Police records for Aug. 18, 2022

EPD, MLPD, jail

SLSD to hold surplus sale Saturday

SOAP LAKE - The Soap Lake School District will be holding a surplus sale this Saturday in Soap Lake to get rid of old and unused items for a great bargain. Soap Lake School District Superintendent Kim Casey said the items in the sale are old, out of date, mismatched or unused items and may have some damage. “The items are not in stellar condition,” said Casey. Items in the sale include but are not limited to things such as filing cabinets, chairs, tables, desks and other school-related supplies. She explained that the idea behind putting the unwanted...

A referee shortage?

Washington Officials Association looks to recruit a new generation of refs.

COLUMBIA BASIN – The Columbia Basin Football Officials Association is in search of officials for the upcoming school year, to help with refereeing the different sports offered to student-athletes. “We’re looking for anyone who’s willing to step out on the field and try to officiate games for us,” President of the WOA Football Association Jeremy Cranston said. “We cover 12 schools, from Lake Roosevelt to Mattawa.” The Washington Officials Association, which oversees and serves as a union-like entity for referee associations across the state, looks for those interested in refereeing, especially for football right now. “If you have any interest in football,” WOA Assigning Secretary Mike Mortimore said of what they look for. “We have a big spectrum of people who are with us – we have some young kids who just came out of high school and a lot of older guys.” Mortimore added that with a significant number of the referees being older, they are preparing for them to retire in the near future. “A lot of older generation are ready to retire or are retiring,” he said. “It’s harder to get this younger generation involved.” ...

Two Soap Lake fires under investigation

SOAP LAKE - Two fires over three days in the same area of Soap Lake are suspected to be arson, according to Grant County Fire District 7 Chief Kirk Sheppard, who said both fires are suspicious. “There was nothing in the area to start an accidental fire,” Sheppard said. The first fire started about 10 p.m. Friday evening off Lakemore Drive between the road and Highway 28. The fire burned about one acre, heavily damaging the Soap Lake events billboard, and was brought under control by GCFD7 with mutual aid from the Ephrata Fire Department. Mutual aid support was requested due to concerns of wind driving the fire. Sheppard said the scene was cleared by 11:15 p.m. The second fire broke out about 4 a.m. Monday morning, this time from Canna Street S. “The point of origin of the two fires are less than 100 feet apart,” said Sheppard...

Insurance and wildfires

Mitigating risks and ensuring proper coverage

MOSES LAKE — A lot of things can damage a home, but according to insurance agent Steve Crapson, fire is different. “You can save a lot of stuff from water, but you can’t save stuff from fire,” Crapson said. “Once it's burnt. It's gone forever. Those memories, those are the part of the cost that you can't recoup ever. Pictures, sentimental quilts, those kinds of things. They never can be redone.” Crapson, an exclusive agent for Allstate Insurance, said it’s better for homeowners, especially those living in the countryside, at the edge of towns, and in high-risk areas far from a rapid fire department response, to approach fire risk more with prevention rather than recovery in mind. In 2021, wildfires consumed more than 1.9 million acres in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, according to a press release from the Northwest Insurance Council. Even with 2022’s cooler and wetter spring, this year’s fire season is already upon us...

Vantage fire close to contained, but fire danger remains high

COLUMBIA BASIN — While fire crews in Kittitas and Yakima counties are close to fully containing both the Vantage Highway and Cow Canyon fires, blazes elsewhere in the region are prompting state and local officials to mobilize firefighters as this year’s wildfire season continues. According to Ryan Rodruck, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the Vantage Highway fire, which broke out on Aug. 1 near Vantage, is 90% contained and has burned more than 30,000 acres. The Cow Canyon fire, which has burned nearly 6,000 acres on the boundary between Kittitas and Yakima counties, is about 80% contained, Rodruck added. “They made significant progress toward containment, and both are in mop-up phase. They still have a few more areas,” Rodruck said. Late Wednesday, however, the Washington State Patrol issued notices that firefighters and state resources were being mobilized to fight two new fires — the Canyon Road fire in Yakima County near Grandview and the Mohr Fire in Douglas County...

