Moses Lake chamber officially opens new offices

MOSES LAKE — After a couple of years of wandering in the wilderness — well, working from home, actually — the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce finally has new office space on Broadway Avenue near downtown Moses Lake. “This office came available, and it was remodeled, so we didn’t have to do anything to it,” said Debbie Doran-Martinez, owner of Cornfusion Gourmet Popcorn and the chamber’s executive director. “We could just move in and start operations.” ...

ADUs dominate Mattawa council housing discussion

MATTAWA — The possibility of “accessory dwelling units,” and how to enforce regulations on construction and development, was the subject of a lengthy conversation at the March 2 meeting of the Mattawa City Council...

Legals for March, 8 2023

Driver’s ed to teach sharing road with trucks and buses

OLYMPIA - Driver’s education courses will include guidance about sharing the road with big trucks and buses if a bill approved by the Washington House gets an OK from the Senate...

Full house

Columbia Basin Home and Garden Show draws crowds

MOSES LAKE — It was only about an hour into the first day of the Columbia Basin Home and Garden Show Friday morning, and already the place was packed. “I’m very happy with the way it’s started,” said Joe Eaton, behind tables laden with hot sauces and jerky. “You know, I've been vending for 28 years. And when someone says it's a first-time event, I always get a little nervous.” The show occupied the Commercial Building at the Grant County Fairgrounds, and it wasn’t just customers who filled the venue. The show’s organizers, the team at Seed Cupboard Nursery, had originally planned for 50 vendors, but ended up having closer to 70. Originally, the organizers had asked a different organization to put the show together, Seed Cupboard owner Lisa Villegas said, but couldn’t get anyone interested, so they ended up organizing it themselves.

Legals for March, 6 2023

Warden Cougars bring home third-place trophy

SPOKANE – After falling to No. 1 seed Colfax in the 2B girls state semifinals, No. 4 Warden bounced back with a 54-47 win over No. 3 Napavine in the third/fifth-place game on Saturday, placing in the top three for the second-straight year. “We’ve got a lot of really tough-minded girls,” Warden Head Coach Josh Madsen said. “A lot of hard-working girls. Made a lot of sacrifices the past couple of years, but have a lot to show for it.”

Growing excitement

Seed Cupboard Nursery opens for the season

ROYAL CITY — It takes a little work to get to Seed Cupboard Nursery, a mile or so west of Royal City. Every year though, lots of people think it’s worth the drive. We draw from around the entire community,” said Seed Cupboard owner Lisa Villegas. “From down in Desert Aire, Mattawa, they drive from Ellensburg, a small group from Wenatchee, Quincy, Ephrata, a lot of people from Moses and Othello. So we're kind of in the center. We're not in just one of those locations, so we're fortunate to have really loyal customers that come from all of those locations and support us.” Seed Cupboard, which opened for the year on Wednesday, is in its eleventh year of business, Villegas said. It started in a small red barn and one greenhouse, as Villegas’ retirement project, but that small scale didn’t last for long, she said.

Legals for March, 3 2023

GCIA hosts another first in electric flight

MOSES LAKE — It was another day for the aviation record books at the Grant County International Airport on Thursday. “We are, I think, the second-largest hydrogen airplane ever to fly after the Tupolev 155, which the Soviet (Union) flew in 1988,” said Paul Eremenko, the co-founder and CEO of Hawthorne, California-based Universal Hydrogen. “But I think we can reasonably claim to the fact that we are the largest to cruise principally on hydrogen.” Eremenko spoke to a crowd of about 100 people gathered in the GCIA main terminal following a roughly 20-minute test flight of a special Dash 8 commuter airliner which flew with one electric engine powered by a hydrogen fuel cell system created by Universal Hydrogen.

Public should get look at new Quincy hospital design by April

QUINCY — Quincy residents should get a look at the design of the new Quincy Valley Medical Center by the end of April. “I expect with the finishing of all this stuff, we will have renderings of the facility for public consumption in the next 30 to 60 days,” QVMC consultant helping coordinate the new facility, Joe Kunkel said...

Downtown food truck court work continues in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — The food court set for the corner of South Alder Street and Fourth Avenue in downtown is one step closer to reality following the delivery of the compass rose, the centerpiece of the food truck court, according to Levi Bisnett, a surveyor with the city who is currently overseeing the project.

Jeffrey Sellen

Jeffrey David Sellen, who grew up in the Columbia Basin region before settling in Lynnwood, passed away on Feb. 19 from heart failure. He was 62. Jeff, born May 4, 1960, graduated from Warden High School in 1978. As a teenager, he loved to work on classic cars and motorcycles. Jeff moved out of state to pursue a bachelor’s degree, but he left university after his freshman year to follow his passion for the arts, becoming one of the most highly sought-after artists, designers, and masters of stone masonry in the Seattle area. During a four-decade career in stone masonry, he founded his own firm, J.D. Sellen Design Stone & Marble Company. His attention to detail and precision with natural stones has been displayed in catalogs and magazines of fine home building for decades.

Lookin' to get hitched?

Weekend bridal expo offers ideas to local couples.

MOSES LAKE — On the bar in front of Jessica Ramynke sits a number of little, plastic shot glasses of purplish-magenta liquid on ice. It’s the signature drink and service of Ramynke’s company, Yakima-based Raise Your Glass. “It’s huckleberry syrup,” Ramynke said. “Either we buy it or I make it my own at home. I go out and pick the huckleberries in the mountains. We take it home and boil it down and make the syrup out of it.” ...

Legals for March, 1 2023

WA may make it easier to build backyard cottages in a bid to ease the housing crisis

OLYMPIA — More backyard cottages could soon pop up across Washington. So-called accessory dwelling units, often referred to as in-law suites, provide independent living on the same lot as another housing unit, such as a single-family home. They can be attached to another building or detached...

O’ the stories you’ll read!

Read Across America comes to Warden Elementary School

WARDEN — For Read Across America Week, Warden Police Chief Rick Martin stood in the office of Warden Elementary School sorting through a stack of Dr. Seuss books. “‘Hop on Pop,’” he said. “That’s a classic.” ...

Three WA airports receive federal grants

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A joint release by U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) on Tuesday stated that three Washington State airports will receive grants from the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Terminal Program to support infrastructure upgrades and modernization projects...

Central Washington on display

Moses Lake Museum exhibit shows the best of our region

MOSES LAKE — Central Washington, in all its beauty, is on display at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center. The exhibition titled simply “Life in Central Washington” features the work of Yakima Valley Arts Association members. The show opened on Feb. 3 and runs until March 17. “All the pieces in the show are pretty much inspired by our landscape,” said Dollie Boyd, director of the museum. “The work that we do here, the agriculture, the plants, the flora, the fauna.”

Twins arrested in catalytic converter theft

MOSES LAKE — A pair of twin brothers are in the Grant County Jail after being spotted stealing a catalytic converter, according to a statement from the Moses Lake Police Department. Nicholas Andrew Anardi and Trevor Mason Anardi, both 32, of Moses Lake were arrested Sunday afternoon on charges of second-degree malicious mischief and second-degree theft, according to the post...