Whitman County tops state, nation in wheat totals

Stan Berry, 1923-2015, Rest in Peace

• Click here to see photos from Stan Berry’s 90^th birthday party held in April 2013. 
• Read about Stan Berry being honored in 1999 when WSU Admissions Office suite dedicated in his honor. Click here.

STAN BERRY

Obituary: Stanley Leo Berry, 92, of Pullman

Thur, Dec 24, 2015, in Moscow Pullman Daily News and Lewiston Trib

Stan Berry of Pullman, a longtime Eastern Washington educator, died on Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. He was 92. Berry, who had been a teacher, a high school principal, a school superintendent and a college administrator, was nationally known for his work in international student recruitment to Washington State University and other American universities.

Stanley Leo Berry was born on April 7, 1923, in
Spokane, Wash., to John Fay and Muriel Berry. He grew up primarily in Clarkston, Wash., graduating from Clarkston High School in 1941. After high school, he briefly attended Lewis-Clark State College while working as a reporter for the Lewiston Morning Tribune. When he enrolled in Washington State College in 1942 with plans of becoming a broadcaster, he was beginning the institutional relationship that would dominate his professional life. His education was interrupted by World War II and active duty in the Marine Corps from 1943 to 1946.

On April 15, 1945, while still on active duty, he married his high school sweetheart, Bernette Thomas, and began the passionate relationship that would dominate his personal life. They made their first home in Oceanside, Calif., where he was stationed.

Stan returned to Pullman and Washington State College after discharge. He graduated in 1948 with a degree in education and a teaching certificate. In the fall of 1948, he began teaching English, speech, drama and journalism at Colville High School. From 1952 to 1955 he was principal of Colville High.

In 1955, he returned to Pullman and WSC (soon to become WSU) for good to become the associate director of admissions, and in 1966 the director of admissions. In 1960, he took a leave of absence to be the interim superintendent of schools in Pullman. He took another leave in 1969-70 to work at the East Asian Institute of International Education in Hong Kong.

In the latter part of his career, he gave much time to international admissions. He traveled extensively, often on behalf of the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense, visiting every continent spreading the gospel of higher education and helping students find a way to fulfill that mission. This work was rewarded with many honors, both regional and national, but most important to him was the respect and friendship of colleagues who praised him for his leadership and professionalism.

His deep commitment to education was personal for many former WSU students. By providing encouragement and opportunity, he produced legions of admirers who thank him for the role he played in giving them a chance to succeed. Other than his family, it is this legacy that gave him his greatest pride.

After retiring from WSU in 1988, Stan continued to counsel students planning their education and working as an educational consultant with colleagues. He spent several years as member of the Pullman School Board, a tenure marked by his passionate defense of student rights.

He is the beloved icon of his family. Gathering them for food and drink was his greatest pleasure. Stan and Bernette took all the children and grandchildren on Big Sky, Mont., vacations for many summers. It was the highlight of each year as his shelves of meticulously produced photo albums attest. He also took pride in the academic, musical and athletic accomplishments of his children and grandchildren, attending hundreds of performances and games. The support he gave all his children and grandchildren is a value that endures.

One other lasting legacy that Stan has passed on is his passion for the Cougars, a condition that produces great highs and crushing agony. This passion has not weakened as it has passed from generation to generation - the signs are already beginning to surface in the youngest great-grandchildren. Once a Coug .

Stan lived the final years of his life at Bishop Place in Pullman. The family wishes to thank them for the great care and fondness.

Stan was preceded in death by Bernette in 2010. He is survived by Bernice Meier of Pullman, Bernette's beloved twin sister. He is also survived by his children, Richard Berry and Pam of Pullman, Kathy Brown and Kelly of Pullman, and Eugene Berry of Fargo, N.D.; seven grandchildren, Sean Berry of Brooklyn, N.Y., Jason Berry and Lacey of Sumner, Wash., Andrea Berry of Pullman, Marissa Stine and Kyle of Spokane, Tyler Brown and Megan of Boise, Idaho, Alison Brown of Portland, Ore., and Jillian Therrien and Josh of Albany, Ore.; and his great-grandchildren Lola and Clyde Berry of Sumner, Wash., and Piper Stine of Spokane.

The family suggests memorial donations to the Stan and Bernette Berry Presidential Scholarship Fund in care of the WSU Foundation.

A memorial service is planned for early spring.

.........

