March 12, 2026 By: Katherine Trowbridge Moises Magana stands inside the new Feed Store room at The Old Brick Store in Connell (center). What began as a conversation between a husband and wife as they drove past a vacant building, has evolved into a new Farm Feed Store in Connell. Moises Magana shared the story with us. “I was driving by the US Bank and told Jodi [his wife] ‘You know what? This US Bank will be great for a feed store because it’s right by the highway and Connel

March 12, 2026 By: C&K Trowbridge Traffic is seen backed up for miles between Mesa and Connell, northbound Highwy 395 on Thursday morning. A 46 year old Everett man was killed early this morning on highway 395. The fatal accident occured on Northbound Highway 395, halfway between Mesa and Connell on Thursday, March 12. The ncident closed down the roadway to one lane from 6:30 am until after 10:00 am. Traffic was backed up for over two miles in the area of the accident. The W

March 3, 2026 By: Katherine Trowbridge Franklin County Commissioner and current Chairman of the Board, Clint Didier, will be seeking his third and final term in office. Franklin County Commissioner Clint Didier officially announced his candidacy for re-election to a third and final term on Thursday, Feb. 26.  Didier touted a variety of accomplishments in his time at the County thus far– from restoring the road fund and infrastructure to “restoring fiscal sanity to county gove

March 2, 2026 If you’ve ever dramatically stared out a window while singing about your dreams… or felt personally victimized by a sibling… the North Franklin Community Theatre has the perfect opportunity for you. The theatre group is hosting drop-in auditions for Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella on March 2 and March 3 from 6 to 8 pm in the high school band room. That’s right — for two magical evenings, the band room will transform from “clarinet squeaks and drum warm-ups”

February 24, 2026 By: Miurlin Escalante Eagles Wrestling topped the state wrestling chart with their first Lady Eagle State Champion - Sophomore Madison Magana (105) made history with her state win. As a team, the Lady Eagles stood 9th out of the 72 schools attending the state wrestling tournament at the Tacoma Dome, February 20 and 21. The Boys Wrestling Team also attended the state championship. The Eagles had many girls and boys taking to the podium. Magana is pictured wit

January 15, 2026 By: Katherine Trowbridge A New Year brought a new council for the City of Connell It was a changing of the guard, so to speak, as the council chambers filled with community members, family, and friends to witness the swearing in of a brand new mayor and Connell city council on Wednesday, January 7. Connell City Clerk Marissa Ortiz led the oath of office beginning with Council Position 1, Mayor and moving through each of the council positions. Council Position

January 15, 2026 By: Katherine Trowbridge Fernando and Elizabeth Ontiveros, owners of the 24 Hr Connell Fitness. Connell, once again, has a fitness center. The 24 hour Connell Fitness opened in November under the ownership of Fernando and Elizabeth Ontiveros. The Ontiveros also own centers in Othello (Diamond Hands Boxing and Her Iron Paradise - a women’s only fitness center), Warden, and Ritzville. Since they took over the lease in Connell, the couple has been bringing in ne

December 2, 2025 By: Katherine Trowbridge A Kahlotus councilman, who had recently been re-elected to his seat by the vote of the community, died early Tuesday, November 25, in a crash along a treacherous stretch of Highway 395.  Perrie Robitaille, age 77, was attempting to drive across the intersection of Highway 395 and East Vineyard Road at 6:30 am when his car was hit by an SUV.  A Washington State Patrol (WSP) Trooper who was in the area responded to the accident, finding

December 5, 2025 By: Katherine Trowbridge Franklin County Commissioners have been joined by state representatives and senators in the call for critical “regional public discussion” as a public meeting has been called to address the rising number of fatal crashes on the Highway 395 corridor north of Pasco. Officials announced the meeting on Friday, Dec. 5, following recent discussions after two major accidents in about a week, one leading to the death of Kahlotus councilman. A

December 3, 2025 By: Katherine Trowbridge As the new council and mayor are set to come into office in January of 2026, Connell City Hall has seen two big vacancies. The first, was the letting go of Public Works Director Hallie Tuck, in November. City staff shared that this position has been temporarily filled by Tyson Steele. Mayor Lee Barrow added, "The position was temporarily filled until the new administration decides what to do from here." The mayor did add that the city