Rec grants fund local projects
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board recently awarded $1 million to create habitat for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, whose numbers are small and dwindling rapidly.
FILE PHOTO
The basketball courts at Kiwanis Park in Othello will get an upgrade through a grant from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board.
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. | August 27, 2025 1:15 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board recently awarded almost $2.8 million in Grant and Adams counties, part of more than $148 million awarded statewide to build and improve parks and trails, conserve wildlife habitat and maintain land for farming and forestry, according to an announcement from the board.
“These grants are critical to keeping Washington a premier destination for outdoor adventure as well as a great place for Washingtonians to live,” Megan Duffy, director of the Recreation and Conservation Office, wrote in the announcement. “These grants are key to building great communities. The grants help communities light ball fields, make parks accessible to people with disabilities, connect gaps in trail systems, refurbish pools and resurface pickleball courts.”
Monies furnished to Grant County through the board include $1 million to buy 640 acres of Beezley Hills just north of Quincy to facilitate reintroduction efforts for the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit; $65,000 to update and maintain the toilet facilities at the Moses Lake Sand Dunes; $150,000 to develop a shooting range at the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area in the Potholes area; and $665,000 to update restrooms and parking at Evergreen Reservoir, Lind Coulee Island, Heart Lake and Windmill Lake.
The sole Adams County project financed by the grant will be renovations to Kiwanis Park in Othello. That grant provides $346,500 to build new basketball courts, according to the RCO’s project snapshot.
“The existing courts, which are 40 years old, consist of one standalone half-court and two hoops on a multi-court tennis court,” the RCO wrote in the grant description. “These courts are undersized and have outlived their useful life. This project would replace them with two full-sized lighted courts and one all-inclusive bankshot court, benches, landscaping, safety features and walkways connecting to ADA paths.”
In total, the board awarded 242 grants to projects in 35 of the state’s 39 counties, according to the board’s announcement. The RCO received 411 applications requesting more than $266 million in funding, meaning 59 percent of the projects received funding.
“Recreation not only is important to Washington’s economy, but to the health of the people who recreate here,” Duffy wrote. “Countless studies have shown that spending time outside can improve a person’s physical and mental health, reduce stress and even improve eyesight. It also does so much for our kids, including helping them improve their social connections and school grades. These grants are important for ensuring there are great places to recreate across Washington.”
The basketball courts at Kiwanis Park in Othello will get an upgrade through a grant from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Funding Board.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”