JOEL MARTIN
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves.
Recent Stories
‘Biggest littlest parade’
Hartline Community Days is Saturday
HARTLINE — One of Grant County’s smallest communities will turn out Saturday for Hartline Community Days. This is the 43rd year Hartline has had the celebration, said Ron Thomas, one of the event’s organizers. “It started out being a harvest celebration years ago,” Thomas said, “and then we moved it and just called it Hartline Community Days, even though it’s only one day.”
Celebrating heritage
UMANI Festival to return Sept. 28
MOSES LAKE — The UMANI Festival will fill the streets of Moses Lake with music and color Sept. 28.
‘The friendliest fair’
Othello Fair set to begin Wednesday
OTHELLO — The Othello Fair kicks off Wednesday at the Adams County Fairgrounds, and there’s a lot that’s new. That’s by design, said Fair Board President Becky Flint. “Every year we try to do all new (entertainment),” Flint said. “We try not to have a stale fair.”
FIRE REPORT: Residential fire quenched in George Monday
GEORGE — A residential fire broke out Monday morning in the 100 block of Montmorency Boulevard in George, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. It was under control by 8 a.m., according to the statement.
CBCCA concert lineup changes
MOSES LAKE — Hannah Rose Reyes is set to replace Kate Voss and the Hot Sauce for the Central Basin Community Concert Association’s first show of the season on Sept. 26.
MLCA/CSS girls bring experience, build teamwork
MOSES LAKE — Keeping players in motion is an important goal for the Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School volleyball team.
Moses Lake icon turns 100
MOSES LAKE — Miyo Koba, owner of Frank’s Market for more than 70 years, turns 100 today. “I think it’s (due to) hard work,” Koba said last week. “I think it’s just being busy and taking care of myself. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink. Just working hard.”
First-time buyer affordability at lowest point in four years
MOSES LAKE — That starter home may be out of reach a while longer, according to real estate market reports.
A caring affair
Care Fair to highlight ways to give back to community
MOSES LAKE — There are a lot of ways to do good in Moses Lake, and a lot of folks who would like to help others. The two will come together next weekend at the annual Care Fair, hosted by Care Moses Lake.
Knights to face stiff competition on the pitch
ROYAL CITY — The Royal Knights are facing some tough opponents on the soccer field this fall, but Head Coach Jens Jensen isn’t too worried about it.
Pirate Regatta brings out people’s inner marauders
MOSES LAKE — The shores and docks at Camas Cove were awash in buccaneers, swashbucklers, hearties and scurvy dogs Sunday for the eighth annual Camas Cove Pirate Regatta.
Pain relief
Pacific Rehabilitation opens facility in Moses Lake for injured workers
MOSES LAKE — Getting hurt on the job is no fun. Besides the injury itself, you might have to take days, weeks, even months off work, while collecting a fraction of your regular paycheck. There are doctor visits, bureaucratic hassles, and what seems like enough paperwork to use up a national forest. And when you’ve exhausted all your physical and psychological energy, sometimes it still hurts. “When you have an injured worker that has been off work, and they're dealing with pain and it's been three months or more, that pain usually becomes chronic pain,” said Bobbi Meins, business and program development director for Pacific Rehabilitation Services, which opened its office in Moses Lake a couple of weeks ago.
‘Sea of purple’
Community to turn out for Walk to End Alzheimer’s Sept. 14
MOSES LAKE — The annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s is making some big strides. “We are in the neighborhood of 37 teams,” said Karisti Cox, the marketing director for Summer Wood Alzheimer’s Special Care in Moses Lake and one of the organizers of the walk. “Last year at this time we only had 12 teams signed up.” The Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Sept. 14 will mark the event’s 10th anniversary in Moses Lake. Teams can register on the Alzheimer’s Association website at act.alz.org or at the beginning of the walk.
Sip & Stroll returns Sept. 14
MOSES LAKE — Glasses will clink, music will waft through the street and downtown Moses Lake will celebrate at Sip & Stroll Sept. 14. The annual event, sponsored by the Downtown Moses Lake Association, pairs downtown businesses with regional wineries (plus a few cideries and a distiller) in a big street party on Third Avenue. Several of the businesses will have musicians performing as well. The event has grown a lot since last year, said DMLA Director Mallory Miller. “Last year, Sip & Stroll only had 13 locations,” Miller said. “And this year we have 22 physical locations, plus the beer garden, which wasn't a thing last year.”
