CHERYL SCHWEIZER

QVMC design coming in early May

QUINCY — Details of the design for the new Quincy Valley Medical Center are starting to take shape. Architects and construction experts are still working to nail down costs, said Joe Kunkel, the consultant working with QVMC on the project...

Family flowers

Sisters keep Quincy business in the family while making it their own

QUINCY — Looking over the options, Ashley Ko knew immediately there was one that wouldn’t do. Ko, co-owner of the Flower Basket in Quincy, had an arrangement for a client in mind as she checked the flowers being delivered. “Mmmmm, they’re not going to like the yellow,” she said. Ko and her sister Kristin Mead know their customers and their business - their mom Sue Stetner opened the Flower Basket at its current location, 109 F St. SE, about 20 years ago. Sue Stetner had been working in the flower shop for about 20 years prior to purchasing it, Mead said. The sisters bought it from their mom after she talked about selling it, and they weren’t sure they wanted it to be sold outside the family. “This is our sixth year that we have been doing it together,” Ko said...

Quincy roundabout construction starts Monday

Delays expected to last until mid-July at the intersection of White Trail Road and S.R. 28

QUINCY — White Trail Road will be closed at its intersection with State Route 28 about eight miles west of Quincy, beginning today. Construction crews will be installing a roundabout at the intersection. The new roundabout will be a single lane in each direction, while the total project cost was estimated at about $2.8 million. Miguel Castillo of WSDOT, the project engineer, said SR 28 will be what he called the “preferred route” during construction.

Quincy school district awards district office remodeling contract

QUINCY — Construction is scheduled to begin April 3 on a project to remodel the old Quincy High Tech High building into the new Quincy School District office...

Samaritan submits revised construction budget to USDA

MOSES LAKE — Substantial increases in projected construction costs prompted Samaritan Healthcare officials to submit a revised budget to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the proposed new Samaritan Hospital. Samaritan board members voted 5-0 to approve the resolution revising the project budget for the USDA. Samaritan CEO Theresa Sullivan said the updated budget proposal was requested by USDA officials...

Bird fanatics

Sandhill Crane Festival draws full house

OTHELLO — Sandhill cranes have a special meaning for Debb Reiley. Reiley lives in Seattle now but spent 30 years in Alaska, the summer range for sandhill cranes. “The sandhill cranes would land by my house,” she said. The flocks would take flight early in the morning. “I would wake up, listen to them go overhead.” ...

Othello High drumline competes

OTHELLO — The Othello High School drumline isn’t an easy gig. Freshman Martin Marroquin admitted he thought it over for a while before joining. “A friend of mine (said), ‘Hey, you should do drumline.’ And I said, ‘No, I kind of don’t want to do drumline,’” Marroquin said...

Road improvements?

Grant officials consider road improvement districts

EPHRATA — Grant County officials are looking at the possibility of residents using a long-existing state law to facilitate the development of roads in unincorporated areas. Grant County Engineer David Bren explained the concept of a “road improvement district” to commissioners last week. Bren said in a separate interview that the idea is to allow neighborhoods to work with county officials to improve a road, and set up the mechanism to pay for it...

Quincy annexes industrial property

QUINCY — The Quincy city limits have been extended to the east following the annexation of about 150 acres approved by the Quincy City Council on March 21. Municipal Services Director Carl Worley wrote the property is zoned industrial. Council members voted unanimously in favor of the annexation. The property is east of the previous city limits at Road O NW, south of Road 11 NW and extends to Adams Road North. A portion of the property, about 75 acres, is owned by Michael and Martha Rodgers. The other section, also about 75 acres, is owned by Daniel Blain...

A song for the school board

Marmee (Ella Beck), center, gives Meg (Evan Arledge), right, some advice on going to a ball while Beth (Calissa Dalton) listens with interest. The cast of the Moses Lake High School production of “Little Women” performed a song from the show at the Moses Lake School Board meeting Thursday.

Good time, lasting benefits goal of Youth Outdoors Unlimited

MOSES LAKE — Fishing guide Marc Bush said Youth Outdoors Unlimited fishing and hunting trips are designed to make sure the young people have a good time, but that the guides might have an even better time. ..

Upgrades coming to Grant fairgrounds

MOSES LAKE — Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-April for a project to expand the number of horse stalls at the Grant County Fairgrounds. It’s part of an overall plan for improvements throughout the fairgrounds, which include construction of additional storage and a new bathroom in the commercial building...

Quincy B Street Market organizers look for aid

QUINCY — Current Quincy B Street Market manager Chelsea Putnam said the town’s street market will be open for summer 2023. However, Putnam said founders are looking for people to take over its operation to ensure it stays open in summers to come. Putnam is one of four people on the market’s board, and all of whom, she said Wednesday, are looking at moving on. “All of us are kind of being directed on different paths, for one reason or another,” she said...

