Enjoy the summer weather

MOSES LAKE – Though this weekend is not looking particularly great for going out and enjoying the summer breeze, summertime in general is a great time to pick up a new sporting hobby.

Authorities release images of how fugitive Travis Decker may have altered appearance

(The Center Square) – The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office has released new images of what Travis Decker, the Wenatchee, Wash., man suspected of killing his three young daughters, might look like after having been on the run for several weeks. Decker, 32, has been charged with kidnapping and killing his daughters, 5-year-old Olivia, 8-year-old Evelyn and 9-year-old Paityn. The girls’ bodies were found at the Rock Island Campground in Leavenworth on June 2, asphyxiated to death. Multiple local and federal agencies are assisting in the manhunt, with the U.S. Border Patrol taking the lead in the search. Earlier this month, Gov. Bob Ferguson activated the Washington National Guard to aid law enforcement in the search for Decker.

Washington deploys new tools hoping to prevent summer traffic deaths

OLYMPIA — Summer in Washington is supposed to be a season of celebration: high school graduations, family road trips, long weekends at the lake. But traffic safety officials view it as the most dangerous time of year. The 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are statistically the deadliest stretch on Washington’s roads. This year, the state is expanding efforts to turn the tide on a post-pandemic spike in highway fatalities. “In 2023, we had the highest number of traffic deaths that we’ve seen in 33 years,” said Shelly Baldwin, acting director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. Speaking on TVW’s Inside Olympia, she told host Austin Jenkins, “It’s just unbelievable when you think about all the progress we’d made prior to this.”

Will Washington state’s higher capital gains tax drive businesses away?

Washington state residents who have sold long-term capital assets, such as stocks and bonds, exceeding $1 million will have to pay an increased capital gains tax.

Washington State Patrol plans emphasis patrol around Gorge Amphitheater

QUINCY — The Washington State Patrol will be conducting additional patrols in the area around the Gorge Amphitheater this weekend, the first of a number of “High Visibility Enforcement” patrols scheduled over the summer. Jeremy Weber, WSP District 6 public information officer, said the goal is to ensure people get where they’re going and back home without incident.

One fire blazing in WA

ENTIAT — The Pomas Fire, reported on June 13, has rapidly grown to 910 acres in size as of Thursday. The fire is situated 36 miles northwest of Entiat, within the rugged Glacier Peak Wilderness, according to a report on Inciweb. There are no updates on containment as of Thursday. “This is an extreme(ly) tough piece of ground with all the dead and down timber from the 2015 Wolverine Fire and 10 years’ worth of thick regeneration,” said Holly Krake in a statement from Entiat-Chelan District Ranger for the Forest Service. “The smokejumpers and pilots are doing everything they safely can to keep fire from becoming established on the east side of the Entiat River and down in Snowbrushy Creek.”

Ephrata approves crack seal and pavement repair project

EPHRATA — The Ephrata City Council unanimously accepted as complete the Crack Seal and Pavement Repair Project – 2024 during its regular meeting Wednesday. The project, which was started last year and completed this spring, was awarded to Quality Paving, LLC and totaled $415,686.75. Crews repaired sections of about 50 streets. “There are streets addressed all around town, and chip sealing is one of your best tools for preserving your pavement,” City Engineer Shawn O’Brien said in an interview with the Columbia Basin Herald. “It provides a new wearing surface for the cars to drive on, but it also preserves the existing pavement that breaks down and gets oxidized after years of use. This new shot of oil and chips protect that and kind of rejuvenates the existing payment.”

Whooping cough cases surge in 2024 in WA

OLYMPIA – Washington state saw a rise in whooping cough cases in 2024, with 2,261 confirmed and probable cases reported in preliminary figures.

Road reconstruction starts in Quincy, almost done on Westshore Drive

MOSES LAKE — There is an old saying in road construction that there are two seasons, winter and construction. It is officially construction season in Quincy; a six-month project to upgrade Second Avenue Southwest began this week.

City of Ephrata to apply for railroad crossing feasibility study grant

EPHRATA — The City of Ephrata will work on planning for future transportation development through the application for a QUADCO Unified Planning Work Program grant.

Double duck rescue: a tale of feather heroics in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Two daring rescues unfolded yesterday, reuniting ducklings with their anxious mothers for the first time and relocating them entirely after the second.

Robert Stucky

Nov. 6, 1935 – June 6, 2025

Robert Lee Stucky of Ephrata,Washington, graduated to his eternal home on June 6, 2025, at the age of 89, surrounded by loved ones. Robert “Bob” was born on Nov. 6, 1935 to Edmund and Lydia Stucky in Monroe, Washington. He was the seventh of 11 children. After graduating from Monroe High School in 1954, he went on to attend Grace Bible Institute, where he met and fell in love with Joyce Krehbiel. They married on Aug. 21, 1956, in Newport Washington, and have been lifelong partners ever since. They welcomed their first son James Edward a year later, and then a second son, Stanley Thomas. Bob worked on his father’s dairy farm in Monroe for the next 13 years. Then the family of four moved from Monroe to Ephrata, Washington in 1969 and started the Stucky Brothers Dairy with his brother Jim Stucky, later changing the name to R3J Dairy to incorporate their wives, both named Joyce. Two more sons were added to the family, Jeffrey Alan and Richard King. The family successfully ran the farm until retiring from farming in 1997.