Art on 3rd brings artists of all kinds to downtown Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — Downtown Moses Lake will be the scene of a local art show Sept. 14, as artists from around the area gather for Art on 3rd to showcase their own work, and also share some projects with attendees. “There will be artist vendors, and then we're also bringing in a ‘Make it, do it, buy it,” said Shawn Cardwell, director of Columbia Basin Allied Arts, which is sponsoring the show. “So there's opportunities to make your own art, either individual pieces (or as) part of group projects.” The Art on 3rd event, presented by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, will coincide with several other events: The Downtown Moses Lake Association’s Sip & Stroll, Care Moses Lake’s Care Fair, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and, as on every Saturday this time of year, the Moses Lake Farmers Market.
Wahluke opens season with young but eager squad
MATTAWA — The Wahluke Warriors are going to have to overcome a lot of inexperience this year. “We’re pretty sophomore-heavy,” Head Coach Anfernee Cortez said. “And then we’ve got a lot of seniors who are joining us for the first year.”
Quincy housing market evening out but still tough on first-time buyers
QUINCY — The real estate market is evening out in Quincy, according to real estate agent Tom Parrish, but it’s still an uphill battle to get into a first home.
CAA pulls weeds, cleans up at North Elementary
MOSES LAKE — The campus of North Elementary School in Moses Lake looks a little nicer through the efforts of a group of students and community volunteers.
GCHD to hold Community Resource Fair Saturday
MOSES LAKE — Drug addictions – and drug overdoses – affect almost everybody at some point, whether through their own experiences or those of someone they love. The Grant County Health District will highlight Saturday at its Community Resource Fair in McCosh Park.
First RitzFest overcomes hitches to showcase local talent
RITZVILLE — The first annual RitzFest – a new festival showcasing local musical talent – went off well, all things considered.
House of hope
Oxford House opens new home for women and children in Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — The house on Ashley Way looks like most other houses in the neighborhood. It’s got an upstairs and a downstairs, bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen and a deck. But it’s an Oxford House, which means it also holds hope.
Deutschesfest 2024 coming
Lots of food, beer and music at Odessa’s fall festival
ODESSA — It’s time to break out the lederhosen and fill the steins, as the 53rd annual Deutschesfest takes over Odessa Sept. 19-22. “Last year we had probably 7,500, 10,000 (attendees), somewhere in there,” said Odessa Chamber of Commerce President Matt Roberson. “It gets busy for three days.”
Warden Community Days this weekend
Local festival celebrates the last few days of summer at Volunteer Park
WARDEN — The town of Warden will gather this weekend at Volunteer Park for its annual Warden Community Days celebration. The event used to be held on Labor Day itself, but the last few years it’s been a three-day event, said Renay Jorgensen, one of seven or eight volunteers who organize Community Days.
Community backpack giveaway set for Tuesday
MOSES LAKE — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin and its community partners will be giving away backpacks in the Larson community Tuesday. The event is a group effort, said Boys & Girls Clubs director Kim Pope, among the club, Big Bend Community College, the Moses Lake Lioness Club and several local businesses.
Hayden Homes shows off model home at Polo Ridge
MOSES LAKE — The homes at Polo Ridge are going up and selling fast.
Musician’s granddaughter honors his memory with display
MOSES LAKE — That old mandolin has been a lot of places, from Depression-racked Arkansas to the Grand Ole Opry. And now it has a home. “My grandfather inherited this when he was 4 years old, (in) 1928,” said Nickey Groff of Moses Lake, as she hung the mandolin up on the wall of Moore Brewing Company Tuesday.
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair set to start September with fun
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair begins next week, running from Aug. 28 through Sept. 1. This year’s theme is “Moooving Forward Together,” in keeping with the fair’s agricultural focus and small hometown scale.
Masquers plan pirate-themed Saturday membership gala
SOAP LAKE — The Masquers Theater will hold its annual membership gala Saturday.