Othello musicians prep for competition

OTHELLO — Othello High School junior Rachel Bates practices with the OHS drumline Tuesday prior to the group’s regional competition Saturday in Portland. The drumline’s entry into the Winter Guard International competition is titled “Eruption” and tells the story of ancient tropical legends.

Othello Sandhill Crane Festival returns for 25th year

OTHELLO — All things natural, from animals to plants to geology, will be the subject of lectures, tours, hikes and workshops at the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival scheduled for Friday through Sunday. This is the festival’s 25th anniversary. Sandhill cranes are the annual visitors and the focus, but the tours and lectures also feature other birds and animals from wolves to burrowing owls, as well as geological phenomena, conservation, and even the physical and mental benefits of getting outdoors...

Othello woman sentenced to federal prison in connection with stolen firearms

OTHELLO — An Othello woman was sentenced to almost four years in federal prison Monday after pleading guilty to helping a co-defendant sell stolen firearms. One of the guns was used in the fatal shooting of a child in Othello in February 2021, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington. Alondra Yaniz, 25, was sentenced to 46 months in prison, the release said. She pleaded guilty on Dec. 14 to being a felon in possession of firearms. Yaniz was sentenced in Adams County Superior Court to one year for second-degree theft in connection with the same case. That sentence will be served consecutively. According to U.S. District Court documents, Yaniz advertised guns for sale on social media in late February 2021. The guns had been stolen; Yaniz’s co-defendant, Guillermo Valdez, broke into a Spokane-area home on Feb. 24, 2021, and stole 11 guns. One of the guns was sold to an Othello man who shot and killed his four-year-old child on Feb. 27, 2021...

Former counselor files lawsuit against MLSD

MOSES LAKE — A former Moses Lake School District counselor has filed suit against the school district alleging discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination following what she alleges was a demotion and involuntary transfer. Dana Santos also named former MLSD administrator Dave Balcom and Columbia Middle School assistant principal Michael Nordsten as individuals in the suit. The lawsuit was filed in Grant County Superior Court March 13...

Pioneering espresso stand still brewing strong in Othello

OTHELLO — Kelly Carvo said her husband Kevin was skeptical when she told him she wanted to open a drive-thru espresso stand. After all, espresso stands weren’t as popular and widespread in 2001. “We went back and forth for five years. And he kept telling me, ‘It’s a fad, it’s going to go away,’” she said. “I wanted to do it for so long.”

Development, housing to be subject of Mattawa workshop

MATTAWA — Mattawa residents are being invited to review some of the ideas for regulating development and adding housing at a workshop scheduled for 6 p.m. March 30 at the Mattawa City Hall, 521 Government Rd. Spanish translation will be provided.

Quincy School Board recognizes Siebert

QUINCY — Quincy School Board chair Chris Baumgartner, right, presents a plaque of appreciation to recently retired Quincy Police Department Chief Kieth Siebert at Tuesday’s board meeting. Board members recognized Siebert for his willingness, and that of QPD officers, to work with school officials. “You hear the phrase ‘community policing’ a lot nationally,” said Quincy Superintendent Nik Bergman. And when it heard it described, it was like, ‘Well, that’s exactly what the Quincy Police Department does.’”

Summer fixes

Quincy School District schedules summer remodeling projects

QUINCY — Quincy School District officials will remodel the former High Tech High building into a new district office this summer, among other projects, at an estimated cost of about $842,000. Quincy School Board members reviewed the list of construction projects and how district officials will pay for them at the regular meeting Tuesday...

Murals depict Quincy history

QUINCY — Drivers poking around Quincy will spot them from the street, here and there around town – harvesting wheat here, posing for a team picture over there. They are a record of Quincy history, dating back to the town’s founding. Harriet Weber, director of the Quincy Valley Historical Society and Museum, wrote the murals are the result of a project undertaken by artists from local schools and the youth group from the Quincy-area Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Scott Lybbert was the project director, Weber wrote. “They used an overhead projector in the dark, with paint brushes in a ‘dab-on’ style, similar to pointillism,” Weber wrote in response to a question from the Herald. The sepia tones are designed to give the impression of old-school photography, she said.

Safety concern: Adams Co. Jail in need of repairs, staffing to reopen

RITZVILLE — Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner said the situation facing Adams County in its efforts to reopen and maintain the county jail is not unique. “There are a couple of sheriffs who called me (recently) and said, ‘How did you shut your jail down? Because we can’t do it right now.’ Everybody is dealing with it,” he said...

Hi Tide to perform in concert April 3

MOSES LAKE — The sounds of the Caribbean will be coming to the stage at the Wallenstien Performing Arts Center; the Cayman Islands duo Hi Tide will perform in concert at 7 p.m. April 3. The concert is sponsored by the Central Basin Community Concert Association...

