Driver in crash that killed 2 Burbank brothers cited
From the Tri-City Herald / October 30, 2009
DRIVER IN CRASH THAT KILLED 2 BROTHERS CITED, BUT QUESTIONS REMAIN
By Paula Horton, Herald staff writerBURBANK — A year has passed since two brothers were killed in a horrific Halloween night crash in Burbank, but a court case against one of the drivers is just beginning.
It took several months of investigation by the Washington State Patrol’s major accident investigation team to determine what happened and who was at fault for the wreck that killed Jorge Daniel Mendez, 17, and his older brother Jesus Jaime “JJ” Mendez, 19. They were passengers in a 2004 Suzuki Aerio driven by their friend and former classmate, Daniel Varela. The three teens were westbound on Highway 12 turning left onto Humorist Road when they were hit by a semitruck hauling apples and pears that was traveling east on the highway, officials said.
Conflicting witness statements led investigators to conclude it was “extremely likely” Varela had a red light when he turned left and “highly likely” that the semi driver, James Kooch, 61, of Hermiston, entered the intersection on a yellow light, according to WSP reports.
Just two weeks ago, Varela was cited in Walla Walla District Court for second-degree negligent driving. The 19-year-old has until today to respond to the infraction, either by paying the fine or contesting it and requesting a hearing. Second-degree negligent driving is a traffic infraction and subject to a $250 fine, according to state law.
No citations were issued against Kooch because it is legal to enter a controlled intersection on a yellow light, investigators said.
See the full article here.
Property tax deadline approaches
From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / October 20, 2009
PROPERTY TAX DEADLINE APPROACHES
By the Walla Walla Union-BulletinCounty Treasurer Gordon Heimbigner is asking landowners to remember the deadline for property tax payments is fast approaching.
Payments are due by Nov. 2, Heimbigner said. Options include mailing to the Treasurer’s Office, 315 W. Main St., or drop-off in boxes in the alley between the courthouse and jail or at Baker Boyer Bank, 7 W. Main St., Walla Walla, and 630 S. College Ave., College Place.
People also may make payments at the treasurer’s office, but because of the flu pandemic, officials are encouraging payments to be mailed or placed in the drop boxes, Heimbigner said. Payments may also be made through the county Web site, but a fee is charged.
News briefs through October 27
I haven’t updated this blog for three weeks because I was away on vacation and then back at the library catching up on what I’d missed. So I’m going to combine several different Burbank and Wallula news items (some new, some older) into one post. Here goes:
- A Burbank woman is being sought on a counterfeiting charge for “trying to pass a fake $50 bill at a Kennewick store.” [October 13]
- KIMATV out of Yakima did a story (including video) about the record-breaking marijuana busts in Burbank this year. [October 14]
- A new carbon sequestration study at Boise Inc. in Wallula got coverage in the Tri-City Herald (here on October 14) and the Union-Bulletin (here on October 13 and here on October 14).
- Here’s some coverage of the upcoming Port of Walla Walla election from the Tri-City Herald (here from October 15) and the Union-Bulletin (here from October 19).
- The Herald ran a story entitled LAURA GRANT DEFENDS TRANSPORTATION PROJECT VOTES that discusses the candidate’s votes related to the Highway 12 project. [October 23]
- For those who missed it, the McNary Wildlife Refuge Environmental Education Center had its grand opening on October 7. Coverage (including video) by KNDU.
- Burbank resident Kurt Clemmens shares his views on education in general and the Kennewick School District (where he has taught high school English for 26 years) in particular in this Letter to the Herald. [October 25]
- Four people were injured in a crash at Wallula Junction on Sunday, October 25. The Herald’s coverage is here and the UB’s is here.
- The Herald ran a story (including a photo gallery) entitled RICHLAND SISTERS TELL THE DEAD’S TALES which describes the work of two Richland women who’ve “spent the past five years searching out remote cemeteries to document and photograph the grave markers.” The article includes the following: “But then there are those quirky grave markers that make the sisters smile. Such as for the man buried in Wallula whose marker declares: ‘I told you I was sick.’” [October 25]
Sorry for the long hiatus. Regular posting will resume this week.
