CALEB PEREZ

Mavs compete at Mukilteo Invitational

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Mavericks’ girls swim and dive team traveled to Cascade High School to compete in the Mukilteo Invitational on Saturday where they earned fourteenth overall out of the 31 teams. “It went good – that’s the pool where we go back for our state competition in November, so it was getting some of the girls used to it that have never been there. And for other people that have been there, they get a chance to compete against some of the top swimmers in the state in probably the fastest pool in the state,” said Mavs head coach Tony Preston. The top finish for the Mavs came in the 100-yard freestyle event, where senior Bria Bodenman earned seventh place with a final time of 57.16. Dallie Cobb earned twenty-third in the event with a final time of 59.90 and twenty-second in the 50 Freestyle event.

Live grenade discovered in family’s front yard

HARTLINE – Grant County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a residence in 600 block of Willard Street in Hartline Monday after a three-year-old boy found a live hand grenade in his family’s front yard.

Ephrata welcomes a sweet new shop

Moonbeam Sweets and Treats opens on First Avenue and offers desserts galore.

EPHRATA – Moonbeam Sweets and Treats is the newest addition to local businesses in Ephrata. The shop is located at 156 First Ave NW and features a variety of different sweet treats.

Palmer’s Adventure Farm kicks off Fall Fest

MOSES LAKE – Palmer’s Adventure Farm has begun its Fall Fest over the weekend. Formerly known as StrawBelly’s, the farm held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday afternoon to celebrate their new branding and new location.

Tigers’ Pichardo in the running for Youth Athlete of the Year

EPHRATA – Ephrata Tigers junior soccer player Diego Pichardo was nominated for the 2025 Youth Athlete of the Year award and placed fourth overall in the rankings after making it to the semifinal round.

Police searching for theft suspect near Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE – Law enforcement officers are currently searching for a theft suspect with drones and K-9 units on Road P Northeast and Road 3 Northeast near Moses Lake.

NCW Libraries offers civics, discourse programs

MOSES LAKE – North Central Washington libraries will host a digital Fall Program series for adults in partnership with Oregon Humanities and the NCW Equity Alliance that centers on the core values of listening, learning and building community. “The idea is just to bring people together to have reflective conversations,” said Alicia O’Dell, Adult Services Manager at NCW Libraries. “To think and share together and just kind of reevaluate what we think and hear from different perspectives with the goal of learning from one another.”

Reptiles, learning and local fun

April the Reptile Lady coming to Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE – The City of Moses Lake Museum and Art Center is hosting free family Saturday, Oct. 4, featuring a presentation from April Jackson or as she’s better known, April the Reptile Lady.

Mavs dominate at home

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Mavericks regained a home game on their schedule Friday after air quality shifted their away game against Wenatchee to Lions Field. Grabbing ahold of the home-field advantage, the Mavs showed off their strength with a 56-0 victory over the Panthers. “We had a rough week and then we came out and balled,” said Mavs receiver Carter Anderson.

Cars, Cops, Coffee and First Responders event cruising in

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Classic Car club will be hosting the annual Cars, Cops, Coffee and First Responders Thank You Salute Show ‘n Shine Saturday, Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 944 W Third Ave at the old Ace Hardware lot in Moses Lake.

Reserve Deputy Rob Harris retires from GCSO

Retirement ends reserve program for sheriff's office

MOSES LAKE – Grant County Reserve Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Harris worked his last night of service last Friday and has officially retired from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. “It’s kind of surreal, I’ve been a reserve with them for over 13 years, and I’ve absolutely loved what I did,” said Harris.

Jr. Mavs dominate in weekend matchups

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Jr Mavs had another successful day of football last Saturday, with each team that played at home earning a win. The fourth, fifth and seventh-grade teams all hosted at Lions Field. “Our fourth-grade boys played another tough game and were the most physical team,” said fourth-grade head coach Josh Herrod. “It’s fun watching their growth and progression. Everything we’ve thrown at them; they’ve been able to handle so far. We’ve worked hard on winning at the snap on both sides and you can see the progress.”

