Stamp Out Hunger coming Saturday

MOSES LAKE — Mail carriers will be picking up more than the mail this Saturday, as part of the U.S. Postal Service Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger food drive.

Royal Intermediate School welcomes new principal

ROYAL CITY — Royal Intermediate School will have a new principal next year, according to an announcement from the Royal School District. Karl Edie will take over the reins at RIS in the fall, the RSD wrote.

Faith and perseverance at the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast

MOSES LAKE — “God’s not done with you yet.” That was the theme of this year’s Moses Lake Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast Tuesday morning at Pillar Rock Grill in Moses Lake.

Carp Classic coming May 18

Annual tournament looks to put a dent in nuisance fish population

MOSES LAKE — Bowfishers in the Basin will get a chance to show their skills and help clean up the lake at the Moses Lake Carp Classic Saturday morning. This is the fifth year the tournament has been held at Moses Lake, organizer Ty Swartout said. The purpose is both to remove an invasive species from the water and to educate the public about the damage carp do in the lake by furthering the spread of blue-green algae, he said. Blue-green algae can be dangerous to humans, and parts of the lake are periodically closed to swimming and boating because of it.

Prayer space: Moses Lake’s first mosque moves into renovated church building

MOSES LAKE — The former church building at Third Avenue and Elm Street is once again a house of worship, as the Moses Lake Islamic Center. “In central Washington state there (were) only three mosques, in Yakima, Tri-Cities and Spokane,” said Abdelnasir Elmalik, one of the regular congregants at the Islamic Center. “But now we have two (more), in Wenatchee and Moses Lake.”

Local Boeing firefighters continue to picket during lockout

MOSES LAKE — Staffing, safety and pay scales are at the root of a contract impasse that’s had Boeing firefighters locked out of the company’s Moses Lake facility since Saturday. “Currently, there is no fire protection here at Grant County other than one manager that's been here since Friday,” said Daryl Gummere, business agent for IAFF Local I-66, the union representing Boeing firefighters. “They're trying to protect the plant with just one person.”

STCU coming to Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Spokane Teachers Credit Union’s Moses Lake branch should be open by fall, according to Dan Hansen, a spokesman for the credit union.

Ready to pour: Moore Brewing Company opens Tuesday

MOSES LAKE — Moore Brewing Company is ready to open its doors – and its deck, and its beer taps – to the public. “Our first thing was at Brews & Tunes (in 2022. It was super fun,” said Lorie Moore, who owns the business with her husband Chris and her father-in-law Brad. Chris’ son Zach is the brewmaster. “We were still home-brewing at the time,” said Chris.

Royal students headed to National History Day contest

ROYAL CITY — Six students will represent Royal schools at the National History Day competition in Washington D.C. next month. The six were among 33 students who participated in the state competition held in Kirkland April 27, said Royal Middle School social studies teacher Emily Ovenell, who coordinated the students’ entries. The students who placed in the top two at state were eligible for nationals, she said.

Pike named Columbia Middle School principal

MOSES LAKE — Ryan Pike will take the reins at Columbia Middle School next year, according to an announcement from the Moses Lake School District.

Filling a need: New homes coming to Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Last year, looking for a new home in Moses Lake was like a bad dream. The home construction industry was in a slump, and people who needed a place to live were out of luck. Add to that a spate of manufacturers setting up operations in town, and the crunch became even greater.

The Cost of farming: Irrigation expenses follow a unique set of rules

MOSES LAKE — When it comes to the cost of farming, irrigation – especially in the Columbia Basin – is a cost that has to be factored in and planned for with each acre having a place in the water-cost equation.

Experts give Moses Lake parents a heads-up about gangs

MOSES LAKE — Be alert – that was the message from educators and police at a parent night meeting held at the Moses Lake School District Tuesday to discuss youth gangs. “Do you know where your kid’s at?” said Shelby Jensen, school safety coordinator for Educational Service District 125, based in Tri-Cities. “Do you know who they're around? Do we make sure that we’ve got frequent bedroom checks? Are we getting up in their business?”

Ephrata Senior Center gets new wheels

EPHRATA — The Ephrata Senior Center will ride a little better now, thanks to a grant from the Paul Lauzier Foundation that bought the center a new van. The van replaces a 14-passenger bus, said center Manager Kathy Anderson.

Metal by the lake: Springfest offers hard rock and R&B lineup and family fun in the park

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Spring Festival just keeps getting bigger and bigger. “A representative from the county called us (after last year’s Springfest) and said, ‘Hey, just so you guys know, your fest is no joke.’” said Spring Festival Committee Member Lori Valdez. “They counted 57,000 attendees from Thursday to Sunday at our festival.”

