LBHS student leads campaign for free menstrual products

Supplies, information available in schools

BY MARCY STAMPER

Students at the Methow Valley School District will get free menstrual-hygiene products and educational information about using them, thanks to the efforts of sophomore Ayla Belsby. The schools received their first shipment of tampons and pads last week.

Belsby came up with the project for the civic-action unit in her Individuals and Society class. While some students picked an issue like world peace, she wanted to focus on something that would provide an immediate, tangible benefit to students.

From her research — and personal experience —– Belsby found that the aging metal dispensers in girls’ bathrooms that theoretically provide a pad or tampon for a quarter haven’t been stocked for years. Menstrual supplies have been available through the school health room, but there was no notice on the dispensers letting students know that’s where they could get them, Belsby said. “It was a no-longerfunctioning system,” she said.

Not only did Belsby want to address the needs of menstruators, but she also connected the matter to larger issues. She noted that the school district recognized financial inequities when it replaced the reduced-lunch program with free lunch for all students. The menstrual-product issue contributes to gender inequality, since only some students have to spend money on these products, she said.

Belsby calculated that there are approximately 200 menstruators in the schools. Not having readily available when many other counties had to simply postpone them, but it wasn’t a long-term solution because the building is used regularly for other purposes, Rabidou said.

The new courtroom seats about 100 people, more than twice the average jury pool, said former Okanogan County Superior Court Judge Chris Culp, who joined the tour just before his retirement at the end of March. “We all admire the old courthouse, but it had been difficult, shuffling courtrooms and judges,” Culp said.

Rabidou had been looking for a long-term solution for Superior Court for years when a staff member spotted the “for sale” sign at the Forest Service building on the way to the landfill. Rabidou headed over that weekend to check it out.

Starting last winter, the county commissioners evaluated the feasi - bility of the building and potential funding sources. The county has a contract with an architect to explore options for property development.

Federal money will fund wildfire risk reduction Methow Ranger District included in USFS plan

BY MARCY STAMPER

Several “shovel-ready” forest projects in the Methow Valley Ranger District will get additional federal funding to accelerate treatments starting this year, part of a 10-year plan by the U.S. Forest Service to reduce the risk of wildfire.

This year, 24,000 acres in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National For- est will be treated with thinning and prescribed burning, using $24.6 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to Okanogan-Wenatchee Public Affairs Officer Victoria Wilkins. The Forest Service plans to treat a total of 124,000 acres through 2024, about 35,000 acres per year. Total funding is $102.6 million.

The funding will be used for work on the ground and staffing for projects already approved, including the Mission Restoration Project. It will support environmental review for the Twisp Restoration Project, which is in the final planning stages. The Methow Valley Ranger District hopes for a signed decision on the Twisp Restoration Project this summer, so these funds could be put toward forest work on that project this year.

“The funding will enable us to accelerate the rate of implementation for projects such as Twisp Restoration and Mission by paying for components of projects that weren’t yet

Earthly Connections

supplies for when students have their period made school less accessible for these students for about one week every month, she said. She pointed out that the school district provides other necessary hygiene products, such as toilet paper and soap and water.

She compiled her research in a presentation to Liberty Bell High School Principal Crosby Carpenter and school nurse Adriana Vanbianchi. She followed up with a proposal to Methow Valley School District Superintendent Tom Venable and sent a memo to the school board asking them to fund her project. The board voted the next day to provide $2,000 per year to cover the cost of menstrual products, Belsby said.

Additional education of activities or entertainment for attendees at the Methow Recycles Earth Day celebration last weekend at the John Doran Ranch near Twisp. Music, food, art, demonstrations and conversations enlivened the day.

In addition to the practical and financial aspects of her project, Belsby wanted to educate everyone in the school community about menstruation and to remove the self-consciousness that surrounds the topic for some students and staff members.

She elected to work with August because the company provides products that are more compostable and biodegradable than other brands.

Belsby also liked August’s approach to education and how it destigmatizes a natural, biological process.

Belsby provided the school board with an cost estimate of $1,750 a year for five products — pads and tampons with different absorbencies.

The pads and tampons will be available in girls’ bathrooms at Liberty Bell and at the Independent Learning Center, and in sixth-grade bathrooms, where they’ll be stored in small cabinets. The supplies will also be available in the health room.

