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
Historic celebration
George’s Patriotic Observance combines solemnity with festivity
GEORGE — The flag raised at George’s Patriotic Observance on Independence Day has only 48 stars. “The flag we’re flying is a World War I vet’s casket flag,” said Mark Owens, who is the quartermaster for Grant County’s Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter.
FIRE REPORT: Wildfire near Coulee City closes highway
COULEE CITY — A fire near Coulee City closed down state Route 17 briefly Sunday. The Haynes Canyon Fire was reported about 6 p.m. alongside SR 17, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The Grant County Sheriff’s Office initially estimated the fire at 6 acres, but it ended up being 3.2 acres, according to Grant County Fire District 7 Chief Chris Baker.
Soap Lake celebrates summer at Suds ‘N Sun
SOAP LAKE — Soap Lake’s Suds ‘N Sun festival began at 9 a.m. Saturday and already it was around 80 degrees. But that didn’t stop locals from finding shady spots to sit, talk and enjoy the goings-on downtown. Main Avenue East was blocked off at the highway for the Soap Box Derby and a car show, which boasted about 15 vehicles, hoods open, gleaming in the morning sun.
Firefighters enjoy calm Fourth
COLUMBIA BASIN — This year, the Fourth of July wasn’t too bad for local firefighters. “We had a couple of brush fires, but in comparison with years past, not bad,” said Moses Lake Fire Chief Brett Bastian.
Moses Lake celebrates America with music, fireworks
MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake’s Red, White and Boom! Celebration Wednesday drew out a respectable crowd, said Moses Lake Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Doug Coutts.
Royal City celebrates Summerfest this weekend
ROYAL CITY — Royal City’s annual celebration will take place this week. Summerfest, traditionally held the second weekend in July, will take place this Friday and Saturday, and it promises to be fun.
Derby turns Soap Lake street into a raceway
SOAP LAKE — Most of the time, the police take a dim view of young people racing cars through the middle of town. But in Soap Lake Saturday, the cops were helping them do it. “We've had really great turnout, supporters and kids doing it every year,” said Soap Lake Police Chief Ryan Cox, who was supervising the Soap Box Derby from the finish line. “Every year, we try to add a couple of cars and get more kids involved.”
FIRE REPORT: Fires spring up in Wenatchee, Mansfield areas
MANSFIELD — The Road 11 Fire burning about 12 miles southwest of Mansfield was 50% contained Saturday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The brush fire, which was ignited Thursday afternoon and grew to 800 acres, was one of the sources of smoke noticeable in the air earlier in the week in Grant and Adams counties, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.
3-on-3 tournament highlights the hazards of vaping
SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Suds ‘N Sun festival Saturday had a new element this year: a 3-on-3 basketball tournament sponsored by the Soap Lake Prevention Coalition.
FIRE REPORT: Ephrata area fire shuts down SR 17
EPHRATA — The Marksman Road fire, which blazed up quickly east of Ephrata Tuesday and closed SR 17 for a time, was contained quickly thanks to a lot of interagency cooperation, according to Grant County Fire District 13 Chief Jim Stucky.
FIRE REPORT: Wildfire closes SR 17 near Ephrata
EPHRATA — A fire broke out Tuesday in the northern portion of the Y formed by State Route 17 and SR 282, according to first responder alerts. The fire, a few minutes southeast of Ephrata was reported a little before 6 p.m. and had burned an estimated 500 acres. The fire resulted in a closure of SR 17 between SR 282 and SR 28 to ensure public safety. A cause was unknown but initial reports indicated it began at the Ephrata Gun Range. The fire was named the Marksman Street Fire. Further information was not available by press time. The Dearinger fire, which has been burning in the North Cascades about 40 miles northeast of Everett since June 22, is 80% contained at 48 acres, according to the Western Washington Incident Management Team.
Royal Intermediate welcomes new principal
ROYAL CITY — For Royal Intermediate School’s new principal, it’s sort of a homecoming. “I grew up around Royal, my whole life,” said Karl Edie, who officially became the principal at RHS at the beginning of July. “My mother worked for the Royal Review (newspaper), a long time ago. So I’m excited to be back among the great people in Royal City.”
