Ritzville pair arrested after alleged break-in

LIND — Two Ritzville residents were arrested on suspicion of burglary after a report of a break-in at a property near Lind Thursday afternoon. Stuart McKenney, 32, and Shaylene Stoyak, 37, were arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary, residential burglary, second-degree malicious mischief and second-degree vehicle prowling, according to a statement from the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. The incident occurred at about 4 p.m. in the 1200 block of North Hoefel Road...

Basin events for Dec. 2-8

The events below are subject to change, postponement or cancellation at the organizers' discretion. Friday Second Annual Members Art Exhibition 4-7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Gallery, 401 S. Balsam St. Featuring the works of museum members in nearly all art media. Info: www.moseslakemuseum,com. 27th Annual Agricultural Parade Join the Downtown Moses Lake Association and other sponsors for the annual street party and ag parade in downtown Moses Lake. Care Moses Lake will be serving up hot soup for $5 per bowl. The street party begins at 5 p.m. and the parade will roll out at 7 p.m. The street party will be centered around Sinkiuse Square and floats will line up in the Surf N’ Slide parking lot. Free admission. Info: /bit.ly/3gQUilr...

Columbia Basin events calendar for December 2022

Note: The events below are subject to change without notice at the sole discretion of the organizers. Readers are encouraged to visit the associated websites and call ahead if necessary in order to verify details that may not have been available at press time. Only those legally allowed to consume alcoholic beverages should participate in such events and all event attendees should avoid drinking and driving. Dec. 2 27th Annual Agricultural Parade Join the Downtown Moses Lake Association and other sponsors for the annual street party and ag parade in downtown Moses Lake. Entry is free though vendors will charge for goodies and wares. The street party begins at 5 p.m. and the parade will roll out at 7 p.m. The street party will be centered around Sinkiuse Square and floats will line up in the Surf N’ Slide parking lot. Free admission. For more info, visit http://bit.ly/3gQUilr.

New Hope

Local organization offers support, way forward for domestic violence, sexual assault survivors

MOSES LAKE — Domestic violence and sexual assault leave a lot of damage and chaos behind them – that’s true of all crimes, in fact. The job of the advocates at New Hope is to help people who’ve survived domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes work through the chaos and deal with the damage. “We’re really proud of the fact our hotline is staffed by our advocates,” said New Hope Director Suzi Fode. “It’s not an answering service, it’s not a volunteer (service). It’s someone who’s trained as an advocate. It’s the same person you’d see if you walked through the door. We have 12 advocates here and they rotate that 24-hour shift.” New Hope’s main office is at 311 W. Third Ave. in Moses Lake; Fode said there are offices in Quincy, Othello, Ephrata, Mattawa and Royal City as well.

Cognitive decline in aging dogs: What pup owners should know

Just as humans may develop neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease as they grow older, our aging canine friends also can develop dementia, also referred to as canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CCDS), a complex of behavioral and neurological symptoms the prevalence of which increases with age. Dr. Brian Gray Barnett, a veterinary research fellow in the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and member of the Dog Aging Project research team, says that as the level of veterinary care we are able to provide canine companions improves, the number of dogs affected by CCDS rises as well. This is because the biggest risk factor for developing CCDS is age, with onset usually occurring between 12 and 15 years old...

Icy roads result in increased accidents

GRANT COUNTY — Icy roads led to a busy day for first responders across Grant County on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, every year on the first day (of icy weather), there's always multiple accidents,” said Grant County Fire District 7 Administrator Josh Chambers. “Now, we don't usually see the fatalities we saw yesterday, but it's always pretty chaotic that first day; people have a hard time adjusting to the icy roads.” Chambers said they responded to two weather-related calls. The first call was a motor vehicle fatality and the second was a medical call because parents did not feel comfortable driving their child to the hospital on the icy roads. While they also responded to a second fatality, they do not believe that one was related to the weather...

Drought aid deadline approaching

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The deadline to apply for aid from the Small Business Administration in Adams, Lincoln, Grant, Okanogan, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman counties is set for Dec. 19 for small nonfarm businesses who depend on agriculture-based communities for their livelihood, according to an SBA press release. “SBA eligibility covers both the economic impacts on businesses dependent on farmers and ranchers that have suffered agricultural production losses caused by the disaster and businesses directly impacted by the disaster. Economic injury assistance is available regardless of whether the applicant suffered any property damage,” SBA Director Tany N. Garfield said in the release...

Stoking industry

Local aerospace firm Stoke Technologies looks to remake rocketry in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — On roughly 23.5 acres of what used to be sagebrush-covered scrubland north of Moses Lake, engineers with Stoke Space Technologies are working to build the future of spaceflight. “Moses Lake is where we do our engine develop testing,” said Andy Lapsa, Stoke CEO and co-founder of the company with Tom Feldman. “We’ve started with our second-stage rocket engine. And, you know, as we need to grow our testing needs, we are hopeful that we can do that in Moses Lake as well.” Both Lapsa and Feldman are veteran rocket engine and propulsion engineers with Blue Origin, the Kent, Washington-based reusable rocket company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, whose single-stage, reusable New Glenn rocket took actor William Shatner on a 10-minute ride to the very edge of space in October 2022. In addition to the New Glenn suborbital rocket, Blue Origin is working on its New Shepard launch vehicle, the company’s counterpart to SpaceX’s reusable first-stage-to-orbit Falcon 9 and rocket. Making rocket stages reusable reduces the cost of sending things like satellites, people and Tesla Roadsters into orbit and then across the solar system...

