John Wayne Trail topic of Tekoa meeting tonight

TRAILS — Updates on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, an Eastern Washington stretch of a cross-state rail trail, will be presented at an open meeting of the Tekoa Trail and Trestle Association tonight, 7 p.m., at Tekoa City Hall.

People who cannot travel to the Whitman County town can monitor the meeting via speaker phone by calling Conference Call Number: 641-715-3580 Access code: 550-295#.

The agenda for the meeting released by association president Ted Blaszak includes:

• Introduction of the newly assigned Washington State Parks ranger assigned to the John Wayne Trail.
• Review state plans to redeck the Tekoa Trestle and open it to pedestrian traffic.
• Status of grant rankings for the trail.
• Presentation on hanging Christmas lights on the trestle.
• Status of renaming the John Wayne Trail to something more descriptive and appropriate; gather suggestions.
• Plans to involve other communities and outreach to the legislature.

To date, 38 cities have passed resolutions asking the  Washington Legislature to fund repairs and development of the trail, Blaszak said.

Among them are Ritzville, Rockford, Lind, Palouse, Ellensburg, Colfax, Fairfield, Cheney, Spokane, Pullman, Walla Walla, Roasalia, Garfield and Oaksdale.