Furrever loveable

ACPR pets looking for a home with loving humans

OTHELLO – Adams County Pet Rescue, also commonly referred to as ACPR, recently put out a call for the public’s help in supporting their work to care for strays. As part of the Columbia Basin Herald’s efforts to support nonprofits in the community, we encourage families to consider adopting pets from ACPR and other shelters in the area with responsible pet care practices...

Royal Knights dominate in 55-0 win

ROYAL CITY — On the second play of the Homecoming game against Kiona-Benton Friday, Royal quarterback Lance Allred took the snap, faked a handoff and flipped the ball to receiver Cade Allred. Cade Allred threw 36 yards to receiver Case Christensen for the touchdown. The Knights scored 35 points in the first quarter en route to a 55-0 win over Ki-Be. Lance Allred said after the game the key to a good performance is preparation. “(Watching) film,” he said. “Just seeing what we have, what they don’t – trying to find where we can penetrate, so we just hit that. We execute it every day in practice. It plays out on the field.”

Autumn party: Othello Chamber hosting Family Fall Festival

OTHELLO – The Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce will host a Family Fall Festival Oct. 21 from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. in front of Othello City Hall. This is the first fall festival the chamber has put on...

Playing through

Ten Pin mini-golf opens in Moses Lake to let locals putt their way to fun

MOSES LAKE — The new Ten Pin miniature golf course is a family dream come true. “(It’s) something we've always kind of talked about doing,” said Cale Russell, the CEO of Ten Pin Territory, which includes Lake Bowl, Ten Pin Brewing, Papa’s Casino and Ten Pin Inn & Suites, all located on the north side of SR 17 where it crosses Stratford Road. “There were plans kind of hanging in the office for years that we've toyed with.” ...

Lions topple Eagles

MLCA/CCS defeats Soap Lake for third straight win of new football program

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Christian Academy-Covenant Christian School Lions football team pushed their record to 3-0 with a 44-30 win over the Soap Lake Eagles Saturday at Lions Field. It was the third game ever for MLCA/CCS, and Coach Aaron Noble said his team met and overcame some challenges Saturday night...

Mane management

Competitors lead horses at the Othello fair Halter and Showmanship competition

OTHELLO – The Othello Fair hosted the 4-H, Grange, Future Farmers of America and Open Halter and Showmanship horse judging event Wednesday morning, which saw competitors lead their horses around the ring and demonstrate their presentation and the quality of the horse itself. “Showmanship is showing off their horses, halters are their builds, the horses build,” said event organizer and Othello Fair Board Member Kyya Grant. “It's going good.” ...

CWU music professor’s latest composition earning worldwide acclaim

ELLENSBURG - Dr. Jiyoun Chung, who holds a doctorate in musical composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, felt like she was on to something big when she wrote her dance-inspired composition, “Freestyle Battle,” two years ago. But the assistant professor of music composition at Central Washington University had no idea how big the piece would get until it started winning awards and being performed by chamber orchestras around the world...

Moving bales

Hay Bucking Contest returns for 2023 Othello Fair

OTHELLO – Othello Fair attendees lined the North Lawn next to the Adams County Fairgrounds entrance Thursday evening to watch teams of two participants compete in the 2023 Hay Bucking Contest for a chance at the first place $1000 prize. This is the second year the Hay Bucking contest has returned to the Othello Fair after a long absence, said Othello Fair President Becky Flint...

Late comeback falls short, Wahluke falls 2-1 to Connell

MATTAWA – The Wahluke Warriors entered Tuesday’s match against Connell with a 6-1-1 record through eight games, and trying to pick up the team’s third conference win of the season. The attempt fell through, as Connell walked off the field with a 2-1 win over Wahluke. Coaches and players alike said that the team came out flat in the game against the Eagles. “We came in strong,“ Wahluke senior defender Michelle Miranda said of the team entering the game. “Don’t know what happened during the game. We had a positive mindset that today was going to be a good game, and we just didn’t show up.”