Winthrop delays decision on library charging stations

Local businesses will have opportunity to bid

BY DON NELSON

The Winthrop Town Council wants to see if any local businesses are interested in providing electric vehicle charging stations at the new Winthrop library before signing a contract with an outof-town firm that is prepared to provide the service.

At their meeting last week, council members supported the idea of charging stations at the new library on White Avenue, which is scheduled to open mid-June, but objected to the exclusive arrangement with Irvine, Californiabased for-profit company Rivian LLC to provide them. The council earlier postponed action on a licensing agreement with Rivian for two parking spots at the library because of concerns that local companies did not have a chance to compete for the location.

Charging stations are currently available in Winthrop at Pine Near RV Park, East 20 Pizza and AbbyCreek Inn. The state grant that is partially funding the library’s construction requires that charging stations be provided on the site. Jill Sheley — executive director of Friends of the Winthrop Library

(FOWL), the nonprofit that raised funds for and is building the new library — said that under the terms of the state grant, FOWL is required only to provide the infrastructure to support installation of charging stations, not to install or operate them. Rivian or any other contractor, not the town or FOWL, would be responsible for operating, maintaining and providing electricity for the charging stations.

Rivian has similar contracts at other public facilities including state and national parks. Winthrop Town Planner Rocklynn Culp said the company is on

Dollar General looking at alternatives to Twisp

Evaluating sites in Okanogan, Bridgeport

BY MARCY STAMPER

After conducting the duediligence process for a possible store in Twisp, Dollar General has decided to look at alternative locations in Okanogan County.

“While Dollar General currently does not have any current projects in Okanogan or Douglas County, we continue to evaluate opportunities to add new locations and extend our mission of Serving Others,” Dollar General Public Relations Coordinator Emma Hall said by email.

Dollar General is a nationwide chain with more than 17,000 stores in 46 states. Over the past year, the company was exploring the possibility of opening a new store in Twisp or other towns in Okanogan and/or Douglas counties.

As part of their exploratory process, an engineer working for Dollar General had prepared potential site plans for stores in Twisp and in Bridgeport, according to Twisp Town Planner Kurt Danison of Highlands Associates. Danison also handles planning for other towns in Okanogan County and for Bridgeport, in Douglas County.

Danison hasn’t heard anything more about the proposal for Twisp, but the Bridgeport project is moving forward, he said. Last week, after a public hearing, Bridgeport vacated a portion of an alley, part of a multi-step process to ready

911 Blotter

the proposed site for development, he said. A developer working with Dollar General has also applied for permits in Okanogan, where the company is considering a site for a store, Danison said.

Dollar General, founded in 1939, focuses on small towns, and 70% of their stores are in communities with a population of less than 20,000, according to their website. The majority of their products are priced below $10, and about one-fourth cost $1 or less, according to the company’s website.

OCEC members elect new board directors

John Rogers and Rick Johnson have been elected to the Okanogan County Electric Cooperative (OCEC) board of directors by the co-op’s membership.

Also on the OCEC board ballot was Stephen Ralph, who came in third in the membership balloting. The top two vote-getters in the election, Rogers and Johnson, will assume the open board positions. They replace former

COVID cases still remain low statewide

COVID cases in Washington remain low as the highly contagious BA.2 Omicron subvariant has become the overwhelmingly dominant strain, accounting for 90% of cases in the state, according to state Secretary of Health Umair Shah.

Although there has been a slight uptick in cases in the Puget Sound area, cases and hospitalizations in eastern Washington are low, state Epidemiologist for Communicable Diseases Scott Lindquist said at the media briefing last week.

The state Department of Health (DOH) is less focused on counting every single COVID case, particularly because, with the wide availability of home tests, not all positives are reported, Shah said. Instead, they’re tracking variants to see if they cause serious or mild disease, and keeping tabs on hospitalizations to ensure that the state’s health care system can handle the full range of medical needs. While very contagious, Omicron generally causes only mild illness, they said.

“This is the transition we expected, away from the initial pandemic response to learning to live with COVID,” Lindquist said.

DOH still recommends that people gather outdoors where possible and avoid crowded events, particularly in poorly ventilated indoor spaces. People should keep high-quality masks available for situations without good ventilation, particularly if they don’t know people’s vaccine status, Lindquist said.

board members John Kirner and Cara Godwin, who did not seeking re-election. Voting concluded April 19 and results were announced late last week.

