Ellensburg Community Morning Show, Tuesday, November 3rd
NEWS
It's Election Day, and you have until 8 o'clock tonight to get your ballot in. There are ten official drop boxes around Kittitas County, and every one of them closes at 8 sharp. In Ellensburg, they're at the county courthouse on West Fifth Avenue, which is a drive-up box, and on the C-W-U campus at 1007 North Chestnut Street. You'll also find drop boxes at the fire station in Thorp, in the alley behind City Hall in Kittitas, at Upper District Court in Cle Elum, at the town halls in South Cle Elum and Roslyn, and at the fire stations in Easton and Ronald. If you'd rather mail it, your ballot has to be postmarked today, so check the last pickup time before you drop it in a mailbox. A drop box is the sure thing. If you need a replacement ballot, help with voting, or an accessible voting machine, the County Auditor's Office in the courthouse at 205 West Fifth Avenue is open from 8:30 this morning until 8 tonight. There's a vote center at the Cle Elum Centennial Center, 719 East Third Street, from noon to 8, and a student hub in Room 137 of the S-U-R-C at Central from 9 to 8. Today is also the last day to register to vote or update your registration, and that has to be done in person at the auditor's office. Questions go to the elections office at five-oh-nine, nine-six-two, seven-five-oh-three.
Here's a quick look at what's on the ballot. In Kittitas County, there are three contested county races: sheriff, between Ben Kokjer and Darryl Chepoda Junior; prosecuting attorney, between Jodi Hammond and Aaron Reiman; and coroner, between Cori McKean and Charlie Divine. In the 13th Legislative District, Tom Dent and Juan "Jerry" Garcia are running for one House seat. The other House seat is open because Alex Ybarra is running for state Senate, where he's unopposed. Two Republicans want that seat: Deanna Martinez, a former Moses Lake City Council member, and Joshua Thompson, who has served on the Ellensburg City Council since 2023. For Congress, it's Kim Schrier and Spencer Meline. Statewide, voters are deciding three initiatives. One would repeal the state's nine point nine percent tax on yearly income over a million dollars. The other two deal with parental rights in public schools and with who can take part in K-12 school sports. Five seats on the state Supreme Court are on the ballot too. The first unofficial results are expected shortly after 8 tonight on the county auditor's website. Ballots postmarked today will keep arriving in the mail for several days, so the numbers will move, and close races may take a while to settle.
The Kittitas County Commissioners meet at 10 this morning, and one item on their consent agenda is the sale of the old Rodeo Bowl building on North Poplar Street in Ellensburg. The county owns the building. The Rodeo Bowl closed in 2013. C.R. Wales Investments has leased the building since January of 2023 and has been rebuilding it as a new bowling center called Strike Central, with 12 lanes and an arcade. That lease gave the company the right to buy the property for eight hundred sixty thousand dollars, and the company told the county in July that it wants to buy. Today's resolution would approve the sale at that price. County staff say the deal doesn't change the buyer, the price, or the property from what the lease already spelled out. As of last month, the Daily Record reported, Strike Central had not yet announced an opening date.
Two development items are on the same agenda. Commissioners are set to approve handing over part of Suncadia, the area known as Tumble Creek, to a new owner, Escalante Tumble Creek Development. Under Suncadia's development agreement with the county, which goes back to the year 2000, the county has to sign off on any transfer like this. County staff say the new owner has agreed to keep all of the promises in that agreement, and that Suncadia's own obligations don't go away. Commissioners are also set to approve the final development plan for Parke Creek Landing, about five miles northeast of the town of Kittitas. The project covers about 185 acres and plans for 36 home sites, an R-V storage area, and an 89-acre off-road vehicle park, built in three phases over 20 years. The board approved the project itself back in February. And from a county fund for small public works projects, the agenda includes about two hundred twelve thousand dollars for new sidewalks on Ranger Station Road in Cle Elum, and about thirty-four thousand dollars for the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce to get the site ready for a future recreation campus in Thorp.
Ellensburg's plan for the next twenty years is in front of the City Council. Last night's agenda included public hearings and first readings on the city's updated comprehensive plan, called "Ellensburg 2046," and on a citywide rezone that goes with it. State law requires cities to update that plan every ten years and to zone enough land for the housing they expect to need, at every income level. To get there, the rezone would open more land to apartments and what planners call "middle housing," things like duplexes and townhomes. It would also fold the city's two lowest-density residential zones into one. A first reading isn't a final vote. That comes at a later meeting. Also on last night's agenda was a hearing on next year's city property tax. The city is proposing a one percent increase, the largest state law allows without a public vote, which brings in about thirty-eight thousand dollars more. New construction and newly annexed land add about two hundred thirty-seven thousand on top of that, for a total city levy of about four point one million dollars.