Tigers’ Pichardo in the running for Youth Athlete of the Year

EPHRATA – Ephrata Tigers junior soccer player Diego Pichardo was nominated for the 2025 Youth Athlete of the Year award. The winner of the award will be featured in a 3BRAND advertisement in Sports Illustrated and receive a $25,000 prize. “I’ve just been loving (soccer) so much,” said Pichardo. “The sport has been everything to me basically.” Pichardo played as a winger for the Tigers in the past and is now looking to become a midfielder. He has enjoyed playing soccer his whole life and said he got into the sport through his father’s love of the game.

Grid Kids Football enters the midseason

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Grid Kids football season is now in its fourth week. The program’s administrator, Brian Gwinn, said the season has been going great. along with the addition of a separate girls' flag football part of the program.

’90s Flannel Fest and more coming to Grant County Fairgrounds

MOSES LAKE – The Grant County Fairgrounds has a plethora of events coming up with the first up this weekend being the Fall National Antique Tractor Pull, followed by the 90’s Flannel Fest next weekend.

Favored Farmhouse expanding services

MOSES LAKE – The Favored Farmhouse coffee shop is expanding its services with plans for a new food truck court and a recurring night market. “We’ve owned the farmhouse for about seven years and originally the plan was to just help propel other small businesses,” said Daphne Martinez, who owns Favored Farmhouse with her husband Derek.

CAST for Kids ignites a love of fishing

MOSES LAKE – The Catch a Special Thrill for Kids foundation is a nonprofit public charity that helps children who have special needs and disadvantages enjoy a day of fishing. The organization has been around since 1991 and has since expanded to 26 states, including Washington. “I think these kids deserve to be celebrated and included,” said Melissa McCalmant, CAST’s Western Operations Manager and NW/Rocky Mtn. West Regional Manager. “Just spending a day with them and watching the excitement on their face, it’s just life-changing.”

Tigers roar past Ellensburg

EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers’ football team earned a strong 43-20 home victory over Ellensburg Friday night to improve their record to 2-1. “We started off kind of shaky, we made a few mistakes, but we tied it together, and then we came out and did what we needed to do to win,” said Tigers junior Ty Plaisted.

Eagles fall to Dayton at home

Slow start, multiple injuries lead to 46-16 loss for Soap Lake

SOAP LAKE – The Soap Lake Eagles football team fell 16-46 against Dayton on Friday putting their record at 1-1 for the season. “We came out slow and then once we got it to 30-8 we played them even from then on out,” said the Eagles’ head coach Garrett Devine. “I felt like it was a pretty evenly matched team for us, but they came out really hot and they had a good game plan, and we just didn’t come out hot.”

Mavs win big in double header against Ike

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Mavericks softball team earned two big wins against Eisenhower Thursday afternoon, putting the team 6-0 on the season. “I think our games went really well,” said Mavs player Hayden Morris. “We really played as a team, and I think our freshmen came up big for us today in both games.”

Martinez makes MLHS volleyball history

MOSES LAKE – Moses Lake Mavericks volleyball player Kardyn Martinez made school history during Thursday’s game against West Valley, becoming the first athlete in Moses Lake High School history to reach 500 kills on the volleyball court “It’s kind of surreal because I’m a soccer player, personally, so I never thought that I would be in this position right now,” said Martinez. “It’s honestly so cool.”

Cougars fall to La Salle Lightning

WARDEN – The Warden Cougars volleyball team fell 0-3 to the La Salle Lighting in their first home game of the season Wednesday evening putting their record at 0-2.

Knights pull off win in OT

ROYAL CITY — The Royal Knights soccer team had a close game against Naches Valley where the Knights came out on top in overtime with a 3-2 victory. “We’re still trying to figure things out,” said the Knights Head Coach Jens Jensen. “We’re getting better, but we’re still making a ton of mistakes.” The first half went back and forth between the two teams until late in the half Naches Valley scored and the teams went into halftime with the Knights behind 0-1. Jensen said the team had to make some key adjustments before they went into the second half such as keeping an eye on Naches Valley’s strong players and prevent them from scoring again.

