Pullman
Emergency Responders rescue about 20 people from the North Grand Avenue flash
flood
April 10, 2019 Pullman Radio News
Emergency
responders rescued about 20 people from the flash flood in Pullman early
Tuesday night. Pullman City Firefighters
and Police Officers responded to people stranded inside flooded businesses on
North Grand Avenue.
Fire
Captain Eric Reiber commanded the rescue efforts. Firefighters had to break a
front window at the nail salon in the Tractor Town Square building to evacuate
about a dozen people. The front door
wouldn’t open because of the water pressure.
Those people were able to walk through the rushing flood water to safety.
Firefighters
then joined forces with City of Pullman Public Works crews to rescue another 10
or so people. Personnel used front end
loaders to forge the raging waters to reach the stranded victims. They were brought to safety by standing in
the bucket with firefighters.
Paramedics
used a loader to respond to a possible medical situation at the Mobil gas
station. A person stranded there was
suffering a possible diabetic problem and was checked out OK by the paramedics.
:::::::::::::::::
Jeff
Pollard returning to Coug men’s hoops; two other player might leave
Apr 10, 2019 Lewiston Trib
PULLMAN —
On the same day that one Washington State men’s basketball player decided to
stay in Pullman, two others have opted to explore greener pastures.
After
announcing his intentions to seek transfer less than a month ago, Washington
State forward Jeff Pollard has changed tunes, electing to stay put with the
Cougs for his final year of eligibility. But guard Ahmed Ali and forward Isaiah
Wade each entered their names into the NCAA’s transfer portal, according to
VerbalCommits.com and Cougfan.com, respectively.
Pollard
announced the development over Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, largely crediting
new WSU coach Kyle Smith for influencing his decision.
“In the
short time I’ve know Coach Smith, I’ve been very impressed with him and his
vision for the program,” Pollard wrote. “There’s no doubt in my mind he will be
successful here and I’m excited for the opportunity to help lay the foundation
for that success.”
Pollard
entered the NCAA’s transfer portal on March 19. In Tuesday’s letter, he said it
was a “contingency plan when Coach (Ernie) Kent and his staff were let go.” He
said he explored other options, but ultimately decided to remain with Wazzu,
where he’ll graduate this spring and next year, begin to pursue a master’s
degree in business.
Smith
pleaded with Pollard to remain at WSU in a speech at the coach’s introductory
press conference, during which Pollard was on an official visit to an unnamed
school.
With
Pollard’s return, the Cougars retain their glue-guy, whose hard-nosed paint
presence was crucial to the little success WSU had in 2018-19.
He started
27 of 33 games last season, averaging 4.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
Last month, he was named a first-team All-Academic Pac-12 player for the second
consecutive year.
Ali, a
junior Eastern Florida College transfer, started 24 of 32 games played last
season, logging 7.3 points and a team-high 2.9 assists per game.
The 5-11
point guard had a 2.4 assist/turnover ratio, a solid mark, but was limited
defensively.
Jervae
Robinson is now the lone point guard on WSU’s roster.
Wade, a
6-7 bruiser and Iowa Western CC transfer, appeared in 29 games last year as a
junior, averaging 4.6 points and 1.4 boards per game.
Wade had
career highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds at Seattle U, and showed up
sporadically as a firm defender, but never materialized as a consistent
offensive option or defensive presence.
By
entering the transfer portal, Wade and Ali may still return to WSU, but are
permitted to visit other schools.
COLLEGE
BASEBALL
WSU-Seattle
U rained out
PULLMAN —
Washington State’s baseball game on Tuesday against Seattle U at Bailey-Brayton
Field was rained out. No makeup date has been set.
The
Cougars will play host to a Pac-12 series with Oregon beginning Friday at 5:05
p.m.
:::::::::
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/apr/10/flood-damages-pullman-businesses-sparks-rescues
Flash
flooding damages homes, cars and businesses in Pullman, Moscow
UPDATED:
Wed., April 10, 2019, 6:38 p.m.
By
Jonathan Glover and Chad Sokol
Spokesman-Review
Spokane
PULLMAN –
Heavy rain caused flash flooding Tuesday night in Pullman and Moscow, sweeping
up cars, damaging buildings and trapping about two dozen people inside
businesses.
