Back Issues: From the pages of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News

2021 One year ago

After more than four decades working in city and county government, Latah County Auditor, Clerk and Recorder Henrianne Westberg announced she plans to step away a year before the end of her second term for personal reasons. Westberg, who turns 70 next year, said she has been working for the county and city in various capacities since she was 26. She took her first job with the county in 1977, typing out registration forms for the Department of Motor Vehicles on a typewriter. She said it was just a year after she first moved to Moscow to attend the University of Idaho. She soon married a local farmer and never left. ... Malden received a nearly $1 million boost toward its goal of building a new facility to house a fire station, city clerk’s office and post office. The Washington Department of Commerce announced this week that it has awarded Malden a $900,000 grant for the building in addition to $30,000 for park upgrades.

2017 Five years ago

Lena Whitmore Elementary teacher Lacey Watkins once resisted technology. Now, she is fully embracing its educational benefits in her kindergarten classroom. Watkins spent her afternoon prep time scrolling through her ClassDojo news feed, a website formatted similarly to Facebook that allows her to post pictures and newsletters, give feedback on students and interact with parents. The updates go straight to parents’ cellphones, similar to a text message, giving them daily glimpses into their students’ learning. ... When a spacecraft was purposefully crashed into the atmosphere of Saturn, it marked a bittersweet ending to a mission that spanned nearly 30 years for David Atkinson, a former University of Idaho professor and Washington State University electrical engineering alumnus. “That was half my life ago,” said Atkinson, referring to the start of his involvement in NASA’s mission to Saturn. Atkinson first became involved with the Cassini mission in 1987.

2012 10 years ago

When Michael Schwartz-Oscar was first approached by students who wanted to bring a tool called OrgSync to the Washington State University campus, his reaction was immediate. Schwartz-Oscar, assistant director at WSU’s Center for Civic Engagement, said he turned them down at first because the software did not have a system by which the service could be managed. But after contacting the CEO at OrgSync — an online community for campus organizations and programs — they were able to set up a service management system and now have more than 11,000 users on a customized version called CougSync. ... The sound of 60 young boys wrestling one another and the encouraging words of coaches filled the Moscow Junior High School wrestling room during the Moscow Wrestling Club’s first practice of the season. At the end of practice coach Shane Needham reminded the wrestlers of the club’s No.1 priority: having fun. Needham said the club, which has been around since about 1982, provides a disciplined but fun environment for local youth, ages 4-14, to learn about the sport of wrestling.