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By Sen. Mark Schoesler Many hundreds of bills are introduced during a legislative session. Nearly 500 bills were introduced in the Senate alone during the first 10 days of this 2022 session. Most of them are good, sensible measures that are worthy of becoming law. But every year we also see proposals that are just plain bad. That’s why I started a “Worst Bills List” this session. Here’s where it stands so far: House Bill 1692 would lessen penalties for drive-by murderers. It’s shocking to think that if this bill becomes law, the person wh...
POMEROY–The Port of Garfield County commissioners elected their 2022 officers at their meeting on January 18. Ed Crawford was re-elected as President and Larry Scoggin was elected Secretary by Resolution 2022-1. The commissioners also passed Resolution 2022-2, which established their regular meeting schedule for 2022 as the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Port District Office. The date, time, and place of the meetings are unchanged from the 2021 meetings schedule. In o...
POMEROY–The Garfield County Public Health District passed Resolution 2022-01, 2022-02; approved the return of $183,000 and elected officers at the January 24, 2021 board meeting. The Health District passed two resolutions, 2022-01 to terminate the inter-local agreement with Columbia County for Care Connect Administration Services, and 2022-02, an amendment to extend the Environmental Health Services contract with Asotin County Health District to December 2022. Administrator Martha Lanman request...
OLYMPIA–A proposal prime-sponsored by 9th District Sen. Mark Schoesler that would improve irrigation district elections has been unanimously approved by the Senate for the second time in nearly a year. The Senate today unanimously passed Senate Bill 5342, which would allow mail-in ballot elections for irrigation districts and identify qualified district electors for irrigation districts. It also would create a gross misdemeanor violation when election-security requirements for irrigation-district elections are violated. “Irr...
KITTITAS–Injuries and illness reduced the ranks of the Pirate Wrestling team down to two participants at the Coyote Classic here Jan. 22. Both Pirate grapplers, however, wrestled well, according to Head Coach Ben Slaybaugh. Lane Shawley and Braedyn White represented the team, both going 2-1. Shawley, in the 132-lb. class, finished third, pinning J. Parra of Wapato before losing by decision to J. Leyua, Wapato, and finishing with a win by decision over D. Barajas, Wapato. “Lane lost a close match in the semifinals,” commented Slaybaugh, “whic...
Garfield County District Court–Judge Tom Cox December 15, 2021 Allen J. Mendenhall, of Grandview, Wash., pleaded guilty to the gross misdemeanor offense of Driving While License Suspended 1st Degree. Mendenhall was sentenced to 15 days jail and will face further license suspension from the Dept. of Licensing. Angela J. Reckard, of Pomeroy, pleaded guilty to the offense of Allowing an Unauthorized Driver to Drive and was fined $249. Jeffrey R. Smith, of Olympia, pleaded guilty to the gross misdemeanor offense of Reckless Driving. Smith was s...
Rep. Mary Dye introduces bills in support of Republican ORCA (Outdoor Recreation and Climate Adaptation) Plan OLYMPIA–Rep. Mary Dye has introduced legislation as part of the House Republican ORCA (Outdoor Recreation and Climate Adaptation) Plan that provides a roadmap toward cleanup of Puget Sound, expands funding for outdoor recreation, addresses climate issues, and eliminates state parks fees, including the Discover Pass. For more information visit: https://houserepublicans.wa.gov/2021/12/01/real-solutions-for-wa-environment/ Senate passes b...
By Sen. Mark Schoesler, Rep. Joe Schmick, and Rep. Mary Dye OLYMPIA–The 2022 legislative session kicked off Jan. 10 much like last year’s with very few legislators and staff in attendance. While the House and Senate have slightly different operating plans for the year, much is the same: remote committees, online voting, and very little in-person involvement from the public. In fact, much of this session’s work will be to undo, fix, or “tweak” legislation that passed last year. It’s now very apparent that when you shut down in-person t...
POMEROY–The Pomeroy City Council swore in James Harris, approved Resolution 2022-1 and discussed 5th Street improvements at their meeting on January 4. Harris, who held the City Council position last term and voted into another term, accepted the position, again, and took the oath of office. The council also approved the hiring of Lon Conahan to allow their snowplows to run day and night. The council passed Resolution 2022-1 to re-certify their levy amount at $187,742.47, one dollar less than t...
POMEROY–The Garfield County board of commissioners (BOCC) approved Pomeroy Assist’s request for first quarter funding at their meeting on January 10. The money will come out of the Homeless Housing fund and is a quarter of the total funding budgeted. The BOCC also passed resolution 2022-02 to re-certify the levies for all taxing districts to include the City of Pomeroy’s levy. In addition, the commissioners read a letter received from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in respo...
POMEROY– The United States Forest Service building suffered a fire on January 2, which was extinguished in an hour. There was damage to the lighting, walls, and carpet. The wall and carpet have been fixed and are now in the process of being cleaned. There was minimal soot damage. The building is in working condition. The Port of Garfield County signed an inter-local agreement with Petrachor at their meeting on January 4. The agreement is for engineering services on both the Pataha and N...
POMEROY–Local Gun Club members were tested by winter conditions during the first week of the 2022 Camas Prairie 10–week competition, and scores were disappointing as a result. The Youth shooters did have a few bright spots on Saturday January 8. In the 16-yard singles event Carter Barron and Magnus Edwards led the 12-year-old and younger division with scores of 14 X 25. In the Sub Junior division Gunner Magill and Braxton McKeirnan posted respectable scores of 21. The Juniors were led by the scores of 22 put up by Junior Magill and Troy Ste...