Knights earn a convincing win at home

ROYAL CITY — The Royal City Knights volleyball team earned a 3-0 victory at home against Naches Valley Tuesday evening. “I think it went pretty good. The first two sets were really good and then the last set we didn’t do too hot, but we came back and pushed,” said Knights player Maddie Allred. The Knights started the evening off strong, taking and maintaining the lead in the first set and winning 25-14. They repeated this success in the second set, holding their opponents under 10 points for the majority of the time. Naches Valley tacked on a few more points before the set ended at 25-14 in favor of the Knights.

COLLEGIATE SPORTS SCHEDULE: Sept. 18-25, 2025

MOSES LAKE — Collegiate athletes around the state prepare for another week of facing strong opponents and battling longtime rivals. See where your favorite college team is heading this week.

Jr Mavs play in first home game of the season

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Jr Mavs football teams took to Lions Field on Saturday to play in their first home game of the season. “It was a great effort and great play across the board,” said Tyson Olson, president of the Moses Lake Jr Maverick Football program. “That’s what we told our seventh-grade team and I know it was echoed across all of our teams that we were really pleased with everybody’s efforts across the board, not just the ones that got to start, but also coming in off the bench. Everybody stepped up and played really well.” The full day of football started with the seventh- and eighth-grade teams facing off against the Kennewick Jr Lions with the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade teams playing in the afternoon against the Ephrata Jr Tigers.

Basin XC teams compete at Highlander Invitational

MOSES LAKE – The Ephrata Tigers, Lind-Ritzville-Sprague Broncos, Moses Lake Mavericks, Quincy Jacks, and Warden Cougars cross country teams met with over 50 other schools at Shadle Park on Saturday for the Highlander Invitational. “We did really well,” said the Mavs’ head coach Larry Dagnon. “Our athletes showed up, they raced, there were a lot of big schools there and we just came in and we had a lot of athletes break school records and just run pretty well.”

Cougs fall on the road to North Texas

DENTON, Texas — The Washington State Cougars fell to the North Texas Mean Green 59-10 over the weekend at DATCU Stadium. This was the first meeting between the two teams, and the loss dropped the Cougars to 2-1 while the Mean Green improved to 3-0.

Warriors volleyball earns win over Eagles

SOAP LAKE – The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors earned a 3-1 victory over the Soap Lake Eagles volleyball team Tuesday evening. “It was an incredible match, we battled, and we needed to battle because Soap Lake is a quality team,” said the Warriors’ head coach Katie Walsh. “They had offense, they had defense, every ball it felt like every opportunity we tried to put down, they were putting up, and they were attacking with consistency.”

Mavericks’ soccer triumphs over Huskies

OTHELLO — The Moses Lake Mavericks soccer team went on the road and earned a 2-0 victory over the Othello Huskies Tuesday evening. “I think that we did really good today,” said Mavs player Chelsea Gonzalez. “I feel like we had really good chemistry, and we were passing good and we just took advantage of our opportunities.”

Mavs secure road win against Huskies

OTHELLO – The Moses Lake Mavericks volleyball team travelled to face the Othello Huskies Tuesday evening where the Mavs secured a 3-0 victory. “I think the first two sets we started off a little slow, but once we have our energy up and we all start having fun with each other, that’s when we really come together and we play as a team,” said Mavs player Madison Witwer.

Samaritan hosting 24th annual charity golf tournament

MOSES LAKE – Samaritan Healthcare Foundation is hosting its 24th annual Desert Golf Classic charity golf tournament tomorrow with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. at the Links at Moses Pointe golf course.

Lions take a road loss against Odessa

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Christian Covenant School Lions volleyball team fell on the road in their season opener Tuesday evening against Odessa with a final score of 1-3.

