Serving Franklin County, WA
Serving Franklin County, WA
Sorted by date Results 1 - 14 of 14
RITZVILLE — For the past decade, the courthouse has been the site of all Adams County Superior Court cases, including adult and juvenile dockets. Newly appointed Superior Court Judge Peter Palubicki is changing that. “We will be holding once-a-month dockets in Othello,” he said. “Juvenile cases will be heard at 10 a.m.; truancy cases, at 11 a.m.; civil cases, at 1 p.m.” Dockets will be scheduled for the first Thursday of every month in the Othello courtroom of Adams County District Court Judge Carolyn Benzel. Why the chang...
RITZVILLE – Kyya Grant and Anthony Daily of Adams County Pet Rescue highlighted their concerns about an abundance of large dogs and inadequate funding during the Oct. 24 Adams County commissioners meeting. “We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Grant said. “In the past, we’ve had substantial donations that carried us, even when we had fewer dogs.” She said Pet Rescue, 1961 W. Bench Road in Othello, collects $170,000-$200,000 in adoption fees annually, but that’s not enough to cover expenses. Deficits are running mor...
RITZVILLE – Adams County Development Council Executive Director Kyle Niehenke doesn’t sugarcoat the obstacles to commercial development here. Yet, he remains optimistic. At the weekly Adams County Commission meeting Aug. 1, Niehenke discussed his attendance at a recent commercial conference in Las Vegas, Nev. “I wouldn’t say all the feedback about Ritzville was positive,” he said. “Developers don’t hold back. They share their honest opinions.” He observed that some locals have the mindset that “it’s just too expensive here,...
RITZVILLE – Since the height of the pandemic in 2021, extending broadband capacity has become a priority for Adams County Commissioner Dan Blankenship and other county leaders. They’ve pushed the project forward because Adams County is a “broadband desert,” according to Blankenship. He likens the current situation to rural electrification efforts during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In those years, it became a national priority to extend electricity to the countryside. “We’re trying to do the same thing here,” he s...
LIND — Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner is working with school officials to carve out office space at the Lind Middle School for his deputies. He’s aiming for a similar arrangement with the Washtucna School District. Various programs have attempted to reduce crime and increase law enforcement effectiveness in public schools. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program and School Resource Officers are two examples. But neither program is inexpensive and neither provides a one-size-fits-all solution for every community, the...
RITZVILLE - The MTV production team has chosen a South Washington Street home to film scenes for an upcoming reality show. One of Music Television's main participants was in Moses Lake. Because the production crew planned to fly into Spokane, they were reluctant to drive two hours to shoot a few scenes. So, the crew chose Ritzville as a more convenient filming location. In mid-November, producer Marcus Jones traversed the streets of Ritzville to scope out locations for the sho...
RITZVILLE – A tripped Adams County Election's Office alarm Friday afternoon, Nov. 11, had some residents concerned about ballot tampering. The "commercial burglary alarm" at 3:08 p.m. on Veterans Day came just three days after the Nov. 8 general election. The alarm at 106 W. Main St., caught the attention of some area residents who had a police scanner and later notified The Journal after hearing the broadcast exchange between Police Chief Dave McCormick and a dispatcher. R...
RITZVILLE – It all started a hundred years ago. Back then, government officials and others saw great potential in the high desert lands of Adams County and surrounding areas. Originally, the Columbia Basin Project — with Grand Coulee Dam as its centerpiece — was designed to provide irrigation water to over a million acres of land in the central part of Washington State, including the counties of Adams, Douglas, Franklin, Stevens, Okanogan, Grant, Lincoln and Walla Walla. But the project stalled and remains unfinished. Colum...
RITZVILLE — It's looking like there won't be a new sheriff in Adams County, at least not in the near future. At the end of the first day of counting in the Nov. 8 general election, incumbent Dale J. Wagner of Othello was leading challenger Matthew Carlson of Ritzville. In the early tally, Wagner had 1,091 votes (56.24%); Carlson received 832 votes (42.89%). “I’m happy with the results, thus far," Wagner said. "I just want to get back to the business of the Sheriff’s Office.” On election night, Carlson was working a shift for...
RITZVILLE — After the initial count for Adams County Commissioner District No. 3, incumbent Terry Thompson holds a lead in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, general election. The unofficial, preliminary total shows Thompson received 953 votes, (51.93%) at the end of the first day of counting. “I appreciate the support I’ve received throughout Adams County, and not just in the panhandle,” he said. Challenger Miguel A. “Mike” Garza trailed with 858 votes (46.76%). “I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for the opportunity to...
LIND - At the end of September, Jeff Field retired after working four and a half decades as an employee of Jim's Market on West Second Avenue. "Three quarters of my life was in that store," he said. "I started in May of 1976 and worked there until September 30 of this year. I retired the day after I turned 62." His family lived in Toroda Creek near the Canadian border, not far from Field's birthplace in Tonasket. They moved to Lind in the summer of 1972, and a few years later...
RITZVILLE - As early as spring of next year, Ritzville will have a new Maverick gas station. "Maverick has told us they will build in the spring of 2023," according to Julie Flyckt, Clerk/Treasurer for the City of Ritzville. "They're working to complete the initial planning requirements right now. It takes about a year to get the planning and permits done before construction begins. "Maverick has submitted an access permit to the Washington State Department of...
LIND – With the August 4 fire under control, some Lind residents are wondering why the city continues to enforce a ban on lawn watering. These concerns led 22 Lind residents to attend a city council meeting on August 9. During the public comment portion of the meeting, resident Darla Shaver asked how many gallons of water were sold last year. The council provided no answer. Steve Nelson, an engineer who attended the meeting by phone, noted that declining aquifers are not restricted to Lind. “Nor,” he said, “is aquifer...
LIND – During the town’s August 23 city council meeting, Mayor Paula Bell listened to additional resident concerns about the town’s water supply and watering mandates. In sometimes contentious interactions, the mayor laid out her position on the issues. She later addressed specific inquiries by Journal staff. When asked whether Lind’s risk of fire damage was greater this year than prior years, the mayor noted that Lind and other communities are always alert for fire and damages that may ensue. “Because of the recent fi...