‘That’s what I heard about Moses Lake, the strength was in the people’

Moses Lake School District Superintendent sees challenge, opportunity ahead

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District Superintendent Monty Sabin said transparency and visibility are important, both in themselves and because they help build trust. Sabin was hired as the new superintendent in March, replacing former superintendent Josh Meek, who parted ways with the district in 2021. Sabin’s hiring also followed two years of turmoil as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The relationship between school districts throughout the country and their communities was damaged as a result. “I’m really hopeful of trying to earn the trust back. We don’t always agree on everything - which is understandable, it would be a boring world if we all thought alike,” Sabin said. “But no matter what we do as a district, I hope that people know we’re acting with integrity and with people’s best interest at heart, no matter what we’re doing. “You can disagree on an issue, a policy or a decision, but as long as you can do that knowing that the information was out there (and) that people understand why you did it, you can respect each other,” he said.

Traffic collision leads to new path for Quincy veteran

QUINCY — Nicole O’Shea said she had planned out at least some of her future, starting with her enlistment in the U.S. Army. And then all of a sudden everything changed. It was the winter of 2004, and she was on her way from Quincy to Yakima for training. “It was February and it was super-foggy,” O’Shea said. “I had to pull over to clean my windshield off, so I could see. I got rear-ended at 70 miles an hour; I was almost at a complete stop. Rocked my world, in a not-so-good way.” At the time O’Shea said she thought she was okay...

Police logs for Nov. 10, 2022

The reports below were provided by the agencies indicated. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Ephrata PD Nov. 1 Reports of vehicles egged in the neighborhood of Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth avenues between Hilltop Drive and F Street Southeast. One victim captured a suspect on video; the suspect was contacted by law enforcement and admitted to the eggings. Report of graffiti in an alleyway in the 600 block of Sixth Avenue Northwest. Nov. 2 Report of storage units broken into in the 300 block of Basin Street Northwest...

Power lines downed as fierce windstorm blows across basin

MOSES LAKE — Damage was minimal in the Columbia Basin following Friday night’s windstorm even as recorded gusts topped 50 miles per hour in some parts of the region, according to the National Weather Service office in Spokane. NWS meteorologist Charlotte Dewey said the high wind recorded at the Grant County International Airport was 49 miles per hour, while the NWS recorded winds of 66 miles per hour in Mattawa — the highest speed in the county. Gusts of up to 51 miles per hour were recorded in Quincy, with winds reaching 41 miles per hour in Othello, 49 miles per hour in Ritzville, and 40 miles per hour in Lind. “The storm was pretty potent,” Dewey said. Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kyle Foreman said damage in Grant County was restricted to downed power lines, though there was a chimney fire in the 10000 block of Kory Lane north of Moses Lake that the wind pushed down the chimney. Foreman said crews from Grant County Fire District 5 responded and took care of the fire quickly.

Raymond Everette Appling Sr.

Raymond Everette Appling Sr. passed away in Yakima, Washington on Oct. 22, 2022. He was born Nov. 10, 1943, in Rogers, Arkansas, the oldest of six children born to Everett and Ovie (Hass) Appling. In 1961, he joined the U.S. Army. He was discharged in 1962 due to the residual effects of a farming accident at age 16. In the fall of 1963, Ray was rousted out of bed to “Go help that pretty little girl with her car.” On March 9, 1964, he married that pretty little girl, Alcenia Turner, in Exeter, California.

Law enforcement reports for Nov. 4, 2022

EPD, MLPD, jail

Halloween fire guts ML home

MOSES LAKE — A fire Monday night gutted a home on W. Peninsula Drive and posed risks to firefighters who responded, according to a city of Moses Lake press release...

WSU researchers develop test for toxic produce residues

PULLMAN — A team of researchers from Washington State University have developed a test for the residue of toxic herbicides in fruit and vegetables using relatively simple nanoparticles, according to a WSU press release...

5 misconceptions about prostate health

(Family Features) Prostate health may be an intimidating subject for some men, which can lead to misconceptions about conditions and treatments. Some men may even avoid visiting a doctor because of what they might learn. Breaking this stigma around prostate issues could help prevent complications from conditions like benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), commonly known as an enlarged prostate. Under a doctor’s care, BPH can be effectively treated; over 14 million men in the U.S. seek treatment every year.1 To help clear up some of the confusion and fear around prostate health, here is a breakdown of five common misconceptions about BPH...

Moses Lake Community Coalition

Local organization works to strengthen families, reduce substance abuse

MOSES LAKE — Helping parents navigate some of the challenges of the job, and to keep children away from substance abuse, is the goal of a group working to recruit partners in pursuit of that task. Moses Lake Community Coalition Coordinator Megan Watson said the group sponsors classes periodically throughout the year to give parents and children a look at the world from each other’s point of view. It also sponsors periodic classes to give parents specific strategies they can use to help with the job of parenting. “A lot of times, we just go off how we were raised. Everybody just does what their parents did,” Watson said. “But now we’re starting to see, as we’re tracking more and more child behavior, (that) negative, aggressive, difficult child behavior has increased over the last 10 years.” ...

Police Logs for Oct. 27

The reports below were provided by the agencies indicated. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Frank M. Gleason

May 2, 1947 – October 9, 2022

Frank M. Gleason, 75, was born in Ellensburg, Washington, May 2, 1947, to Earl and Hazel (Blinston) Gleason. After a long battle with IPF (lung disease), he passed away at home on October 9, 2022, surrounded by his family. Frank attended Kittitas High School where he graduated in 1965. He signed up for the draft and enlisted in the Army and was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas from 1966 to 1968. He later moved to Moses Lake in 1977 where he worked for Boeing, Basic American, Busby, Lamb Weston and he did heating and air conditioning on his own time. Most recently he worked for Western Polymer where he retired in 2017, working maintenance...