Burbank Community Library

The Tri-City Herald occasionally runs an old news brief from Burbank or Wallula in its “On this day” feature. They’re interesting little bits and they give you some flavor of the era in which they appeared. Here are a few recent examples:

• On this day: Mar. 14, 1968
  A former Burbank Heights housewife, Mrs. Joe J. Flink, now of Hermiston, is due to receive a mink coat from the Art Linkletter House Party TV show. Mrs. Flink had written a postcard to the show, but moved to Hermiston before her name was called on the air. Neighbors are trying to locate her.
• On this day: April 8, 1899
  Ed. Mace, a section hand on the W.C.R.R., a few days ago stooped down to pick up a shoe in the sand and found the whole body of a man buried in the sand in Wallula. All kinds of stories were immediately circulated about the gruesome find, the leading one being that the man probably fell from a train and crawled away from the track and died.
• On this day: April 14, 1916
  Two new automobiles have recently been added to the number already in Burbank. E. M. Chandler has a new 50 horsepower 6-cylinder Studebaker roadster, and M. P. Brislawn, water superintendent, has a new Ford run-about.

Here’s a digest of Burbank and Wallula news items from March:

• The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required]: “Boise Inc. has started a two-year harvest of the remaining trees from the 1,900-acre property it sold to the Port of Walla Walla in 2007, prompting Port officials to consider how to best utilize the land in the unknown period of time before an economic development project emerges.” [March 3]
• Authors of the book Weird Washington share stories about Wallula in this Herald story. [March 4]
• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required] that Prescott resident Jim Romine, currently a sheriff’s captain and commander of the Corrections Division, will run for Walla Walla County Sheriff. The UB notes: “His career has included serving as resident deputy in Burbank from 1979 to 1992.” [March 8]
• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required] that a man, Douglas H. Brown, “accused of growing more than 200 marijuana plants and possessing other drugs at his Burbank residence last spring pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to three felonies and was sentenced to more than two years in prison.” The Tri-City Herald’s coverage is here. [March 8]
• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required]: “A small bee might be a big issue in U.S. Highway 12′s future. Alfalfa seed growers who depend on alkali bees to pollinate their crops are worried that the new route for the highway will threaten the bees’ survivability and, in turn, one of the area’s most valuable commodities.” [March 11]
• The Tri-City Herald reported that “a replacement part for an aging turbine at Ice Harbor Lock and Dam could serve as a prototype of a new turbine design that federal managers hope provides safer passage for fish.” [March 17]
• The Herald reported that “Railex is planning to open a new freight terminal in the Southeast that could add one or two more trains per week from its facility in Wallula to a location either in Florida or Georgia and back.” [March 21]
• The Herald reported that a Burbank woman, Tammy Mora, “was sentenced to 15 days in jail for trying to buy two packs of cigarettes with a $5 bill doctored to look like a $50.” [March 27]
• The UB reported [subscription required] that a Milton-Freewater man, William Hunt, died Saturday after a one-car crash on U.S. Highway 12, near Humorist Road in Burbank. [March 29]

Here’s a digest of Burbank and Wallula news items from the last couple of weeks:

