JOEL MARTIN

Veggies the focus of April gardening symposium

MOSES LAKE — Vegetables will be the main topic of discussion at this year’s Eco-Gardening Symposium April 18.

Cellarbration! For Education coming March 21

MOSES LAKE — Tickets were still available Wednesday for Cellarbration! for Education, the Big Bend Community College Foundation’s annual fundraising auction and banquet.

Home & Garden Show returns next weekend

MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Home and Garden Show will kick off the spring season Feb. 27-28. “We have a lot of new vendors this year,” said coordinator Katie Villegas. “We’ve got some from Moses Lake, and some from the Tri-Cities are coming up. I think we have a few coming down from Wenatchee. So, the spread is a lot more diverse.” Last year’s show brought more than 2500 attendees over its two-day period, Villegas said.

BASIN EVENTS: Feb. 20-28, 2026

COLUMBIA BASIN — We’re rounding out February in the Basin with lots of fun things to do. Here are a few.

Ladies Night Out

Downtown Moses Lake event draws shoppers, supports local fun

MOSES LAKE — Woman of all ages enjoyed a night of shopping and socializing, at the Downtown Moses Lake Association’s inaugural Ladies Night Out Feb. 12.

CBAA seeks music teachers for local directory

MOSES LAKE — Young musicians need good teachers, and sometimes those can be difficult to find. A Moses Lake High School senior has created a way to connect students with the instruction they need.

Ski season not over yet

Area resorts excited as new snowfall brings out crowds

MOSES LAKE — This hasn’t been our snowiest winter, but ski resorts in the region got a late-season boost this week with a sudden snowfall, just in time for the three-day Presidents Day weekend.

Potato Days

Fifth-graders get a glimpse of CBTECH programs

MOSES LAKE — Sometimes, learning physics and chemistry means making a few hash browns. “(My students) have made, how do I want to say it? Launching devices,” said Christine Armstrong, career and tech education director at the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center. “They have targets out there and if (the fifth graders) hit the targets they win prizes. And they love it.” The occasion was Potato Days, a chance for fifth-grade students across the service area to tour CBTECH and see what opportunities are available to them there when they get older. This year CBTECH hosted three groups of 250 fifth graders over the course of three days, to keep the numbers manageable.

Digging deep: Family roots are easy to find at the FamilySearch Center

MOSES LAKE — Figuring out family roots and heritage can be a daunting task, but there is help out there for those looking to see where their families came from and what legacy they can try to maintain for them and their kin. The task used to be more difficult than it is now.

Homes for Heroes would give homeownership help where it’s needed

OLYMPIA — A bill before the Washington Legislature could make it easier to house people who make a big difference on a small paycheck.

BASIN EVENTS: Feb. 13-21

COLUMBIA BASIN — Winter’s not over yet, but you can almost see spring from here. Here are a few ways to get out and about this week in the Basin.

Miyo Koba loved her garden to the end

MOSES LAKE — Miyo Koba’s yard and garden were her pride and joy.

Lawmakers hear testimony on Truth in Mental Health Coverage Act

OLYMPIA — A bill to streamline access to mental health has been introduced in this year’s session of the Washington Legislature.

14 Basin firefighters complete fire academy training

QUINCY — Fourteen firefighters from Quincy, Mattawa, Soap Lake, Ephrata and Royal Slope completed the Columbia River Fire Academy last week, according to an announcement from Grant County Fire District 3, which hosted the training at the George Fire Station.

No injuries in Moses Lake car fire Monday

MOSES LAKE — A vehicle fire slowed, but didn’t stop, the line of parents dropping off students at Columbia Middle School Monday morning. Nobody was hurt in the incident, according to City of Moses Lake Communications and Marketing Specialist Lynne Lynch. At about 8:20 a.m., a car on Nelson Road across from the school caught fire, Lynch wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. The cause is believed to have been an electrical problem in the rear of the vehicle. No further information was available Monday afternoon.

Country Sweethearts raises money for cancer fighters

MOSES LAKE — It’s a rare person who hasn’t been touched by cancer one way or another, said Jay Ballinger, who delivered the blessing before the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation’s Country Sweethearts banquet and auction Saturday. He asked each person in the room to call to mind someone affected by the disease – a survivor, a passed loved one, a caregiver, a health care worker – and take 30 seconds of silence to think about or pray for those people. “We are going to assail the gates of heaven tonight with prayers for every single person that 580 of us can think of,” Ballinger, a cancer survivor and former CBCF board member, said. “If you let me round that up to 600 and we do 30 seconds, that’s 300 minutes. That’s five hours of prayer.”

