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POMEROY–The Garfield County Commissioners approved the Health Saving Account (HSA) contribution payment of $400 per employee per month at the January 11 regular meeting. The amount subsidizes the $5,000 deductible for the HSA at the back, according to Board Clerk Donna Deal. In the past, a contribution of $600 per employee per month was made to back fund the health saving accounts for all county employees, Deal explained. Last year, the board approved lowering that contribution to $400 which has maintained the level they have set. Again, a c...
Appreciation and well wishes upon retirement were recently given to City Public Works Director Kenny Landkammer, center, by Mayor Paul Miller and members of the Public Works crew. Landkammer's retirement was effective as of December 30, 2020, and he was presented a plaque expressing thanks for his "41 years of outstanding service to the City of Pomeroy Public Works." From left, Shawn Smith, Mike Lockard, Landkammer, Thomas Warren, Richard Yount and Mayor Miller. -Submitted ph...
POMEROY–The community is experiencing low COVID case number; Two active cases as of January 11 with some testing happening at the hospital but not much which is a good sign for our community. Even though minimal cases are being reported, Inslee has placed Washington State back to Phase 1 as of this morning January 11, 2021. This means infection numbers will have to meet required minimums in all nine counties contained in the East Region (Ferry, Stevens, Pen Oreille, Lincoln, Spokane, Adams, Whit...
POMEORY–The Drug Free Communities $125,000 grant was recently awarded to the Pomeroy Partners for Health Families. They are one of 201 coalitions in the United States receiving the annual funds for the Drug Free Communities Support Program. The purpose behind the 1997 Drug-Free Communities Act, is to provide grants to community coalitions in their efforts to prevent and reduce the incident of youth substance abuse and to grow healthier family relationships. The grant will allow Pomeroy P...
CENTRAL FERRY–Wilbur-Ellis Agribusiness has invested $4.5 million to better serve its Pacific Northwest customers with three new million-gallon tanks, adding efficiency to area distribution facility and reducing the carbon foot print. The Agri-chemical company increased the storage capacity from 500,000 gallons to more than 3.5 million gallons at its Central Ferry location to better serve area customers. "This is a significant investment for Wilbur-Ellis and re-confirms our commitment to our g...
This is the January 14 installment of the East Washingtonian's look back at 2020. -Charlotte Baker Publisher & Editor MAY 21). Garfield County had been granted approval to move forward to Phase 2 of the Governor’s Safe Start recovery plan. Hospital co-CEO Mat Slaybaugh outlined the upcoming construction that will upgrade the electrical infrastructure in the original hospital portion of the building. Library Drive-In Wi-Fi Hotspot Available for Free Internet Use. Teleconferencing, the Courthouse drop box and courtroom sound system have become v...
“Give me nights perfectly quiet as on high plateaus west of the Mississippi and I looking up at the stars. Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed. – Walt Whitman...
Governor Inslee has seemed to push off responsibility for the welfare of the state to other state governmental entities so he can focus on what he’s really after, his environmental and tax agendas. Never in my over six decades have I seen a governor ignore his constituents’ commerce and financial needs by allowing the Washington State Department of Health to determine how every citizen will function in their daily life. Yes, we have a flu virus, which is not something out of the ordinary. Throughout our thousands of years of existence, humans h...
A. F. Branco...
Grandpa Tommy’s dad used to say “A cowful is a substantial quantity.” According to my research, the rumen on a mature cow can hold up to 300 pounds. And by anybody’s standards that is quite a bit. Say you had a cowful of pocket change. You’d almost need a cow to keep it in. Say you had a cowful of wet laundry. It would take a forklift to get it in the dryer. Say you had a cowful of manure. Well, I guess a lot of us do. If cowful became an accepted unit of measure it could replace the antiquate...