Huskies take down Mavericks in dual meet

OTHELLO – After taking down Connell earlier on Tuesday night, the Othello Huskies took down Moses Lake in a home dual, winning 44-24 over the Mavericks. “Credit to Moses Lake, they’ve improved so much since we saw them at the jamboree,” Othello Head Coach Rudy Ochoa II said. “I think their coach (Jose Tanguma) is doing a great job.” ...

Maverick girls wrestling locks up league title

MOSES LAKE – The Mavericks remained undefeated in dual meets with a 42-30 win over Davis on Thursday night, locking up a Big 9 title in the process. “The energy was everywhere,” Moses Lake Head Coach David Peralez said. “We had built this one up and circled it on our calendar for a long time. It was their senior night, so that added even more elevation of excitement for both teams.” The dual got started with Moses Lake’s Katelyn Rodriguez pinning her opponent, the first of seven Mavericks to pin their Pirate opponents. Moses Lake’s Jhaile De Guzman, Ashley Naranjo, Reese Prescott, Bianca Johnson, Lakailey Rodriguez and Kathryn Pugh all recorded pins. “Not only do we have to win these matches, but we have to dominate them to the point where we need pin points because we knew we couldn’t just squeak by winning the division since we don’t have a full roster,” Peralez said. Teammates on both sides of the mat cheered on each other during matches to show their support, adding to the competitive atmosphere. “I challenge the wrestlers every single time, and it seems like they always rise to the occasion,” Peralez said. “It was really a lot of fun. Just so much energy, lots of yelling from both sides in a positive manner and rooting for the wrestlers that represented each school. It was very, very fun and passionately intense.”

Moses Lake city council looks to fill vacant seat

Council hears update on W. Valley Road at Tuesday meeting.

MOSES LAKE — The City of Moses Lake has received applications from 10 people seeking to fill the city council seat vacated when now-former Mayor Dean Hankins resigned sin late August — including from several former city council members — and is set to interview those candidates at a special meeting next week. The applicants are former council member (and mayor) David Curnel, Peter Steffens, Moses Lake Municipal Airport Commissioner Rod Richeson, Elisia Dalluge, former council member James Liebrecht, Andrew Ervin, David Skaug, Jeremy Nolan, current Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District Board Member Richard Teals and Sabrina Valdez. At a regular meeting on Tuesday, council members decided to hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, following a ceremony at the Moses Lake Civic Center to mark the 40th anniversary of the Moses Lake - Yonezawa sister city relationship, which is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. ...

Cold to stay

Chances of snow to diminish, but it’s going to stay cold

MOSES LAKE — Of course, it’s that time of year, and the first snowfall of the season Tuesday night closed schools, left people with driveways and sidewalks to shovel, discombobulated morning commutes, annoyed a lot of cats and delighted a lot of dogs. And while the snow might get cleared off the road and schools will get going again, the snow is here to stay, at least for a while. Jon Fox, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Spokane, said Wednesday morning that snow showers might linger through Thursday, and possibly into Friday night. New snow amounts are forecast to be minimal, an inch or less. “It’s not going to melt though, unfortunately,” Fox said...

Mattawa City Council to consider annexation in January

Access points to planned development a sticking point for council members

MATTAWA — Mattawa City Council members may decide Jan. 5 to accept or reject a petition to annex 40 acres into the city. Setting a tentative date followed a two-hour discussion of the development agreement stipulations at the council’s regular meeting Thursday. Rachelle Bradley of SPJ Alliance, the city planners, laid out a timeline. “We still need to go through the negotiation side with the developer, and there’s a public comment period,” Bradley said. “Right now, I want to get this agreement into the developer’s hands (Friday), and we’ll give them about a two-week period to negotiate.” If the negotiations are successful, city officials will advertise the annexation petition and ask for the opinions of city residents...