Little girl, big fight

Moses Lake turns out to support 4-year-old battling cancer

MOSES LAKE — The parking lot at Third Avenue and Alder Street took on a life of its own Saturday, as businesses and volunteers turned out in support of a very sick little girl. Eleanor Marcum, who is almost 4, was diagnosed on Feb. 28 with stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma, said her mother, Nicollette Marcum. Cancer treatment doesn’t come cheap, so Christine Lus, owner of Sage Academy of Massage and Bodyworks, Enchanting Events owner Sandy Harrison and Brandi Haug, who owns Cobie’s Dry Cleaning, all got together and organized a fundraiser to help the family offset costs. “Chris is kind of like an aunt to me,” Nicollette said.

Sharing the wealth

Moses Lake gardeners gather to swap plants and ideas

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Garden Club held its annual plant swap Monday evening. “We bring all kinds of plants … and we gift our plants to each other,” said club President Valerie Parrott, who hosted the event at her business, Pieces by Parrott. “We have a bunch of brand-new gardeners that are here this year, so we planted all kinds of seeds to do starter pack gardens for them.” This was the third year the club has held the plant swap, Parrott said. About 100 people turned out Monday to exchange plants, share tips and enjoy a potluck dinner.

‘Ireland’s Greatest Showman’

David Shannon to perform in Moses Lake Sunday

MOSES LAKE — The Wallenstien Theater will ring this weekend with the voice of Irish tenor David Shannon. The concert will start at 7 p.m. Sunday evening. Sometimes billed as “Ireland’s Greatest Showman,” Shannon has a long and varied list of credits under his belt. He’s performed leading roles in productions of “Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Miserables” and “Sweeney Todd” in London’s prestigious West End theaters, according to his biography, and he was an original cast member of the London Company production of “Come From Away.” Shannon is equally at home with traditional folk music, and laces his performance with songs accompanied by the fiddle and the bodhran, a handheld drum that’s a staple of Irish tradition.

Powering affordability

OneD Battery Sciences plant almost online

MOSES LAKE — More affordable electric vehicles are on the way. That was the takeaway from a tour that OneD Battery Sciences offered to a small contingent of Moses Lake community members Thursday afternoon at the company’s SINANODE plant on Road N Northeast.

Moses Lake’s Well 20 to begin producing water

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake’s water difficulties came a little closer to being alleviated this week, according to an announcement from the city.

MLSD levy voted down for second time

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District educational programs and operations levy was voted down a second time in Tuesday’s special election. District voters rejected the levy by a vote of 3,947 against to 3,094, or 56.06% to 43.94%, according to the Grant County Auditor’s Office. That margin was even greater than the 3,758-3,611 vote that defeated the levy in the Feb. 13 election.

Play ball!

Moses Lake Youth Parade ushers in season

MOSES LAKE — Forget the flowers, the showers and the red, red robin. The true sign of spring in Moses Lake is when the youth baseball and softball season kicks into gear with the annual Moses Lake Youth Parade.

Gas leak shuts down stores, streets in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — A gas leak closed streets and caused some businesses to be evacuated Tuesday morning in Moses Lake. At just before 8 a.m., a construction crew was excavating at Penn Plaza, at North Stratford and Mart roads, when workers struck a natural gas line, according to Moses Lake Police Chief David Sands. “(It) caused a significant enough leak to spread pretty far and wide, so out of an abundance of caution we closed down the area as best we could,” Sands said.

Photographer to speak on shooting the stars

MOSES LAKE — Shooting photos of outer space will be the topic of a presentation in Moses Lake Thursday. Astrophotographer Mike Brady will discuss the techniques of capturing the night sky, the equipment needed and the processing that’s needed to make the photos clear at the Moses Lake Civic Center auditorium, starting at 6 p.m. Admission is free, but seating is limited to the first 200 attendees. Brady, who graduated from Big Bend Community College, went on to earn a degree in biology from Central Washington University, followed by a career in the army. When he retired, he taught biology at a community college in North Carolina before coming back to Columbia Basin College in Pasco, where he became the director of the observatory. That’s where he fell in love with photographing the heavens, he said.

Candidate Filing Week 2024 begins May 6

OLYMPIA — Citizens who want to run for public office in Washington will have their chance in early May, according to an announcement from the Washington Secretary of State’s office. The opportunity to declare candidacy formally for the 2024 elections opens May 6 at 8 a.m. online and at elections offices across the state, according to the announcement. Mailed declarations are being accepted now and must be received with payment no later than 5 p.m. on May 10, when filing week ends. During the May 6-10 filing period, candidacies can be declared for more than 400 federal, state, judicial, legislative, county and other offices scheduled for 2024 elections, according to the announcement. All statewide executive offices, all congressional seats, a U.S. Senate position, and the majority of state Legislature seats will be on the ballot. This year for the first time, candidates for Superior Court and all legislative districts must file with the Office of the Secretary of State, which can be done via the office’s website, by mail, or in person.