Grant Co. Fire District 7 keeps busy

SOAP LAKE - Only 11 days into August, Grant County Fire District 7 has been busy. They have responded to several incidents and received the items from a grant they were selected for. GCFD7 Chief Kirk Sheppard said so far this month the department has responded to 18 calls; 11 for EMS, two smoke investigations and five fires. He said they usually have 28 to 34 calls a month but in June and July they have had 57 calls each month. With the 18 calls as of Aug. 11, he expects them to be in the 50s by the end of the month. “The thing in this community is probably 70% of our call volume is an EMS call,” Sheppard said. One of the first major fire incidents this month for the department occurred on Aug. 2. At about 7:15 a.m GCFD7 was alerted to a report of an outside fire at Road B.5 NE, east of Soap Lake, according to a release by GCFD7...

Judge hits No. 44, Yankees beat Mariners 9-4 to stop skid

SEATTLE (AP) — On a night when the Yankees ended their losing streak and Aaron Judge homered yet again, it wasn't all good news for New York.

Firefighters keep battling Vantage fire, Lind fire out

Wet spring adds fuel to region's fire season, officials say

GRANT COUNTY — While the fire that threatened the Adams County town of Lind has been extinguished, firefighters still continue to battle a fire in the hills north of Vantage and have that blaze 75% contained, according to a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Natural Resources. “That’s good news,” DNR spokesperson Janet Pearce said of the Lind fire. “It was contained as of Aug. 4.” The Lind fire consumed roughly 2,500 acres south of town, according to Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner, destroyed six homes and eight garages and outbuildings. The fire, which broke out Thursday, prompted local officials to issue an evacuation order last Thursday for the entire town. However, the evacuation order was eventually restricted to residents in the southern portion of Lind, and was fully lifted on Friday when the fire was contained, Wagner said. “The Adams County Posse assisted with security and guarded the burnt out buildings over the weekend,” Wagner said. “One individual was found doing something he shouldn’t have.” Wagner said he would release more details about the incident later. According to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, a joint operation overseen by major federal land management agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of Interior, a collection of state agencies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, reported that firefighters continued to battle the Vantage Highway fire. The fire, which erupted on Aug. 1 near Vantage, has burned more than 32,000 acres north of I-90 and west of the Columbia River in Kittitas County...

Thyroid conditions in pets: Hyperthyroidism

The thyroids are small but important glands located in the neck that produce hormones affecting all aspects of metabolism and many other vital body functions. Dogs or cats experiencing problems with the thyroid can have a variety of physical symptoms and behavioral changes. The majority of thyroid problems in pets are because of an underproduction of thyroid hormones, known as hypothyroidism, or an overproduction of thyroid hormones, known as hyperthyroidism. In the first part of a two-part series on thyroid conditions, Dr. Kathleen Aicher, a clinical assistant professor at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, discusses hypothyroidism and how it can impact our canine and feline friends. “Thyroid problems are encountered commonly in veterinary medicine, but they tend to affect dogs and cats differently,” Aicher said. “Cats commonly develop hyperthyroidism and very uncommonly develop hypothyroidism, while dogs commonly develop hypothyroidism and rarely develop hyperthyroidism.” ...

Evelyn Lenore (Evie) Melcher

September 8, 2012 -- July 19, 2022

Evelyn Lenore (Evie) Melcher, 9, of Ephrata, passed away July 19th, 2022, at Seattle Children’s Hospital after a sudden cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of July 14th. Evie was born September 8, 2012, at Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake, to Ross and Addy Melcher. Our beautiful girl came home to two loving older brothers, Everett and Casey. Evie was a feisty little thing – always keeping up with her brothers and determined to never be left out. She loved meeting new people and made friends with everyone.

