Royal City talks insurance at council meeting

ROYAL CITY — Insurance was a significant topic at the Royal City City Council meeting May 2. The first order of business involved the city’s co-sponsorship agreement with Summerfest. The draft agreement called for Summerfest to indemnify the city in case someone gets hurt at the town’s community celebration, which takes place July 7-8. Summerfest, which operates as a nonprofit corporation, does not currently carry liability insurance because of the cost, council members said.

Mid-morning fire guts home north of Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Units from Grant County Fire District 5 responded at around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning when a fire consumed a single-family dwelling in the 4400 block of Chera Place, according to Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kyle Foreman. “The house was occupied by at least one person, an elderly gentleman, who was awakened this morning when a neighbor or a passerby pounded on his door to tell him that his house was on fire,” Foreman said. “He was able to make it out okay.”

Rehaume selected as interim Othello police chief

OTHELLO — Othello Police Department Assistant Chief David Rehaume has been named as the interim chief while city officials conduct a search for a permanent replacement. Rehaume will take over June 1. “He’s been a 30-year-plus member of the Othello Police Department,” said Mayor Shawn Logan prior to Rehaume’s appointment by the Othello City Council. “This will be the second time in the last 10 years that we’ve sworn Dave in as our interim police chief. He certainly knows the department, he certainly knows what is expected and he knows what the responsibilities are.”

Target date announced for new Ephrata MLCHC dental clinic opening

EPHRATA — Moses Lake Community Health Center officials expect to open the clinic’s new dental office in Ephrata by Nov. 3. Community Health officials announced earlier this yea that they purchased and will be remodeling a building at 457 First Ave. NW into a new dental clinic. The work will begin in June, according to a MLCHC press release.

Knight softball earns WIAA Team of the Month honors

ROYAL CITY – The Royal softball team is in the middle of a successful season, and players are now being honored for their product on the field and the work done in the community. The Knights were announced as the April 1A Team of the Month by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association last week, an award which takes into account the team’s play on the field, achievement in the classroom and community involvement.

Back to the cellar

22nd annual Cellarbration! to raise money for BBCC scholarships

MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin will rally around education once again this month, as the Big Bend Community College Foundation holds its annual Cellarbration! For Education dinner and auction. This will be the 22nd time the foundation has held the event. Cellarbration! Raises money for student scholarships at Big Bend Community College. Last year’s event raised about $168,000, BBCC spokesperson Tiffany Fondren said.

Nominations open for disability-friendly employers

OLYMPIA — Nominations are open for the 31st annual Governor’s Employer Awards, according to a statement from the Washington State Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues & Employment. The GCDE Employer Awards program honors and celebrates the many and varied contributions Washington’s employers make to recruit, hire and advance workers with disabilities, the statement said, adding that diversity and inclusion policies are correlated with high performance, and create opportunities, improve performance and boost profit margins.

Carl S. Cunningham

On May 7, 2023, Carl S. Cunningham, beloved husband, father, mentor, brother and friend, passed away at the age of 70 surrounded by his loved ones in his home. He is survived by his wife Carol, his children Julie, Andrea, Joshua, Laura and Samuel, his many grandchildren and his extended family. Carl was born in Gooding, Idaho. He was a curious person who loved to tinker. He played many sports in high school. He married his sweetheart Carol in 1973. They successfully raised their large brood of children into adulthood. Carl worked at Oregon Steel Mill as a lab manager for many years. He made a career change to sales at Starrett. He then moved to Exova for sales and worked his way up to manager of operations. His last career stop was at IMR where he returned to sales, his true passion. He retired to his hometown of Moses Lake, Washington to live the farm life in 2018.

Lots of opportunity in FFA, 4-H programs

MOSES LAKE — Medical Lake High School ag teacher and FFA advisor Jennie Wagner said some of the people in the Medical Lake HS FFA chapter will go on to careers in agriculture, and some of them won’t. All of them, however, have picked up important skills through FFA - something that’s also true of the young people in the 4-H clubs she used to lead. “I think people, a lot of times, think FFA is just all those kids (raising) animals, or they wear those blue jackets,” Wagner said. “But what it really does is, it allows them to try things out in a safe environment and have experiences they wouldn’t get (in other clubs). Because it covers so many avenues, from public speaking to learning parliamentary procedure, raising animals, evaluating livestock, just tons of stuff.” ...

A full deck

Former Moses lake bar aims to become a destination brewery

MOSES LAKE — It’s had a few names in its time, that old building at 302 W. Broadway Ave. It’s been Barney Google’s, Ginny’s, the Mighty Quinn, the LakeFront Bar & Grill and most recently, the Broadway Bar & Grill. Now it’s going to get a whole new lease on life. “The whole building is going to be stucco,” said Anna Van Diest, who with her husband Rob bought the building in November 2021. “It's going to be an off-white, like a bone color, with black windows and doors. And we're going to have a couple of new windows put on the front.” ...