Exchange students to head to Yonezawa, Japan
MOSES LAKE — The exchange is on again. The Moses Lake-Yonezawa Sister City Student Exchange, which has been on hiatus since 2020, will resume this month as three Moses Lake students visit Yonezawa, Japan. Ambassadors Keziah Roman Panlaqui, Emmanuel Zepeda Lopez and Ethan Ramsey will leave on July 25, accompanied by chaperone Amador Castro, to spend 10 days in Moses Lake’s sister city. While in Japan, they’ll stay with three Yonezawa students and their families, and on Aug. 7, those Japanese students will return the visit and spend 10 days in Moses Lake. Moses Lake and Yonezawa have been sister cities since 1981, according to the program’s website, and the student exchange was organized shortly thereafter. The program was originally suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Terry Moore, treasurer for the Moses Lake-Yonezawa Exchange Program, but the publisher of the Yonezawa Shimbun newspaper, which handled the exchange from the Japanese end, passed away soon after, and the exchange was mothballed indefinitely. Until April, when a group called the Yonezawa International Relations Association reached out through a translator who had assisted the newspaper in the past.
STRENGTH: Tony Leibelt
On the front lines of his hometown
QUINCY – After 36 years as a firefighter, Tony Leibelt has seen it all. He’s stood on the front lines of wildfires, he’s rescued rock climbers on the cliffs above the Columbia River and once he even delivered a baby on a bathroom floor. Some of the calls are routine, some are tragic, and some are just plain weird.
STRENGTH: Don Nutt
Coulee City artist lives out his dream supporting other artists
COULEE CITY – Don Nutt has been an artist all his life. “Every 5-year-old likes to draw and color,” he said. “I just never really stopped. Family members gave me how-to-draw books, (which was) the 1960s YouTube.”
Moses Lake Airshow showcases all things airborne
MOSES LAKE — The weather on Saturday, the first day of the Moses Lake Airshow, gave a whole new meaning to the word “barnstorming.” “We almost didn't get the planes off the ground because it was a side wind,” said the show’s organizer, Terry Quick. “On the big runway, it was strong enough that if they were trying to lift off it would have blown them off the runway. As it worked out, we were able to open up a different runway and they could take off into the wind. One guy got airborne in less than 100 yards, so it was pretty strong winds, to say the least.”
FIRE REPORT: Ephrata volunteers put out brush fire
EPHRATA — Wednesday afternoon a brush fire, possibly sparked by a passing train, broke out in the area of Road F Northwest and Road 11.7 southwest of Ephrata, according to a statement from Grant County Fire District 13, which is based in Ephrata. With the help of Grant County Fire District 3, out of Quincy, the fire was caught at about two acres.
‘My journey has come full circle’
Big Bend graduates 613 Friday
MOSES LAKE — Big Bend Community College graduated a wide spectrum of students at Lions Field in Moses Lake Friday, President Sara Thompson Tweedy said.
FIRE REPORT: Local firefighters train for the busy season
SOAP LAKE — Grant County Fire District 7 volunteers and staff have been training for wildland-urban interface structure defense in preparation for wildfire season, according to an announcement from GCFD 7. Training Monday night was available remotely, but next week will include hands-on training in evaluating structures and determining escape routes, safety zones and temporary refuge areas.
FIRE REPORT: Yakima Valley fire threatens town, Pioneer Fire swells again
MOSES LAKE — Evacuation notices for the Yakima Valley town of Zillah were downgraded Monday to level 1 as crews fight the Beam Road Fire, which flared up Saturday afternoon.
MLSD board continues close examination of funding
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School Board heard about some measures being taken to cut costs at its meeting Thursday, scrutinizing some items that were brought to it for approval and discussing with Acting Superintendent Carol Lewis some ways of making up the roughly $13 million shortfall.
Viking celebration
MOSES LAKE -- New Big Bend Community College graduate Digna Rodriguez, takes a celebratory photo with family friends Bobbie Lee Hubbard, left, and Amanda Carson, right, and Rodriguez’s daughters Kira McEachern, 9; Mila McEachern, 7; and Jada McEachern, 5. Rodriguez was one of 20 members of BBCC’s first Bachelor of Applied Science program graduating Friday.
Boys & Girls Club begins serving summer meals
MOSES LAKE — The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin will begin offering breakfast and lunch to local children today through the Summer Meal Program.
FIRE REPORT: Pioneer, Cold Creek fires increase
MOSES LAKE — The Pioneer Fire on the shore of Lake Chelan about 30 miles northwest of Wenatchee had almost tripled in size Thursday, swelling from 600 acres to 1,756 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The cause of the fire was still undetermined. The estimated cost of suppressing the fire was $10 million.