Story appeared in Dec. 24, 2015 editions:

--MOSCOW PULLMAN DAILY NEWS
http://dnews.com/obituaries/obituary-stanley-leo-berry-of-pullman/article_18a81f32-5f76-598d-8a72-16cb3494c0f7.html?mode=print

--LEWISTON TRIBUNE
http://lmtribune.com/obituaries/stan-berry/article_f27b7b1c-84dc-5277-aae3-ba5ea65f15bc.html


Photo, with different cropping,  appeared in both papers.

Stan Berry honored in 1999 when WSU Admissions Office suite dedicated in his honor

In 1999, the Washington State University Admissions Office suite in the Lighty Student Services Building at Washington State University was dedicated in honor of Stan Berry, who served as an admissions officer for the university for 33 years, 22 as director.

The dedication ceremony and a public reception was held the afternoon of Feb.5, 1999, in Lighty room 405.

In 1999, the Washington State University Admissions Office suite in the Lighty Student Services Building at Washington State University was dedicated in honor of Stan Berry, who served as an admissions officer for the university for 33 years, 22 as director.

In 1996, the Admissions Office was relocated from the French Administration Building to the Lighty building after its completion.

A WSU graduate, Berry was Colville, Wash., High School principal in 1955 when he was recruited to become WSU’s associate director of admissions. He was appointed director in 1966 and served until his retirement in 1988. He was awarded the WSU Alumni Achievement Award in 1992.

During Berry’s tenure, the university experienced unprecedented growth. Enrollment increased from 5,000 students in 1955 to 17,500 students in 1980.

He held the presidency and various leadership roles in both the Pacific and American associations of collegiate registrars and admissions officers. 

Berry convened the first organizational meeting of the Washington Council on High School-College Relations, officially established in 1957. At the time it was the first group in the country comprised of representatives of public and private schools and colleges formed to deal with mutual concerns about preparation and admission to college.

He was active throughout his career in international education and still assists WSU on admission of international students.

…….

STORY SOURCE (with headline “WSU Facilities to be Named for Former Admissions Director”)

https://news.wsu.edu/1999/01/21/wsu-facilities-to-be-named-for-former-admissions-director

Story dated Jan 21, 1999, written by Al Ruddy of WSU News Service.

PHOTO SOURCE (with headline “Admissions Office-dedicated to long-time-employee Stan Berry”):

https://timeline.wsu.edu/timeline/admissions-office-dedicated-to-long-time-employee-stan-berry

Photo of Stan Berry and WSU students apparently taken in 1999.

Pullman High grad Cody Moore sworn in by Judge David Frazier

Cody Moore sworn in by Judge David Frazier

By Kara McMurray, Whitman County (Colfax, Wash.) Gazette reporter, 9/23/2015 

Superior Court Judge David Frazier Monday swore in a new attorney. 

Cody Moore was sworn in as one of Washington’s newest attorneys. Moore found out earlier this month that he passed the Bar exam after graduating from the University of Idaho College of Law in May.

Moore, a Colton native, has been hired at Jones, Brower and Callery in Lewiston, and he will be one of two attorneys there authorized to practice law in Washington. He said he specifically wants to serve Whitman County, and added that the firm is “pretty set up to serve the Palouse.”

“My goal is establish a practice base on the Palouse,” he said. “My ultimate goal is to build a strong client base on the Palouse with Whitman County being a predominate part. The goal here is to plant roots on the Palouse and make it happen.”

Moore was presented before Judge Frazier by his close friend John Kragt, who he met at Spokane Falls Community College and is an attorney at Carpenter, McGuire and DeWulf, P.S. Moore’s mother, Becky Phillips, and wife and daughter, Laura and Grace, also attended.

Moore attended Spokane Falls Community College and Whitworth University in Spokane before transferring to Washington State University to finish his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He graduated from WSU in 2007 and took some time off before pursuing law school.

“Out of college, I did not go straight to law school because I wanted to do something tangible,” he said. “I just wanted to get my hands dirty and do something.”

Moore said he wanted to gain experience working before going back to studying. He was hired out of college as the executive director of Rebuilding Together AmeriCorps in Spokane where he orchestrated several home rehabilitation projects, fundraised, managed construction projects, wrote and submitted grants and established partnerships with local organizations and government entities.

After that, he moved to Seattle to work in public relations at Marler Clark, a food safety law firm. In 2011, he married Laura Bagby, who he had met at WSU. It was Laura, he said, who helped him to make the decision to start law school.

