Bronco baseball rides into 2023 season

RITZVILLE – With a solid core of returning players, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos are heading into 2023 with a strong sense of team chemistry. “Same as any other sport, if you know the guys you’re playing with you get in this rhythm of playing with each other,” Senior Cooper Miller said. “Makes it a lot easier, you play a lot better. Makes it more sound.”

MLHS girls swinging for state

Mav fastpitch looks to make it to 2023 state tourney

MOSES LAKE — Having fallen one game shy of qualifying for state in 2022, the Moses Lake fastpitch team returns to the field with the goal of making it back to the state tournament in Richland. “Falling short just by one game of making it to state fuels us a little bit more this year, just to take that extra step that we didn’t last year,” senior Ali Stanley said. “We don’t want to have that feeling again, we want to push through.”

Lions prep for second baseball season

MOSES LAKE — Now in year two of its return, the Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions are preparing for another season on the diamond. “We had our first year last year after a hiatus of about five years,” Head Coach C.J. Cheatwood said. “They brought back the program and asked me to head it up.”

Basin sports schedule March 22-28

COLUMBIA BASIN – Many teams in the Basin have entered the full swing of league competition as the spring sports season continues on. Check out this week’s sports schedule for a full slate of different events...

Hungry Huskies

Othello softball team looking to capture state title

OTHELLO — Last year’s 24-2 state runner-up Othello softball team is returning to the field with the goal of ending the season with a state championship. “Everybody feels like we’re going to do as well as we did last year,” Head Coach Rudy Ochoa said. “But it is high school, and you never know. I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, but still, we’ve got some good hitters and pretty much the same team from last year.” ...

Cougars take experienced roster into 2023 season

WARDEN — After a near-perfect regular season, the Warden Cougars bowed out of the 2B State Softball Tournament with losses to Rainier and Toledo last year. Now, the Cougars enter the 2023 season with goals of advancing further at state. “I’m really excited coming into my senior year because I’ve been playing softball for a long time,” senior Alexis Leinweber said. “I think we left the season short last year and we have a lot to come back to. I’m really excited to see what we can do as a team.” ...

Warriors look to rebuild defense

MATTAWA — With 10 seniors having graduated from last year’s state-qualifying, 13-5-2 Wahluke boys soccer team, the Warriors will have a new look when they take the field this season. “We lost a whole defense, even the starters and the non-starters,” Head Coach Cele Lopez said. “We’re just rebuilding. We’re rebuilding on defense, and we’re rebuilding on, probably, every single line.” ...

Adams Co. police logs for March 22

The reports below were provided by the sheriff’s office or police department indicated. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law...

Brews and Tunes returns

MOSES LAKE – The annual Brews and Tunes event was held over the weekend, bringing folks together for an afternoon of beer and music of all varieties. The event, put on by the Downtown Moses Lake Association, featured over a dozen businesses that hosted a brewery or musician, or both in some cases. From noon to 5 p.m., Third Avenue was bustling with laughter, smiles and great conversation as the attendees got to browse and shop local businesses while enjoying fine brews, good music and even country line dancing. The 2022 event had attendees grateful for something to get out and do as life started to return to normal from the pandemic...

Recall issued for frozen strawberries

OLYMPIA — Several brands of frozen organic strawberries and one brand of frozen tropical fruit are being recalled after an outbreak of Hepatitis A that has caused at least five Washington residents to get sick, according to a press release from the Washington Department of Health...

Soap Lake Conservancy to hold public meeting

SOAP LAKE – The Soap Lake Conservancy is holding a public meeting to discuss the organization’s Outstanding Resource Water application to the state. The meeting will discuss what the conservancy has learned in its research and how the Outstanding Resource Water recognition will impact the area, as well as answer any questions attendees may have. The meeting will be at 2 p.m. on March 25 at Masquers Theater, 322 Main Ave. E. For more information, visit TheLake.org or contact Peggy at 509-289-0292.

Sales tax exemption for seniors’ meals passes WA House

OLYMPIA – Washington House Bill 1431, sponsored by Rep. Joe Timmons (D-Bellingham), would provide a sales tax relief for residents of senior living communities when it comes to meals...

