OSPI looks at additional educational supports

Reykdall discusses transitional kindergarten and free school supplies and books

OLYMPIA — Washington’s youngest learners need an extra boost, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said Thursday in a press conference. “Roughly 20 to 25% of Washington students enter kindergarten needing additional supports in literacy. That's a big number. We obviously get 70%, 80% of those students to important standards by the end, and we graduate 85-plus (percent) or more of our students. So we make great progress. But the work involved in the challenges for young people when they come not quite prepared for kindergarten is significant. And we can do something about that.” One thing Reykdal said Washington is doing about that is partnering with singer/actress Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program. Children who sign up for the Imagination Library can have one age-appropriate book mailed to them every month from birth to age 5, according to the Imagination Library Washington website. The Washington Legislature has entered into an agreement with Imagination Library to provide matching funds to local organizations to expand the program statewide, Reeykdal said, using surplus money from emergency relief funds...

No place like Moses Lake for the holidays

Residents gather for annual tree lighting in Sinkiuse Square on Friday

MOSES LAKE — Four-year-old Ruth Gladieux-Smith sipped happily on her hot chocolate Friday evening as she stood with her mother Robin and her five-year-old brother Weyllyn near a blazing fire pit in Sinkiuse Square as they waited for the annual lighting of the Moses Lake Christmas tree. She grinned and her eyes lit up when asked if she liked her hot chocolate, piled high with whipped cream and slowly melting marshmallows. It’s exactly why Robin said her family recently moved to Moses Lake from Bakersfield, California. Because a community tree lighting ceremony, complete with a visit from Santa and hot chocolate, isn’t something they do in Bakersfield, Robin said. “My husband’s actually originally from here and he has family here. We just wanted to come back. We know it’s a quiet town and that’s what we want coming from a crazy town like Bakersfield,” she said. “People kind of look out for each other. It’s a tight-knit community, and that’s what we wanted.” ...

Weather report for Monday, Nov. 14

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 38. North wind around 6 mph. Mostly clear in the evening, with a low around 18. Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Partly cloudy evening, with a low around 17. Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 37. Mostly cloudy that night, with a low around 21. Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 40. Partly cloudy, with a low around 16 that night. Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 36. SOURCE: National Weather Service

UPDATED: Two recovered, two missing after canoe capsizes

OTHELLO - One child is dead, another was treated for hypothermia and a third is missing along with the father of the children after an accident on a lake on Veteran’s Day. A release by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office states that a man and his three sons went fishing Friday afternoon around 1 p.m. at a small lake within the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge south of SR 262. The Othello resident in his early 30s and his sons – ages 6, 8 and 10 – went into the water after their canoe capsized sometime before dark. The 10-year-old was able to swim to shore, but none of his other family members surfaced. When the four did not return like they were expected to that evening, other family members went to look for them. The family found the 10-year-old on the shore and called emergency services around 11 p.m. “We believe that after he swam to shore, he endured up to seven hours outside in the cold before being found by family members,” the release stated...

Royal takes 41-7 win in first 2022 playoff game

ROYAL CITY — The Royal High School football team advanced to the state quarterfinals with a convincing - but hard-fought - 41-7 win over the Cascade Christian Cougars Saturday afternoon in Royal. Royal had a 27-0 lead at the half, but the Knights had to work for it. Royal Coach Wiley Allred gave credit to the Cougars. “It was on them,” Allred said. “I told the kids they weren’t a normal 16th seed, because they had won their league and they had played tough against some pretty tough teams...

Alegria’s four touchdowns lead Huskies to 49-12 win

OTHELLO – Led by senior running back Julian Alegria’s four total touchdowns and a dominant defensive performance, the No. 5 seed Othello Huskies took down the No. 12 Washington Patriots 49-12 in the first round of the 2A State Playoffs on Saturday afternoon. “For Othello, we haven’t won a state playoff game in nine years,” Othello defensive coordinator Kevin Hale said. “We know that we’ve got a good football team.” The Huskies rushed for 259 yards and five touchdowns in the win, with Alegria scoring three on the ground and senior Sonny Asu and junior Alex Mendez both reaching the end zone once. “That's Othello football, that’s what we want to do,” Hale said...

