Spring Fest lineup announced

2023 show to feature Vanilla Ice, Montell Jordan, Tone Loc

MOSES LAKE — Rappers Tone Loc, Montell Jordan and Vanilla Ice will be among the headline acts at this year’s Spring Festival at McCosh Park in Moses Lake, May 25-28. “We’re really excited about this year, and we’ve got vendors already calling and people calling to sponsor,” said Sean Sallis, president of the committee organizing this year’s festival. “They’re already coming to us wanting to be involved.” ...

BBCC Foundation to hold financial planning event

MOSES LAKE — The Big Bend Community College Foundation will host a free financial and estate planning event, according to a statement from the foundation.

Soap Lake man arrested in connection with shooting

EPHRATA — A Soap Lake man is in custody Monday afternoon following a shooting between Ephrata and Soap Lake, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office...

Bill looks to bring plea bargain transparency

OLYMPIA - A bill in the Washington State House would bring transparency to the plea negotiation process in the criminal justice system. "For the most part, the criminal justice system in our state is very transparent. The courts are open to the public during trials. We can see the jurors, judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys. We can watch people testify in court," said Rep. Gina Mosbrucker (R-Goldendale), ranking member of the House Community Safety, Justice and Reentry Committee. "However, plea negotiations in Washington state are often done behind closed doors, which many of my constituents are concerned about." ...

Knox named to dean's list

JAMESTOWN, N.D. — Laurel Knox, of Moses Lake, has been selected for the Dean’s List for fall 2022 at the University of Jamestown in Jamestown, North Dakota. Knox earned this honor by maintaining a semester GPA of 3.50 or better, according to a statement from the university. The University of Jamestown was established in 1883 and is ranked as a top-tier regional school in U.S. News and World Report and a top Midwestern school in The Princeton Review, according to the statement.

Othello PD hosting recruiting seminars

OTHELLO – The Othello Police Department is having a hard time recruiting like other law enforcement agencies across Washington state, OPD Chief Phil Schenck said. However, the agency isn’t taking the issue lightly and is innovating to help new recruits pass muster. “The first (seminar) was on how to get in physical shape. The last one (we held) kind of reiterated that,” Schenck said. “But then we talked about how to do the written test.” ...

Warden collision sends four to hospital

WARDEN — Four people were injured when a driver allegedly ran the stop sign at the intersection of SR 170 and SR 17 about three miles west of Warden Sunday afternoon. A press memo from the Washington State Patrol said drugs or alcohol were involved, and charges are pending against one of the drivers...

GALLERY: Quincy Mat Animal Invitational

QUINCY — Tonasket came out on top of the second annual Quincy Mat Animal Invitational with 200 team points over the weekend, followed by Wapato (167.5 points), Lake Side (161), Naches Valley (140) and Ephrata (130.5) rounding out the top five.

Lions boys, girls hoops take down Waterville-Mansfield

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School boys and girls basketball teams got closer to locking up league titles with wins over Waterville-Mansfield on Friday, moving both squads to an undefeated 6-0 record in league matches. The girls first won 39-35 before the boys won 57-31 over the Shockers.

Huskies place second, Knights sixth at Lady Huskie Invitational

OTHELLO — The Othello girls wrestling team got points from almost every wrestler and took second place among 61 teams at the Lady Huskie Invitational, the team’s home tournament, over the weekend. “We had a lot of great matches,” said Head Coach Rafael Ruiz. “I couldn’t be any happier, how well they did.”

da Silva, Simpson's 3 help Colorado top Washington St. 58-55

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Tristan da Silva scored 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting, KJ Simpson hit a straight-away 3-pointer in the closing seconds and Colorado beat Washington State 58-55 Sunday. Colorado (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12) snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 12-0 all time at home against the Cougars.

Pirates score 50 in second half, down injury-riddled Mavs 81-59

MOSES LAKE – Things got off to a hot start for Moses Lake on Friday as the found themselves down 32-31 at the half to Davis despite missing key players due to injuries. The Pirates began to click in the third quarter, forcing the Mavericks to turn the ball over and scored in transition to take Moses Lake down 81-59. “If you make them play half-court basketball it’s going to be a low-scoring game,” Moses Lake Head Coach Jake Hunt said. “Second half, they started to get out a little more in transition and we turned it over. The turnovers in the second half really hurt us.” ...

