Soap Lake council discusses hiring freeze, legal counsel

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake City Council voted to hire a short-term secondary attorney and to begin a temporary hiring freeze at the Dec. 3 regular council meeting. Both items were added to the agenda during the meeting and passed with 4-1 votes. Council member Judith Gorman voted no on both matters.

Ban on police face coverings pitched ahead of WA’s 2026 legislative session

California in September became the first state to ban law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, in response to immigration raids where federal agents wore masks. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state over the prohibition last month. Democratic lawmakers here in Washington are now planning similar legislation. Washington’s proposal, spearheaded by Sen. Javier Valdez, D-Seattle, and Rep. Julio Cortes, D-Everett, resembles California’s law. The Trump administration says the California policy jeopardizes the safety of federal officers, including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is unconstitutional because it tries to regulate federal activities.

Rep. Tom Dent outlines his legislative priorities for upcoming session

OLYMPIA — As the 2025 legislative session approaches, Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, has articulated a clear agenda centered on addressing critical aviation taxation issues, supporting wildfire management efforts and improving agricultural labor conditions – issues he believes are vital for the economy of Washington State.

Average fuel prices drop locally, statewide and nationally

MOSES LAKE — This week had several wins for fuel prices locally, in Washington state and nationally. Washington saw decreased fuel prices for the12th week in a row. Adams County dropped below the $4 mark, and the national average dropped below the $3 mark. Grant County also saw relief for the third week in a row.

BASIN SPORTS SCHEDULE: Dec. 8-13, 2025

COLUMBIA BASIN — Winter sports have officially begun as local athletes aim towards new heights this season. See where the local teams will be headed this week.

Mavs lose in close game against Ferris

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Mavericks played in a close matchup against fellow 4A team in the Ferris Saxons but fell 63-64. The two teams fought hard through all four quarters, but ultimately the Mavs would come just short of a victory. “It was a tough game, real close from the start all the way to the finish,” said Mavs Head Coach Craig Groth. “Both teams played well and it just came down to they just made a couple more plays down the stretch than we did.”

Broncos win in competitive game against the Cougars

WARDEN — The Warden Cougars (0-3) fell to the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna Broncos (1-1) 58-45 Saturday. Despite the loss, Head Coach Emily Cox said this game showed how far they’ve come in the last year. “I thought the girls overall did really well,” Cox said. “They came to play, they worked hard and really were trying to clean up and do our fundamentals better. I felt like (in) this game they did better.” The Cougars started strong in the first quarter by taking a 13-9 lead. However, the Broncos responded in the second to go into halftime with a 29-25 lead over Warden. In the second half, the Cougars hung close with LRS but ultimately the game escaped them in the fourth quarter and the Broncos took the win.

Mavs fall at home to Ferris

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks basketball team fell 45-60 in their home opener against a tough Ferris team Friday evening. The Mavs hope to bounce back from this loss as they prepare for their first games of league play. “We’ve got our third game in four days, so a little bit tired and I thought we found energy at times, but we’ve got to be consistent with that,” said Mavs Head Coach Matt Strophy.

Rashid Shaheed returns kickoff 100 yards for TD and Seahawks blow away hapless Falcons 37-9

ATLANTA (AP) — With the game tied after a lackluster first half, Mike Macdonald knew his team needed a spark. The Seattle coach called on newcomer Rashid Shaheed to provide it. Shaheed returned the second-half kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and the Seahawks never looked back, beating the hapless Atlanta Falcons 37-9 on Sunday.

Word wizards

MLCA students take high honors in vocabulary competition

MOSES LAKE — These students know how to use their words. Forty-two thousand, four hundred thirty-eight of them, in fact. MLCA recently competed in the Vocabulary.com Vocabulary Bowl, and students demonstrated mastery of 42,438 words in a David-and-Goliath battle against schools with vastly larger teams. “We were competing against hundreds, if not thousands of schools,” said Moses Lake Christian Academy English teacher Hannah Pease. “We finished seventh in the nation, out of every size school, even schools with over a thousand kids.” MLCA, with fewer than 200 students in all grades, has been the top school in Washington for two years running in the Vocabulary.com Vocabulary Bowl, and this fall season placed second in the U.S. and Canada among schools with fewer than 500 students. The competition circled the globe with 966,716 participants, according to the website, from 20 countries.

