Christopher Columbus is staying put. And Marcus Whitman, in statue form, will move from Washington, D.C., to Walla Walla County. On Monday, Oct. 18, the Board of County Commissioners members Todd Kimball, Greg Tompkins and Jennifer Mayberry voted to allow the statue of Columbus to remain on the lawn of the Walla Walla County Superior Court, where it has been since 1911.

After requesting in August that residents email in their comments regarding the Columbus statue, commissioners received 75 letters advocating for its removal and 529 letters asking for it to be retained, Kimball said during the weekly commission meeting. He read each of the more than 600 emails, watched submitted videos and tackled recommended readings as he could, Kimball said.