Home sales drop, but show signs of bouncing back

MOSES LAKE — Home sales dropped pretty hard last month. According to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, home sales in Washington dropped from 8,017 in December 2021 to 4,524 in December 2022, a 43.57% decrease. Grant County followed the trend with a drop of 44.57% from 2021. For the year as a whole, 1,103 homes were sold in Grant County in 2022 compared to 1,311 in 2021, a dip of 15.87%. Adams County sales dropped from 163 in 2021 to 139 in 2022, a 14.72% decrease. “There was nothing for anyone to buy,” said Tera Zerbo, a Realtor with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Mann Realty. “Nobody was putting their stuff on the market, so it made it really hard for you to move. Because you had your house you could sell, but where were you going to go? So there's no movement … Inventory was just non-existent. And the thing is last year, the interest rates were great, and people wanted to move and take advantage of all of that. And the appreciation in homes was fantastic. It's just we just didn't have any inventory.”

QSD upgrades

2 Quincy schools to receive utility upgrades, district office to move

QUINCY — A project to upgrade the heating-cooling systems at Pioneer and Mountain View elementary schools should go out for bid in late February or early March. It’s one of two remodeling projects planned by the district with proceeds from the sale of 155 acres south of town. The second project will remodel a district-owned building into a new district office. Quincy School Board members approved a proposal from the Spokane architectural firm NAC for design services for the heating-cooling project at the regular board meeting Tuesday. Quincy Superintendent Nik Bergman said after the meeting the total project cost will be about $1.1 million. The NAC contract, which is included in the total cost, is about $109,000...

Port of Othello looks to expand water in Bruce Industrial Park

OTHELLO — The Port of Othello’s industrial park out at Bruce isn’t lacking for water. “We have plenty of water available and plenty of water rights,” said Chris Faix, the port’s executive director. “We actually have enough storage, we have plenty of pressure and everything.” ...

ML Council OKs $111.5 million 2023 budget

MOSES LAKE — At a regular meeting on Tuesday, the Moses Lake City Council formally adopted the city’s $111.5 million 2023 budget, including $15 million to build a new police station on North Central Drive. The adopted budget is 33% greater than the $83.6 million the city approved for 2022. “There’s significant support for a new police station,” said City Manager Allison Williams, referring to a summer survey of residents the city conducted. The largest item in the city’s 2023 budget is the general fund, which pays for regular city operations like police and fire protection, administration, parks and recreation, the library and administration. The council approved a general fund budget of $35.1 million, a 13.3% increase from the 2022 budget, including $11.4 million for the Moses Lake Police Department (up 16.6% from 2022), $5.4 million for the Moses Lake Fire Department (up 9.2%) and $7.5 million for parks and recreation (up 3%)...

Business owners celebrate Small Business Saturday

MOSES LAKE — Mai Houvener wanted to make sure anyone looking for books to buy on Small Business Saturday knew exactly where to go. The owner of Sandbox Bookstore in downtown Moses Lake, Houvener posted a fairly creative sign in front of the Smith Martin Building she share’s with Mason’s Place coffee house, Ties That Bind Yarn, Ag World Support Systems and other local businesses. “This way books,” the sign said, with a big pink arrow pointing to the front entrance. Next to the arrow below pointing down Third Avenue, the sign read: “That way? Bears, maybe? We wouldn’t risk it.” ...

Join the kamp

Echternkamps Guide Services provide Columbia Basin hunting and fishing experiences

MOSES LAKE - Echternkamps Guide Services provides hunting and fishing experiences highlighting the abundance in the Columbia Basin. “We are more concerned about everybody’s experience, (we) want them to have a good time,” said Aaron Echternkamp, owner of Echternkamps Guide Services, which also goes by the name Eastern Washington Guides. The 50-year-old said he started his guide service when he was only 18. When he started, it was mainly focused on waterfowl hunting and later expanded to fishing, although he is focusing on waterfowl currently...