Lake, according to an MLPD statement. “The suspects were caught on video taking the firearm out of the car early Thursday morning. Between MLPD officers and deputies with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, we were able to identify the suspects,” the MLPD statement said...

UPDATED: Active shooter arrested at Gorge Amphitheater

GEORGE – An evening shooting at The Gorge Amphitheatre campground near George has left two victims dead and three people, including the shooter, injured, according to Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman. “At about 8:20 p.m. or thereabouts, there was a shooting in the campground. The shooter was fleeing the scene and also firing shots,” Foreman said...

2023 Vikings

MOSES LAKE - Big Bend Community College's Class of 2023 walked on Friday to get their degrees. These Viking alum not move on to push their academic or professional careers forward.

STUDIO BASIN: Fire and water, football and diamond action

MOSES LAKE – On this episode of the Studio Basin podcast, Managing Editor Rob Miller and senior reporter Cheryl Schweizer discuss water conservation across the Basin, fires and fire season as well as recap graduation and Quincy's 100% graduation rate. Next, Sports Reporter Ian Bivona recaps the Pete Doumit Memorial Tournament, a football scrimmage held in Royal City and other sporting goodness in the Basin. The Studio Basin podcast can be found on your favorite podcast apps, or downloaded directly at https://bit.ly/446s0GA.

Riverdogs compete in Jerry Henderson Memorial Tournament

EPHRATA – The 18U Columbia Basin River Dogs hosted the Jerry Henderson Memorial Tournament over the weekend in Ephrata, playing in games from Friday through Sunday. For ful coverage of the tournament, check out the Tuesday edition of the Columbia Basin Herald.

Forest Service waives fees for Juneteenth

PORTLAND, Ore. — The USDA Forest Service is waiving recreation fees for day-use sites in Washington and Oregon on Monday, June 19, in recognition of the Juneteenth holiday, according to an announcement from the Forest Service...

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.” ...

Quincy roundabout opening delayed

QUINCY — The opening of the new roundabout at the intersection of White Trail Road and State Route 28 has been delayed to June 26. Lauren Loebsack, communications manager for the North Central region of the Washington Department of Transportation, said the plan was to open it June 14, but it was put off due to the need for repairs...

Summer meals for kids offered in Mattawa

MATTAWA — Breakfast and lunch will be served free of charge to qualifying children over the summer through the Summer Food Service Program sponsored by the Wahluke School District...

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...

A BIT OF QUINCY HISTORY

QUINCY – This mural-bedecked building at the intersection of F Street SE and Road Q NW in Quincy is currently for sale, according to signage at the property. Anyone with information regarding the building’s history is asked to email information to Columbia Basin Herald Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer at [email protected] for use in an upcoming feature.

Quincy High graduates 100% of senior class

QUINCY — All eligible students in the Quincy High School class of 2023 made it to graduation, according to district officials. “We were at 161 (graduates) of 161 (eligible),” said district superintendent Nik Bergman during the regular Quincy School Board meeting Tuesday...

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...

18U River Dogs prepare for Jerry Henderson Memorial Tournament

EPHRATA – The 18U Columbia Basin River Dogs enter their third tournament of the season this weekend, preparing for the Jerry Henderson Memorial Tournament that will be hosted at Johnson-O’Brien Stadium in Ephrata beginning Friday night.

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.

900 acres burn near Rocky Ford Creek

EPHRATA – A Wednesday afternoon fire near State Route 17 at Rocky Ford Creek was reportedly caused by a vehicle fire involving a farm tractor, said Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman...

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...

Juneteenth commemoration Saturday

MOSES LAKE — A program to commemorate the day the last slaves in the United States learned they were free men and women is scheduled for 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the McCosh Park Amphitheater in Moses Lake...

WSU director has a love for dry land farming

LIND — The dryland wheat farming region of Washington state is probably the driest place in the world where farmers manage to grow wheat without irrigation, according to Surendra Singh, the new director of Washington State University’s Lind Dryland Research Station. “Because we have rain for around nine and nine-and-a-half inches, which is just barely enough,” Singh said...

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.