Huskies roll ahead of Ellensburg to start season

OTHELLO – The Othello Huskies made a strong start to their season after earning a 49-0 win on the road over Ellensburg Saturday evening. “We’re senior-dominated, we have guys with a lot of experience,” said Huskies defensive coach Kevin Hale. “We have all-state quality guys at certain positions, so we expected to do well, and we did on both sides of the ball.”

Basin teams compete at Ellensburg Invitational

ELLENSBURG — The Ephrata Tigers, Othello Huskies, Royal Knights, Wahluke Warriors and Warden Cougars cross country teams all travelled to Irene Rhineheart Park in Ellensburg Saturday morning to compete in an Invitational Relay event. “The Ellensburg Relay provides a great opening race for the season,” said Tigers coach Lyndsy Roberts. “The coed relay feature helps build team chemistry and the distance of 1.5 miles gives athletes a chance to race fast over a manageable distance. The knee-deep water feature also brings an exciting and memorable moment.” The event featured an individual race as well as a team race where both boys and girls ran together. Ephrata and Othello were two of the top teams in the boys individual race one, with the Tigers taking second and the Huskies taking fourth. Ephrata and Royal also made the leaderboard in the girls relay with the Tigers taking ninth and the Knights taking 13th.

Huskies volleyball enters season with renewed confidence

OTHELLO – The Othello Huskies volleyball team is aiming to rebound this season after finishing 2-15 last year and falling out of the district tournament in the first round. “I think it was a lot of young people, and it was kind of just something to adjust to,” said Huskies’ senior Abbie Douglas.

Warden starts season with 32-13 win

WARDEN – The Warden Cougars football team started their season off strong with a 32-13 victory over Medical Lake as they push to solidify themselves as a top contender in the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference. “It was pretty good,” said Cougars running back Danny Martinez. “First half blocks were settling in kind of flaky, but by the second half they actually got good blocks they got a good hold and actually earned some yards.”

A young Lions team rallies around their junior and senior leaders

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Christian Covenant School Lions volleyball team is preparing themselves for another deep run in the postseason this year after ending the previous season 12-6 record and making a deep run at districts. “Last season I thought was pretty good,” said Head Coach Dean Spurbeck. “We didn’t quite make it to state, (but) they continued to get better.”

Tigers’ cross country ready to compete at state level

EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers Cross Country team is preparing for another year of competition after finding success last season but just missing out on the state tournament. “This year we’re looking to go for some redemption to earn a state spot,” said Tigers Head Coach Lyndsey Roberts. “We’ve got most of our runners returning and we’re really excited about the potential.” Last year, the boys team finished second in the Central Washington Athletic Conference and qualified for state, but missed out on the championship by a few points, said Roberts. The girls team was in the middle of the league, but had strong front-runners, including Abigail Chamberlain, Savannah Harper and Hannah Malone.

Warden volleyball works to repeat past success under new head coach

WARDEN – The Warden Cougars volleyball team is tracking another run at the state tourney this year with new head coach Katie Roylance leading the team. The coach wants to maintain a winning culture this season. “You have those returning players who know where that expectation is and I’m probably just going to bump that bar up just a little bit and just try and hold that expectation,” said Roylance.

Eagles volleyball boasts strong senior class

SOAP LAKE – The Soap Lake Eagles are preparing for another successful season after finishing the last season 16-5 and earning second in districts and making the second round of the state tourney. “Last season was probably our best season since I’ve been coaching,” said Eagles Head Coach Niki Noble. “I was really proud of the girls for how hard they worked.”

Huskies look for success with a younger team

OTHELLO – The Othello Huskies girls soccer team ended their last season with a record of 6-9-2, which qualified them for districts, but they were eliminated in the first round. This year the team has a younger roster, but hopes for a deeper postseason run. “Last year we were a young team and it kind of showed when we went into playoff play,” said Huskies head coach Victor Quiroz. “We had a good regular season, but we were knocked out in the first round of playoffs.” The Huskies graduated nine seniors from the team in the offseason, which were complemented by the seven freshmen who were on the team last year. This year’s team is returning fewer seniors, with a roster heavy in underclassmen.