The
Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport received 1.21 inches of rain Tuesday – a record
for the day, according to the National Weather Service. Jeff Cote, a weather
service meteorologist, said the rain unexpectedly pushed the South Fork of the
Palouse River into flood stages around 7 p.m.
Clayton
Forsmann, the city’s deputy public works director, said water overtopped
Missouri Flat Creek, a 15-mile tributary to the river, and spilled onto Grand
Avenue near Stadium Way, resulting in a heavy downhill flow.
Pullman
Fire Capt. Eric Reiber said it was the worst flooding he had seen in the city during
his 31 years as a resident.
“This is
the third or fourth time I’ve seen water in that region,” Reiber said. “This
was a more significant event then we’ve had in the past.”
Flood
warnings were still in effect Wednesday morning in Pullman and near Potlatch,
Idaho. In Pullman, however, the water had receded by Wednesday morning, and
traffic was flowing again on Grand Avenue.
A few
parking lots were covered in brown muck, and heaps of wheat stubble and other
debris – carried into town by the creek – were tangled in the wheels and
bumpers of dozens of waterlogged cars.
The
floodwater took the biggest toll on the building at 745 N. Grand Ave., which
houses Carnahan Chiropractic, a Snap Fitness gym, a rolled ice cream shop
called Rollys, the Kool Nails salon and a recently opened branch of Ideal
Option, a health provider that offers medication-assisted treatment for drug
addiction.
Murky
water rushed into the building, which sits below the roadway, and reached a
high mark of nearly 3 feet, submerging tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of
equipment at the gym and the chiropractor’s office. Patient files and other
items were left in mangled heaps.
Firefighters
smashed the window of the nail salon to rescue employees who became trapped
inside while laying sandbags. Water carried a small car into the side of the
building, wedging it against a retaining wall. Patients at the counseling
office were forced to reschedule appointments. And the owners of the ice cream
shop, which opened in October, scrambled to move tables, chairs and arcade
games as water began seeping under the door.
“Unfortunately, this happened right before
Mom’s Weekend, and that was supposed to be a busy one,” said Crystal Gayle, who
owns Rollys with her husband, Adrian.
Parley
Pearce, the owner of the building, said he received the first many phone calls
about potential flooding around 6 p.m. “Within an hour they were just being
inundated,” he said.
Pearce,
who lives in Walla Walla, estimated the cost of repairs on the building would
exceed $1 million. He said he has flood insurance for the building, though at
least one of his tenants does not have coverage for interior furnishings.
A city
building inspector deemed the building unsafe and posted “do not enter” signs
Wednesday morning. Several tenants were awaiting answers from claims adjusters.
“There’s
nothing to do now but get the place fixed up,” Pearce said.
Reiber,
the fire captain, said about 14 firefighters worked throughout the night,
beginning in the evening when about 20 people needed rescuing from businesses
along Grand Avenue.
In
addition to the nail salon, firefighters picked up people at a laundromat and a
gas station across the street, and at an insurance office a few blocks to the
south, where Allen Kapofu, a State Farm agent, found himself surrounded by
water after a long day of work.
The
firefighters drove a front-end loader through the rising water. Those being
rescued, including Kapofu, were helped into the vehicle’s bucket and taken to
safe locations.
“It was a
lot safer,” Reiber said. “The loaders had enough weight that they weren’t going
to get washed away.”
Pullman
Mayor Glenn Johnson drove around the area to assess damage Wednesday morning.
He said he and his staff were looking forward to a call from Gov. Jay Inslee’s
office to discuss a potential emergency declaration, which could free up state
funding for cleanup and repair efforts.
“Things
are getting back to normal,” Johnson said. “But we have some stuff to clean
up.”
In Moscow,
the weather service reported Paradise Creek entered minor flood stages at about
4 p.m. Tuesday.
Tyler
Palmer, the city’s acting public works director, said the area had experienced
consistent showers for several days, leading to saturation in the ground. Then
Tuesday, as heavy rain fell, drainage canals on Paradise Creek and the South Fork
of the Palouse River began to fill and overflow.
“It spiked
up very quickly,” Palmer said. “It appears to be the highest event that we have
on record.”
Palmer
said several dozen homes and businesses flooded throughout town, though Main
Street and the downtown corridor were mostly spared. The floodwater receded
Wednesday morning.
Palmer
said the city and Latah County had declared a state of emergency.