‘A director is a teacher’

Working with actors is crucial to success in directing, Cheri Barbre says

SOAP LAKE — For Cheri Barbre, the play’s the thing. Barbre is the artistic director of Masquers Theater, an actor and director with the troupe for more than 20 years. But her involvement with the theater dates back to her days at Ephrata High School. “Last time I counted, it was 60 plays total. That’s everything, directing and acting,” she said...

Mattawa man dies in trailer fire

MATTAWA — A Mattawa man died when the travel trailer he was living in caught fire late Saturday night. Juan Castaneda, 39, was pronounced dead at the scene of the fire in the 21000 block of Road 24.7 SW, according to a press release from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The fire was reported at about 10:30 p.m. ...

Othello roundabout construction rescheduled

OTHELLO — Construction of a roundabout at Cunningham Road and State Route 17 in Othello, originally scheduled for 2023, has been delayed to 2024 or 2025. Lauren Loebsack, North Central region communications manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation, wrote that the project is in the design phase in 2023. “We are working on 60% design this spring,” Loebsack wrote in response to an email from the Herald...

Quincy Valley Medical Center bonds issued

QUINCY — Property owners in Grant County Hospital District 2 will be paying a little less than first projected for the construction bonds to build the new Quincy Valley Medical Center. Property owners will be paying an estimated 39 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, down nine cents from the original projection.

Cafeteria patrol

Police officers and firefighters visit Groff Elementary Wednesday to connect with students.

MOSES LAKE — Chocolate milk on cereal? Officer Campbell was skeptical. Moses Lake Police Department Officer Ian Campbell was having breakfast with students at Groff Elementary Wednesday, and one of his breakfast buddies insisted that chocolate milk was the best option for cereal. Campbell said he didn’t know about that, but he did concede chocolate milk might make more sense on chocolate cereal. “Chocolate milk would make it double chocolate,” he said...

ML school board mulls design for new school

MOSES LAKE — The 12th Moses Lake School District elementary school will be located in Mae Valley and will resemble Groff Elementary but will cost more. A schematic design of the proposed school was presented to the Moses Lake School Board at its regular meeting Thursday. Matt Whitish of Design West, the principal architect on the project, estimated the current cost at about $33.9 million if district officials decide to implement some of the changes suggested by staff to the existing Groff Elementary design. There’s also an option to add eight classrooms. If district officials decide to do that, Whitish said, the construction estimate is about $38.5 million.

Registration open for Ephrata business expo

EPHRATA — Registration is open through March 20 for the Business After Hours Business Expo, scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. April 12 at the Ephrata Recreation Center, 112 Basin St. The expo is sponsored by the Ephrata Chamber of Commerce.

Green hired as chief of Quincy PD

QUINCY — Ryan Green was sworn in as the new Quincy Police Department Chief at the Quincy City Council meeting Tuesday. Green had been serving as the interim chief following the resignation of Kieth Siebert in February. Council members voted 5-0 to approve a contract with Green and appoint him as the new chief...

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...

Not spring yet

Snow showers forecast for week’s end

MOSES LAKE — The only question anybody had about the snow that fell Sunday night and Monday morning was, when was it going away? Well, there were two questions. Is it coming back? It being early March, it’s not going to stick around too long. But, said Rachael Fewkes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Spokane, said at least a little snow might be back by the end of the week, but early March is looking erratic.

Legislation would make changes to successful Quincy School District program

QUINCY — Changes may be coming to a Quincy School District program that have shown some success in getting children ready for kindergarten. Colleen Frerks, director of the district’s Whole Child program, told Quincy School Board members the Transitional Kindergarten program is for children who have had little or no access to preschool classes.

Othello girls take sixth at state tournament

YAKIMA — The Othello High School girls basketball team accepts the sixth place trophy at the WIAA 2B State Tournament Saturday. The Huskies season ended with a heartbreaking 34-32 loss to Sequim in the fourth place-sixth place game, with Sequim hitting the game-winning shot with four seconds to play. It was the first time the Huskie girls have appeared in the state tournament since 2009 and the second-highest state finish in the program’s history.

Othello takes 33-31 state playoff win

YAKIMA — The Othello Huskies used tough defense and hit a couple of critical free throws to defeat the Lynden Lions 33-31 and advance to the quarterfinals of the 2A Girls State Basketball tournament Wednesday. The Huskies took a three-point lead on a single free throw from Riley Farman with about one minute left in the game; Lynden scored to cut the lead to one. A free throw from Annalee Coronado put Othello up by two with eight seconds left. A Lynden shot at the buzzer fell short. It was the first time the Othello girls basketball team has won a game at the Sundome since 2009, and Othello Coach Adolfo Coronado took a moment to appreciate it.

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...

‘Beauty and the Beast’ opens Friday at Quincy High

QUINCY — A classic tale of love, sacrifice and rediscovering one’s humanity comes to the Quincy High School stage for the next two weekends.

