Old Bookie at WSU bites the dust 4/25/2016

Whitman County auditor Eunice Coker says plan to retire at end of 2018 not related to a run of findings on mistakes by the elections office for the past three elections

From Bulletin column of Whitman County (Colfax) Gazette of 4/21/2016 

COKER PLANS 2018 EXIT

County Auditor Eunice Coker has announced she plans to conclude her public service career when she completes her present term of office at the end of 2018. Coker was elected to a fourth four-year term in the fall of 2014.

She said she announced her plan to retire at the county’s GOP convention in March and had made it known to others before that time.

Coker noted 2018 will mark more than 34 years in public service, and she and her spouse, Jerry, have planned her retirement to start at that time. She added the decision is not related to a run of findings on mistakes by the elections office for the past three elections.

Coker began employment with the county in February of 1984 when she was hired as a deputy in the treasurer’s office. She was appointed to the auditor’s post in August of 2003 after David Repp left the job earlier that year. Coker and Kirk Suess of Steptoe at that time were in an election race for the auditor’s job, and county commissions opted to appoint her to the position after she edged Suess in the primary election returns that year. She and Suess subsequently tallied a close finish in the 2003 general election, and she eventually was pronounced winner with a one-vote edge after a hand count of the ballots.

Coker, who was raised in Colfax and graduated from high school here, returned to Colfax after she served three years in the U.S. Army military police.

Pullman's Angel Nkwonta will attend UW, compete in track & field

In April 2016, Angel Nkwonta, Pullman High School track & field senior sprinter/shot putter, signs LOI to attend UW and complete in track & field. With her in the photo are Mike Hinz and Kristen Walker, Pullman High head and assistant track & field coaches. Go, Hounds! Go, Angel! See link below to story from KLEW-TV (Lewiston, Idaho)

http://klewtv.com/news/local/angel-nkwonta-will-be-attending-university-of-wash-on-a-scholarship-for-track-and-field

Stan Berry memorial 3/12/2016 in Pullman, Washington

Music from YouTube library is "Chances" by Silent Partner.

Photo (taken 1/12/2016) of a plaque on WSU campus in Pullman

Plaza will be named for George Laisner

Spokane Daily Chronicle - Jan 9, 1980

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19800109&id=d0FYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KvkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7173,2366986&hl=en

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Biography George Laisner

http://www.askart.com/artist/George_Alois_Ferdinand_Laisner/105079/George_Alois_Ferdinand_Laisner.aspx

Born in Czechoslovakia on May 5, 1914. Laisner studied at the University of Chicago and AIC. Most of his career was spent in Pullman, WA as a professor at the state college. He died there in 1984. Exh: San Francisco Art Association, 1930s, 1940s; Seattle Museum, 1937, 1939; GGIE, 1939; SFMA, 1939, 1943, 1948; Oakland Art Gallery, 1940, 1947. In: Seattle Museum; San Francisco Art Association.

Source: Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
Who's Who in American Art 1940-62; Social Security Death Index (1940-2002).

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George Laisner Sculpture Plaza was dedicated Sept. 27, 1980

https://news.wsu.edu/2001/10/04/dedication-set-oct-9-for-a%C2%80%C2%98portala%C2%80%C2%99-art-project-by-buster-simpson

George Laisner Sculpture Plaza was “dedicated Sept. 27, 1980, to honor George Laisner, well-known WSU artist and teacher. Laisner, who died in 1984, spent nearly 40 years on the WSU fine arts faculty, influenced his students and won awards for his sculptures and paintings. Until “Portal,” the plaza included pieces by at least two WSU graduates, both former Laisner students:

“—A cast concrete sculpture with intertwined pieces influenced by Mayan art. By Harold Balasz in Spokane, it was given in 1979 by the WSU Friends of the Museum of Art. The sculpture remains in the plaza area.

“—Fra Mobadalen, a polished bronze sculpture by Norman Taylor of Seattle. Influenced by a trip to Norway, it is one of a series of Taylor sculptures and drawings. It is now located in a plaza next to Neill Hall on campus.”

At 32,110 residents, Pullman has highest population ever. WSU enrollment in Pullman a record number at 20,043

City of Pullman, Wash., Planning Department newsletter – Dec 31, 2015

http://www.pullman-wa.gov/docman/doc_download/4957-12-december-2015

Page 2

“City Population

“In June, the Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) announced that the official population estimate for Pullman is 32,110. This is the highest population figure ever recorded for the city, demonstrating that the community is continuing its steady growth. The estimate was determined by OFM based on information provided by the planning department.”

“Pullman’s 2015 population figure represents a 7.8 percent increase over the city’s 2010 census count (29,799). Of the larger cities in Washington state (the 37 municipalities which each contain more than 30,000 people), Pullman ranks 13th in population growth rate over the past five years. With regard to the larger cities in eastern Washington, Pullman ranks third in population growth rate behind Pasco and Richland.”

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From Washington State University:

https://presidentialsearch.wsu.edu/campuses

“Enrollment at the Pullman campus totaled 20,043 students for fall semester 2015—a record number.”

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On 1/4/2016, Pete Dickinson, City of Pullman planning director, said:

“We do not have a precise count of WSU students living in Pullman. Our estimate, based on city and WSU records, is that slightly more than 59 percent of Pullman residents are students. So, with our current overall population count of 32,110, approximately 19,040 are WSU students.”

Whitman County tops state, nation in wheat totals