LAW ENFORCEMENT LOGS: May 9, 2025

The reports below were provided by the sheriff's office or police department indicated. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Legals for May, 9 2025

Ralph Collier

Ralph Collier went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Saturday, May 3, 2025, with his wife of 47 years at his side.

Ephrata Fire to hold Touch a Truck event to support Ephrata Food Bank

EPHRATA – Fire trucks, buses, ambulances, concrete mixers, dump trucks, tractors and other emergency vehicles and equipment will fill the Ephrata Splash Zone parking lot on May 17. The Ephrata Fire Department will be hosting its annual “Touch a Truck” event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to raise funds and food for the Ephrata Food Bank.

Occupants evicted from Hiawatha Lake camp

MOSES LAKE — Occupants of an encampment near Moses Lake were notified they were trespassing Wednesday morning and asked to leave by Thursday morning.

Arts celebration

Nautical-themed CBAA fundraiser weathers a squall and sails on

MOSES LAKE — Mother Nature dealt the Columbia Basin Allied Arts kind of a bum hand Saturday, but the organizers of the fundraiser rode it out with aplomb.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Stop and be excellent...

With everything going on in the world today – our busy lives, our children’s busy schedules, the political back and forth and the challenges of the economy, to name a few – it's easy to forget to stop and smell the flowers a bit.

Kenneth Kriete

Kenneth Eugene Kriete, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend, passed away peacefully on April 19, 2025, at the age of 93. A lifelong resident of Ephrata, Washington, Kenny was known for his kindness, humor, and dedication to his family and community.

Busy hands: Small core of volunteers keeps Gritman Senior Center serving Ritzville

RITZVILLE — A senior center is sort of like a grocery store or a bank: every town should have one. Big cities have extensive ones, and little towns like Ritzville, well, they plug along through lots of work from volunteers.

MLSD discusses levy fund use in 2025-26

MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake School District Superintendent Carol Lewis discussed plans for the 2025-26 school year levy funds at the May 1 regular school board meeting. The district will only collect a partial levy in the second half of the school year at an estimated $5.9 million om revenue. However, the following school year the district will be able to do a full collection of about $11.9 million.

SENIOR EVENTS: May 2025

COLUMBIA BASIN — The Basin is hopping with opportunities for seniors to get out and about. Here are a few things happening in May:

Stamp Out Hunger food drive coming Saturday

MOSES LAKE — Your letter carriers will be toting an extra burden on Saturday, and they’re asking folks to make it heavier.

YoungLives offers support, friendship for teen moms

MOSES LAKE — It’s a Thursday night at the Moses Lake Alliance Church, and the teenagers are eating, doing crafts, talking and praying, just like any other faith-based youth group. But this one is a little different: they’re all girls, and more than half are mothers.

Cougars baseball moves into EWAC tournament

WARDEN – The Warden Cougars won both games of their doubleheader against Columbia High School, securing their place in the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference’s 2B baseball tournament Thursday.

MLCA to host Crab and Prime Rib feed

MOSES LAKE — For most folks, fresh crab would be a good enough reason to attend an auction. Prime rib would, likewise, be reason enough. Combine them, make them all-you-can-eat, throw in a live auction, and you have an irresistible draw.

Weather for the week of May 5, 2025

Weather for the week of May 5, 2025

Legals for May, 5 2025

Narcan vending machine has long path to installation, cancellation

MOSES LAKE – North Central Washington Libraries staff said they were surprised by Moses Lake City Council’s actions requiring the removal of the Narcan vending machine from the Moses Lake Public Library in late March. NCW Deputy Director for Public Services Kim Neher said the machine being installed wasn’t an initiative spearheaded by the library district, but rather something the city had approached them about.

MLSD’s Sandhop named AD of the Year

Local athletics manager looks back on 25 years with the school district

MOSES LAKE – The Washington Secondary School Athletic Administrators Association named Moses Lake High School’s Athletic Director Loren Sandhop as the 2024-25 Washington State Athletic Director of the Year. “It’s a great honor not only for me but for our community, it symbolizes a lot of people’s hard work,” said Sandhop.

Plant exchange

Free program helps homeowners trade grass for native flora

MOSES LAKE — Owning a lawn is kind of a pain, in a lot of ways. Sure, it looks nice to have that sea of lush green around the house, but it’s a lot of work to maintain, and it uses up valuable water besides.