Hunt serves as page at the Senate

OLYMPIA - As part of the Senate Page Program, which has not been operational the past two years due to the pandemic, Noah Hunt, a sophomore from Coulee Dam, was one of 10 pages for the Washington State Senate in Olympia during the opening week of the 2023 legislative session...

The dream lives on

Moses Lake gathers to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

MOSES LAKE — Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is still alive. That was the point that more than one speaker made at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration last Monday in Moses Lake. The event began with a march down Third Avenue to the Moses Lake Civic Center, and continued with songs, prayers and a reading of Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech. That speech spoke of a day “when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing.” “That speech, if you read through it, we're currently in that day. As I was looking out at the crowd, it was a very diverse crowd. And I saw that as he was speaking it, he was seeing into the future. And so I was thinking, I was standing in the future, looking back at what he was seeing, and it was just a surreal type of thing,” said Isaac Jones, who delivered the gathering’s keynote speech...

Weather for Monday, January 23, 2023.

Weather report for Monday, January 23, 2023.

Soap Lake considers annexation, development needs

SOAP LAKE – During Thursday’s regular Soap Lake City Council meeting, council members took up multiple topics related to development in and around the city, including the annexation of a dozen 50-foot by 100-foot lots and an updated plan for the Purple Sage development. City Planner and former Mayor Alex Kovach said the new development plan for Purple Sage will set up a condominium development rather than an RV park. It will be comprised of double-wide manufactured homes with 236 units in the subdivision. Soap Lake Police Chief and Interim City Manager Ryan Cox advised the council that only brand new manufactured homes can be brought into the city, so this will not bring in outdated structures that aren’t up to current codes.

Inslee seeks more funding for homelessness programs

OLYMPIA - Homelessness remains a serious issue throughout Washington, and while the state has spent millions, the governor wants to invest more. In a press conference Jan. 19, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee said while certain encampments have been cleared as a result of past funding efforts, there are still not enough places to house the homeless...

Racist flyers distributed in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake Police Chief Kevin Fuhr verified Thursday afternoon reports that flyers promoting the Aryan Freedom Network and directing those who find the materials to a white supremacy website were recently distributed in Moses Lake. “Last week and earlier this week, a group was dropping little flyers in a plastic baggie that had rice in it just to hold it down,” Fuhr said. “They were dropping them in neighborhoods and (the flyers said) basically, ‘Save the white race.’” The home-printed flyers were found in sandwich bags with rice to weigh them down and keep them from blowing away, Fuhr said. While the content of the flyers may be offensive to many, it is protected under the First Amendment, limiting law enforcement’s ability to address the issue to enforcing littering violations. Flyers were also tossed out along the route for the Martin Luther King, Jr. march held in Moses Lake on Jan. 16, he said.

Mavs prepare for postseason

MOSES LAKE – With a 130-47 win over West Valley (Yakima) and a 151-22 win over Sunnyside in a duals meet on Thursday, Moses Lake boys swim and dive will look to prepare for postseason meets and finish strong down the stretch. The Mavericks locked up a Big 9 title with a win over Eastmont on Tuesday, winning 115-63 over the Wildcats. “The guys are so proud of themselves, and it’s pretty amazing as far as what they’re doing,” Moses Lake Head Coach Jason Hart said. While winning the league is an accomplishment in and of itself, Hart said the Mavs still have more to strive for this season. “We have a goal board, and we knocked that one off,” Hart said. “The next one that we’re hoping to attain is to go and win districts.” Moses Lake finished the regular season with an undefeated record in league meets, including an exciting 96-90 win over Wenatchee on Jan. 12. “We carry (momentum) into every single practice,” Hart said. “The great thing about this group is they have so much energy, they are hungry and they want to get better. You can see in the work they put in. The healthy competition exists in practice.”

Fentanyl, catalytic converters and a league title

MOSES LAKE – On this episode of the Studio Basin podcast, senior reporters Charles Featherstone and Cheryl Schweizer discuss local crime throughout the Basin, including recent fentanyl seizures, catalytic converter thefts and more. Next, sports reporter Ian Bivona recaps the past week in local sports, including the Moses Lake girls wrestling team capturing a league title with a win over Davis. The Studio Basin podcast can be found on your favorite podcast apps, or downloaded directly at https://bit.ly/3knbkJk.