Fire report: New blaze flares up on Hanford Reservation
MOSES LAKE — A wildfire kindled suddenly Wednesday morning on the Hanford Reservation, and was estimated at 150 acres at a little after 2 p.m., according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
MLSD deficit more than $13 million after cuts
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School Board held a study session Tuesday to discuss the district’s reduced education program for the next school year.
UW president to step down next year
SEATTLE — Ana Mari Cauce, who has served as president of the University of Washington for a decade, announced Wednesday that she’ll be stepping down at the end of her second five-year term in June 2025. She plans to return to her faculty position. “Throughout her tenure, President Cauce has been a skilled relationship-builder, a champion for student success, and a strong advocate for the importance of public universities like the University of Washington,” said Ken Denman, UW Foundation Board chair. Cauce, the 33rd president in the university’s history, is the first woman, first Latina and first openly-gay person to serve as president.
FIRE REPORT: Spokane neighborhood evacuated
SPOKANE — A fast-spreading wildfire triggered level 3 (leave now) evacuation orders to a 2.5-square mile area southwest of Spokane Tuesday afternoon, according to Spokane County Fire District 3.
Parks and places
Easy day trips in the Columbia Basin
MOSES LAKE — School is letting out for the summer, which means families have a chance to spend a little more time together. Most communities have pools and summer programs, but sometimes it’s nice to go a little farther afield. One option is to pile the kids into the car and spend a day – or a weekend – at one of the state and national parks within easy driving distance.
FIRE REPORT: Lake Chelan fire strands hikers
MOSES LAKE — A wildfire along the shore of Lake Chelan necessitated the evacuation of some hikers Saturday, according to a statement from the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.
FIRE REPORT: Wind whips up wildfire at Sun Lakes
MOSES LAKE — Grant County Fire District 7 tackled a wildfire June 1 at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, according to a statement from the fire district.
Single-vehicle crash in Moses Lake claims life
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man is dead and another is in jail after a single-vehicle collision in the wee hours of Friday morning, according to a statement from Moses Lake Police Chief David Sands.
‘A step back in time’
Washington’s oldest rodeo is June 7-9
BICKLETON — Out in the wheat country of eastern Klickitat County, time sort of stands still. The little town of Bickleton, population 92 at the last census, is home to a couple of Washington’s most time-honored institutions. The Bluebird Inn, established in 1887, has a good claim to be Washington’s oldest tavern. The Herschel-Spillman carousel at the Bickleton Carousel Museum is one of fewer than 10 still operating. And the Alder Creek Pioneer Association is host every June to the state’s oldest rodeo.
Pesticides a necessary but increasing expense in ag
MOSES LAKE — Where there’s a crop, there are critters trying to eat that crop and it’s up to the grower to ensure that doesn’t happen before it gets to market. That means using a variety of tools, including pesticides, to protect crops and keep them profitable.
Cruise Night Out
Moses Lake Classic Car Club to host cruise through Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Classic Car Club will take to the streets to celebrate its 50th birthday with a Cruise Night Out.
Fire report: Wildfires slow down with cooler weather
COLUMBIA BASIN — Perhaps due to the cool, wet weather, wildfires were nowhere to be found Wednesday in the Columbia Basin. In Kittitas County, the Pumphouse Fire, which had been discovered Monday near Ryegrass Summit on Interstate 90, was controlled at 3 acres. A few prescribed fires continued to burn in Stevens and Ferry counties. The largest were the 300-acre Mima Mounds Fire and the 208-acre Bitterbrush Fire, both on the Spokane Reservation. These other wildfires were burning around Washington Wednesday afternoon:
Fire report: Burn barrel triggers wildfire near Ephrata
EPHRATA — A 10-acre wildfire started Monday evening after an unsupervised burn barrel spread to nearby vegetation in the area of Naylor Junction, southwest of Ephrata, according to a statement from Grant County Fire District 13. A quick response had the wind-driven fire contained within 20 minutes of the call, but mopping up took two-plus hours for 10 trucks. Nothing was damaged, although if the fire had gone unreported or unchecked several minutes longer property damage would have likely resulted, the district wrote. Burn barrels have been illegal in Washington since 2000, according to GCFD 13, whether they’re attended or not. These other wildfires were burning around Washington Tuesday afternoon:
Fire report
Grant County firefighters train near Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — Grant County Fire District 5 got in some training on an acquired structure on Road 10 Northeast Saturday, according to an announcement from the fire district
FIRE REPORT: State mobilizes for Tidyman Road, other fires burn around WA
KLICKITAT COUNTY — State fire assistance has been mobilized under the Washington State Fire Services Resource Mobilization Plan in support of local firefighters working to contain the Tidyman Road Fire located in Klickitat County across the Columbia River from The Dalles, according to a statement from the state fire marshal’s office Friday.