“Today
we’re in cleanup mode, and a lot of people are trying to get water of
basements,” he said. “We’re just a little wet.”
:::::
https://dailyevergreen.com/54140/sports/wsus-second-varsity-four-captures-gold-in-san-diego
WSU’s
second varsity four captures gold in San Diego
Cougars
boat finishes 11 seconds ahead of UCLA to earn victory
By DYLAN
GREENE, Evergreen deputy sports editor
April 8,
2019
WSU rowing
capped a weekend at the San Diego Crew Classic on Sunday with its second
varsity four capturing gold in its race.
The second
varsity four consisting of senior Emily Weible, sophomore Ony Chigozie, junior
Isabella Cristelli, junior bow Ella Cowan de Wolf and coxswain Jennifer O’Dell
claimed first in the Women’s Collegiate 4+ B entries final with a time of
8:08.635. UCLA crossed the finish line nearly 11 seconds later to claim second
and Oklahoma took third.
Head Coach
Jane LaRiviere said she was proud of her team’s performance.
“Competition
was fierce and we have two weeks to get better and that’s what we are going to
do,” she said in a WSU news release.
The
Cougars varsity eight grabbed sixth in the battle for the Jessop-Whittier Cup
clocking in with a time of 6:54.318. No. 2 Cal won the cup with a time of
6.33.434 followed by No. 1 UW in second, No. 4 Texas in third, No. 3 Stanford
in fourth and UCLA in fifth.
WSU also
finished sixth in the race for the Jackie Ann Stitt Hungness Trophy with its
second varsity eight. The Cougars finished over 32 seconds behind first-place
Stanford who clocked a time of 6:39.198 to claim the cup.
The
Cougars varsity four consisting of junior coxswain Hannah Welzbacker, junior
Linnea Davison, senior Grace Arnis, senior Madeleine Bingham and sophomore bow
Emma Barrett earned second in the Varsity 4+ Karen Plumleigh Cortney Cup Final
2 with a time of 7.37.239. San Diego State edged out WSU by three seconds to
claim first.
WSU will
take nearly two weeks off before they return to the water to take part in the
Clemson Invite on April 19-20 at Lake Hartwell in Clemson, South Carolina.
::::::::::::::::
WSU MEN BASKETBALL
Clarkston,
Wash., 6-foot-10 post Brandton Chatfield
will join Washington State men’s basketball, Coach Kyle Smith as preferred
walk-on
Wed.,
April 10, 2019, 7:36 p.m.
By Theo Lawson,
Spokane S-R
PULLMAN –
Brandton Chatfield, a 6-10, 210-pound post who set multiple rebounding records
at nearby Clarkston High, has agreed to join Washington State’s basketball team
and first-year coach Kyle Smith as a preferred walk-on.
Chatfield
signed a letter of intent at a celebratory ceremony held Tuesday at Clarkston
High’s Kramer Gym.
The All-Great
Northern League post was named to the Associated Press all-state honorable
mention team after helping lead the Bantams to an 18-9 record and fourth-place
finish at the 2A tournament in Yakima, where Clarkston went 3-1.
Former
recruiting coordinator Elwyn McRoy extended a preferred walk-on offer to
Chatfield while Ernie Kent was still at the Cougars’ helm, but new coach Kyle
Smith phoned the Clarkston High big man shortly after accepting the WSU job and
honored the initial offer.
“I have a
high rebounding average and I know he likes a lot of defensive rebounding,”
Chatfield told The Spokesman-Review on the phone Tuesday. “I’m a big rebounder.
That’s what I focus on most besides posting up.”
Chatfield
had the numbers to back it up. He played just two seasons at Clarkston High
after his family moved from nearby Orofino, but still managed to break a
program record with 533 career rebounds, while also setting the single-season
mark with 342 rebounds as a senior. Chatfield had 20 boards in a game for the
Bantams last season, falling two short of Clarkston’s single-game record.
“I think
the first thing Brandton brings is a really athletic big guy that can really
run the floor,” Clarkston coach Justin Jones said. “His athleticism at 6-10 is
next level and I think the way that he has developed over the last three years
with our program, I think really shows what he’s capable of doing over the next
four or five years at the college level.
“So I’ve
always said he has such a high ceiling.”