Crisis center legislation would help bring solutions to crisis intervention, sponsors say

OLYMPIA — A bill to create crisis relief centers licensed by the Washington Department of Health will help bring solutions to many issues surrounding people going through a crisis if it is passed, local legislators say. “The mental health crisis is the number one issue we have in our country today,” said District 13 Rep. Tom Dent (R-Moses Lake). “We do not have the facilities it takes to handle it; we don’t have the treatment, we don’t have the workforce, we just don’t have it. And we’re trying to build it up, so this looks like a good idea.” Senate Bill 5120, which has already passed the Senate and is working its way through the House, would create local places for those going through a crisis to admit themselves voluntarily and get more specialized care and long-term resources, if enacted...

USDA grants aim to help plan and prevent wildfires

ASHLAND, Ore. — The U.S. Forest Service announced it is giving nearly $25 million in grants to help plan for and prevent wildfires across Washington, according to a USFS press release. The grants are part of the Forest Service’s Community Wildfire Defense Grant program and are being given to 14 organizations from Spokane to South Bend in Pacific County, the press release stated. However, more than $11 million — including a $10 million grant — is going to three organizations in Kittitas County, including Kittitas County Resilient Landscapes.

Applications open for law enforcement education classes

MOSES LAKE — Applications are being accepted through Friday for a series of informational classes for people who want to learn more about how law enforcement works, according to a release from the agencies involved. The Columbia Basin Multi-Agency Citizens Academy will begin April 2. The five-week series will be held in the ATEC building at Big Bend Community College, 7662 Chanute St. NE. The classes, nine in all, will be each Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. Moses Lake Police Chief Kevin Fuhr wrote that the academy returns after a three-year hiatus. Fuhr wrote that organizers are hoping to sign up at least 20 to 30 people. The purpose is to encourage positive relationships between law enforcement officers and community members through education on the basics of the profession, according to the release...

Eagle tennis continues to grow in 3rd year

SOAP LAKE — Now in their third year on the court, the Soap Lake boys and girls tennis programs will look to build off of an attentive freshman class. “I went from having kids who basically never picked up a tennis racquet, didn’t know a thing about tennis, and now I’ve got kids that are – literally, over the summer I drive past the tennis courts and see four kids playing tennis for my team,” Head Coach Lee Leavell said. “I’ve got kids who are so interested that we actually did some summer tournaments.” ...

Jacks look to improve on state finish

Quincy soccer players jump onto the pitch with goals in mind.

QUINCY — After falling to Seattle Academy in the first round of the 1A Boys State Soccer Tournament, the Quincy Jackrabbits are returning to the field this season and hungry for a better end result. “We’re using that (loss) as our motivation, making sure that doesn’t happen this year,” said senior Jorge Nunez, the 2022 Caribou Trail League Player of the Year. “Especially being our last year.” ...

Othello woman sentenced to federal prison in connection with stolen firearms

OTHELLO — An Othello woman was sentenced to almost four years in federal prison Monday after pleading guilty to helping a co-defendant sell stolen firearms. One of the guns was used in the fatal shooting of a child in Othello in February 2021, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington. Alondra Yaniz, 25, was sentenced to 46 months in prison, the release said. She pleaded guilty on Dec. 14 to being a felon in possession of firearms. Yaniz was sentenced in Adams County Superior Court to one year for second-degree theft in connection with the same case. That sentence will be served consecutively. According to U.S. District Court documents, Yaniz advertised guns for sale on social media in late February 2021. The guns had been stolen; Yaniz’s co-defendant, Guillermo Valdez, broke into a Spokane-area home on Feb. 24, 2021, and stole 11 guns. One of the guns was sold to an Othello man who shot and killed his four-year-old child on Feb. 27, 2021...

Knights swing for higher finish at state

ROYAL CITY — After an early exit from the 2022 1A State Softball Tournament, the Royal Knights are entering the 2023 campaign with the goal of going further in state. “I want to go out with a bang in my senior year,” Senior Addi Lawrence said. “I’m hoping to make it farther than we did last year. My goal is fourth place or higher at state this year.” ...

Stack to speak on dangers of marijuana

MOSES LAKE — Laura Stack, CEO and founder of Johnny’s Ambassadors, will be speaking at 6 p.m. on March 30 at Columba Basin Technical Skills Center in Moses Lake regarding the risks associated with marijuana use. Stack founded the organization after her son, Johnny Stack, died by suicide in 2019. “Johnny had no medical issues, no mental illnesses until he used marijuana and no genetic history for psychosis. He wasn't depressed, neglected, or unloved. But after getting a ‘medical’ marijuana card and using high-THC products, Johnny became psychotic, paranoid and delusional,” Stack said in a statement...