The Senate Ways & Means Committee will hold a public hearing on January 14 at 4 p.m. on the Governor’s proposed income tax on capitals gains (SB 5096). Remote testimony is available and it is super easy to sign up for (I’ve already registered). The bill defines “Federal net long-term capital gain” as “the net long-term capital gain reportable for federal income tax purposes…” Senate Bill 5096 also says “taxpayers owing tax under this chapter must file, on forms prescribed by the department, a return with the department on or before the date...
Majority already moving forward toward state income tax By Sen. Mark Schoesler WASHINGTON STATE–Majority Democrats are looking to fast-track state income tax and once again trying to call it anything but an income tax by using the term “excise tax” in the title of Senate Bill 5096: “Concerning an excise tax on gains from the sale or exchange of certain capital assets.” Apparently, it is such a priority that a public hearing on the bill has already been scheduled for next Thursday. January 14, 2020 in the Senate Ways and Means Committee...
Twenty-twenty has been an exciting year for the Hospital District for many reasons. While a large amount of time and energy has gone into dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, our other work has not stopped. COVID-19 required many changes to procedures to ensure the safety of our patients and staff including screening, masking, limited visiting, limited in-person meetings, and more. Despite our best efforts, we still went through an internal outbreak. We have had a total of 14 patients test positive for COVID-19 and a handful of nursing staff....
POMEROY–What a rollercoaster ride 2020 was, with its twists and turns and, for a while there, you may have felt a little queasy. However, once you step off, you look back and realize that it could have been worse, but if you’re anything like me, you’re glad the ride is over. Or is it? When I take a glance over all of the things that happened and that I did in the last year, I feel a mixture of emotions. It started out with the fires at the beginning of the year. Then it abruptly went into the p...
I recently read an article in Leadership e-zine that caused me to really think about the message we give as a church to our community. The article began with a question that I am using as the title. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a bestseller book called “Blink” in which he makes the claim that often times our first impressions are the correct ones. To illustrate he talked about a psychologist who could predict whether a marriage would last, based on only a few minutes of observing a couple. He also told about a tennis coach who knew when a player woul...
POMEROY–The first of the Camas Prairie 10-week shoot for the Pomeroy Gun Club launched the weekend of December 9–10. Using the new stipulations under the COVID–19 protocols, the start of the season was fairly successful. The Junior shooters started their 2021 season on Saturday morning with Braxton McKeirnan leading the 12-year-old and under group with an 18 X 25 in singles and a 16 in Handicap. Byron Collier had a 16 in Singles and Levi Bowen had a 16 in Handicap. In the Sub Junior Division Mason Garcia and Gunner Magill paced the group with...
Sally Jane Ogden December 7, 1942–December 27, 2020 Sally Jane Ogden, age 78 years, passed away December 27, 2020, in Granite Falls, Wash., after a battle with cancer. Sally was born December 7, 1942, in Spokane, Wash., to Otto and Mary (Dixon) Fitzgerald. She attended school in Pomeroy. She was a drummer in the band and a member of Job's Daughters. She graduated from high school in 1961 and attended WSU. She met Gary at a Grange dance when in high school and they married on July 1, 1962. E...
WASHINGTON STATE–The government roll-out of vaccine distribution which began before Christmas, has met management issues fostering inoculation delays or holds. The federal government's "Operation Warp Speed" to develop a COVID-19 vaccine certainly wasn't secret. Governor Inslee and his Department of Health had many months to prepare for distributing the two approved vaccines received by our state before Christmas. Yet by the middle of this week Washington ranked 38th of the 50 states in a...
Ten Years Ago January 12, 2011 Work on a new recreational vehicle park south of the Pomeroy Ranger District offices is scheduled to start March 1. The park will cover just over two acres and will offer 32 spaces. A gazebo, picnic and playground areas, restrooms, showers and laundry facilities are planned for the future, as are a small store and permanent office in the one of the former Green Giant cannery buildings. Twenty-Five Years Ago January 17, 1996 Pomeroy city council voted at its meeting last week to apply to the Department of Wildlife...