During his
senior season with the Bantams, Chatfield averaged a double-double, scoring 15
points per game and averaging 12.7 rebounds. He was also a high-level
defender/rim protector for the Bantams – two skills that should translate well
to WSU, where Smith has assured his teams would place a high premium on getting
defensive stops.
“The thing
that Brandton really did for us is he picked up our defensive system so
quickly,” Jones said. “He has great instincts and he has great balance.”
According
to 247Sports, Big Sky schools Idaho, Eastern Washington and Idaho State all
expressed interested in Chatfield. He also said he holds scholarship offers
from Lewis-Clark State and Pacific Lutheran in Seattle.
Chatfield
hopes to be on scholarship by the time his WSU career is over, but says his
short-term target is to “get a lot stronger” his first season with the Cougars.
“Play
really well, then hopefully they offer me a scholarship,” he said.
::::::::
WSU
FOOTBALL
No rain
check: Washington State battles brutal showers during ninth spring practice
Tue.,
April 9, 2019, 10:56 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson Spokane S-R
PULLMAN –
Trey Tinsley says he never threw a pass in the rain growing up in sun-drenched
Southern California. Fred Mauigoa played in wet conditions all the time, but
the showers he experienced as a youth football player in American Samoa were
more of the tropical variety – not remotely as chilly or windy as the ones he
and his Washington State teammates have battled through this spring on the
Palouse.
Temperatures
dipped back down into the 40’s and violent winds caused heavy rainfall to drift
left to right and then right to left as the Cougars held their ninth spring
practice at Martin Stadium.
They’ll
practice six more times over the next few weeks, but the Cougars surely won’t
endure conditions like the ones they encountered Tuesday afternoon and evening.
While nonstop showers flooded various parts of Pullman, temporarily closing
down Grand Avenue because of excessive water buildup, WSU players went through
a normal practice, going though the traditional position drills, skeleton
passing sessions and live team periods.
“It’s good
experience for sure,” said Tinsley, a redshirt senior quarterback from Lake
Forest, California. “I remember my first-ever rain practice, coming from
Southern California I never played a rain game in high school. I’m just kind of
laughing like, wow I’ve never done this. But four years now in the system I
feel comfortable with whatever conditions are thrown at us.”
Elements
considered, the offense stayed relatively consistent throughout the
scrimmage-like period the Cougars close their practices with. Tinsley, Anthony
Gordon and Cammon Cooper were each given an offensive series, collectively
throwing four touchdown passes.
Cooper
appeared to run in a touchdown toward the end of his drive, diving into the end
zone and sliding another four or five feet on his stomach through the wet turf,
but defensive players indicated the quarterback had been touch-sacked behind
the line of scrimmage.
Either
way, the soggy conditions made for a more lively practice, with defensive
players embracing every chance they had to throw an offensive teammate into the
closest puddle.
After
hauling in a touchdown from Gordon in the back right corner of the end zone,
receiver Easop Winston let his momentum carry him through to the brick barrier
between the field and the stands, stepping into a puddle that was ankle-deep.
“It was
more gritty today, more rainy,” cornerback George Hicks III said. “More like backyard
football, you want to tackle in puddles and everything. But it was more gritty
today, it was a good practice for both sides of the ball.”
And a
pretty good simulation, too.
WSU
typically plays one or two games every year in inclement weather. Tuesday’s
conditions were reminiscent of the ones the Cougars faced in 2017 against
Colorado, a game they won 28-0. One year prior, brutal rains storms whipped
through Pullman as WSU hosted UCLA. The Cougars won a soggy, sloppy game 27-21.
“I think
that a lot of teams, especially in spring ball, you hear it from other coaches
that if it rains or it’s cold, you just cancel practice,” Tinsley said. “You
get 15 and however long you get, they’ll just pick a different sunny day. And I
think that us practicing in conditions like this helps us. I think we become
mentally tougher and I think in the fall we’re not shocked by it.”
The
counterpoint might be that the Cougars have also lost a handful of Apple Cup
games playing in bad weather. The Huskies won in a Pullman snow blizzard last
year, and in 2017, UW thumped WSU under scattered Seattle rain showers.
Which is
to say, the Cougars could still use the practice.
“Some
things aren’t as sharp,” WSU coach Mike Leach said. “Obviously we need to get
an indoor (facility), but no I thought we had good work and then there’s a
certain amount of it you want to be out in the elements anyway.”
#