McFadden Family Motors cuts the ribbon on new lot

MOSES LAKE — The little lot on Broadway in Moses Lake is again full of cars. Owner RJ McFadden officially cut the ribbon on McFadden Family Motors Wednesday afternoon.

Nonprofit tackles starter home costs

SEATTLE — A new partnership between the private and public sectors could make owning their first home attainable for more Washington families.

'$28K in 28 Days'

His Helping Hands, CB Foundation ask for last bit of help building kitchen

EPHRATA — For $28, you can buy a couple days’ worth of groceries, two or three fast food lunches or maybe a respectable bottle of wine. But if 1,000 people chip in $28, His Helping Hands can have its own kitchen.

Shakespeare goes bonkers

Masquers production fits all of his plays into one comedy

SOAP LAKE — Thirty-seven plays. That’s how many William Shakespeare wrote in his career. And every one of those will be on the Masquers stage next week. “We take all of Shakespeare’s plays – tragedies, comedies, histories – and mash them all into a little under two hours,” said Adam Zaleski, who’s directing “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again],” opening Feb. 13. “It’s a real blast. It’s a lot of fast acting.”

BASIN EVENTS: Feb. 6-14, 2026

COLUMBIA BASIN — Valentine’s Day is coming up, and whether you celebrate with a sweetie, hang with some friends or just sail solo, there’s something for everybody happening this week.

Home values fluctuate year-over-year across Basin

MOSES LAKE — Home prices were up in three Basin communities in December from a year earlier, according to real estate website Redfin. Moses Lake’s median home price was just over $366,000 in December 2025, an increase of 8.7% from December 2024, according to Redfin. Ephrata’s median home price was $347,000, an increase of 3.6%, and Mattawa’s median was $348,000, up by 2.4%.

Soap Lake Food Bank volunteering a rewarding experience

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Food Bank is only open for five and a half hours, one day a week, but it stays pretty busy during that time. “We average about 230, 240 (families) month in, month out,” said volunteer Fred Wright. “(There were) 350 for Thanksgiving, 300 for Christmas and New Year’s.”

Washington students work for state cactus

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Legislature started the session with a prickly subject. “Sometimes folks think Olympia is all about the thorny issues but today was about celebrating some pretty sharp kids,” Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, wrote in a Jan. 28 announcement about the passing of Senate Bill 5325, designating Pediocactus nigrispinus – also called the Columbia Plateau cactus, the basalt cactus or snowball cactus – as Washington’s very own state cactus. The process began last year, when about 10 students at the Discovery Lab in Ellensburg were learning about the environment they live in. “A couple of years ago we started a project about the shrub-steppe, which is the sagebrush ecosystem,” said their teacher, Brooklynn Edgar. “And we just really fell in love with a lot of the animals of that habitat. We wanted to bring more attention to it because one of the biggest threats to those animals in the shrub-steppe is fragmentation.”

Numerica scholarships open for applications

MOSES LAKE — Numerica Credit Union is accepting applications for its 2026 scholarships. “On Feb. 2, we opened up what is called our ‘$tarting Off Right Scholarships,’” said Financial Engagement Manager Jon Maroni. “We’re offering 16 scholarships (for) $1,250 apiece.” The scholarships are open to high school seniors who will graduate this year, according to Numerica’s website. The Numerica scholarship is need-based and differs from some other scholarships in that a student’s grades aren’t a factor, Maroni said.

Numerica Credit Union returning to Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — After 14 years, Numerica is coming back to Moses Lake. “We have a great foundation of membership in Moses Lake from when we previously had brick and mortar there,” said Amanda Swan, vice president of community impact and communications.” Numerica Credit Union, based in Spokane Valley, expects to open a branch in Moses Lake in September, according to a statement from the credit union. Numerica closed its branch in Moses Lake in September 2012, according to Columbia Basin Herald archives, partly because members were becoming more tech-savvy.

SENIOR EVENTS: February 2026

COLUMBIA BASIN — Shake the chill out of your bones and head out this month for auctions, free movie screenings and more. Here are some things happening for seniors this month in the Basin.