Laura and he were talking at the airport on the way to their honeymoon the day after their wedding when she said, “You’re always talking about taking the LSAT.”
He signed up to take the LSAT there at the airport, with the deadline to sign up being just two days later.

“It was the first thing we did on the honeymoon,” he said.

After passing the LSAT, Moore was admitted to the college of law at the U of I, which he started in the fall of 2012. He said for him and Laura the opportunity to come back to the Palouse is what they wanted.

“We just kind of could not resist,” he said. “This place has a draw. This place inspires me.”

Moore said he was grateful for the opportunity to come back here through school, and he plans to stay here to serve the communities.

“I care about this place so much that I hope to give back to the Palouse through my career,” he said. “That is what I came back here to do.”

He said he sees this area as attractive for young professionals, and he knows others can make it here, too.

“You just have to want to make it here and you will,” he said.

Laura works as a third grade teacher at Palouse Elementary, and the couple hopes to buy a house in the area now and really put their roots down. Cody and Laura have one daughter, Grace, who is 17 months old, and are expecting their second child, a son, any day now. His due date is Sept. 26.

Moore also said he wants to establish a good reputation on the Palouse.

“I will be one of the hardest working attorneys in the area. I want to build a reputation as a hardworking, diligent lawyer who will do everything he can for his client,” he said. “What I am going to promise is that I am going to outwork the other side and do it honestly and diligently. At the end of the day, I expect that will produce more results than not.”

In 1890, decided where to locate what would become WSU

The seat of Whitman County, Wash. is Colfax, Wash. Pullman is the largest city in the county. The "official newspaper" of Colfax is the Whitman County Gazette. An earlier iteration of the newspaper was "The Commoner."   WSU was signed into state law on March 28, 1890. This information to give context to the following from the June 30, 2015, Gazette's "Good Old Days" feature about "125 years ago. The Commoner. July 25, 1890:"

T.J. Smith, of the agricultural college commission, was in the city this week, having returned from the session of the commission held at Yakima Monday last. He was interviewed by a Commoner reporter and kindly volunteered to make some interesting statements on the subject of the college. “At Spokane,” Mr. Smith said, “we spent some days and were shown some good sites, the best being on Five Mile prairie, north of the city. Sprague was next visited, and a beautiful site offered there. Then the commission went to Yakima, and settled down to try and decide the question. We went over all our work with this in view.”

“How many sites had been offered all told?” was asked.

“We had been offered seven, by Walla Walla, Dayton, Colfax, Pullman, Spokane, Sprague and Yakima, respectively, and every one was a good one.”

“I believe the Colfax site is as good if not better than any of them. Besides, I consider Whitman county has the first claim on the location of this school.”

“It will not be by your vote, then that the school goes to any other point?”

“Assuredly not. And that is what I would like you to say. While I think other places have offered good sites for the school, I believe it should come here to this county. Pullman made a good offer; but my choice is Colfax. I could not give my consent to any other county. Colfax is my first choice, and I have no second.”

Ken & Sally Vogel, formerly of Pullman at Model Railroad Swap Meet - Eugene, Ore. - 4/18/2015

Dangerous and often deadly 14-mile stretch: US Hwy 195 between Pullman and Colfax

Dangerous stretch: One crash per week between Colfax, Pullman

By Josh Babcock, Moscow Pullman Daily News staff writer 

4/16/2015

Keep eyes on the Road

A cross is seen next to U.S. Highway 195 near the intersection with Albion Road between Pullman and Colfax on Wednesday.

The 14-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 195 between Pullman and Colfax saw 260 traffic accidents and seven fatalities - or an average of about one accident a week - during a five-year span from April 1, 2010, to April 10 of this year, according to a collision report from the Washington State Patrol.

The most recent death on the highway took place on April 4, when 28-year-old Dina Williamson, who was driving alone, crossed over the yellow center line on the highway and collided with an oncoming car.

According to the report, someone is injured on the section of road every 46 days, and in the past five years the roadway has had 16 serious injuries, or instances in which those injured were unable to leave the scene of the accident.

According to a study conducted last year by the Washington State Department of Transportation on the entire stretch of U.S. Highway 195, "findings indicated collisions along the corridor were attributed more to driver behavior than roadway design."

Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers also noted driver behavior is one of the main factors contributing to accidents between Pullman and Colfax, a stretch of highway he described as "fairly accident prone."

Courtney Shawley, a sergeant with WSP, said he agrees. He said a lack of sleep, cellphones, GPS devices and other electronics often distract drivers and lead to poor driver behavior. Shawley noted it's not just portable devices that distract drivers, but even the accessories that come with cars.