City council seats open in all Grant County towns in November election

EPHRATA — Mayoral and city council seats throughout Grant County will be on the ballot in the November 2023 general election. Candidate filing week will be May 15-19. All city council positions are non-partisan. Some seats have a filing fee, which must be paid at the time of filing.

Photography contest focuses on mid-century modern Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Submissions will be accepted through June 2 for a contest highlighting the architecture of Moses Lake’s boom period. The “Mid-Century Modern of Moses Lake” contest is sponsored by the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.

CBAA announces Civic Series

COLUMBIA BASIN — Columbia Basin Allied Arts will be stepping outside the theater this year with its new Civic Series, the organization announced Friday. The series will include live music from local performers at the Moses Lake Farmers Market every second and fourth Saturday this summer, according to the announcement. CBAA will also sponsor music for after-parties in Lind following the Combine Demo Derby June 9-10 and will have a booth at the Moses Lake Red, White and Boom event on July 1 with crafts for kids, CBAA wrote.

Weather for Monday, May 8, 2023

Monday: A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. Light and variable wind becoming south 5 to 7 mph in the morning. The chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts should be less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. Monday night should see a 40% chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low of around 44. Tuesday: A 30% chance of showers, mainly before noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Tuesday should be partly cloudy, with a low around 44. Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 72, while Wednesday night is expected to be mostly clear, with a low around 46. Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 76. Thursday night should be mostly clear, with a low around 50. Friday: Sunny, with a high near 83. Source: National Weather Service

A meeting of minds downtown

MOSES LAKE — On the first Friday of every month, the Downtown Moses Lake Association hosts Coffee and Conversation for business owners and others who want to express their concerns about life downtown and find out more about what’s going on in the community. “So far, we've had different guest speakers. We’ve had people from the city, we’ve had the Columbia Basin Conservation District, we’ve had Samaritan Hospital. We’ve had different entities come and do presentations,” said DMLA Executive Director Rosenda Henley.

Open market

Moses Lake Farmers Market kicks off the year

MOSES LAKE — There weren’t a lot of actual farmers at the first open-air Moses Lake Farmers Market of 2023 on Saturday. But neither that nor the brisk spring weather kept vendors from coming to sell, or people from coming to buy. “It’s good. It’s nice to be out in public,” said Sarah Nitta, owner of The Adorable Gnome as she stood amid several dozen hand-made adorable gnomes. Nitta said she started a couple of years ago after a friend asked her to make a wreath with a gnome on it. After that, the silly little knittings of long-bearded gnomes with big floppy hats, most carrying small hand-painted signs, just kind of took off, Nitta said.

Jacks advance with come-from-behind win over Omak

QUINCY – An early 2-0 deficit in the top of the third inning wasn’t enough to stop the Jacks on Saturday, as they rallied for a 5-2 win over Omak in the first round of the Caribou Trail League district tournament. “A win’s always nice,” Quincy Head Coach Seth Longwill said. “Omak’s a team that has been improving a ton. Battling, always bringing us up to our A-game. I’m super proud of the kids. It’s nice to get back out there and win district games at home.”

Soap Lake's Ryan Boldman, Othello coach Adolfo Coronado on Studio Basin Podcast

MOSES LAKE – On this episode of the Studio Basin podcast, senior reporter Charles Featherstone sits down with Ryan Boldman of the Soap Lake Prevention Coalition to talk about helping young people avoid the pitfalls of alcohol, tobacco and drug use. Next, sports reporter Ian Bivona and senior reporter Cheryl Schweizer talk with Adolfo Coronado, head coach of Othello girls basketball, about the Huskie's sixth-place finish at the 2A state tournament in March. The Studio Basin podcast can be found on your favorite podcast apps, or downloaded directly at https://bit.ly/44Mctgz.

Jacks to face Bridgeport in district semis

QUINCY – The Jacks, who closed the regular season with a 13-game winning streak, are now preparing for Wednesday’s District 6 1A semifinal against Bridgeport. The Mustangs finished the regular season with a 13-3 record, where they began the season by winning their first 10 games.

Mavs fall to West Valley in regular-season finale

MOSES LAKE – The Mavs will now have to play on the road in next week’s 2023 Columbia Basin Big-Nine tournament, having fallen to West Valley (Yakima) 7-0 and 5-1 in Friday afternoon’s doubleheader. Moses Lake was charged with 10 errors across both games on Friday, allowing the Rams to score runs and build leads in both games.