• Death notices and obituaries: Leone K. (Jochum) Reed, 73, of Burbank (Jan 11); James “Jim” A. Pardue, 70, of Wallula (Jan 27); Travis Fox, 75, of Burbank (Jan 29); Sally Bagley, 102, of Burbank (Feb 2).
• The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reported: “The U.S. Highway 12 Coalition will steer its efforts in 2010 toward securing $5 million for the latest phase of the mega road project. With the latest leg of the multiphase realignment slated to open mid-year and the call for bids on the Burbank interchange construction billed for late February, members of the coalition are hoping to ride the momentum of the project and secure additional funds despite the dour economy.” [January 29]
• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required] that Abdelkader G. Mohamed, 51, of Burbank, was injured in a crash on Highway 12. The crash happened on January 28 when another driver failed to stop at a red light at the highway’s junction with Humorist Road. The Tri-City Herald article is here. [January 29]
• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required] that the Grape Line bus service, which runs 3 times daily between Walla Walla and Pasco with stops in College Place, Touchet, Wallula and Burbank, has added three new buses to its fleet. [January 30]
• The Tri-City Herald announced that singer Don Ohman of Burbank would be presenting a program for the Columbia River Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution February meeting on Thursday, February 4, at the Tri-Tech Skills Center in Kennewick. [February 1]
• The Herald reported that a Kennewick woman, Tammy L. Johnson, 48, died when her car went off the road and crashed into a tree while she was driving on Second Avenue in Burbank. The Union-Bulletin’s coverage [subscription required] is here. [February 7]
• The Herald reported: “Draft plans for the final phases of the Highway 12 widening project are almost ready for a public review. The plans recommend a location for the proposed new road alignment from Wallula to Frenchtown, north of the Walla Walla River.” [February 15]
• The Union-Bulletin ran a short article [subscription required] about Central Washington University senior Brandon Berg of Burbank who is still recovering after donating a kidney to his father Ronald Berg. [Feburary 16]
• The Herald printed this letter to the editor from Perry Allen in Burbank: “I always thought that real lighthouses had real, working foghorns. In the last couple of weeks, a real foghorn would have helped me avoid running into Clover Island more than a nonfunctioning lighthouse.” [February 28]

Here’s a digest of Burbank and Wallula news items from the last couple of weeks:

• The Tri-City Herald reported that “a teenage girl suffered minor injuries when a school bus hit a deer on Highway 124 near Burbank … Five students were on the private bus, which is owned by Broetje Orchards and is used to take them to school in Burbank.” [January 6]
• Here is the Herald’s obituary for Herbert Charles Hulse, who lived in Burbank for many years. [January 6]
• The Union-Bulletin told the story [subscription required] about Walla Walla Life Scout Adam Gallinat’s research into the life of Bennie Shinbo, a 12-year-old Walla Walla Boy Scout who drowned in the Columbia River while attempting to save his scoutmaster, Fred Small. “Unfortunately, the current was too strong at Thrasher’s eddy, 3 miles from Wallula, and they died there on Aug. 27, 1933.” [January 9]
• The Herald reported that levy equalization for school districts, which is “state money [that's] meant to create balance between ‘property poor’ and often rural districts and those that are more affluent,” could be on the chopping block this legislative session. Schools throughout the region, including Columbia-Burbank schools, “would lose a substantial amount.” [January 9]
• Burbank resident Bob Lawrence wrote this letter to the Herald about horse racing. [January 10]
• The Union-Bulletin ran an article [subscription required] entitled U.S. 12 GROUP AIMS FOR FURTHER FUNDS that states: “The U.S. Highway 12 Coalition will steer its efforts in 2010 toward securing $5 million for the latest phase of the mega road project. With the latest leg of the multiphase realignment slated to open mid-year and the call for bids on the Burbank interchange construction billed for late February, members of the coalition are hoping to ride the momentum of the project and secure additional funds despite the dour economy.” [January 13]
• Here is the Herald’s death notice for John H. Mitchell, who “lived in Burbank for seven years before moving to Kennewick seven months ago.” [January 19]
• The Herald reported that “Boise Paper in Wallula is one of four pulp and paper mills in Washington measuring its social and environmental ‘footprint’ to find out how to do less harm to the environment and communities while remaining a positive economic force.” The Union-Bulletin ran a similar story [subscription only]. The Boise Inc. plant at Wallula is pictured above. [January 19]
• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required] that “work behind-the-scenes this year is expected to pave the way for future development of the Burbank Business Park. Port of Walla Walla officials say 2010 will be a big year for the Port-owned acreage along U.S. Highway 12 … though their efforts may not be all that visible to those driving past the property.” [January 21]
  

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Here’s a digest of Burbank and Wallula news items from the last few weeks:

• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription required]: “The trial for a man who allegedly was growing more than 200 marijuana plants in his Burbank residence last spring has been postponed in Superior Court. Douglas H. Brown, 58, of 158 Ray Blvd., now is set for trial Jan. 13 and 14.” [November 25]
• The Union-Bulletin reported [subscription only] that “Ty A. Cornwell, 25, 110 N. Columbia Way, Wallula, was charged Nov. 30 with first-degree theft. Cornwell is accused of wrongfully obtaining or exerting unauthorized control over iron railroad plates, bars and spikes between Nov. 19 and 20.” [December 2]
• The Tri-City Herald’s AtomicTown.com ran a story about a karaoke contest going on Tuesday nights at the Out & About nightclub in downtown Pasco. It included this mention: “Jessica Flores, 25, of Burbank, is another singer who knows her stuff. Wearing red spiky heels with her hair splashed with a purple hue, she fit the rock star mode. She also engaged the crowd by strolling through the room as she belted out Melissa Etheridge’s rock tune Your Little Secret. Flores said she has plans to make a stab at trying out for American Idol next year.” [December 3]
• The Union-Bulletin ran a story [subscription required] entitled A COLD SEARCH FOR AN ELUSIVE BALD EAGLE ALONG THE COLUMBIA PROVES FRUITLESS. In it, author Don Davis noted: “It’s about time for the regal birds (in looks, if not in character) to arrive at Charbonneau Park, above Ice Harbor Dam; Columbia Park, in Kennewick; Hood Park, west of Burbank on the Snake River; the Burbank area ponds; and along the Columbia from Wallula Gap westward.” So keep an eye out! [December 16]
• The Union-Bulletin also reported [subscription required] that a Kennewick man was jailed in connection with a staged robbery of the Burbank Sun Mart last April. Aaron R. Weissenberger, 36, had been convicted by a jury of second-degree theft on November 3. [December 8]
• The Tri-City Herald reported: “Three new buses are to begin ferrying passengers next month on the Grape Line between Pasco and Walla Walla, thanks to $1.9 million in federal stimulus money. Grape Line, through a partnership between the Washington Department of Transportation and Greyhound, runs three roundtrips daily between the cities. The service, which began in November 2007, picks up passengers in Touchet, Wallula, Burbank and College Place and in the two cities. A one-way trip from Walla Walla to Pasco or from Pasco to Walla Walla costs $6.50 and takes a little less than two hours, according to the Grape Line website.” The Union-Bulletin’s coverage [subscription required] is here. [December 17 & 18]
• KNDU reported (including video) that froken turkeys were delivered to several area food banks — including one in Burbank — as part of a Hanford food drive (now in its 24th year). [December 18]

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.

It’s been a few days since I’ve been able to update this blog, so I’m going to combine several different Burbank and Wallula news items into one post. Here goes:

• “Officials say it now appears a reported robbery at the Burbank Sun Mart in April was a setup staged by a man previously apprehended and a man who was working as a clerk at the convenience store.” Here’s coverage from the Herald and the U-B.
• Four people were injured in a Wallula Junction crash on Tuesday, August 11.
• “Columbia (Burbank) High School class of 1999’s 10-year reunion is from noon to 4 p.m. Aug 15. For more information, contact meshayle via email at justus3mae@hotmail.com.”
• The Three Rivers Children’s Museum has found a new home.
• Here are updates on the 16th Legislative District race from the Herald and the U-B.
• The Walla Walla Public Library hosted an Early Learning Fair on Saturday, August 8.
• The McNary Wildlife Refuge hosted a demonstration of calling and retrieving waterfowl on Saturday, August 8. The event was sponsored by Ducks Unlimited.
• The public is invited to comment on the McNary-Lake Wallula Shoreline Management Plan (pdf).

Here’s a micro-example of how a seemingly straightforward event can be reported very differently by different news sources. Last Sunday (July 12), a fire started near Wallula Junction at around 7 p.m., probably due to lightning from that evening’s thunderstorm. At some point, Highway 12 was closed due to the fire. The earliest report I’ve found is this one from KNDO-KNDU which was reported on Sunday evening and updated Monday morning. Here it is in its entirety:

WILDFIRE BURNING NEAR WALLULA JUNCTION

WALLULA, Wash. — Firefighters are still on the scene of a wildfire near Wallula Junction. Crews say lighting may have sparked the blaze around 7:00 p.m. Sunday.

Heavy winds and steep terrain made the flames hard to control. Firefighters say up to 500 aces [sic] may have burned, and the fire was about 50-percent contained as of 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. One structured was threatened, but crews have been able to protect it so far.

