Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part one, with part two set to appear in Sunday’s Tribune.
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COLFAX — With the burnt remnants of the private, 1918 Manning-Rye covered bridge fallen into the Palouse River, plans are underway for removal of debris and replacement of the bridge — perhaps with a deconstructed span from elsewhere of the same era.
Downstream from the site northwest of Colfax — where a family also lost their new house — are four county-owned bridges, starting 5 miles away on Shields Road.
“If left unmitigated though the winter, (the remains) will mobilize and probably smack up against our bridges,” said Mark Storey, Whitman County Public Works director. “The window of opportunity to get it out of there is when the river is low.”
A Zoom meeting was set for Tuesday, with representatives from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), Army Corps of Engineers and county Public Works.
“It’s not exactly in our area of expertise, but we’re probably more experienced in removing debris than anyone else,” said Storey, who indicated the county, if called upon, may hire a contractor for the job, perhaps using cranes and workers in the water to hook cables onto pieces to pull them out.
The WDFW is the sole entity that permits work on water.
The historic bridge off Manning Road was built by the Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad. With it gone, one covered bridge remains in the state of Washington: the Grays River bridge in Wahkiakum County.
“When it’s an inanimate object that is lost, you put things in perspective,” said Phil Gruen, associate professor in Washington State University’s School of Design and Construction, who has studied and written about the Manning Bridge. “As a historian, a resident of Whitman County, I feel an attachment to places and sights and objects here; that’s quite a loss, and irreplaceable.”
The Manning Bridge had no roof, said to be left open to accommodate locomotive and overhead electric lines. The span was later owned by the Great Northern Railroad before being sold to private landowners in 1969.
Some have asked about using a temporary crossing. Public Works, which does have a temporary bridge it uses for construction, has none this long.
The bridge was not insured.
“I asked about it and nobody would insure it, and I can understand why,” said Todd Krause, current landowner, whose almost-complete new house burned in the fire too. “It was not considered insurable.”
Onecho Bible Church has started a fund to help the family with the bridge replacement.
Krause already has a line on a 1901 steel-truss bridge in storage in Siskiyou County, Calif., available for use.
He found it on Bridgehunter.com.
Krause has contacted the owner, who subsequently has already promised the 30,000-pound bridge — which pins together — to a man in eastern Oregon.
The owner is checking with him to see if he still wants it.
When will Krause find out?
“I was hoping the end of last week. ... There’s quite a few in the Midwest,” he said, noting the spans come available when counties and cities take down old one-lane bridges to replace them with newer, two or more lane projects.
Another option may be a 1925 bridge from Puyallup, the former Meridian Street Bridge, now in storage.
— Garth Meyer, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday
GPD Chief Drew announces resignation; council approves Newman as replacement
GRANGEVILLE — With Grangeville Police Chief Morgan Drew’s announced retirement, the city council Monday night accepted his resignation, effective Dec. 11.
As part of that motion, council also approved his replacement: part-time GPD officer and former head of the Kamiah Marshal’s Office (KMO), Joe Newman.
“After 30-plus years in this business, it’s sad to go, you guys,” Drew said to the council at its Sept. 21 meeting. “But I’m also excited to go do the next thing.”
Drew came on with the department as an officer in November 2011 and the following month replaced outgoing Chief Glenn Quantz.
Newman previously served as KMO chief marshal for 11 years, and prior to that for both the Clearwater and Lewis county sheriff’s offices. He has been with the Grangeville Police Department for about a year, working as a part-time fill-in officer. Drew said Newman’s overall law enforcement experience totals around 30 years.
“I’ve known Joe since I first came to work here,” Drew told the council. “I worked with him when he was at Kamiah, so we’re colleagues and friends. I’m super happy to have him take over for us.”
— David Rauzi, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