A Yakima County resident has died of bird flu. The Associated Press reports it's the first bird flu death in the country in a year. County health officials say the person had other health problems and was exposed at a Yakima County dairy with infected cattle. Yakima County has reported 33 dairy herds testing positive recently, and three people have been infected after exposure at a dairy. Health officials are tracking down close contacts and watching them for symptoms. The C-D-C says it found no changes in the virus that would make it spread more easily, and there's no known spread from person to person. Health officials say the risk to the general public is low, and that the people most at risk are those who work closely with infected animals. Here in Kittitas County, a second backyard flock tested positive last week. If birds in your flock get sick or die without explanation, call the state Department of Agriculture's avian health line at one-eight-hundred, six-oh-six, three-oh-five-six.
Cle Elum has a new city clerk. Whitney Prosek started the job yesterday. She was the office assistant at Cle Elum City Hall and was the top candidate in the city's search. Mayor Matthew Lundh appointed her, and the City Council approved it unanimously last week. Councilman Steven Harper called it "a great step forward for the city."
Road Updates
The new traffic signal at Mountain View Avenue and Bull Road is set to switch on Thursday morning after 9. Crews and flaggers are working that intersection this week, so give yourself a few extra minutes. And with fog in the forecast tonight, take it easy on the way to the drop box.
Here's what's going on around town today.
The Ellensburg Public Library has storytime this morning, with regular and bilingual sessions at 10:15 and 11:15.
At the Ellensburg Adult Activity Center, Coffee and Conversation runs from 10 until noon, and there's beginning line dancing at 1 this afternoon.
And the library's podcast discussion club, Pod People, kicks off its new season at 6 tonight at the Hal Holmes Community Center, 209 North Ruby Street. You listen to the month's episode on your own, then come talk it over with everybody else. Tonight's pick is from the podcast "No Such Thing." The club meets the first Tuesday of each month through March.
Looking ahead to Thursday: Central's Sarah Spurgeon Gallery opens "Connecting Threads," an exhibit of work by eight Korean artists working in the United States and around the world. There's an artist panel from 4:30 to 5:30 in Randall Hall, Room 117, and a reception in the gallery from 5:30 to 7. And on Friday, the First Friday Art Walk includes the Kittitas County Historical Museum, open from 5 to 7 at 114 East Third Avenue.
SPORTS
Wildcat football is home Saturday for Senior Day. Central rolled past Eastern New Mexico 49 to 20 over the weekend and is now 7 and 2, and a perfect 7 and 0 in the Lone Star Conference. Western New Mexico comes to Tomlinson Stadium on Saturday, with kickoff at 1.
Wildcat volleyball has won 13 straight after beating Montana State Billings in four sets over the weekend. Central is 17 and 4, and 13 and 2 in the GNAC. The Wildcats play at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, Saturday at noon, then come home to face Western Washington next Thursday, November 12th.
The Wildcat women's soccer team opens the GNAC tournament Thursday at 11 a.m. as the fourth seed, against top-seeded Western Washington at Interbay Stadium in Seattle. Western beat Central 3 to nothing on Senior Day at Tomlinson last Saturday. The Wildcats are 6 and 9 and 4.
Wildcat cross country runs at the GNAC Championships on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Monmouth, Oregon.
And both Wildcat basketball teams went 2 and 1 at the D-Two Tip-Off Classic at Nicholson Arena, and both finished the weekend by beating ranked teams. On Sunday, the women beat 24th-ranked U-T Tyler 71 to 58, and the men beat 23rd-ranked Lubbock Christian 74 to 62. Both teams are next in action on the road, Friday, November 13th.
WEATHER
The forecasted high today in Ellensburg is 52 degrees with a low tonight of 29 degrees. Look for patchy fog this morning until about 1, then clouds that give way to mostly sunny skies this afternoon. The sunset is at 4:43 p.m. with winds calm. No rain is expected today. The fog comes back after 10 tonight, and after 1 in the morning some of it may turn to freezing fog, so watch for slick spots if you're out late. Tomorrow looks sunny once the morning fog clears, with a 40 percent chance of showers tomorrow night. No weather alerts are in effect.
WHAT'S FOR LUNCH AT THE FISH OPEN TABLE?
The FISH Open Table lunch today is a ham and vegetable scramble, served with a roll and fruit. The senior lunch is open to all seniors age 60-plus from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ellensburg Open Table at 204 North Main Street, and from 11 a.m. to noon at Dru Bru, 1015 East Second Street in Cle Elum. If you're new, staff can sign you up when you get there. The community lunch for anyone needing a hot meal is from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Ellensburg Open Table.
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