Moses Lake seed breeder honored
SEATTLE — Jerry Benson of Moses Lake was recently honored by the Washington Native Plant Society, according to an announcement from the society.
RitzFest
Music festival to debut in Ritzville Saturday
RITZVILLE — Music will return to Ritzville, as RitzFest makes its debut Saturday.
The Side Project to round out summer concert season
MOSES LAKE — The Side Project will finish out Moses Lake’s Summer Concert Series with a free show Friday, according to an announcement from the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center. The Side Project consists of the wife-and-husband team Suzie and Ben Bradford. The duo, originally from Spokane, have recorded six albums and have performed up and down the West Coast for 20 years, according to the announcement. Their music has been broadcast in Starbucks and featured on television shows “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” as well as scoring a rave review in Music Connection Magazine.
Pirate regatta returns to Camas Cove Sept. 1
MOSES LAKE — Raiding and pillaging will be the order of the day Sept. 1 at the Camas Cove Pirate Regatta, according to organizer and Camas Cove Cellars co-owner Kathleen Parr. “And massive squirt gun battles,” Parr added.
Serious silliness
Magician brings casual energy to fair
MOSES LAKE — Sometimes you just know early on that you want to spend your life doing card tricks. “I saw a show when I was 5, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world,” magician Louie Foxx said. “I decided that was going to be my job.” Foxx was at the Grant County Fair last week doing three shows a day. He’s been to our fair a few times in the past, alternating years with the North Idaho State Fair in Coeur d’Alene, he said.
Dragon show
Reptile Isle takes the scary out of snakes, lizards and more
MOSES LAKE — It’s not every day a dragon visits the fair. “That’s exactly what they’re called, a black dragon,” said Don “the Reptile King” Riggs, Thursday. “One of only 250 in the world. We’re trying to increase those numbers; there were only four 11 years ago when we started working with them.” The dragon in question is a rare variety of Asian water monitor, and his name is Toothless, after a children’s book and subsequent movie titled “How to Train Your Dragon.” He was one of the animals that Reptile Isle, Riggs’ traveling show, brought to the Grant County Fair last week.
Roaring good time
Agri-Service Demo Derby and motorcycle barrel racing draws enthusiastic crowd
MOSES LAKE — There’s something very American about a demolition derby: only a country as obsessed with cars as ours would make a sport out of destroying them. It’s a game of high-speed bumper cars played with tons of metal, roaring engines and flying dirt making the air – and sometimes the audience – as gritty as a spaghetti western.
Desert Artists featured at the Grant County Fair
MOSES LAKE — At the Grant County Fair, there’s a Commercial Building where fairgoers can find things for sale, and there’s an Arts and Crafts building where people can find paintings, drawings and other visual art. Up at the north end of Yarbro Avenue there’s also a building that’s kind of a hybrid, where the Desert Artists have their works out for display and – hopefully, anyway – sale.
Trying their hand
MOSES LAKE – From left: Henry DeBeaumont and Silas DeBeaumont, both 8, and Rylee DeBeaumont, 6, try their hand at milking a cow at the milking simulator in the Agriculture Building at the Grant County Fair Tuesday.
TASTINESS: WE ARE GO FOR LAUNCH!
MOSES LAKE – The line for Space Burgers at the Grant Count Fair reached pretty continuously around the back of the booth Wednesday. Space Burgers have been a popular tradition at the fair since the Moses Lake Lioness Club acquired the machine to make them following the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.
Creative artists show their talents at Grant County Fair
MOSES LAKE — At the Grant County Fair, almost anything can be art.
Master Gardener plant clinic gives home gardeners a little inside knowledge
MOSES LAKE — The WSU Grant-Adams County Master Gardeners have been at the Grant County Fair this week, answering questions from the public and offering tips for more eco-friendly gardening. They weren’t quite as busy this year as last, said Mary Love, who was staffing the booth with Bobbie Bodenman, because the weather wasn’t as hot. “Last year, people came in and they went ‘whew!’ and they were looking for excuses to stay,” Love said. “They would come over here and they’d think of something to ask us so they could stay (in the air conditioning) longer.” The master gardeners were ready to answer questions of all kinds and had displays about worm composting, sheet composting and something called Hugelkultur, a method of growing a garden without irrigation or fertilization that’s popular in Germany and Eastern Europe. They also had lots of information about bees and how to encourage bee-friendly plants.
