County receives grant for fairgrounds lights
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 10 months AGO
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald New lights will be installed at the Moses Lake Roundup arena and a portion of the Grant County Fairgrounds, with the help of a state grant.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | May 10, 2020 11:39 PM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Roundup arena will get new lights, and lights will be installed at the south end of Grant County Fairgrounds, thanks in part to a grant of $283,000.
Fairgrounds director Jim McKiernan gave credit to Rep. Tom Dent.
“He was the champion of that grant,” McKiernan said. The money was included in the state’s supplemental capital budget, approved by the Washington Legislature during its 2020 session.
County officials were notified last week they had received the grant. The estimated project cost is about $520,000. County officials have set aside money for the rest of the project, McKiernan said.
The plan is to start the project in the fall and finish by the end of the year.
Current lighting at the rodeo grounds is outdated, McKiernan said, and the south end of the fairgrounds property has no lights at all. The new lights will take advantage of innovations in lighting technology, “the latest and greatest that you can get,” he said.
Along with making the lighting more efficient in the fairgrounds, the project should reduce light pollution outside the fairgrounds.
The arena lights are the first step in a long-term project to upgrade lighting through the entire fairgrounds, McKiernan said.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.