Sometimes, dementia care is best done by professionals

MOSES LAKE — Dementia is hard on the person suffering from it, but those who care for them have a tough row to hoe as well, said Karisti Cox, living sales specialist at Brookdale Hearthstone and a volunteer with the Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

New doc in town

Dr. Nicholas Smith takes over Moses Lake Family Dentistry

MOSES LAKE — The name on the sign will be different, but there’s a new hand on the wheel at Moses Lake Family Dentistry. After almost 30 years, Dr. Craig Harder has hung up the drill for good. Dr. Nicholas Smith officially took the reins Jan. 9. “We’ve got a great guy who’s going to continue the tradition and take good care of people,” Harder said.

BASIN EVENTS: February 2026

COLUMBIA BASIN — We’re swinging into February with lots to do in the Basin. Here’s a little of what’s happening this month.

WA-OR Potato conference draws record crowd

KENNEWICK — Potatoes took center stage last week in the Tri-Cities “I want to welcome you to the largest potato conference in North America,” Washington Potato Commission Executive Director Chris Voigt told attendees at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference Wednesday. “Last year we had over 3,000 attendees. This morning, I checked and we have about 260 more to break our record.”

Multi-family properties sell a little differently from single-family homes

MOSES LAKE — Buying and selling one home is complicated enough. But when the property comprises five or 10 or 20 homes, that’s a little different “It takes the right buyer and the right timing,” said Blake Rollins, owner of Nest Realty, who had several multi-family properties listed at Realtor.com on Wednesday.

Robo champions

Royal Middle School team takes championship, advance to world competition

ROYAL CITY — Students from Royal School District brought home some honors from the First Lego League state robotics competition Saturday in Spokane. Royal Intermediate School’s Mayan Memers earned a trophy for designing an archaeological research station, and the Tomb Raiders, Royal Middle School’s team, excelled in both robotics and innovation, garnering the championship for eastern Washington. The theme for this year is archaeology, and 25 teams from across the brown side of the state competed.

Mayan Memers earn honors

ROYAL CITY — The Mayan Memers, made up of fourth- through sixth graders, won second place for core values – sportsmanship, teamwork and things like that – at the regional competition, then won at state for their innovation project. The students designed a self-sufficient modular research station equipped with LIDAR drones so local indigenous people in the Mexican and Guatemalan jungle can lead the research into their own history

Moses Lake students stage walkout to protest ICE

MOSES LAKE — About 80 students walked out of Moses Lake High School and Vanguard Academy Tuesday afternoon to protest actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The students took up signs and demonstrated at the intersection of East Nelson Road and South Pioneer Way.

Ephrata CAP instructor honored for more than half a century of safety

EPHRATA — Roger Patry has logged more than 23,000 hours of flight time since 1970. That’s more than two and a half years of his life spent in the sky. “Look at … all the things he got to see and experience, from implementation of the Jet Age, space travel, navigation technology advances from radio navigation to satellite,” Federal Aviation Agency safety program manager Robert Tickner said.

Sponsoring dreams

Columbia Basin Foundation scholarships help locals support students

EPHRATA — June seems like a long time away now, but before we know it, students will be graduating and heading off to further their education. For those who will need a little extra financial boost, now is the time to start filling out those scholarship applications.

Moses Lake man jailed after long high-speed pursuit

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man is in custody after a high-speed chase Friday morning, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Church volunteers keep Warden Food Bank going

WARDEN — Keeping the Warden Food Bank running is a group effort. Three groups, in fact. The food bank is the joint project of three local churches: Warden Community Church, Queen of All Saints Catholic Church and Life 3:16, formerly the Warden Assembly of God. The congregations rotate each month, supplying volunteers.

The Magnesium Shoppe offers mineral-rich relief for pain and stress

MOSES LAKE — Most people don’t think a whole lot about magnesium, even though it’s a mineral our bodies need to function. But a new shop in downtown Moses Lake aims to remedy that. “It’s the most important mineral in our lives,” said Amy Winter, owner of The Magnesium Shoppe. Winter formerly sold magnesium products as part of her business, Seeds ‘n Stone, which closed last spring. She reopened last week in a new location focusing specifically on magnesium. The website and social media pages are still under Seeds ‘n Stone, because of difficulty changing them over, she said.

BASIN EVENTS: Jan. 23-31, 2026

COLUMBIA BASIN — The weather might be chilly and gray, but there are still things to do to break up the winter doldrums. Here are a few ideas for this week.