Knights triumphant

SEATTLE — The Royal Knights football team brought home their sixth straight Class 1A football title Friday with a hard-fought 21-20 win over the Cashmere Bulldogs. Royal finished the season 13-0.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: In appreciation of educators ...

An experience I recently had with a school district, quite honestly, has left me gob-smacked a bit. I am in awe of the teachers and administrators at school districts throughout the region and what they have to deal with. Let me get back to the beginning, though. Journalists often cover a wide variety of topics and are constantly looking for ideas for stories that will matter to readers. As such, when we hear of events of interest, we sometimes ask to attend so we can either cover it, or, as in this case, learn how to cover a topic better.

Legals for December, 8 2025

Weather for the week of Dec. 8

Monday: Mostly cloudy and rain likely, with a high near 53. Mostly cloudy in the evening, with a low of about 42.

Bills begin streaming in ahead of WA’s 2026 legislative session

Washington lawmakers are warming up for a sprint.

Washington state faces two-front challenge to meet future energy demand

(The Center Square) – As Washington state invests in the electrification of its public transportation fleet while preparing for a ban on privately owned new gasoline-powered vehicles in 2035, regional energy stakeholders are addressing the practical issues of having the transmission lines necessary to meet demand.

Tentative agreement reached in Moses Lake school strike

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District personnel will return to the classroom Monday following the negotiation of a tentative agreement between the district and the Moses Lake Education Association that ends a week-long strike. In a statement signed jointly by the MLEA and MLSD, both sides said they were satisfied with the outcome.

Adams County Jail remodel to start in spring 2026

RITZVILLE — Remodeling of the Adams County Jail is projected to begin in May 2026, with the project completed by the end of next year. Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner said the project will put the county closer to reopening the jail. “We’re going to get a safer, more functional facility, updated to a standard we can manage safer and easier,” Wagner said. “It’ll allow for a lot of different things – easier access for the jail staff and inmate safety, (and) ability to allow more space to our dispatch area, which has been a major fire concern for several years. We’re making it a safer and better functioning environment.” Demolition is projected to begin in April. The jail was closed in 2022 following an inmate’s attack on another inmate and a corrections officer that left both severely injured. It’s been closed since. Wagner cautioned that even with the remodeling, additional staffing will be necessary.

Construction should begin in early 2026 on Othello broadband expansion

OTHELLO — Installation of additional fiber optic cables south of Othello is projected to start early next year. A bid for the project should be awarded before the end of this month or in early January. Adams County Engineer Scott Yaeger said the timing of the project depends on selecting a contractor, a process that has hit a roadblock. “Until a contract and contract bond are executed we will not know an estimated construction timeline,” Yeager wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. Adams County received a $10.3 million Washington Department of Commerce grant in 2022 to expand fiber connectivity. The area south of Othello is the second and final phase of that project. The county is installing the fiber; providing internet service to homes and businesses will be the work of private companies. The new fiber backbone will provide access south and southwest of the Othello city limits, an area around the Othello Golf Club along West Bench Road and surrounding subdivisions. Some areas originally in the county project got fiber access from the expansion of private companies in the meantime.

Awareness helps prevent porch pirates’ success

EPHRATA — At least 58 million packages were stolen in the U.S. last year, with about 25% of Americans being the victims of theft, according to the United States Parcel Service. At the local level, there are thefts occurring regularly as well, but that doesn’t mean that you’re stuck being the victim, authorities say. “The experience of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office is that package theft happens regularly,” said GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman. “It is a crime of opportunity. When someone’s out looking to try and make a quick buck, they may drive through a neighborhood looking for unattended packages on the front porch.”