POMEROY–The Harold and Helen Shepherd Foundation celebrates 25 years of granting funds to local and area entities which benefit the betterment, growth and well-being of the community and citizens. During the past year, the foundation has awarded $405,737 which is; $81,771.39, more than the COVID-19 year of 2020. Since 1996 the Harold and Helen Shepherd Foundation has been granting money to various non-profit organizations in Garfield County. For the year 2020 the Foundation has given $323,965.61. Harold and Helen Shepherd were Garfield C...
POMEROY–The Garfield County Fire District No. 1 board of commissioners (GCFD) approved a $25,000 transfer from their investment fund to their cash on hand at their meeting on December 14. The transfer is to keep their cash on hand at its regular amount of $100,000. The GCFD received donations from Larry Bunch and in Charles Woody’s name from Ladonna Crawford for their ambulance fund. They also received a donation from the Laurence Gilbert estate. The ambulance fund is managed through the Blu...
POMEROY–The Garfield County board of commissioners (BOCC) signed an agreement to match a grant from the Washington State Department of Agriculture Fair Project at their meeting on January 3. The grant amounts to $81,000 and will be used for capital projects. In addition, the commissioners also approved Resolution 2022-01, a salary and wage schedule for 2022. They also addressed old loans from the General Expense fund to county department funds. Three loans were forgiven, and three will be b...
POMEROY–The Garfield County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) passed an update to the security camera bid at their meeting on December 27. The bid that was accepted at last week's BOCC meeting on December 20 for a pre-tax amount of $79,833.30, then was adjusted to include cameras for the Garfield County Public Works office and the Garfield County Fairgrounds. The new total for the camera bid is $105,481.53. The commissioners also signed a letter to Lewis Clark Credit Union, discussing the closure o...
POMEROY–The Garfield County Transportation Authority (GCTA) passed their 2022 budget at their meeting on December 20. GCTA’s Manager Rachel Anderson announced that a transportation bus was involved in a minor accident on December 17 when a following vehicle failed to stop at a red light, but there was no appreciable damage to the bus and no injuries....
POMEROY–The Garfield County Health District Administrator Martha Lanman announced that the Covid-19 testing program "Yes to Test" has been used so much that the Health District has ran out of tests within 20 days of the program beginning. The County Health district board passed several resolutions at its meeting on December 27. Approved were Resolution 2021-33: a consolidated contract with the Washington State Department of Health for 2022. The contract details the terms and conditions, and f...
POMEROY–The City Council approved a letter to the LCCU President and Board of Directors; Stewart Sign proposal; and discussion on re-establishing the planning commission; funding for the pump station; and acquiring a portable speed sign. A letter written to the LCCU President and Board of Directors in favor of keeping the local branch in operation stated, according to minutes taken by City Clerk Shaun Martin, the hardship closing the doors would put on the community. "The local branch of LCCU has been very supportive of community events t...
DAYTON– Columbia Pulp I, LLC and GMCO Corporation announced plans on December 9 to partner in the processing and sale of an innovative chloride-free soil stabilization and dust control product under GMCO’s IntegriBlend brand. The IntegriBlend-CF product developed by GMCO is built upon Columbia Pulp’s novel biopolymer chemistry platform, introducing a high-performance non-chloride alternative to dust suppression and soil stabilization applications. The biopolymer is a natural plant extract derived from the wheat straw pulping process, one of se...
SACRAMENTO–Deadline for Washington for SBA working capital loans due to drought is approaching January 10, 2022. Director Tanya N. Garfield of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Disaster Field Operations Center-West wants to remind small nonfarm businesses in six Washington counties: Benton, Franklin, Grant, Clickitat, Walla Walla, Yakima, and neighboring counties in Oregon: Morrow and Umatilla; of the Jan. 10, 2022, deadline to apply for an SBA federal disaster loan for economic injury. These low-interest loans are to offset eco...
SPOKANE VALLEY–Spokane County deputies and other law-enforcement personnel located and apprehended the missing 15-year-old Lewiston, Idaho, juvenile female, Lillian R. Dixon, and arrested alleged kidnapper Jonathan Wayne Bowles, 36, Tuesday evening. December 7, 2021. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail. Out of the incident in Spokane Valley, Bowles, a noncompliant registered sex offender, was charged with attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, third-degree assault, possession o...
POMEROY– The Pomeroy City Council passed a levy certification, ordinance 924, 923; resolutions 2021-7 and 2021-8; and signed Keller Associates agreement at the meeting on December 7. The City approved a levy certification to increase the property tax by 1% in the amount of $187,743.47. This also includes new construction and state utilities numbers that are part of the levy. The Council also passed ordinance 924, which establishes the 2022 budget for the city. They also passed ordinance 923 a...
POMEROY–The City Council approved the 2022 budget during the December 7 meeting which includes a $4 monthly water and sewer rate increase, respectively. The Council approved the 2022 budget and $4 monthly rate increase for water and sewer. The resulting City revenue will be used to support necessary improvements to the water and sewer system. This action was taken after due consideration of the needs for Pomeroy, and a comparison of what other similar municipalities of similar size are using. For reference purposes, the accompanying table r...
By Naomi Scoggin East Washingtonian Reporter POMEROY– The Garfield County Hospital District board welcomed two new commissioners at their meeting on December 6. Erica Stallcop and Sherry Ledgerwood were sworn into office, swearing an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the laws of Washington State, and to faithfully and impartially carry out their duties. A farewell party was held at the end of the meeting for retiring commissioners Cindy Wolf and Chris Herres. The final l...