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Happy New Year 2014
The Newport Miner
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THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNT Y SINCE 1901
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Wednesday, January 1, 2014
www.pendoreillerivervalley.com
Volume 110, Number 48 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages
Three appointed to planning commission Two of three commissioners turn down current members BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER
NEWPORT – On a 2-1 vote, with county commissioner Steve Kiss voting no, county commissioners appointed three new people to the Pend Oreille County Planning Commission Monday, Dec. 30. Norris Boyd was appointed to the District 1 position, replacing Steve Wilson. Terry Holloway was appointed to the District 2 position, replacing Steve Bennett. Paul Edgren was appointed to the District 3 position, replacing Susan Hobbs. Hobbs, Wilson and Bennett all applied for reappointment. Kiss served on the planning commission for 19 years. He said this is the first time in the last 20 years that a planning commission member who wanted to serve another term was not reappointed. Karen Skoog, who was recently elected chairwoman of the board of county commissioners, said appointing new people was
good. “There is nothing that says the planning commission has
‘It’s a purge and the beginning of a purge.’ Steve Bennett Former planning commission member
‘We wanted to have people who would look at things with fresh eyes.’ Karen Skoog Pend Oreille County Commissioner
MINER PHOTO|FRED WILLENBROCK
A spectacular ending at Diamond Lake Sunsets like this one on Christmas have been inspiring for those walking the frozen surface of Diamond Lake.
to stay the same,” she said. “We wanted to have people who would look at things with fresh eyes.” Skoog said she did not recruit candidates, although that is a legitimate action for commissioners to take. The candidates apparently applied independently, she said.
SEE PLANNING, 9A
PUD fiber connections near completion BY DESIREÉ HOOD OF THE MINER
NEWPORT – The Pend Oreille Public Utility District has been installing fiber optic cables to
the premises of more than 4,000 south Pend Oreille residents over the past year. Of the 4,000 requests for the cable, 1,021 have requested the service through the third party retail
providers. Of those, 760 premises can search the Internet via the PUD fiber network. CNS Supervisor Robert Fritz said Dec. 24 that the PUD is trying to complete the requested
customers before the end of December, barring unforeseen issues. “We still have our contract splicer out working and have SEE PUD, 10A
2013: A look back Editor’s Note: With the New Year here, The Miner staff spent some time this week reviewing events in our area this past year. Following is a sampling of stories from our newspapers over the past 12 months, to recount those people and events that shaped the year.
January We took a look at Pend Oreille County District Court in our first issue last year. District Court Judge Phil Van de Veer presides each Wednesday, as people show up for a variety of misdemeanor cases. Van de Veer has been District Court Judge here since 1999. He brings a wide range of life experience to the bench. Van de Veer, 59, was born in San Francisco and raised in Reno, Nev. “I worked in all the casinos,” he said. He came to the northwest, where he picked up a Masters in Education degree from Whitworth University. He moved to Pend Oreille County in 1975 and taught fourth grade. He got a law degree from Gon-
zaga University and worked in private practice for three years. He returned to Gonzaga to teach law, before accepting the position of District Court Judge. The area’s first baby of the year, Christian Jerome Savage-Lumpkin, was born Tuesday, Jan. 1, to Sarah Savage and Remington Lumpkin of Newport. Delivered at Newport Hospital at 2:21 a.m., he weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 20 ½ inches in length. He joins five brothers: Dakottah Alford, 8, Dominic Lumpkin, 7, Remington Lumpkin II, 4, Lance Sinka, 4, and Dominic Lumpkin, 2. Grandparents are Jamie Wehlast and Dan Wehlast of Spirit Lake and LaTina Teal of Newport. John Smith of Colville was selected by the county commissioners from the five counties in the 7th Legislative District to replace state Sen. Bob Morton, R-Kettle Falls, during a meeting of county commissioners Thursday, Jan. 3, in Colville. Morton officially retired
Smith
Jan. 1, after 22 years in office. Smith was chosen from a list of three candidates selected by precinct committee officers of the district, who made their selection in midDecember.
Rob Owen was elected fire chief for the Newport Fire Department in January. He replaced long-time fire chief Curt Knapp, who stepped down. Owen, 37, is the third generation of his family to serve as fire chief. His father, Rod Owen and his grandfather, Bob Owen, also served as chief. Rob has been a member of the department since 2004. The Newport Fire Owen Department is made up of 14 volunteers. “We can always use more,” Owen said. Knapp said the volunteers elected Owen chief. SEE REVIEW, 2A
|| Woman dies in fire at Priest Lake
PRIEST LAKE – Authorities are awaiting the results of an autopsy to positively identify the person who died in a fire at Priest Lake Monday evening, Dec. 30. The fire started at about 6 p.m. at McDonald Logging and Excavating, located at milepost 26 on Highway 57. The structure was both the business and a home. Bonner County Sheriff’s Detective Gary Johnston said Tuesday the cause of the fire was heating related, either wood or electrical. While the remains have yet to be positively identified, Johnston said both Mr. and Mrs. McDonald were at the location. Mr. McDonald was working in the business’s shop and Mrs. McDonald was in the office, attached
FILE PHOTO
Paul Waterman, 7, gets a drink from the water feature at the spray park in Newport City Park in June with brother CJ Waterman, 13. The Waterman family was one of the first to the park and enjoyed a picnic lunch under the tall pines.
B R I E F LY
to the living quarters. She has not been accounted for since the fire, Johnston said. Johnston said the couple has been married for 50 years and have lived at Priest Lake longer than that. Firefighters and sheriff’s deputies were on scene into the night and back early Tuesday morning. Johnston said the house is a total loss and the office was damaged but the shop was not harmed.
Washington’s minimum wage increases Jan. 1 TUMWATER – Washington’s minimum wage will increase to $9.32 per hour beginning Jan. 1. Washington’s Labor and Industries calculates the state’s minimum wage each year as required by Initiative 688, approved by Washington voters in
||
1998. The 13-cent-per-hour increase, from $9.19 to $9.32 an hour, reflects a 1.455 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) over the last 12 months ending Aug. 31. The CPI-W measures average price changes for goods and services purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers. The goods and services it monitors include basic living costs such as food, clothing, shelter, fuels and services such as doctor visits. Washington is one of 10 states that adjust the minimum wage based on inflation and the CPI. The others are Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont. Washington has the highest minimum wage,
followed by Oregon, which recently announced its 2014 minimum wage will rise by 15 cents, to $9.10 per hour.
No meeting schedule for Newport chamber members NEWPORT – The Greater Newport Area Chamber of Commerce switched its monthly membership meetings to quarterly, but no schedule has been set, according to recently elected president Mark Zorica. Zorica said the board is hoping to have a schedule to announce around the second week of January. The chamber office has also been closed while the board works on a plan for its operation next year.
SPORTS 1B-2B - RECORD 6B - POLICE 6B - OPINION 4A - CLASSIFIEDS 7B-10B - PUBLIC NOTICES 7B-9B - DOWN RIVER 9A - LIFE 3B - OBITUARIES 6B