Spring cleanups planned for Moses Lake Saturday

MOSES LAKE — The Downtown Moses Lake Association is looking for volunteers to help with its annual spring cleanup Saturday, according to Executive Director Mallory Miller.

Care Moses Lake honored

OLYMPIA — Serve Washington has selected Care Moses Lake as the recipient of a 2024 Washington State Volunteer Service Award for the state’s north central region, according to an announcement from Serve Washington.

OneD to hold thank-you event Thursday

MOSES LAKE — OneD Battery Sciences will show off its Moses Lake facility in a pilot manufacturing event Thursday, according to an announcement from the company.

A look at teff

Tiny grain could be headed for big things

MOSES LAKE — Teff may only be grown on a few farms in the Pacific Northwest, but it’s a grain a lot of people aren’t aware of yet, though it is beginning to find a market and is expected to rise in popularity as a crop and product.

Code changes add to housing costs, industry spokesman says

MOSES LAKE — There have been some changes to the Washington State Building Code that stand to add to the cost of building homes, a spokesman for the Building Industry Association of Washington said.

BBCC clean energy conference highlights workforce needs

MOSES LAKE — Preparing a workforce for today’s clean energy industries was the focus of the Building the Future Energy Workforce Conference held at Big Bend Community College April 11.

BBCC to host job fair Thursday

MOSES LAKE — Job seekers will find a lot to choose from at the 31st annual Big Bend Community College Job and Career Fair Thursday.

Japanese consul-general visits Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — The ties between Moses Lake and Japan were highlighted Monday as Japan’s consul-general for the region paid a visit to Moses Lake.

A place of her own

Royal City clinic welcomes new provider

ROYAL CITY — Tara Zamarron has found her home. “We grew up, my husband and I both, in Michigan, born and raised,” Zamarron said. “We had some friends who moved out here in 2005, or 2006, and they asked us to come visit them. And we're like, ‘Sure, we’ll come visit you, we’ve never been out west.’ And we fell in love with it.” Zamarron recently became the primary – in fact, pretty much the only – provider at Confluence Health’s Royal City clinic. Zamarron isn’t a physician; she’s an advanced registered nurse practitioner, which means she does most of the things a doctor does without the title “doctor” before her name. She’s joined at one of the smallest clinics in the Confluence system – a little over 1,700 square feet in downtown Royal City – by a registered nurse and a receptionist.

Star-crossed

Young love, old secrets at the heart of Basin Community Theatre’s ‘Bright Star’

MOSES LAKE — “Bright Star” is not your grandparents’ musical.

Job Corps opens advanced firefighting center in Grant Co.

MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Job Corps Center officially cut the ribbon on its Advance Training Wildland Fire Fighting facility at 8331 Forbes Street in Moses Lake Wednesday. “I’ve always talked about Columbia Basin (Job Corps Center) being the hidden gem,” said Center Director Mike Rios. “As we know, you can always get your foot in the door with the education, but it’s that specialized training that’s going to set you aside to take part in those opportunities out there. This is what our (students) are doing right now.”

Gesa, Red Cross join forces against home fires

MOSES LAKE — There are few things more frightening than a house fire. One of them is having a house fire and not knowing it. “Oftentimes home fires happen because it's an older building or an older neighborhood where they just never installed smoke alarms, so they don't even know when there's a fire most of the time,” said Amber Merrill, community relations manager for Richland-based Gesa Credit Union. “It's really difficult in those situations because when you actually start to notice that there is a home fire, it's when you're seeing flames, and typically, at that point, the fire department is responding.”

A little boost: Mid-Columbia Economic Development District nurtures businesses in the Columbia Gorge

THE DALLES, Ore. — The Columbia Gorge may be one of the most beautiful regions of the Pacific Northwest, but as rural people know, scenery doesn’t always translate into prosperity. Forty years ago, logging and aluminum plants were major drivers of the economy in Klickitat and Skamania counties in Washington and Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties in Oregon. But those days are long gone and the business community has diversified, partly with the assistance of the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District. The MCEDD (pronounced like “McKedd”) puts its efforts into three buckets, said MCEDD director Jessica Metta: regional coordination, technical assistance and business assistance.

Blue Heron sign to be highlighted with kiosk

MOSES LAKE — A sign at Blue Heron Park will become a little more visible soon. The Moses Lake Trails Planning Team has purchased lumber for a kiosk to go over a sign showing the native plants on the Joseph K. Gavinski Trail that runs between Blue Heron Park and the Cove West neighborhood, team member Louis Logan wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. Erik Nielson’s wood shop class at Vanguard Academy will build the kiosk, he added.