‘Paintings of My Life’
Artist with Down syndrome opens show at the Moses Lake Museum
MOSES LAKE — Beth Anna Margolis sees a potential painting in everything. “You’ve got to get out there, out in the daylight, and see nature,” she said. “You have to see, and see, and see more.”
FIRE REPORT: Royal Slope Fire District puts out fire with limited water
ROYAL CITY — A small fire broke out at an orchard around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 12000 block of Road A Southeast near Royal Camp, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Because the fuel involved polyurethane netting and other combustibles, Royal Slope firefighters allowed the fire to burn under controlled conditions for a while, in order to limit water use and avoid creating contaminated runoff in irrigation waterways. The fire was out by about 4:30, the GCSO wrote.
A dash of caffeine
MOSES LAKE – Desert Coffee owners Shannon Paine, left, in pink, and Kimberly Berry cut the ribbon on their new location at 5219 Patton Blvd. in Moses Lake Tuesday, surrounded by Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce members. Paine and Berry have been selling coffee drinks from a mobile trailer, they said, and recently had the opportunity to add the stand.
Garden Party highlights new things coming for CBAA
MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin Allied Arts Garden Party brought folks together from all over the Basin to further the local arts scene Saturday. The amount of money raised was not available before press time. “We don't have to leave our area for amazing arts and culture,” Cardwell told the crowd. We are the arts and culture here. You are the arts and culture here.”
Moses Lake superintendent placed on admin leave
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School Board voted in a special meeting Tuesday to place Superintendent Monty Sabin on administrative leave. Assistant Superintendent Carol Lewis was named acting superintendent at the same meeting.
Four arrested in burglary case
MOSES LAKE — Grant County Sheriff’s deputies arrested four people Monday suspected of a Friday robbery near Moses Lake, according to a statement from the GCSO.
Small fire scorches land near Soap Lake
SOAP LAKE — A small fire broke out Monday near Soap Lake, but was quickly extinguished, according to a statement from Grant County Fire District 7, which serves the Soap Lake and Coulee City area.
FIRE REPORT: 2 fires hit Grant Co. Monday
COLUMBIA BASIN — The warm weather has arrived and with it the fire season, as Grant County faced two wildfires Monday. At about 1 p.m. a report came in of a blaze about a mile south of Wanapum Village in southwestern Grant County, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. The fire grew to 100 acres and caused SR 243 to close briefly due to smoke across the roadway before it was knocked down, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The fire was human-caused, the NIFC wrote.
MLSD to cut about 100 teachers; further cuts coming
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School District will start the next school year with about 100 fewer teachers, according to an MLSD press release. Non-renewal notices are expected to be issued to about 100 provisional teachers, according to the release. A provisional teacher is one who is either in their first three years of teaching in Washington or who has received a low evaluation and meets certain other criteria, according to RCW 28A.405.210.
Home sales up despite higher interest rates
KIRKLAND — Activity in the housing market increased in April in spite of rising interest rates, according to data from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which compiles statistics from 26 of Washington’s 39 counties. Interest rates have increased by 0.38 percentage points over the past month to 7.17%, continuing to constrain prospective buyers’ purchasing power and prospective sellers’ willingness to give up low-interest-rate mortgages, according to the NWMLS.
Reading riders: Moses Lake school bus driver collects books for kids
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake school bus driver has found a way to encourage students to love the written word. Tony Lavalle, known to his young passengers as Mr. Tony, has begun distributing books to the students who ride his bus to and from Groff Elementary School. “This year, I started Read a Book Monday,” Lavalle said. “The student comes on board and they read a book, and that usually keeps them quiet, and it keeps them in their seat. This is a really effective tool for me to help manage the kids to ride safe and ride respectfully.”