Trujillo promoted to Quincy PD captain

QUINCY — Jorge Trujillo, a 15-year veteran of the Quincy Police Department, was sworn in as the QPD captain during Quincy’s regular city council meeting Tuesday...

Coulee City student named to college honor society

COULEE CITY — Central Washing University student and Coulee City native Ruth Bresee has been initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest all-discipline college honor society, according to a society press release...

Ephrata names Towry new city administrator

EPHRATA — Ray Towry is looking forward to coming back to Ephrata, this time as the city’s new administrator. “It’s home,” said Towry by phone from his current home in Sweet Home, Oregon. “It’s where I grew up, where my kids spent most of their time growing up.” ...

Huskies fall to Selah in CWAC title game

SELAH – Down 2-1 to Selah in the Central Washington Athletic Conference district tournament game, the Vikings rallied off nine runs in the top of the fifth inning to take down Othello 11-1, sending the Huskies to a loser-out game in the District 5/6/8 Crossover against Clarkston. “That was mostly our fault,” Othello Head Coach Rudy Ochoa said. “We made a couple of errors we shouldn’t have made … It just started snowballing. It seemed, after a while, it didn’t matter what we did.” ...

Tigers fall in extras in CWAC consolation final

SELAH – After pulling off a three-run comeback to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning of Tuesday’s Central Washington Athletic Conference consolation bracket final, the Ephrata Tigers were unable to retake a lead over East Valley (Yakima) and fell 6-5 to the Red Devils. Sophomores KK Hector and Jaemyson Durfee both hit home runs in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at five, but an East Valley run scored in the top of the eighth inning allowed the Red Devils to move on to the 2A District 5/6/8 Crossover...

Lind council seats attract multiple candidates on first-day filing

RITZVILLE — One seat on the Lind Town Council attracted three candidates while another seat attracted four candidates on the first day of filing for the 2023 general election. The filing period ends Friday. Because there are more than two candidates for each position, both races will be on the ballot in the Aug. 1 primary election.

Council, school board races taking shape in first day of candidate filing

EPHRATA — Incumbents on the Moses Lake City Council and Moses Lake School Board will be facing at least one challenger for their seats. There will also be a race for one seat on the Samaritan Healthcare board. Those races emerged after the first day of filing for Grant County offices in the 2023 general election. The filing period ends Friday. Races that attract more than two candidates will be on the ballot in the Aug. 1 primary, but as of Monday no races had three candidates.

Wahluke student arrested after alleged threats against teacher

MATTAWA — A Wahluke School District middle-schooler was taken into custody on Monday after the student allegedly posted an online threat against a teacher, according to a joint statement issued by the Wahluke School District and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. According to the GCSO portion of the statement, posted Tuesday on the WSD’s website, a 12-year-old male student allegedly posted a photo of what appeared to be a handgun along with a piece of paper covered with expletives and the teacher’s name. GCSO deputies were brought in to investigate and consulted with the Grant County Prosecutor’s office before arresting the suspect, the statement said.

Fly-in breakfast at Desert Aire Airport next month

DESERT AIRE — Pilots and non-pilots are being invited to breakfast June 17 at the Desert Aire Airport. The annual “Fly-In/Drive-In Breakfast” is scheduled for 7 to 11 a.m. at the airport, 121 Desert Aire Drive. Pilots are invited to show off their planes, said airport commission chair Karl Reese, while spectators are invited to talk to the pilots and meet their neighbors. Breakfast will be served in the big hangar next to Sagebrush Senior Center. The menu includes pancakes, eggs and sausage, juice and coffee. A suggested donation of $7 is requested. All proceeds go to airport maintenance.

Tactical response team to tour Ephrata High School

EPHRATA — The Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team will tour Ephrata High School on Wednesday afternoon beginning at 4 p.m. as part of the team’s ongoing safety and security training program, according to a press release from the Ephrata School District. The release said the team, composed of officers from various regional law enforcement agencies, will meet with district officials and walk through high school buildings and classrooms to familiarize themselves with the school.

“Excellent” Chamber of Commerce tournament raises money to support local

MOSES LAKE – The 23rd annual Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce Golf Scramble was held on Friday, bringing in members of the business community to the Moses Lake Golf Club for an exciting day of golf and side games. “The tournament was excellent,” said Debbie Doran-Martinez, president and CEO of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce. “We had the best weather, lots of fun and a full field of golfers. 144 of them out there.” The full field of golfers continued the community involvement the tournament has seen through its 23 years.

Basin sports schedule May 17-23

COLUMBIA BASIN – State tournaments begin this week, as Royal, Quincy and Wahluke qualified for the 1A boys soccer tournament and ACH and Moses Lake qualified for its respective state baseball tournaments. See below for a full slate of games, meets and tournaments over the next week.

Mavs defeat Royal 4-0 in non-league matchup

MOSES LAKE — The Mavericks closed out the regular season with a non-league win over the Royal Knights on Monday, celebrating the team’s seniors with a 4-0 win. “They’re just such good humans,” Moses Lake Head Coach Mike Hofheins said. “That’s a quality group of senior young women. Besides being good softball players, good teammates and good friends, they’re going to be good spouses one day, they’re going to be good youth softball coaches and good employees. They like to practice, they like to work hard, they like to cheer on their teammates. They’re a joy to coach.”

Cantwell, Newhouse urge USDA push for Japan potato access

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Maria Cantwell and Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Yakima, along with 33 other members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to do more to help U.S. potato growers get final approval to ship fresh potatoes to Japan. In a joint letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, the members say the Japanese government is still delaying since the United States asked for the ability to export fresh potatoes to Japan almost 30 years ago, the press release said. The legislators say approval of fresh potato exports to Japan could provide for an additional $150 million each year in expanded exports.

Moses Lake says ‘forever chemicals’ found in 4 city wells

MOSES LAKE — The City of Moses Lake has stopped pumping water from three of its municipal drinking water wells following the discovery of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – known as PFAS chemicals – above Environmental Protection Agency standards that have been proposed but are not yet in place, according to Water Services Manager Chad Strevy. Strevy said the chemicals have been detected in four of the city’s 18 wells – three of them north of SR 17 on what used to be Larson Air Force Base and the fourth west of the lake itself in Mae Valley, not far from the Links at Moses Pointe.

Washington lawmakers pass, Inslee signs Blake fix

OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed into law a bill that keeps illegal drugs illegal but focuses state and local efforts and resources on treatment and recovery rather than incarceration. “Both parties worked hard to reach this agreement,” Inslee said during the late afternoon signing ceremony. “This is not designed to fill our jails, it’s designed to fill our treatment centers.”

Michele Talley finds rewards in the fire service

QUINCY — Michele Talley said she got interested in firefighting right out of high school and has stayed interested ever since. “I started as a volunteer firefighter in Southern California when I was 18,” she said. “When I got married and started a family, l left the fire service – and I missed it.” So when she had the chance she started learning more about it...

News bites for May 16

Below are a collection of announcements from first responder agencies that serve the Columbia Basin. These reports are based on press releases and media statements made by those agencies.

Matt and green

Warden wrestling’s Please Hit Straight golf tourney returns

WARDEN – The second annual Please Hit Straight Golf Tournament is coming to the Sage Hills Golf Course in Warden this summer, with proceeds going toward a summer wrestling camp for Warden wrestlers. Last year’s camp featured instruction by four-time state champion Chris Castillo, a graduate of Zillah High School and a former wrestler at Boise State University...

Wildfire prevention bill signed into law

OLYMPIA — Legislation designed to help reduce the risk of wildfire from electric utility equipment was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee recently. House Bill 1032 was sponsored by 13th District Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake...