MLPD, churches to host Faith & Blue tailgate Friday
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 11 months AGO
Moses Lake Police Cpl. Jose Ramirez can’t quite match a young attendee’s cheerleading skills at last year’s Faith & Blue event in Moses Lake. This year’s event is Friday.
COURTESY PHOTO/MOSES LAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT
An attendee at last year’s Faith & Blue event sits still for some face paint. Face painting will be a part of this year’s tailgate as well, which is Friday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | October 8, 2024 1:05 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Police Department will join with local churches Friday at Lions Field to mark National Faith & Blue Weekend, according to an announcement from the MLPD.
“We’re tailgating at the football game to provide an opportunity for community outreach and engaging with people,” said MLPD Capt. Jeff Sursely.
The event is part of a nationwide Faith & Blue Weekend, which brings police agencies and faith-based organizations together in thousands of communities across the country. More than 1,400 Faith & Blue events are planned nationwide, according to the organization’s website.
The event began four years ago in Atlanta as an outreach of the Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services at the U.S. Justice Department, according to the website.
“Where there is … crime, a lot of times those faith-based organizations are the places where officers can go to be with those communities that they don’t get to see very often,” Sursely said.
This is the MLPD’s third year participating, Sursely said. Churches partnering with the MLPD include Restore City Church, First Baptist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Moses Lake Bible Church and Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, according to Faith & Blue’s website.
Friday’s event will be in the parking lot at Lions Field before the Moses Lake High School football game against Post Falls. Churches will grill hot dogs and there will be face painting and games for the whole family, Sursely said.
“The whole idea is to bring together the community in a very relaxed environment, to open up communication, enjoy each other’s company,” he said.
An attendee at last year’s Faith & Blue event sits still for some face paint. Face painting will be a part of this year’s tailgate as well, which is Friday.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.