Cougars soccer aims high with senior leadership

WARDEN – The Warden Cougars girls soccer team is returning to the field for the Fall season with aspirations to build off what they accomplished last season. “It was a good season, we didn’t make it to finals, but we played hard,” said head coach Barbara Landeros. “We had a lot of new girls coming from middle school, so we had a strong team. There was a lot of learning and fun experiences throughout the season.”

Friday jamboree helps area teams finalize strategies

EPHRATA – The Ephrata Tigers hosted a jamboree Friday afternoon to kick off the football season. The Tigers were joined by the Moses Lake Mavericks, the Royal City Knights and Wenatchee High Panthers. “I think it just kind of gives that little taste of competition against that other team where then you can’t wait to play that next game,” said Tigers head coach Patrick Mitchell.

Cougars rally behind new coach ahead of fall season

WARDEN — The Warden Cougars are striving to go above and beyond this season and bring up a new love for football in the community. “I’m ready to get some dubs, have some good times with my teammates and make lots of memories,” said junior Kameron Jensen, Cougars quarterback. For senior tight end Hunter Golladay, this season will be about returning to full swing following an injury that took him out of the final three weeks last season. He said that he broke his kneecap and irritated an old tear in his meniscus and made a full recovery in the spring, just in time to prepare for the fall season.

Huskies aim for a state championship title

OTHELLO — The Othello Huskies return to football again following their success last season. Last year the Huskies finished the season with a 9-2 overall record and made the state tournament. “It sounds cliché, but there was quite a bit of adversity with our starting quarterback going down and other injuries,” said Huskies Defensive Coach Kevin Hale. “The kids managed to fight through it; it could have been a situation where they could have easily folded, but that didn't happen, and we made the state playoffs.”

Lions look forward to increased roster for ’25-26 season

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School Lions are preparing for the upcoming football season with high expectations as they enter their third year of the school’s football program. “We have most of our team back, only lost a few seniors, so looking to build our team chemistry and do good this year,” said Johnathan Ferguson, Lions quarterback. Athletic Director and Head Coach Josh Kast said the team ended its previous season 5-5, earned second in the Central Washington 1B league, and played in the state tournament. “(We) ended up having a tough matchup first round,” Kast said. “We got beat up pretty good over against Naselle in the playoffs.

Eagles set sights on state

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Eagles are preparing to come back into this season after ending last year with a 5-4 record and being two points away from making the state playoffs. “(We) had a couple of costly fumbles in a couple of different games,” said Eagles Head Coach Garrett Devine. “We were right there, but the top three from our league go to state and we ended up fourth.”

Tigers enter 4th year under Coach Mitchell

EPHRATA — The Ephrata Tigers are returning to the field for the 2025 season with a sense of confidence. They ended their previous season with a 5-5 record and plan to improve that record and make a deep playoff run. “We had a few key players leave last year, but I think we’re able to bounce right back just with the guys that played not as much,” said Tigers quarterback Brady Hendrick. “I think everyone on the team is ready to go.” Hendrick is one of the seniors with the Tigers this season and is coming into his third year starting. He said that during just the first few days of practice, he is starting to see strong chemistry between each of the players, where they’re building a tight friend group on a senior-heavy team.

QUINCY MAYORAL RACE: Candidate Q&A

QUINCY — The Quincy Mayoral Race consists of candidates, incumbent Paul Worley and Manny Rodriguez. Both candidates were given the same deadline and set of questions, that they answered as follows. Q: Data Centers and food processing are the two major industries that we see in Quincy. What diversification of the city’s economy would you like to see and how would you go about making that happen? Worley: I would like to see all types of businesses come to Quincy. Motels, fruit and vegetable processors, industries, retail stores like Target, and various types of sit-down restaurants. We will continue working with the Port District, Chamber of Commerce, along with the School, Hospital, and Fire Districts to make Quincy an inviting place to attract businesses for our citizens to enjoy.