Moses Lake library to offer English classes for beginners

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Library will offer a free beginning English for Speakers of Other Languages class starting this month. “We're going to be starting with the alphabet and with simple conversations,” said Brandee Miller, who’s teaching the class. “I will be also providing materials for them to study to take home to work with if they like.” The class begins Thursday and will meet from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. once each week. The 11-week course will cover the basics of speaking, reading and writing in English. It’s particularly geared toward Spanish speakers.

Port of Moses Lake names new director

MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake has selected Dan Roach as its new executive director, port commissioners said at their meeting Monday.

Lake Bowl chops the ribbon

Bruce Russell, one of the owners of Lake Bowl, cuts the ceremonial ribbon at Lake Bowl’s mini-golf course Wednesday, surrounded by staff and members of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce. From left: Sherry Russell (in green coat), Cale Russell (behind Sherry), Bob Russell, Horacio Vela (in back), Bruce Russell, Deacon Garza (in back with black cap), Bev Duzon and Danny Stevenson.

Agencies team up to head off fire season

OLYMPIA — A collection of state and federal agencies will join forces this year to combat wildfires, according to an announcement from the Washington Department of Ecology.

Flooring experts

Basin Select Surfaces opens doors in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Basin Select Surfaces is brand-new, but they’re moving quickly to offer flooring options to area homeowners. “We got the keys to the actual building in November,” said Ruvim Nakonechny, who owns the business in partnership with his brother-in-law Dennis Andriychuk. “Then we started doing a bunch of remodeling, and then … on the 23rd of March, we opened the doors for business.” Basin Select Surfaces is a three-man family operation, Nakonechny said. Andriychuk came over from the west side, where he did contracting work, when he married Nakonechny’s sister, he said, and Ruvim Nakonechny’s brother Mark works for them as well. Both Andriychuk and the Nakonechny brothers come from large families, and opening day included lots of younger siblings waving signs on the corner by the Alder Street Fill and up the sidewalk along Broadway.

Inconvenient accommodation

Short-term rentals have Moses Lake residents upset, but city may be able to help

MOSES LAKE — The prevalence of short-term or vacation rentals has upset some people in Moses Lake. “(There’s been) increased activity, a lot of vehicles and trailers,” said Moses Lake resident Rebecca Hutsell, who said her neighborhood has at least four homes available for short-term rental that she knows of. Traffic through the one entrance into her neighborhood can get hectic, she said. “Everybody wants to bring their trailers ... A lot of strangers in the neighborhood we don't know,” Hutsell said.

Senior exercise programs pay long-term dividends in health

COLUMBIA BASIN — Classics require a little more maintenance. That applies to cars, houses and bodies, according to the National Council on Aging. “Regular exercise can help older adults stay independent and prevent many health problems that come with age,” the NCOA wrote on its website.

On the flip side

Moses Lake youth qualify for gymnastics finals

MOSES LAKE — Sometimes working really, really hard at something pays off. As the athletes at AIM Gymnastics are finding out. The club, which has about 70 gymnasts ranging in age from 11 to almost 18, has four going to regional competitions this year. One competition will be held in Boise, according to coach Natassia Garcia, and the other in Anchorage. Many of them have been doing gymnastics most of their lives, they said. Clara Knapp is 15, a freshman at Moses Lake High School, and she’s spent 12 1/2 years learning and practicing. “I'm glad I started young because I have so much flexibility and stuff I can do, like flips that a lot of people my age can't do,” she said. “It gives me something to show off.”

Mammoth exhibit comes to Moses Lake museum

MOSES LAKE — Mammoths are kind of hard to find these days, but local folks will get to see the next best thing Saturday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.

WA addresses AI in public schools

OLYMPIA — The widespread use of artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the classroom experience for students and teachers across Washington state. As educators find themselves at the forefront of this technological revolution, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction has released guidance and resources intended to adopt responsible use of AI, according to an OSPI press release..

Sleep Center sheds to be replaced with Pallet shelters

MOSES LAKE — The Open Doors Sleep Center will get an upgrade soon. The Moses Lake City Council gave final approval March 26 for the purchase of 40 Pallet Shelter structures to replace the sheds currently in use. The move has been in the works for some time, City Manager Kevin Fuhr said, but the city wanted to move quickly in order to get a good deal on the shelters. “The Pallet shelters that we're purchasing, they don't make anymore,” Fuhr said. “They've got 100 available to purchase, and we're trying to secure 40 of them. That's why we wanted to get this done ASAP ... because the new Pallet shelters that they're building are costing more money and we didn't want to pay more if we didn't have to.”