Grant County business survey shows mixed results

EPHRATA — China is the most important export market for major businesses in Grant County, according to the Grant County Economic Development Council’s recently released Wage and Benefits Survey for 2022. The survey, conducted with assistance from the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, received responses from 19 companies operating in Grant County, found that 84.5% of the companies surveyed export some share of their output, with China being the most important buyer of Grant County products. China is followed by Japan, the rest of Asia and then Canada. Companies responding to the survey were not named in the 57-page report. Of the responding companies, 14 had operations in Moses Lake, two in Quincy, and two in Othello, while the others did not respond. One company responding to the survey has been operating at its current site in Grant County for 106 years, while the newest company in the survey has only been in the area for five years. The largest company in the survey reported having 678 full-time employees — 94 of them salaried — for a total payroll of $44 million while the smallest company reported having 11 full-time employees with only one salaried position for a total annual payroll of $550,000...

Quincy school board passes $74.14M budget

QUINCY — The Quincy School District will operate with a budget of about $74.14 million for the 2022-23 school year. Quincy School Board members approved the budget, in part based on student enrollment, with a unanimous vote at the regular meeting July 26. “It’s a crystal ball,” said Quincy superintendent Nik Bergman of the yearly enrollment projections. “You never know.” Of the total, about $62.86 million is in the district’s general fund, which pays for most operations and maintenance. State funding for education in Washington is based on the number of students in school. Quincy district officials are projecting district-wide enrollment will be the equivalent of 3,140 students. The funding mechanism means that district officials must estimate enrollment before the school year begins. “We budget very conservatively. We feel that’s the prudent thing,” Bergman said...

Fire near Ephrata quickly brought under control

EPHRATA - A fire early Tuesday morning burned about 100 acres of federal land just outside of Ephrata between Road A and Drumheller Road, according to first responders. Grant County Fire District 13 Chief Jim Stucky said the fire was reported about 2 a.m. from an address off of Road A NW. Stucky said the fire was brought under control by about 4:30 a.m. and that there were no injuries or damages to power lines...

Up from the ashes

Garza family reopens Jab Fitness a year after devastating fire

OTHELLO — Jab Fitness co-owner Jonathan Garza said he smelled the smoke, but didn’t think anything of it at first.

Allegations against former SLSD super unfounded

Accusations of inappropriate sexual relations unproven

SOAP LAKE — The investigation into the alleged misconduct of former Soap Lake School District Superintendent Sunshine Pray – which was conducted by Clear Risk Solutions – has been released and states that the allegations were unfounded. Four main allegations were made against Pray in the two separate documents. The four allegations were that Pray had sex with a student, that Pray had an inappropriate relationship with a former student, that Pray had a romantic relationship with a subordinate teacher and that Pray had a romantic relationship with a school board member. Each document states that investigator Tony Zeman would not make conclusions about policy violations but each conclusion did state that each allegation was unfounded. Each allegation was also denied by Pray and also denied by all but one of those she was accused of having inappropriate relationships with...

Jack Mizner

RIP: July 12, 2022

Jack Mizner, of Ephrata, WA, passed away peacefully at his home with his family by his side on July 12, 2022. Jack was born and raised in Port Angeles, WA where he attended K-12. At a young age he embraced the Pacific Northwest’s active lifestyle, spending countless hours on the Olympic Peninsula hunting, fishing, skiing, and backpacking with friends and family. During his years at Port Angeles High School, Jack excelled at swimming and competed at the state level...

The benefits of surgery in fighting veterinary cancer

When it comes to treating cancer in pets, there are several options available, depending on the type, location, and severity of the cancer. In some cases, surgically removing a cancerous tumor can be a great way to heal a pet and help them maintain a great quality of life...

Law enforcement logs for July 29, 2022

The items below are consolidated reports from Columbia Basin law enforcement agencies. All those named as defendants or suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Semi causes six-car pile-up south of Quincy

QUINCY — Nine people received minor injuries in a six-car pile-up south of Quincy on Wednesday when a semi-tractor trailer failed to stop for construction work near the intersection of S.R. 281 and Road 2 NW, plowing into five other cars before stopping, according to a report from the Washington State Patrol...