Maxwell and Goles join Eagle staff for ‘25-’26 season

CHENEY, Wash. — In preparation for the 2025-26 season, head coach Joddie Gleason announced the hiring of Brynna Maxwell and Dora Goles as assistant coaches for Eastern Washington women's basketball. The two new assistants look to build on the progress the Eagles made last season, going into Gleason's fourth season leading the program. Maxwell is well familiar with the area after playing at Gonzaga for two seasons (2022-24), where she earned two All-WCC first team honors. Originally from Gig Harbor, Wash., Maxwell initially started her collegiate career at Utah (2019-22), earning two All-Pac 12 honors, along with a spot on the 2020 Pac-12 All-Freshman team. Adding to her list of honors, Maxwell appeared on the Ann Meyers Drysdale watchlist in three seasons and the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year watchlist for two seasons. Following graduation, Maxwell was drafted 13th in the WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky. She spent last season playing in the Liga Femenina Endesa for Celta Zorka Recalvi in Vigo, Spain.

Maxwell and Goles join Eagle staff for 2025-26 season

CHENEY, Wash. — In preparation for the 2025-26 season, head coach Joddie Gleason announced the hiring of Brynna Maxwell and Dora Goles as assistant coaches for Eastern Washington women's basketball. The two new assistants look to build on the progress the Eagles made last season, going into Gleason's fourth season leading the program. Maxwell is well familiar with the area after playing at Gonzaga for two seasons (2022-24), where she earned two All-WCC first team honors. Originally from Gig Harbor, Wash., Maxwell initially started her collegiate career at Utah (2019-22), earning two All-Pac 12 honors, along with a spot on the 2020 Pac-12 All-Freshman team. Adding to her list of honors, Maxwell appeared on the Ann Meyers Drysdale watchlist in three seasons and the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year watchlist for two seasons. Following graduation, Maxwell was drafted 13th in the WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky. She spent last season playing in the Liga Femenina Endesa for Celta Zorka Recalvi in Vigo, Spain.

High Desert Foxes

Local band to drop debut single Friday

SOAP LAKE — Progressive soul folk music may not have been a thing before, but it is now. “It’s a genre that we kind of created,” said Dusty James, singer with the local band High Desert Foxes. “We do soul music, we do folk music, and when we write our own music as a band, it becomes a new experience.” High Desert Foxes will debut its new single, “On the Road,” at Cloudview Kitchen Friday during the Soap Lake Food and Folk Festival. The progressive soul part of the genre owes a lot to the 1960s and 70s sounds of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, James said, and also has echoes of Sade and Lenny Kravitz.

Fresh spin

CyclePath Spin Studio offers healthy workout

MOSES LAKE — Sometimes, you learn best by doing. “I had never taken a spin class until recently,” said CyclePath Spin Studio owner Rita Morfin. “But it was something that I felt like the community needed. So (I thought), ‘If I build it, they will come.’” And they have. Morfin cut the ribbon on CyclePath Spin Studio Monday and opened fully on Tuesday, and already she has five teachers with classes lined up. Spin is basically an exercise program carried out on stationary bikes, Morfin said, but it encompasses a lot more than just riding. There’s a whole routine, she said, with hand motions, presses, standing and sitting and sometimes even lifting weights. The whole workout is done under a teacher’s guidance with music on speakers in the background.

Legals for June, 19 2025

Man impersonating Washington state agency stole $90K in fraud scheme, charges say

OLYMPIA — Last fall, thousands of businesses and charities received bills that appeared to be from the state of Washington. Many recipients obliged, sending payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars in response to the state’s “Corporations & Charities Division.” While that agency exists within the secretary of state’s office, the letters were part of a fraud and money laundering scheme carried out by a former postal worker arrested this week, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Some progress for ag in 2025 legislative session, Dent says

MOSES LAKE — While some progress has been made on revising the state’s Climate Commitment Act to reduce its impact on farming, Representative Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, said there’s still work to do. A bill sponsored by Dent, HB 1912, makes the process of getting an exemption for some CCA fuel sanctions easier. The bill also added propane to the list of fuels eligible for exemption. But Dent said he couldn’t get his colleagues in the legislature to agree on other provisions that would be of help to farmers. “Some of my colleagues - they don’t understand what agriculture really means,” Dent said. “They said, ‘(The exemption) is just for farm use.’ and I said, ‘Here’s the thing. The baler breaks down and I jump in my diesel pickup and drive to town to buy parts. Is that not agriculture use?’ And (the reply was), ‘Oh, we didn’t think about that.’”

Public’s help sought in finding missing Spokane girl

SPOKANE — The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is asking for the public’s help in finding a Spokane girl missing since June 13.