Events in Burbank this weekend and next
From the Walla Walla County Fire District #5 – Report of Activities (September 2009, Vol 3, Issue 2):
On October 3rd, 2009, Walla Walla County Fire District 5 will host the annual Fire Prevention Parade and Open House. Bring the family and join us for a great time! Watch the parade and meet the fire fighters at Fire Station #51 [460 W. Humorist Road] for food and live fire demonstations. We will also have the inflatables for the kids.
- Parade line-up in front of the High School at 10:30am.
- Parade start at 11:00am.
- Station #51 activities will start after the parade at 11:45am.
- Live fire demonstrations start at 12:30pm.
From a flyer posted at the Burbank Library by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Friends of Mid-Columbia River Wildlife Refuges. They invite you to join them for the …
GRAND OPENING of the Headquarters for the Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuges and the McNary Environmental Education Center
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
311 Lake Rd, Burbank, WA 99323Activities for all ages! Tours, hikes, bird watching, discovery center, children’s activities, taxidermy collection, native plant restoration garden.
Questions? Contact McNary NWR: 509-546-8300
Burbank High participates in KNDU Coats for Kids Challenge
From KNDO-KNDU / September 29, 2009
KNDU COATS FOR KIDS SCHOOL CHALLENGE
Kadlec Regional Medical Center is proud to bring you the 7th annual KNDU Coats for Kids School Challenge. Kadlec Regional Medical Center will donate $200 to every group who gathers 100 or more coats between now and December 7th, with Kadlec contributing $500 to the school getting the most coats and a trophy sponsored by KNDU-TV. ……
You can bring your new and gently used coats to the following locations to help your school become the winner! ……
Burbank High School
787 Maple St.
Burbank, WA 99323
Time to clean out those closets, Burbank!
Candidate for State Rep to stop in Burbank on Thursday
From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / September 28, 2009
CANDIDATE TO APPEAR WITH EX-GOVERNOR HOPEFUL IN AREA
The Committee to Elect Terry Nealey has scheduled a “whistle stop” tour on Thursday with guest Dino Rossi. The tour will stop at 10:45 a.m. at Country Cupboard in Dayton; at noon with Rotary, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. with downtown business owners and at 3 p.m. at campaign headquarters, 10 E. Main St. in Walla Walla; and at 4:30 p.m. at Applegate Orchards, 1024 Lake road in Burbank.
For more information, call Shane Laib at 509-629-1354 or go to www.terrynealey.com.
Kennewick high school students tour Burbank farm
From the Tri-City Herald / September 25, 2009
STUDENTS TOUR CBC RESEARCH AREA, BURBANK FARM
By Drew Foster, Herald staff writer…… Students from Kennewick and Kamiakin high schools touring CBC’s farms, agriculture mechanics building and campus halls. After visiting CBC, the students boarded the buses and headed to Burbank, where they checked out Gauntt Farm.
Chep Gauntt spoke to the students about farming, finishing school, opportunities in agriculture, the role technology plays in farming and how the industry isn’t all “back-breaking, get-out-the-shovel-type of work.”
“Agriculture is something most American people take for granted,” he said. “It’s something in the background. I think in a lot of ways it’s not very glamorous. This gives them a concept of the technology and the equipment.”
See the full article here.
The photo below accompanied the article and was captioned: “Tim Woodward, dean of Agriculture Education Research and Development at Columbia Basin College, leads a group of Kennewick High School students Thursday on a tour of CBC’s agriculture plots. About 85 students from Kennewick and Kamiakin high schools toured CBC and Gauntt Farms to learn about ag classes and related jobs.”
News briefs through September 24
A few stories have slipped by me over the last few weeks, so I’m going to combine several different Burbank news items (some new, some older) into one post. Here goes:
- Back on September 2, 2009, KNDO-KNDU ran a preview of Columbia-Burbank’s football team.
- Congratulations to Seth Shelton of Columbia-Burbank who was named an Academic All Star. (I’m not sure what that means exactly and KNDU doesn’t elaborate. Can anyone help me out with this one?)
- The Tri-City Herald reports today (September 24, 2009) that Gen-X Energy Group, “which lost its Burbank biodiesel plant to a fire in early July”, has signed an agreement with a sister company of Tri-City & Olympia Railroad Co. “to build a new facility in Richland to make biofuel.” See our earlier post about the July fire at the Burbank site.