‘This is probably the happiest day of my life’

Moses Lake pitcher inks NLI with Zags

MOSES LAKE – Friends, family, fellow classmates and coaches gathered inside the gymnasium at Moses Lake High School on Friday for senior Michael Getzinger’s ceremonial signing of his National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Gonzaga University. “This is probably the happiest day of my life,” Getzinger said. “I’m excited to start something new, and I’m really ready to go make some memories and go win some games with Gonzaga.” Getzinger, a right-handed starting pitcher, said he’s been committed to the Zags since he was 15 years old, having started to take the game seriously when he was 14. The Bulldogs began recruiting Getzinger when he was entering his sophomore year with Moses Lake. “It’s a long time coming – I’ve been committed since I was 15, this is surreal,” Getzinger said. “I’m just ecstatic about everything. I’m very excited and very thankful to be in this position that I’m in." ...

Mavs take 4th at state swim meet

FEDERAL WAY - The second and final day of the WIAA 4A State swim competition wrapped up with Moses Lake High School taking home a fourth-place trophy as a team and several individual top-eight finishes. “I feel like, especially with Tony (St. Onge) being inaugurated to the (Washington Interscholastic Aquatics Coaches Association) Hall of Fame today, (taking fourth place) was really important and a good reflection of what he had taught the team and how far he had brought us,” said senior Aniston Dana...

STUDIO BASIN: Planning a new Samaritan and sports recap

MOSES LAKE — Samaritan Healthcare Commissioner Alan White and Chief Executive Officer Theresa Sullivan joined the Studio Basin podcast to discuss the status of the project to build a new Samaritan Hospital ansome of the financial challenges the hospital has faced since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In sports, reporter Ian Bivona discusses recent matchups in the sports world, both local and national. The Studio Basin podcast can be found on your favorite podcast apps, or downloaded directly at http://bit.ly/3GfiEzT.

PNW may become 'hydrogen hub'

SEATTLE — The Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Association — a coalition of companies, local and tribal governments, labor unions and environmental organizations — has asked the U.S. Department of Energy to consider the possibility of funding a hydrogen hub in the Pacific Northwest. The request is being made as part of the Energy Department’s $8 billion program to promote the use of hydrogen as a fuel under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021, according to a press release from the Washington State Department of Commerce...

Royal City soldier takes recruiting to the screen

ROYAL CITY — Royal City native Pedro Popoca is helping to recruit the next generation of soldiers. Popoca, a second lieutenant in the Army National Guard now living in Seattle, appeared recently in videos for the Army’s “Decide to Lead” promotion campaign to increase officer training participation. “It was actually one of my friends that's also an officer in the program with me (that got me into it),” Popoca said. “She was pictured in another video and she was telling me that they were looking for more people to be part of that campaign video. I ended up interviewing for this campaign and they liked me, so they put me into the video.” Popoca has roles in two videos, both of which can be found on YouTube. In “So Early,” he is shown helping a cadet climb a structure in an obstacle course, then being helped up in turn. In “Together,” he is seen carrying a map and leading cadets into a forest clearing for night training...

Two men found dead in Warden home

WARDEN — Detectives with the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and officers with the Warden Police Department are investigating the deaths of two men found inside a Warden home Thursday night. According to a GCSO statement, police were called at roughly 11 p.m. to a residence at 508 Ash St. and found two men in their late 20s dead inside the home. Both men were occupants of the house, according to the statement. WPD Chief Rick Martin said there were no signs anybody had broken into or entered the house and no signs of foul play in the deaths of the two men. “The comunity doesn’t have to worry,” he said. The bodies are currently in the custody of Grant County Coroner Craig Morrison, who is expected to notify next of kin as soon as the bodies are identified, the statement said.

