Voters to choose mayors, school board, city council members
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 10 months AGO
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. | October 27, 2021 1:05 AM
EPHRATA — Voters will choose a Mattawa mayor, as well as certain Royal City City Council and Wahluke School Board members in the general election Tuesday.
Incumbent Mattawa Mayor Maria Celaya is being challenged by current Mattawa City Council member Sun Hwang. The winner will fill the remaining two years of the term of former mayor Scott Hyndman, who resigned in November 2020.
Royal City Mayor Kent Anderson and Othello Mayor Shawn Logan are running unopposed.
Michael Christensen and Stanton Fanning are competing for one of two open seats on the Royal City City Council. Incumbent Tiffany Workinger is running unopposed for the second open seat.
Four Mattawa council incumbents, Sylvia Barajas, Tony Acosta, Vicente Acosta and Wendy Lopez, are running unopposed. So are three incumbents on the Othello City Council, Genna Dorow, Corey Everett and John Lallas.
Both open seats on the Wahluke School Board are contested races. Incumbent Jesse Chiprez is being challenged by Nick Trejo, and Cynthia de Victoria and Luke Jenne are running for the seat vacated by Lorraine Jenne.
Alison Huntzinger is running unopposed for a seat on the Royal School Board. Three incumbents, Jenn Stevenson, Ken Johnson and Lindsy Prows, will run unopposed for their seats on the Othello School Board.
Barbara Davis and Jessica Marie Fernandez will run unopposed for seats on the board of Grant County Hospital District 5 (Mattawa Community Clinic). The board didn’t attract any candidates during the initial filing period, but Davis and Fernandez filed for two of the three open seats during a special filing period. Incumbent Lynda Bowers will run unopposed for her seat on the Adams County Hospital District 3 (Othello Community Hospital) board.
Incumbent Deena Vietzke faces a challenge from Patrick Simmons for the open seat on the Port of Othello commission.
Incumbent Davey Miller is running unopposed for a new term in Grant County Port District 2 (Port of Royal Slope). Glenn Leland, incumbent commissioner in Grant County Port District 3 (Port of Mattawa), also is running unopposed.
Incumbent Grant County Fire District 8 (Mattawa) Commissioner Richard Kummer is running unopposed for re-election, and incumbent Robert Weber is running unopposed for a new term on the Grant County Fire District 10 (Royal Slope) commission. Peter Anderson will run unopposed for a seat on the Adams County Fire District 5 (Othello) commission.
Voters in the Othello Parks and Recreation District (Adams County Parks and Recreation District 1) will be asked to accept or reject a one-year, $210,000 maintenance and operations levy. The district maintains P.J. Taggares Park.
Because it’s a revenue measure, the levy would require 60% approval from voters to pass. The levy was rejected during the August primary, receiving 53% of the vote.
Three incumbent commissioners will run unopposed for seats on the Othello Parks and Recreation board, while two seats didn’t attract any candidates. The incumbents who filed for new terms are Frank Vasquez, Rolando Cerillo and Robert Pruneda.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road projects on hold for Labor Day weekend
MOSES LAKE — With Labor Day weekend dead ahead, drivers will be able to move freely about the state. Most road projects are on hold for the holiday weekend. Nobody will be working on the Hansen Road overpass on Interstate 90, but the lane restrictions that are in effect will continue through the end of the project.
Cost estimates for water source alternatives given to Moses Lake City Council
Protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, efforts are ongoing to keep it self-sufficient
MOSES LAKE — It’s going to cost a lot of money to provide alternative water sources for the city of Moses Lake, but some of the possible alternatives will cost more than others. City officials provided the Moses Lake City Council with costs for various alternatives Tuesday.
Dryer vent cleaning is important -- but often overlooked
MOSES LAKE — Not all the maintenance a house needs is visible. Sometimes a potential problem just goes unnoticed until it causes trouble, sometimes serious trouble. But a lot of potential problems give off warning signs. Clothes dryers often do when they need a good cleaning.