The Department of Transportation closed down Highway 12 from Wallula Junction to Game Department Road for a period of time.

The KNDO-KNDU coverage seems hastily assembled, and it probably was (given that the fire had just started a couple of hours prior). Acres is mis-spelled as “aces” and Sunday night is referred to as Saturday night, but these errors are limited to the written report on KNDU’s website and were not made in the actual TV broadcast (the 30 seconds of video coverage is also available on the KNDU website). It’s not unreasonable, though, to expect that those errors would have been corrected in the Monday morning “update”. All in all, KNDU is probably also the least accurate of the three sources I’ve found, since it diverges significantly from the other two, but who knows?

To read more, click here

From the Tri-City Herald / June 27, 2009

UNION PACIFIC UPGRADING TRACKS BETWEEN TRI-CITIES, WALLULA
By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer

… The company recently started a program to replace old, worn ties on its industrial rail line that serves local industries.

The 20-mile track — between the Tri-Cities and Wallula — is being upgraded at the cost of $2.8 million, said Zoe Richmond, company spokeswoman for the western region.

… The project continues through the end of September.

See the full article here.

From the Tri-City Herald / June 21, 2009

RAILEX ROLLING OUT GROWTH PLANS
By Pratik Joshi, Herald staff writer

WALLULA – At a time when the rail freight industry is under the threat of becoming derailed by a down economy, Railex is adding tracks for growth.

The company, often touted as a rolling warehouse, says it has revolutionized shipping and the distribution of goods across the East and West Coasts with its five-day delivery guarantee since it began offering service between Wallula and Rotterdam, N.Y. in 2006.

Recently, Railex’s Wallula facility was approved as a bonded wine warehouse, and Railex’s Delano, Calif., terminal which opened last year – started a second weekly train service to the company terminal in Rotterdam.

At least 45 percent of the 210,000-square-foot Wallula facility is being used as a bonded wine warehouse, said Jim Kleist, vice president Northwest region for Railex.

See the full article here.

(This is an aerial view of the Wallula facility.)

From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / June 5, 2009

STORM THUMPS AREA; CROPS OK
By Alfred Diaz of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA – An unusual path from the southeast is why Thursday’s storms descended on the Valley fast and furiously.

National Weather Service Meteorologist John Mittelstadt said the typical southwesterly storm pattern usually allows storms to descend on the Columbia Basin at a more gradual pace. But Thursday’s afternoon and evening storms were caused by cold air fronts coming directly over the Blues and clashing with warmer air in the Basin.

Wind gusts at Walla Walla Regional Airport peaked at around 43 mph, rainfall averaged around .5 to 1.5 inches and some smaller hail was reported, Mittelstadt said.

Damage to agricultural crops so far looks to be minor. Hay growers in Wallula and Burbank said their first cuttings — often the most expensive to lose — were mostly finished, and remaining stands look good, said Drex Gauntt, president of the Washington State Hay Growers Association and a Walla Walla County farmer.

See the full article here.

From the Tri-City Herald / June 1, 2009

WALLULA DAD AND HIS PASCO SONS BACK FROM 12,000-MILE MOTORCYCLE ODYSSEY
By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer

Riding a motorcycle 12,200 miles in 56 days is tough, but making it climb 800 feet higher than Mount Rainier is pushing the limit.

By the time they reached the end of the road May 4, Wallula resident Chuck Glessner and his sons Nathan and Jonathan, both of Pasco, had ridden through Mexico, Central America and South America to nearly the tip of the continent – 15 countries in all.

See the full article here and a photo gallery here.

From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / May 31, 2009

WALLA WALLA COUNTY TO SHIP [sic] SEAL ROADS FROM MONDAY THROUGH JULY

The Walla Walla County Road Department chip seal season starts Monday and runs through July. There may be delays of 5 to 15 minutes.

Here is a list of the more frequently traveled roads that will be chip sealed this year: town of Burbank, town of Wallula, Campbell Road, Hussey Road, Last Chance Road, Valley Chapel Road and French Town Road.

For a list of all roads to be chip sealed, go to
www.co.walla-walla.wa.us/Departments/PWD/maint.html.

