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THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNT Y SINCE 1901

75¢

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Volume 109, Number 48 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages

District Court to be open during lunch

MINER PHOTO|DON GRONNING

Pend Oreille County District Court Judge Philip J. Van de Veer presides over cases in court Wednesday, Dec. 19. He has served as Pend Oreille County District Court Judge and Superior Court Commissioner since 1999.

NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County District Court is staffed with three and a half people, in addition to Judge Philip Van de Veer. That’s fewer than in the past. “We’re still Johnson down,” says Van de Veer. “But we’ll make do.” Van de Veer said the office, which has been closed for the lunch hour for about a year because of being short staffed, will reopen during the lunch hour after the first of the year. Kyle Olson works part time, Wendy Clark is deputy clerk,

Brandy Hofstee works as a probation officer and deputy clerk and Mia Harper is the criminal courtroom clerk. The newest addition to the staff is Rachel Johnson, who was hired to replace longtime court administrator T.J. Keogh, who left to work in a court on the West Side. Johnson worked down the hall in Pend Oreille County Superior Court for five years before being hired as clerk of the court in District Court last month. She has worked in District Court before, working there for a year and a half before moving to Superior Court.

Pend Oreille District Court gets most cases BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – About 30 people take up most of the seats in Pend Oreille County District Court on a Wednesday morning. It’s a busy docket, with a mix of cases. There are many driving cases, such as driving on a suspended license and driving under the influence, along with other cases, like as-

sault and hunting and fishing violations. District Court Judge Philip Van de Veer is guiding proceedings, which get underway at 9 a.m. sharp. The courtroom clerk is taking notes on a computer that is tied into a database. Van de Veer occasionally asks to look at her computer screen. “Page down,” he says. “Page down again.”

He finds what he wants and continues. “I see that this went to warrant before,” he says. He listens to the explanation from the defense attorney. The prosecutor outlines his position. Van de Veer rules and moves on to the next case. It’s a busy but typical Wednesday morning in District Court, where most of the county’s criminal cases are handled.

District Court handles misdemeanors “If the average citizen is going to have some contact with the court system, it will be in District Court,” county prosecutor Tom Metzger says. The stakes aren’t as high as across the hall in Superior Court, where felonies are handled. “Whatever happens in District Court, nobody’s going to prison,”

Metzger says. A year in the county jail is the maximum jail sentence for misdemeanors. While felonies aren’t resolved in District Court, since Superior Court Judges aren’t here every day, Van de Veer also serves as Superior Court Commissioner. He handles all first appearances on criminal charges, including felonies, as well as extraditions to another state. That means

working Sundays, since a person arrested has to see a judge within 48 hours. At a first appearance, he decides whether there is sufficient reason to proceed with the case. Most times there is, but about three or four times a year he finds there is not sufficient reason to go forward with one or more of the charges a SEE COURT, 10A

2012: 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 Emmit Duane Benson was the New Year’s Baby contest winner, born Wednesday, Jan. 4, at 4:03 p.m. at Newport Hospital and Health Services, to Nancy and Devon Benson of Ione. As winner of The Miner’s First Baby contest, the family received a variety of gifts and gifts certificates. The Miner Newspapers’ first book “100 Years of a Newspaper and Pend Oreille County,” was released in early January. The 33page book is a collection of stories written in honor of the county’s 2011 centennial celebration.

Newport students started getting free breakfasts at the school in January. The federal government reimburses the district for all the meals. The district gets more for students from low-income families that qualify for free and reduced meals but it still gets some reimbursement for all the meals. With more students eating breakfast, the additional reimbursement meant there was little or no cost to the district. C&D Zodiac, the French owned airplane part manufacturer located in Newport in the old Hewlett Packard building, has been hiring, according to a story in late January. There were 86 employees working at the Newport plant. The company engineers and manufactures interior systems for aircrafts worldwide. In Newport, they primarily make the two raw composite materials and adhesives that are shipped around the world to other factories that shape them into airplane interior parts.

Pend Oreille County’s road department was bracing for another year of working within a tight budget. With smaller than expected federal timber payments and a smaller portion of the property tax revenue, it looked like the department will have a difficult time coming up with matching funds for major road projects. The county currently has $4.1 million in grant money at its fingertips, but the road department needs $300,000 to $400,000 of its own to meet requirements for local matching funds. “And frankly, I don’t have that available,” public works director Sam Castro warned. “For me, it’s like loosing $4.1 million dollars.”

February In the tradition of Punxsutawney Phil, the famous groundhog that makes the news each Feb. 2 in Pennsylvania, Nippy the prairie dog will help decide if

SEE REVIEW, 2A

|| Man kills himself after assaulting wife NEWPORT – A 49-year-old man shot himself in the head Christmas Day after severely beating his wife, according to a news release from the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office. The man, Wesley L. Moore, died the next day, Wednesday, Dec. 26. According to the news release, deputies had been called to a McCammon Drive residence about 6:40 p.m. Dec. 25 to investigate a domestic violence call. McCammon Drive is located approximately 15 miles west of Newport, near the Pend Oreille County/Spokane County line. When they arrived they found Moore’s 58-year-

COURTESY PHOTO|DEBBIE STAFFORD

A flock of Bohemian waxwings were the highlight of the day for those county birds on Pend Oreille County’s Christmas bird count last year. A total of 55 species were spotted, with uncommon birds including a krestrel, two killdeer and one marsh wren.

B R I E F LY

old wife severely beaten and Moore, who died in the hospital the following day. The victim remains hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, according to the sheriff’s release.

Woman hit by train, killed SANDPOINT – An Alabama woman visiting family in Spirit Lake for the holidays, died when she was hit by a train near Sandpoint in the early morning hours of Thursday, Dec. 27. Erin M. Likkel, 28, of Huntsville, Ala., was walking along the southbound railroad tracks of the Amtrack Station in Sandpoint when she was struck by a southbound BNSF train at about 4 a.m.

||

Investigators believe she was on her way to catch a train home to Alabama.

Senate replacement to be selected Thursday COLVILLE – The 7th District will have its new senator come Thursday, Jan. 3. County commissioners from the five counties that make up the legislative district will meet at 1 p.m. in Colville to interview the three candidates and vote for who will fill the seat of Sen. Bob Morton, R-Kettle Falls, who retired Jan. 1. Three Republicans are in the running for the Senate seat. John Smith, Doug Simpson and Josh Kerns were selected by local precinct committee officers in mid-December.

This time a total of 15 commissioners – from Pend Oreille, Stevens, Ferry, Okanogan and Spokane counties – will vote for the top man. Smith, 39, owns a small farm in northern Stevens County, operates the Colville Farmers Market, does private business consulting and is involved with the Colville Chamber of Commerce. Simpson, 62, has worked as a campaign consultant and a lobbyist in Olympia. He lives in Stevens County as well. Kerns, 27, owns a graphic design business in the Mead area north of Spokane. He’s served as a legislative assistant in Olympia and is involved with the Spokane County Young Republicans. The legislative session begins Jan. 14 in Olympia.

SPORTS 5B-6B - RECORD 7B - POLICE 7B - OPINION 4A - CLASSIFIEDS 8B-10B - PUBLIC NOTICES 10B - DOWN RIVER 9A - LIFE 4B - OBITUARIES 7B


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