Fixing problems

Habitat for Humanity’s Brush with Kindness helps with needed home repairs

MOSES LAKE — Habitat for Humanity is known for building new homes, but last year the Moses Lake chapter focused instead on repairing existing ones. It was so successful they’re doing it again this year. “We’re still on the fence on whether or not we’re going to build,” said Habitat for Humanity of Greater Moses Lake Executive Director Rebecca Mabius. “We want to build, because building homes is one of our main missions. But the home repair program allows for individuals to stay in their home. We’re able to help more families than just a single family.”

St. Rose to include middle school next year

EPHRATA — St. Rose of Lima Catholic School is expanding to include middle school. The program, called St. Rose Preparatory, will hold its first classes this fall. It’s been a long time coming, said St. Rose Principal Amy Krautscheid. “We tried to do this about 15 years ago,” Krautscheid said, “We didn’t have the interest and the numbers, and everything kept shutting down, and we just figured it wasn’t God’s will. So we tabled it.” Krautscheid retired for a few years and returned four years ago, she said, and found things had changed.

Moses Lake YMCA project takes step forward

MOSES LAKE — The dream of a YMCA in Moses Lake is a little closer to reality. “The YMCA ... report has been funded,” said Teresa Fields, who’s been spearheading the effort to bring a Y to town. “Now we wait 90 days and see from there whether an actual YMCA building is sustainable.” The push for a YMCA began last spring, when Fields and some other community members met with Dorry Foster, CEO of Wenatchee Valley YMCA, to explore the possibility of a branch location in the Moses Lake area. The first step was to fund a study by an outside company to determine whether the community could support a YMCA. That study was going to cost about $20,000, Fields said. But another company could do the same study for about $10,000, she said. As of last week, that money had been collected and the study commissioned.

'Cafe Murder'

Dinner theater comedy draws audience into mystery

MOSES LAKE — The audience plays detective at “Cafe Murder,” taking the stage Friday and Saturday in Moses Lake. “Cafe Murder,” a collaboration between Columbia Basin Allied Arts and Sunshine Performing Arts, is a dinner theater production in which guests enjoy a meal and a mystery play and then solve the mystery themselves over dessert. “Dinner theater is basically the great American pastime for the arts,” CBAA Executive Director Shawn Cardwell wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “It’s being offered in towns all around us, but not here in Grant County, so we thought, ‘Let’s do it!’”

Locals compete in Dancing with the Moses Lake Stars

MOSES LAKE — Volunteer firefighter Brian McGowan took home the coveted mirrored ball trophy at Saturday night’s Dancing with the Moses Lake Stars. “This has been a life goal,” McGowan said. “Definitely, since I was a little kid, this has been a dream of mine.”

Handbell choir keeps up ringing tradition at Othello church

OTHELLO — It’s difficult enough for a director to keep musicians in line when they’re all playing at the same time. But when members take turns with just one or two notes each, well, then it gets complicated.

Chicken-themed show opens at Up Town Art Gallery

MOSES LAKE — A whole flock of artists contributed to The Chicken Show at Up Town Gallery in Moses Lake Friday. “We have over 40 entries, from as far away as Colfax,” said Up Town Gallery co-owner Judy Kalin.

Stalking Awareness Month highlights a dangerous form of abuse

MOSES LAKE — January is Stalking Awareness Month and those who work with victims want people to know that it is a serious issue and there is help available. “Stalking is usually a factor in a domestic violence victim’s experience,” said Abraham Tapia, a legal and community advocate with New Hope, which provides domestic violence support in Grant and Adams counties. “Following them around town, trying to access their social media.” The month is meant to draw attention to an especially dangerous form of abuse. One out of three women in the U.S. will experience stalking at some point in their lives, according to statistics from the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, & Resource Center, and one in six men. More than a third of stalking cases involve a current or former intimate partner.

Soap Lake Library, Creative District hold crowdsourced art show

SOAP LAKE — Artists who like to think small are invited to show their stuff at the Six by Six Community Art Show. The show, a collaboration between the Soap Lake Creative District, will feature handmade wall art no more than six inches by six inches, submitted by local artists and displayed at the Soap Lake Public Library. “We have a very limited space in the library, because we’ll be bringing in extra hardware to display these items,” said Branch Librarian Evynn Olson. “It’s kind of a creative challenge.”