Listings are up, interest rates may come down
COLUMBIA BASIN — More homes are on the market this month than a year ago, according to data recently released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which tracks real estate trends in 26 of Washington’s 39 counties. Active listings increased 37.7 percent in July 2024 compared to July 2023, according to the NMLS. The increase in Grant County was less of a swing; there were 346 active listings in Grant County in July 2024, a 25.8% increase from July 2023. Adams County had 46 active listings in 2024 versus 35 in 2023. The biggest jump in active listings was in Douglas County, where listings rose 80.8% between the Julys.
2024 Royalty
MOSES LAKE - The 2024 Grant County Hay King is Stevens Hay Growers, the Mid-Columbia Basin Hay Growers announced Tuesday. Owners Kye and Brynna Stevens, shown here with their boys Hudson, 1, and Callahan, eight months, are second-generation growers who farm near Soap Lake.
Home Ec building at the fair a reminder of a bygone age
MOSES LAKE — A traveler from a century ago would recognize the craftsmanship of the displays in the Home Economics Building at the Grant County Fair, possibly more readily than a modern observer.
Fun night out
Mattawa National Night Out features police, firefighters and monster burritos
MATTAWA — All across America, communities turned out for National Night Out the first week of August, when police, firefighters and other community agencies throw a party and invite the whole town to see what they do. But in Mattawa, they took it a little further and combined National Night Out with a back-to-school event.
‘Everybody can paint’
Old Hotel Artist of the Month makes creating art less scary
OTHELLO — Nellie Hoot, the Old Hotel Art Gallery’s Artist of the Month, has been several kinds of artist in her time. “It’s been years of painting and going through different stages in my life,” she said. “For a while I was doing pet portraits, because it makes me feel good and it was making me money as well. And then it started shifting into other things.” Some of the “other things” on display at the Old Hotel include watercolors, charcoal and oil paints on canvas, wood and even a handsaw. One of Hoot’s favorite surfaces is cymbals, because her husband, a drummer, keeps breaking them, she said.
MLSD benefits from Gesa Credit Union donation
RICHLAND — The Moses Lake School District received a $24,747 donation Friday from Gesa Credit Union, according to an announcement from Gesa. The donation was part of $380,000 raised through Gesa’s Affinity Debit Card program, according to the announcement, and 26 school districts besides Moses Lake were also beneficiaries. The donations were announced at a celebration at the Tagaris Tasting Room and Taverna in Richland Friday evening.
Angie’s Apparel opens in Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — There’s a new source for clothing in town. Angie’s Apparel opened three months ago, according to owner Angie Delgado, and had its Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting Thursday.
Moses Lake Roundup begins Thursday
MOSES LAKE — The 81st Moses Lake Roundup Rodeo begins Thursday and there’s no shortage of riders. “We had a record number of contestant entries this year, 583, which is probably close to 60, 70 more than we had last year,” said Tyler Brown, treasurer of the Moses Lake Roundup Board. The rodeo follows the Agri-Service Demo Derby, which is happening today and tomorrow in the rodeo grounds at the Grant County Fairgrounds. Information on the Demo Derby and the Grant County Fair is in the Monday edition of the Columbia Basin Herald.
Good weather, great fun at Grant County Fair this week
MOSES LAKE — This year’s Grant County Fair isn’t looking so hot. And that’s a good thing. “This is my sixth year, fifth fair because we didn't have (one in) 2020, and it's the best weather forecast we've had since I've been here,” said Fairgrounds Manager Jim McKiernan. “(The heat) really changed the dynamics of the way it worked last year. Our peak crowds have always been around eight o'clock, but it even pushed a little bit later last year, because it was 105 for five days last year, and then smokey on Saturday and 95. So hopefully some of the people that are somewhat sensitive to heat will come out and enjoy the daytime temperatures.”
Agri-Service Demo Derby begins Tuesday
MOSES LAKE — The engines will roar, the dirt will fly and a whole lot of metal will go crunch Tuesday and Wednesday at the Agri-Service Demo Derby, held at the Moses Lake Roundup Rodeo grounds at the Grant County Fairgrounds.