Moses Lake Co-Ed softball league begins

MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake’s Co-Ed adult softball league began this week with the first games taking place Tuesday at Paul Lauzier Athletic Complex. The league is hosted by Moses Lake Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services. “Just to provide a recreational softball league for people in the community,” said Felicia Laird, Recreation Supervisor of Athletics with the City of Moses Lake. “Something fun to do in the summer, we have a couple other adult sports leagues, but they’re in the winter so we were looking to offer something during the summer.”

Fire safety, preparation important in an RV

MOSES LAKE — Among many other things, summer is a good opportunity for a road trip – or road trips – in the trailer, maybe out in the woods or to the beach, maybe a multi-state adventure, maybe setting up camp at a family event. Unfortunately, fire does not respect road trips, and in some ways trailers or recreational vehicles present different hazards than a house does.

Ephratans asked to conserve water after well pump goes down

EPHRATA – The City of Ephrata is asking all residents and businesses to conserve water after a failure occurred in one of the city’s main water wells. “Well Three experienced a main shaft break between the motor and the pump, and we have a contractor coming on site this morning to start pulling the pump to hopefully replace or repair the main shaft and get it back online as soon as possible,” Ephrata City Public Works Director Rob Harris said.

Soap Lake schools get major repairs

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake School District is in the process of making around $6.6 million worth of repairs. “The work is fantastic,” Superintendent Angela Rolfe said. “We're really excited to be able to upgrade and modernize some things that needed to be done.”

Revised design may be coming for Quincy fieldhouse

QUINCY — The architects designing the proposed Quincy fieldhouse are being asked to review revising the project to add more indoor courts, rework the layout and convert it to a steel building, along with estimating what that might cost. Pat Haley, executive director for the Quincy Valley Regional Parks District, said officials are considering splitting the building into two sections. “We want to reshape it so that the field is in one building and the courts are in another building,” Haley said.

Ephrata High Class of ‘55 celebrates 70 years

EPHRATA - There are 39 “kids” still living from the Ephrata High School Class of 1955, Jerry Pitts said, and he and his classmates still get together as much as they can. This year, 11 Tigers got together from June 13 to 15 to catch up. “We had a three-day meet the 13th, 14th and 15th,” Pitts said. “Of course, the 15th was Father’s Day, and we met at 12 Hawks in Ephrata.”

Road construction on hold through July 4 weekend

VANTAGE — People wanting to take to the open road for the July 4 weekend will find it pretty open, with most construction projects on hold until next week. The exception is the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 over the Snoqualmie summit. “We have a project on eastbound I-90 between North Bend and the summit, which is reduced from three lanes to two lanes,” wrote Summer Derrey, Washington Department of Transportation assistant communications manager for the south central region, in response to a question from the Columbia Basin Herald.

Mariners trade wins Friday and Saturday in series with Rangers

SEATTLE — The Mariners split wins with the Texas Rangers in Friday and Saturday play as they faced the Lone Star State team on the Mariners’ home diamond. The Mariners grabbed a 4-3 win Friday after dropping the Rangers 6-0 Thursday, but lost a bit of momentum Saturday in a hard-fought 11 innings that led to a 6-4 loss for the Washington team.

Law enforcement focused on impaired drivers

Drunk or high driving will be the focus for police in Grant County through Sept. 1

MOSES LAKE — Grant County law enforcement agencies are participating in the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” emphasis patrols through Sept. 1. The campaign started Aug. 13.

Skill-A-Thon offers free AI training

MOSES LAKE — The North Central Washington Tech Alliance is offering free courses to help locals put artificial intelligence to work for them, and offering some prizes to boot.

Raising livestock is the tough part of fair competition

MOSES LAKE — Participants in livestock classes at the Grant County Fair exhibit a diverse range of animals, including steers, chickens, and horses; they come from various communities with varying levels of experience. There does seem to be one point of agreement: raising animals is a lot of work. It's even more work than the show ring.

GALLERY: Horse riding and demo derby’s at the fair

MOSES LAKE – At the Grant Country Fair, community members were treated to Demo Derbys full of dusty crashes and local horse-riding competitions put on by the Grant County Youth Equine Program.

Moses Lake middle schools looking for coaches

MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake School District announced they are looking for coaches at Frontier and Endeavor Middle School. Loren Sandhop, the athletic director for the school district, said the most important aspect of a candidate they are looking for is good people. “We're teaching them lifelong lessons, and we're just using sport to do it,” Sandhop said.

One booked, another unidentified in rural business burglary

MOSES LAKE – A 24-year-old Moses Lake man was apprehended by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office Crime Reduction Team and other law enforcement Friday during a burglary in a rural area of Moses Lake, according to a GCSO statement.

More signs planned for busy Adams Co. intersections near Othello

OTHELLO — Additional warning and stop signs will be installed at 14 intersections in the Othello area. Adams County Commissioners approved $833,000 for the project Tuesday.

Othello buys property for water treatment facility

OTHELLO — The new facility that will treat water from the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District system for use by Othello residents will be located along Lee Road. Othello City Council members approved the purchase of property for the project Monday. Othello Mayor Shawn Logan said the purchase was good for Othello, a big enough deal that he held a signing ceremony to highlight it.

GCSO warns of assessor impersonation scam

MOSES LAKE – The Grant County Sheriff’s Office wants to warn the public of a subject impersonating Grant County deputy assessors.

Consumer alert issued for Bridge City Firm over alleged misconduct

VANCOUVER — The Better Business Bureau Great West + Pacific has issued a consumer alert concerning Bridge City Firm, a digital marketing and SEO service company based in Vancouver, Washington. Managed by Mark Davis, the firm has faced scrutiny from former clients who have raised serious concerns about its telemarketing tactics, misleading advertising claims and unfulfilled promises, according to a statement from BBB.

Grant PUD considering solar power agreement

EPHRATA — Grant County Public Utility District commissioners will consider purchasing the electricity produced at a proposed solar farm between the Grant County International Airport and Rocky Ford. Under the agreement with Quincy Solar, the PUD would receive all the electricity generated by the project. It's planned to produce 120 megawatts of power. The contract would run for 20 years.

MLSD Financial Oversight Committee meets for first time

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District hosted its first Financial Oversight Committee meeting Jan. 29. The committee is a volunteer-based group of local professionals from industries including accounting, finance and similar fields. The group was established to hold the district to another level of accountability with its finances.