Basin events calendar for Aug. 23, 2024

COLUMBIA BASIN — Live music is in abundance in the Basin this week, with winery performances, Gorge shows, a free concert and a full-blown music festival. Here’s what you can expect to see happening.

Sustained success

Ephrata’s Mietenkorte wins 10th silhouette national championship

EPHRATA – Gearing up for a competition is all about being in the right mentality, no matter the sport. Ephrata resident and Royal High School band and choir director Erich Mietenkorte draws influence from being a musician – taking away the experience of performing on a stage and translating it to performing in competition shooting.

FIRE REPORT: GCFD 3 receives $553,000 in grant funds

QUINCY – Grant County Fire District 3, which serves the Quincy area, has received $553,000 through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, according to an announcement from the district. GCFD 3 wrote in the statement that it plans on using the funds to get a new water tender to replace their aging one.

Ephrata Library offers summer activities

EPHRATA – The Ephrata Public Library, part of the NCW Libraries system, has spent this summer celebrating a theme of “Read, Renew, Repeat” to keep children engaged in reading. The goal is to keep children reading and learning, library staff said.

NEWS BITES: Aug. 22, 2024

NEWS BITES: Aug. 22, 2024

Taylor resigns from Soap Lake Council

SOAP LAKE – In the closing comments of the Aug. 21 Soap Lake City Council Meeting, Council Member Leslie Taylor resigned from the council. Taylor’s term was set to expire in 2027.

RitzFest

Music festival to debut in Ritzville Saturday

RITZVILLE — Music will return to Ritzville, as RitzFest makes its debut Saturday.

The Side Project to round out summer concert season

MOSES LAKE — The Side Project will finish out Moses Lake’s Summer Concert Series with a free show Friday, according to an announcement from the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center. The Side Project consists of the wife-and-husband team Suzie and Ben Bradford. The duo, originally from Spokane, have recorded six albums and have performed up and down the West Coast for 20 years, according to the announcement. Their music has been broadcast in Starbucks and featured on television shows “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” as well as scoring a rave review in Music Connection Magazine.

Pirate regatta returns to Camas Cove Sept. 1

MOSES LAKE — Raiding and pillaging will be the order of the day Sept. 1 at the Camas Cove Pirate Regatta, according to organizer and Camas Cove Cellars co-owner Kathleen Parr. “And massive squirt gun battles,” Parr added.

GALLERY: A week at the fair

MOSES LAKE — The Grant County Fair left vivid images for all of us. Here are a few our reporters picked up over the five days of the annual community celebration.

Aug. 21 News Bites

GRAND COULEE – The Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department trained on Friday night with attack hose lines and different types of nozzles according to a department press release. “Great time training and learning hoses and nozzles,” the statement reads.

MLSB interviews potential members

MOSES LAKE — On Tuesday night the Moses Lake School Board had a special meeting to hire a new school board director to fill the seat left vacant by Kevin Fuhr’s resignation in June. The MLSB interviewed five candidates, each giving an opening statement and answering six questions.

FIRE REPORT: Royal Slope EMS trains on Vantage Bridge

ROYAL CITY — Royal Slope Fire Rescue EMS participated in rope rescue training on the I-90 Vantage Bridge on Tuesday. The training was hosted by Garco Construction with the Washington State Department of Transportation and Grant County Fire District 8 also attending. “It was good to practice using the resources on the bridge before something happens,” Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman said. According to a statement from the GCSO, the training simulated how firefighters will access and remove a bridge maintenance employee who falls from the bridge deck onto lower portions of the bridge.

Chip-seal work near Brewster on Wednesday

BREWSTER — Drivers traveling between Wenatchee and Okanogan should expect delays on US 97 at the Brewster city limits Wednesday.

Washington Lands Commissioner primary race heads toward a recount

(The Center Square) – With fewer than 270 votes separating candidates in the second spot for Washington Commissioner of Public Lands, it appears a recount will be required.

FIRE REPORT: Two fires blaze up in Grant County over the weekend

QUINCY — At 2 p.m. Sunday a 35-acre blaze started on Overen Road outside of Quincy. The fire was quickly contained two hours after it started with Fire District 3, Fire District 13, Ephrata Fire Department and Bureau of Land Management Fire responding to the fire according to David Durfee, Interim Fire Chief of Fired District 3. “We got it under control pretty fast, air resources showed up, but we didn’t have to use them because our teams had it under control,” Durfee said. The fire only burned wildlands, no structures or injuries occurred according to Durfee. The teams continued to mop up the fire into Sunday night to ensure it wouldn't spread.

NEWS BITES: Aug. 20, 2024

MATTAWA — The Mattawa Police Department would like to remind citizens that there is a noise ordinance, according to a statement released Saturday. Mattawa Municipal Code Chapter 9.08 Noise Control provides a breakdown on what is and is not allowed within city limits. The statement breaks down some of the rules.  “It is unlawful for any person to cause, or for any person in possession of property to allow to originate from the property, sound that is a public disturbance noise,” the MPD wrote. Examples given of this are motor vehicle audio systems that can be heard from at least 50 feet from the source. Any sound from audio equipment, instruments, or similar devices that can be audible from 50 feet away. Violation of the noise ordinance can result in a civil infraction with mandatory minimum penalty.

Dragon show

Reptile Isle takes the scary out of snakes, lizards and more

MOSES LAKE — It’s not every day a dragon visits the fair. “That’s exactly what they’re called, a black dragon,” said Don “the Reptile King” Riggs, Thursday. “One of only 250 in the world. We’re trying to increase those numbers; there were only four 11 years ago when we started working with them.” The dragon in question is a rare variety of Asian water monitor, and his name is Toothless, after a children’s book and subsequent movie titled “How to Train Your Dragon.” He was one of the animals that Reptile Isle, Riggs’ traveling show, brought to the Grant County Fair last week.

Serious silliness

Magician brings casual energy to fair

MOSES LAKE — Sometimes you just know early on that you want to spend your life doing card tricks. “I saw a show when I was 5, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” magician Louie Foxx said. “I decided that was going to be my job.” Foxx was at the Grant County Fair last week doing three shows a day. He’s been to our fair a few times in the past, alternating years with the North Idaho State Fair in Coeur d’Alene, he said.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR: Dateline wherever ...

If you’re reading this, you’ve seen a few datelines in your time. That city name at the beginning of a news article. Do you know what it means and why it’s put there, though?