According to personal information provided to co-op voters, Rogers’ professional experience includes more than 30 years evaluating and supporting companies with a focus on engineering, construction and financial businesses in a variety of industries. He and his wife, Catherine, purchased Mazama-area property in 1997 and made it their permanent home in 2017. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Seattle University and an MBA from Columbia University.

Johnson lived in Alaska for 40 years before moving to the Methow with his wife, Tina Devine, and purchasing a home

Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office person. on Studhorse Mountain Road. He holds a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from the University of Montana, and worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska for three years. After earning a master’s degree in wildlife management at the University of Alaska/Fairbanks, he worked for a consulting firm in Fairbanks for more than 30 years, retiring as program manager in avian ecology.

• At 10:28 a.m. on April 15, caller reported that a cow was caught in barbed wire at a location on Twisp-Winthrop Eastside Road.

• At 10:37 a.m. on April 16, a theft of batteries and diesel fuel from a tractor in a barn on Twisp-Winthrop Eastside Road was reported.

• At 1:39 p.m. on April 16, report from Knotty Pine Road, Winthrop, of an ongoing issue with three dogs that are allowed out and constantly bark and growl at people.

• At 9 a.m. on April 19, caller on Littell Road, Mazama, reported ongoing issue with neighbors’ kids and dogs trespassing.

• At 8:35 p.m. on April 16, a threat of a suicide attempt was reported at a location on White Avenue, Winthrop.

• At 8:34 a.m. on April 17, a burglary was reported at a storage room on East Methow Valley Highway.

• At 6:20 p.m. on April 17, an auto theft was reported on Industrial Park Avenue.

• At 4:56 a.m. on April 18, a burglary in progress was reported on Lower Beaver Creek Road.

• At 11:04 a.m. on April 18, a theft was reported on Cascade Drive.

The Stars Are Out

• At 6:40 p.m. on April 19, a non-injury accident was reported at Patterson Lake Road and Twin Lakes Road, involving collision with a deer.

• At 5:53 p.m. on April 19, it was reported that someone threw a rock through a window at a business on East Methow Valley Highway in Twisp.

• At 3:45 p.m. on April 21, caller reported that a person with a warrant outstanding might be living on Libby Creek.

Twisp Police Department

• At 9:21 a.m. on April 16, caller reported that there appeared to be someone camping overnight on the Twisp play field on Airport Road.

• At 3:52 p.m. on April 16, caller on Magers Street reported that an approximately 10-yearold child appeared at the caller’s door, appeared terrified and said they were running from another

Campaign

From Page A1

Belsby also wrote and designed educational posters for the bathrooms, including detailed posters that will be hung inside bathroom stalls with instructions about the use of pads, tampons, and other means of catching menstrual blood. The posters include clear diagrams and QR codes that link to videos and additional information.

Belsby has already observed increased comfort by students and staff about menstruation and has seen the subject become less taboo, she said. “Everyone in my class is superchill,” she said. Many young people start out feeling selfconscious, but this is a process that creates life, she said.

Belsby’s campaign was aptly

• At 3:57 p.m. on April 18, caller on Canyon Street reported they were being threatened with assault.

• At 8:31 a.m. on April 20, it was reported that rocks were thrown through window at location on East Methow Valley Highway.

• At 11:13 a.m. on April 20, called on East Second Avenue reported that someone came and stole some items.

• At 5:41 p.m. on April 21, an incident of fraud was reported at a retail location on Highway 20. Winthrop Marshal’s Office timed. While she was doing research for her project, she learned that the state Legislature passed a law last year that takes effect in the 202223 school year requiring all public and private schools to make menstrual-hygiene products available at no cost. The products must be available in all bathrooms designated for female students and in genderneutral bathrooms in schools serving students in grades six through 12. In schools serving younger students and where there is no gender-neutral bathroom, menstrual-hygiene products must be available in a school health room or other designated area. The law passed by large bipartisan margins in both the House and Senate.

• At 12:45 p.m. on April 17, caller on Riverside Avenue received a strange and harassing phone call accusing them of dumping a dog on the upper West Chewuch.

• At 10:40 a.m. on April 18, a non-injury auto accident was reported on Horizon Flats Road.

• At 9:31 p.m. on April 20, a suicide attempt was reported at a location on White Avenue.

Belsby said she’s excited that her project will have a substantial impact that will continue after she graduates.

