Wednesday, March 25, 2026
55.0°F

Feb. 10 initial election results

CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 1 week AGO
by CHERYL SCHWEIZERR. HANS MILLER
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. | February 10, 2026 8:36 PM

EPHRATA — Voters were asked to approve or reject educational programs and operations levy requests from a number of Grant and Adams county school districts in Tuesday’s special election. Voters in the Ephrata School District and East Adams Rural Healthcare decided the fate of specific proposals. Unofficial results released Tuesday night are listed below with additional votes coming in via mail over the next few days. Mailed-in ballots must have been postmarked by Feb. 10, 2026, to be counted.  

Election results will be certified Feb. 20.  

Grant County 

Coulee-Hartline School District 

Two-year EP&O levy:
Yes: 239
No: 98 

Ephrata School District
Construction bond 

Yes: 1,147
No: 1,261 

Quincy School District
Four-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 933
No: 500 

Royal School District
Two-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 292
No: 170 

Wahluke School District
Four-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 261
No: 222 

Warden School District
Two-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 167
No: 123 

Two-year capital levy, safety and technology: 

Yes: 169
No: 107 

Wilson Creek School District
Two-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 43
No: 33 

Adams County 

East Adams Rural Healthcare:
EMS levy lid lift: 

Yes: 466
No: 379 

Healthcare levy lid lift 

Yes: 411
No: 432 

Lind School District
Two-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 122
No: 71 

Two-year capital levy, technology and facility upgrades 

Yes: 125
No: 68 

Othello School District
Four-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 564
No: 348 

Ritzville School District
Two-year EP&O levy: 

Yes: 315
No: 224 

Two-year capital levy, technology and facility upgrades 

Yes: 342
No: 197 

ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER

Mattawa residents may vote on sales tax increase for transportation
March 25, 2026 12:30 a.m.

Mattawa residents may vote on sales tax increase for transportation

MATTAWA — Mattawa residents could be voting on a proposal to raise the sales tax for its Transportation Benefit District in November. Mattawa City Council members voted March19 to authorize a one-tenth of one percent increase in the sales tax, with the money going to the TBD.

Othello awarded grant for new Kiwanis Park playground
March 25, 2026 3:20 a.m.

Othello awarded grant for new Kiwanis Park playground

OTHELLO — A new playground and an expanded parking lot will be coming to Othello’s Kiwanis Park with the help of federal and state grants – a project that had been canceled when part of the grant funding was denied.

New hangar, fire main under construction at Port of Moses Lake
March 24, 2026 3 a.m.

New hangar, fire main under construction at Port of Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Port of Moses Lake officials are taking advantage of a construction project at Grant County International Airport to improve firefighting service to the west section of the port’s business property. Port commissioners approved paying about $312,600 to Freeman Holdings, the owners of Million Air, for the port’s portion of a bigger water main for fighting fires.