Both Myers and Shawley also pointed to driving too fast during icy conditions as another main cause of accidents between Pullman and Colfax.

Shawley said even when driving conditions are poor due to weather and drivers are not speeding, they may still be driving too fast for roadway conditions. He added inattentive driving plays a huge role when road conditions are poor, especially when drivers aren't focusing on the condition of the roadway.

A middle turning lane and widened shoulders, similar to the shoulders and turning lane on the Pullman-Moscow Highway, would be significant in increasing safety on the highway, Myers said.

According to the WSDOT study, installations of shoulder rumple strips, widening the standard 4-inch lane edge stripping to 6- to 8-inch widths in select locations, increasing passing opportunities and developing an intelligent transportation corridor that communicates real-time conditions and driver behavior are all ways WSDOT found may improve the safety of the highway. While WSDOT has completed the study of State Route 195, currently there is no funding in place to aide those changes.

Shawley said between Pullman and Colfax educating drivers on the dangers of distracted driving is a point of emphasis.

"Our goal is to make the roads as safe as we possibly can," Shawley said. "Ask yourself is what you're doing distracting you from driving."

.............

Pullman's Little Edisons School

No, Edison School in Pullman hasn’t reappeared. However, there is Little Edisons School (yes, plural Edisons, not Edison) at Schweitzer Engineering Labs. Story below by Josh Babcock of Moscow Pullman Daily News on 3/28/2015.

……

SEL offers additional services for workers With new Family Center, SEL is one of few companies on Palouse to offer child and health care, workout facility

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories' newly constructed facility is offering employees a mix of services that can't be found just anywhere on the Palouse.

With the construction of its 28,000-square-foot Family Center, SEL is providing its employees with on-site childcare services, a workout facility and healthcare services all in one.

The Family Center was a $4 million project and became operational this year.

The Little Edisons School handles all SEL's child-care services and claims the entire bottom floor of the two-story facility. LES has extended hours to accommodate both SEL's day- and swing-shift employees.

The school provides services for as many as 150 children and is operated by 26 full-time employees and five substitute teachers.

Michele Beehler, SEL's human resource manager, said parents will often walk over to the facility during lunch or dinner and eat with their children.

LES offers care for children of all ages, and while there are four different age classes at the school, all the children are taught similar subject matter so they can socialize and brainstorm topics together.

LES offers sign language, Spanish, music and physical education, as well as a few other courses.

The toddler and infant areas of the school feature small toilets with handles and miniature sinks in order to help potty-train the youngsters.

LES offers private rooms for mothers who are breastfeeding as well as rooms for children who are sick or waiting for a ride home.

Nichole Nicholson, the school's chef, said she makes 90 percent of all the school's meals from scratch. On top of that, Nicholson also prepares food for children with a number of different diets. Nicholson said some children she cooks for are vegetarian, have food allergies or require different dishes due to religious purposes.

Just like any other school, safety is one of the main concerns at LES.

To enter the building one has to use a biometric finger scanner, a device that measures the size and shape of a person's finger. Moreover, some major traffic exits are equipped with alarms to inform staff a child may have exited the building.

The LES playground is divided into two sections, one for toddlers and one for preschool-aged children and above. The entire playground is fenced-in.

Beehler said SEL employees who use the service aren't required to pay for diaper ointment, formula or an annual enrollment fee that is found at other child care centers.

For safety purposes, there are no stairs connecting the school to the Health Clinic and Well-Being Center on the second floor of the facility.

SEL's Health Clinic is a free service for employees. Beehler said the clinic has seven exam rooms and has already sent 300 referrals to physicians throughout the community in 2014. The clinic includes two nurse practitioners, two registered nurses, one medical assistant and one doctor of medicine, who will be starting at the clinic April 1. The upstairs health facilities opened in early March.

Stacey Doty, director of human resources at SEL, said the service can provide anything found at a regular clinic, excluding x-rays.

The SEL Well-Being Center is not only open to SEL employees but also for their families.

"We have over 75 spouses using the fitness facility," Beehler said.

Although SEL has had a workout room since 2010, the new space is much larger and can accommodate more people.

The Well-Being Center includes three wellness specialists, whom are all certified personal trainers and assist in physical and nutritional training.

These same trainers teach P.E. to the children downstairs at LES.

Beehler said other than the universities and hospitals, SEL is the only known company on the Palouse that offers on-site healthcare services, childcare services and a workout facility for its employees.