- The Herald also has an article in today’s paper (September 24, 2009) about the “likely presence” of swine flu (H1N1 virus) in some of the smaller Tri-City area schools. Columbia-Burbank Superintendent Lou Gates is quoted.
Gates’ district — like other smaller districts in the area — has seen a recent increase in student absences. But the numbers have been under control.
In Burbank, they’re already going down. For example, in the middle school there were a few students absent the first day of class, including one who reported being sick. By Sept. 11, there were 30 students absent, with 17 calling in sick. The number of absences now has dropped off and “we have settled out at this point in time,” Gates said.
- Here’s a photo from the front page of the Mid-Columbia section from the September 13, 2009 edition of the Tri-City Herald. The caption read, in part: “Floyd Rivas of Burbank tears up as the habanero salsa he and his wife Tonia are trying kicks in Saturday and the Fiery Foods Festival in Pasco.”
Libraries offer online language courses
From the Tri-City Herald / September 13, 2009
LIBRARIES OFFER ONLINE LANGUAGE COURSES
By the Herald staffThe Walla Walla County Rural Library District is offering a new online language-learning resource to patrons called Mango Languages.
Mango is an online language learning system that focuses on teaching conversation skills for a wide variety of languages. Each lesson combines real-life situations and audio from native speakers with an easy-to-follow interface and simple, clear instructions.
Mango Languages currently offers 12 language courses: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Russian, English for Spanish speakers, English for Brazilian Portuguese speakers, and English for Polish speakers.
The Walla Walla County Rural Library District will provide drop-in demonstrations of the language program at several libraries. The schedule is as follows:
- Burbank Library, 875 Lake Road: Sept. 23, noon to 8 p.m. and Sept. 26, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Prescott Library, 103 S. D St.: Sept. 24, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Vista Hermosa Library, 76 Sarah Lynne Lane: Sept. 24, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- Touchet Library, 161 Hanson Road: Sept. 30, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, contact the Burbank Library at 545-6549 or by e-mail at burbank@wwrurallibrary.com.
The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (September 21, 2009) also noted this:
Library patrons can access Mango Languages at the Walla Walla County Rural Library District Web site (www.wwrurallibary.com), clicking on “Mango Languages” and entering their library card number.
See the full Herald article here. See the full Union-Bulletin article here.
Burbank man pleads guilty in staged Sun Mart robbery
From the Walla Walla-Union Bulletin / September 8, 2009 (as reprinted in the Tri-City Herald)
BURBANK MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN STAGED SUN MART ROBBERY
By Terry McConn, Walla Walla Union-BulletinWALLA WALLA — A man who stole more than $1,000 from the Burbank Sun Mart in April by helping stage a robbery there pleaded guilty in Walla Walla County Superior Court. Joseph D. Shackett, 22, of Burbank, entered the guilty plea last week to a charge of second-degree theft.
Shackett faces up to 60 days in jail when he’s sentenced later. But the prosecution is recommending no additional jail time. Authorities say Shackett and Aaron R. Weissenberger — who was working as a clerk in the store at the time — agreed among themselves to steal the money from the business by making it look like a robbery.
See the full article here.
From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / September 17, 2009
MAN SENTENCED TO TIME SERVED IN STAGED ROBBERY
By Terry McConn of the Walla Walla Union-BulletinWALLA WALLA — A man was sentenced this morning to time served for stealing more than $1,000 from the Burbank Sun Mart in April by helping stage a robbery there. Joseph D. Shackett, 22, of 18 Piper Road, Burbank, had served 16 days in the Walla Walla County Jail before being released pending disposition of his case.
In handing down the sentence today, Superior Court Judge Donald W. Schacht went along with a prosecution recommendation of no additional jail time. The standard sentencing range for second-degree theft — to which Shackett pleaded guilty Aug. 31 — is up to 60 days.
Schacht placed Shackett on a year of community custody, a form of probation. Shackett also will have to repay the money that was stolen. “I made some really bad decisions,” Shackett told Schacht before sentence was imposed. “I just don’t want to be that person anymore,” he said.
See the full article here.