He is currently conducting interviews with county staff to understand needs for space and other requirements, Okanogan County

Commissioner Chris Branch said.

Since the county acquired the building last fall, Rabidou has overseen basic renovations that will make the space highly functional for the next several years. Much of the furniture and equipment had already been acquired for the temporary set-up at the Agriplex.

Security, privacy

The new courthouse facility has up-to-date security, including a screening and metal-detection system similar to that used for luggage at airports.

Some features — like the screening equipment and ways to separate individuals involved in a trial — are mandatory for security. There are also rooms that provide privacy for childcustody cases and for witnesses, as well as judges’ chambers, offices for prosecutors, and rooms where lawyers can meet privately with clients — all amenities that were lacking at the old building.

Hanging microphones throughout the large space will streamline the empaneling of jurors, and mean that Rabidou and other court staff

FUNDING will no longer have to run around the room with microphones during the questioning of potential jurors. Other amenities will make trials more comfortable for jurors, such as a separate snack and break room.

Considerable choreography was necessary to make the cramped quarters at the old courthouse meet security requirements. Staff had to manage the use of rooms and hallways so witnesses, defendants and victims wouldn’t see each other, Culp said.

District Court will remain in the old courthouse, but will be able to use the former Superior Court room if they need additional space. The county clerk will ultimately move to the new building. Other departments will stay in the historic building.

“It will be a 21st-century courtroom,” Culp said. “It’s pretty exciting. This is a tribute to Dennis Rabidou. It would not have happened without him.”

“It’s all about being able to keep trials going and justice moving,” Rabidou said.

Strategic planning

There are two existing tenants in the new building — a division of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife used for wildfire training, and Okanogan County Childhood Development Association, which operates an early-childhood program. Both will be staying in the building for now,

From Page A1 funded,” Wilkins said.

For initiatives such as the Midnight Restoration Project and a new planning area called the Upper Methow, which are in the early stages, the funds will support research and planning. Ultimately, the USFS anticipates using the money for work in the forest. “We are still working through specific locations and types of projects to be funded within these larger project footprints,” Wilkins said.

Money will also go to the South Summit II project, where thinning is already underway.

Part of broader plan

The projects are part of the Central Washington Initiative, which encompasses 2.45 million acres of fed - eral, state, tribal and other lands from Winthrop to the Yakima area. It’s one of 10 landscapes in eight states the Forest Service selected for work this year after reviewing 29 candidates.

The Forest Service looked for projects that are ready for implementation, that bring investment to underserved areas, and that have been developed collaboratively with their communities, the agency said.

Six of the 10 communities in Washington at greatest risk from wildfire are covered by the Central Washington Initiative. Threats from wildfires, evacuations and smoke have become part of life in these areas, resulting in high costs to forest health and local economies, the Forest Service said.

The forest work is informed by both the national Wildfire Crisis Strategy and the state Department of Natu- but will need to move within a couple of years, Okanogan County Commissioner Chris Branch said. ral Resources’ 20-Year Forest Health Strategic Plan.

The county is currently working on a strategic plan for the building and site. Among the possibilities under consideration are a new juvenile facility, but any plans for that are far in the future. A juvenile facility would require a conditionaluse permit from the city of Okanogan, Branch said.

The county has issued a $9.51 million bond that will go toward future renovations to the building. It will also pay for upgrades to a Sheriff’s Office building that will be used for storage and a new morgue, Okanogan County Treasurer Leah Mc Cormack said.

The county is also working on permitting for two new Public Works shops, one on the Twisp-Winthrop East County Road, and the other in Tonasket. The shops would provide adequate storage for snowplows, some of which now have to be parked outside. That delays response time, sometimes for hours, because the plows and sanders need to be thawed and loaded, Okanogan County Road Maintenance Engineer Gary George said. The county hopes to put the projects out for bid by early May, he said.

The main source of funding for those buildings is from the county’s capital projects fund, Mc Cormack said.

The two agencies have made great strides working together in eastern Washington, state Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz said. “The OkanoganWenatchee National Forest has been home to some of Washington’s largest wildfires in recent years, but we are well positioned to work alongside the Forest Service to reduce wildfire risk and restore forest health,” she said.

“Together with partners, we will plan and implement projects at a scale needed to address the risk of large, destructive fires which are so impactful to our communities. I’m excited to begin this important work to increase the pace of restoring our fireadapted landscapes,” Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Supervisor Kristin Bail said.