Four Mavs sign to play college football

MOSES LAKE – The gymnasium at Moses Lake High School was crowded on Monday afternoon, as numerous fellow players, coaches, friends and family gathered to watch Maverick seniors Caleb Jones, Hayden Throneberry, Joel Middleton and Kyson Thomas sign on to play college football. “It’s like a dream come true,” Thomas said.

Garden Party highlights new things coming for CBAA

MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Allied Arts Garden Party brought folks together from all over the Basin to further the local arts scene Saturday. The amount of money raised was not available before press time. “We don't have to leave our area for amazing arts and culture,” Cardwell told the crowd. We are the arts and culture here. You are the arts and culture here.”

‘Guaranteed maximum price’ accepted for jail construction

EPHRATA — The maximum cost for building the Grant County Jail and Grant County Sheriff’s Office - just for construction, not equipping it or paying construction fees - will be $131.56 million. The Grant County Commissioners approved an agreement for the “guaranteed maximum price” for construction Tuesday. That’s about $3 million less than the estimated cost for construction made in April, which was about $134.21 million. Grant County Central Services Director Tom Gaines said in a separate interview that reflects changes in the construction market.

Legals for May, 15 2024

The other Bob Fergusons withdraw from governor’s race

(The Center Square) – Two Bob Fergusons have withdrawn their short-lived candidacy for governor after state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, also a candidate for governor, threatened the other guys with legal action.

Desert Aire hosts fire preparedness informational event

DESERT AIRE – Representatives from the Desert Aire Owners Association, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Grant County PUD, as well as Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, and community members from Desert Aire met Wednesday for a fire readiness informational event at the DAOA building.

WSU student turns textile scraps into wearable art

PULLMAN — When Kiah Conway first walked into a Washington State University storage room filled with hundreds of pounds of fabrics, remnants, and scraps, a sense of overwhelming possibility hit her hard. That hasn’t changed, even nearly a year later. “Every time I go into that room, I see why some of it has sat there so long,” said Conway, a junior double majoring in apparel design and merchandising. “But sometimes I find something that’s so gorgeous, I’m shocked to see it. The more you dig, the better it gets. It feels like scavenging, but you can find gold in there.” Conway recently created two garments, a dress and a jacket, using almost nothing but leftover material from the storage closet. The closet is full of donated fabrics and remnants, sewing supplies, and scrap materials from different student design projects in WSU’s Department of Apparel, Merchandising, Design, and Textiles. The materials are kept so they don’t go into landfills.

Bob Ferguson threatens legal action against other Bob Fergusons on ballot

(The Center Square) – Washington State Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson has threatened legal action against two other candidates running for governor who share the same name as him.

Stratford Road shooting leaves one injured

MOSES LAKE — One person was injured and a suspect was detained after a shooting on Stratford Road about 16 miles north of Moses Lake Monday evening.

MLSD to cut about 100 teachers; further cuts coming

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District will start the next school year with about 100 fewer teachers, according to an MLSD press release. Non-renewal notices are expected to be issued to about 100 provisional teachers, according to the release. A provisional teacher is one who is either in their first three years of teaching in Washington or who has received a low evaluation and meets certain other criteria, according to RCW 28A.405.210.

Quincy takes next step toward water, sewer upgrades

QUINCY — Design work is beginning on a project to upgrade sewer systems in the city of Quincy. The city’s water system will be getting some upgrades too, among them a new water tower.

WA gubernatorial candidates spar over public safety plans

(The Center Square) – Gubernatorial candidate and Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is not impressed with Republican candidate Dave Reichert’s newly released public safety plan. "Dave Reichert must really like Bob's public safety plan, because he copied much of it,” Ferguson’s campaign told The Center Square in an email.

Basin races have mix of challengers, unopposed incumbents

MOSES LAKE — The filing period for the 2024 election closed Friday with a mixed grouping of candidates at the county and state levels. Some will run against multiple challengers while a few incumbents have exclusive spots on the ballot.

Warden High School blood drive sees one of its largest turnouts

WARDEN – Warden High School hosted a Vitalant blood drive April 30 in the blood donation organization’s mobile bus center. Warden District Nurse Janna Benzel said the drive was possibly the district’s biggest yet. “We actually had one of our best turnouts for our blood drive and we ended up with a backup list as well,” Benzel said. “So (Vitalant was) considering coming back and doing another one soon. We don't know if that'll happen yet, before the end of the school year. We had about 10 or 11 students on a backup list … I believe what we totaled up for the end of the day was we had 26 donors.”

MLSD board approves layoffs after levy failure, accounting issues

Notices will be provided to employees in the coming weeks, program cuts expected as well.

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake School District Board of Directors voted in a special meeting Saturday to move forward with a resolution to authorize needed budget cuts after the district’s maintenance and operations levy failed on the ballot for the second time this year. More than 100 staff, including teachers and staff, are expected to lose their jobs after the levy failure.

Camp Zanika Lache registration slots still open

WENATCHEE – Slots are still available at Wenatchee’s Camp Zanika Lache, a co-ed overnight summer camp for youth and teens ages six to 17.

Mavs win Big 9 baseball title, punch ticket to state with win over Eastmont

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Mavericks are once again moving on to the 4A State Baseball Tournament, having defeated Eastmont 8-2 in Friday’s Columbia Basin Big 9 district championship game in Moses Lake.

Road work season in full swing

MOSES LAKE — Road construction throughout the Columbia Basin is chugging along as several area projects move forward as spring progresses into summer. Resurfacing of State Route 17 through Moses Lake has moved on to the resurfacing part of the project. Crews started working on the project in April, with the first phase being the replacement of ADA-accessible sidewalk ramps at intersections throughout the project area. The second phase of the project will involve resurfacing about seven miles of SR 17 where it runs through Moses Lake. Work on that began May 8.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Your vote matters, and here's why

I recently met with a Moses Lake School District official who made a good point. If all of the employees with MLSD had voted in favor of the maintenance and operations levy, the levy would have passed with ease.

Othello’s Eldred, Haro sign with Wenatchee Valley

OTHELLO – Othello seniors Don Eldred and Felipe Haro signed their national letters of intent to play college soccer at Wenatchee Valley College Wednesday evening at Othello High School. According to Head Coach Bernie Garza, Eldred and Haro chose where to do the signing, which was located in the OHS Cafeteria.