Quincy SD board gets special guest star

QUINCY — Hailey Beegle, who plays Belle in the Quincy High School production of “Beauty and the Beast,” performs a song from the musical for Quincy School Board members Tuesday. The play opens at 7:30 p.m. in the QHS theater, 403 Jackrabbit St. NE, and runs for two weekends.

Centenarians have lots of stories to tell

MOSES LAKE — Edna Watkins, Ann Klobucher and Helen Theis have seen a lot. They were girls in grade school when the Great Depression started, in their late teens and early 20s when World War II started. They were in their late 40s when men walked on the moon and in their early 80s at the start of a new century. They’re still going, 100 years – or more –after they were born. Tice will celebrate her 100th birthday March 9; Kobucher will be 102 years old March 7 and Watkins turns 103 years of age March 3. “Gee, Mom, you’re the young ’un here,” Tice’s daughter Jackie Chmela told her when the three women and members of their families got together at Monroe House, where they live. Tice is a Spokane girl, the daughter of a farm family, she said.

Othello Chamber hosts annual awards banquet

Johnson, Kix Stand Espresso and others recognized for service excellence

OTHELLO — Ken Johnson fought back emotion as he accepted the Citizen of the Year award, and Maria Montalvo almost didn’t believe it when the presenters gave her the Civil Servant of the Year award. The Greater Othello Chamber of Commerce presented those and other awards at its annual banquet Friday. Kix Stand Espresso was named Business of the Year, with the final votes cast during the banquet. Janette Zuniga-Gomez, a teacher at Lutacaga Elementary School, was the K-5 Teacher of the Year. McFarland Middle School teacher Regina Holmes-Zamora was the 6-12 Teacher of the Year...

Warden girls take state tournament first-round win

ELLENSBURG — The Warden Cougars used defense to take their opening round game in the Class 2B girls WIAA state basketball tournament with a 61-45 win over the Adna High School Pirates Saturday at Ellensburg High School. Warden is the defending state champion in Class 2B. Warden trailed briefly early in the game, but had a 15-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game. Cougars Coach Josh Madsen said it was a good way to start the state tournament...

Good tabs

Moses Lake women collect pop tabs to support Ronald McDonald House charities

MOSES LAKE — Rebecca Camden said the donation for Spokane’s Ronald McDonald House started with a contest at an out-of-state car show. “We were at a car show in Oregon seven years ago, and the hosting club did a competition to see who could collect the most pop tabs,” Camden said...

ML School District to sponsor community forum to review strategic plan

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District patrons, staff and students will be invited to review a draft of the district’s new strategic plan. The date of the community forum will be announced. District superintendent Monty Sabin said during Thursday’s meeting of the Moses Lake School Board that the project has attracted a lot of interest.

Samaritan Healthcare finishes 2022 with a profit

December net income pulls health district out of the red.

MOSES LAKE — Thanks to a good month for revenue in December – partly due to a one-time payment – Samaritan Healthcare finished 2022 with a small profit. “We’ve been able to finish off pretty well with revenue,” Samaritan Chief Financial Officer Alex Town said. “For the year to date, we are up 7% (above the budget projection), which is pretty phenomenal for the organization.” ...

Meeting will determine what’s required to reopen Adams Co. Jail

RITZVILLE — What it will take to reopen the Adams County Jail, and how to make plans for the jail’s future, was the subject of an hour-long discussion at the Adams County Commission meeting Tuesday. “We need to start coming up with an actual game plan to address what we currently have, and what we’re going to do going forward,” Wagner said. “And it needs to be faster than slower.” The jail was closed and has been the subject of continuing discussions among the commissioners and Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner. Wagner said the jail actually has been a subject of discussion between different commissioners and three different sheriffs for over a decade, and it needs attention now...

Adams Co. economy shows signs of slowing in December

RITZVILLE — After declining for 19 consecutive months, the year-over-year unemployment rate in Adams County increased in November and December 2022. The county’s unemployment rate in December 2022 was 7.6%, up from 5.9% in December 2021. Unemployment also increased between November and December 2022. November’s unemployment rate was 4.9%...

Not spring yet

Temperatures in low teens to return this week

COLUMBIA BASIN — Spring is coming, isn’t it? After all, temperatures crept north of 50 degrees over the weekend - in fact they got close to 60 degrees. February is almost over, so that winter weather, those cold temperatures heading down toward zero, that’s all in the rear-view mirror, right? ...

Rodriguez signs with Yakima Valley Community College

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake High School soccer player Abril Rodriguez will take the field for Yakima Valley Community College next fall. Rodriguez signed a letter of intent to attend YVCC last week. “It was close to home, and the coach was very friendly. I thought we could work well together,” Rodriguez said. “And I just really liked the campus, too.”