Mavs perform well in swim prelims

Moses Lake athletes to swim in Saturday finals

FEDERAL WAY - The Moses Lake Girls Swim Team completed the preliminaries Friday for the WIAA 4A State Swimming and Diving Competition. “I think we had a good prelims,” said head coach Jason Hart. “I think tomorrow is going to be pretty awesome.” In each event of the state preliminaries, the top 16 swimmers move on to finals on Saturday. “We swam faster than we did in prelims at districts,” said Hart. “We had two best times today which was pretty awesome.” ...

Quilted service

Seamsters recognize veterans' service to nation

MOSES LAKE — The quilts come in a variety of designs and sometimes in different colors. They all have the same purpose - to recognize military veterans for their service to the country. The Basin Piecemakers make the quilts, and their members took some of them to Brookdale Hearthstone in Moses Lake on Nov. 9 for the facility’s veterans. Guild member Nancy Latham said the group has donated 24 quilts in the Moses Lake area this year, and sent another five to the VA hospital in Spokane. “We’ve wanted to cover the local veterans, and especially the Vietnam veterans because they weren’t recognized at all,” Latham said...

Fall in!

Post commander looks to bring new members to Ephrata legion

EPHRATA - American Legion Art Semro Post 28 Commander Kim Thomas hopes to bring awareness about the American Legion and increase their membership, particularly with younger generations, during her time as Post Commander. “My goal is to increase the membership of younger vets or vets with families so that we can keep it going and provide them (with) the resources that we can offer,” said Thomas. “(We) provide a sense of community, a place to go, a place for kids to learn about the American Legion and history of the vets and build that connection.” ...

Comedy tour stops in Soap Lake

SOAP LAKE - The Del Red Pub in Soap Lake had some laughs and a touch of magic Friday night with a performance by the Jokers and Jester Comedy Tour. “There is no better feeling than performing for people in a small town,” said Jake Daniels. The Jokers and Jester Comedy Tour features four entertainers namely Daniels, Dan Ellison, Steve Mazan and Mark Gee, who travel across the United States to bring comedic entertainment to towns of all sizes but tends to focus on small towns...

Bikers to solicit food, cash for locals in need

MOSES LAKE — Despite the cold, the wind and the looming snow, members of the Road Brothers Northwest motorcycle club will be out along N. Stratford Road on Saturday soliciting donations of cash and non-perishable food to help the area’s hungry families. “We do it to help our community out,” said the club’s current president, who goes by the name Road Brother Even. “It’s just about giving back to the community.” ...

Moses Lake taking first steps on new police station

MOSES LAKE — It looks like Moses Lake is going to get a new police department building on Central Drive. In a 5-2 vote, members of the city council approved a plan seeking a design to build a new, two-story, 23,000-square-foot police department headquarters along Central Drive on a five-acre lot the city owns across from Smulligan’s Pizza and BBQ. “I felt that we’ve discussed this at length,” said Council Member and Deputy Mayor Deanna Martinez, referring to several previous meetings in which the council was given proposals for both remodeling the current police station and building anew on Central Drive. “We need to bring this forward for the budget and for long-term planning.” ...

National forest fees waived on Veterans Day

PORTLAND, Ore. — National forests and grasslands will be open free of charge for everyone Friday, according to a statement from the U.S. Forest Service. In observance of Veterans Day, the Forest Service is waiving standard amenity fees for all visitors to national forest and grassland day-use areas. “Many veterans spend time with their families and connect with nature while hiking, hunting, boating, and exploring the range of outdoor recreation opportunities national forests and grasslands have to offer,” Tracy Calizon, regional assistant director of recreation for the U.S. Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest, said in the statement. In addition, the statement said, public lands access passes are available year-round at no cost for service members, veterans, and Gold Star families. On fee-free days, standard amenity fees normally charged for day use sites, such as picnic areas, developed trailheads and destination visitor centers, are waived, the statement said. The waiver does not apply to special recreation permits, cabin rentals, or campground reservations, nor does it include expanded amenity fees charged for certain highly-developed sites, service charges, or fees assessed by independent concessionaires operating on national forest land. More information can be found at www.fs.usda.gov.

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...