This work schedule (pdf) seems a bit more useful than the link in the article.

From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / May 27, 2009

IN SEARCH OF BIRDS
by Don Davis

Audubon Washington celebrated a new section of The Great Washington State Birding Trail‘s Sun and Sage Loop in the Walla Walla area over the weekend of May 15-17. …… The Walla Walla section of the Central Washington Sun and Sage Loop roughly covers from Madame Dorion Park at Wallula Junction to Bennington Lake. …… On the recent weekend, the visitors enjoyed a varied agenda:

* birding at some of the newest sites in the Sun and Sage Loop of the Great Washington State Birding Trail with master birders and local Blue Mountain Audubon Chapter experts; ……

* learning about the geologic history of the area from noted Whitman professor Bob Carson, who made an evening presentation describing lava-flow and flood impacts on the natural history of the area and an in-the-field presentation at Wallula Gap Saturday morning.

See the full article here.

Please note that Professor Carson will be discussing his book Where the Great River Bends: A natural and human history of the Columbia at Wallula at the Burbank Library later this summer. Stay tuned for details.

Update: The Tri-City Herald has this article about “the creation of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail” in its Friday (May 29) edition:

TRAIL TO TRACK PATH OF ICE AGE FLOODS
By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer

RICHLAND – Some 12,000 years after the flood waters crashed over Dry Falls and carved through the Wallula Gap, about 40 people gathered at the base of Badger Mountain in Richland on Wednesday to celebrate the creation of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.

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From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / May 18, 2009

BODY FOUND IN COLUMBIA

WALLULA – The identity of a man’s body that was pulled from the Columbia River on Saturday may take a few days to confirm, although authorities believe it to be a missing Benton County man.

The body was recovered Saturday about 7 p.m. near Wallula by members of the Columbia Basin Dive Rescue and sheriff’s deputies from Walla Walla and Benton counties.

Fishermen had apparently discovered the body about two miles from the Boise paper mill, according to news reports.

Authorities working the case believe the man may be Bradley Jason Novak Jr., 27, who was reported missing May 6 along with his girlfriend, Julianne Elizabeth Keel, 25.

See the full article here.

Update: The Tri-City Herald has an article today (May 21) stating that the autopsy has been completed. KNDU has reported that:

THE MAN FOUND IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED

The body of the man found in the Columbia River near Wallula on Saturday May 16th, has been officially identified by Walla Walla County Coroner Frank Brown, as Bradley Jason Novak Jr. Dental records were used to make a positive ID. There was no evidence of foul play. Cause of death listed as cold water drowning.

Later Update: The Tri-City Herald has this article in its Wednesday (May 27) edition:

BODY PULLED FROM COLUMBIA IS MISSING WOMAN; WAS PREGNANT
By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

A Benton County woman whose body was found in the Columbia River drowned, County Coroner Rick Corson said Tuesday.

The tentative cause of death of Julianne Elizabeth Keel, 25, is freshwater or cold-water drowning, Corson said. A final determination will be made after results are back from tissue analysis and toxicology tests, he said, which could take 8 to 12 weeks.

An autopsy completed Tuesday afternoon also showed Keel was 5 1/2 months pregnant with a girl, Corson said.

From the Tri-City Herald / May 1, 2009

GRANT MONEY TO BE USED TO CLEAN UP WALLULA WATER
By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer

WALLULA – Dee Glessner holds a clear glass of water drawn from her kitchen tap and proclaims: “We have wonderful water, the best-tasting. It’s perfect.”

Well, not quite.

Glessner and her neighbors in Wallula are being ordered to clean up the town’s untreated water because the community well has a bit more arsenic in it than federal officials would like.

That’s why Glessner’s town of about 100 residents is receiving $802,335 as a community development block grant in Walla Walla County.

See the full article here.

From the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin / April 24, 2009

WALLULA RECEIVES WATER FUNDING
By Andy Porter of the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

WALLULA – A small community has received a big boost to cure its water supply problems.

Aided by Walla Walla County commissioners, the Wallula Water District No. 1 has been awarded $802,335 to bring its water system into compliance with state standards for arsenic.

See the full article here.