The Newport Miner the voice of pend oreille county since 1901
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
www.pendoreillerivervalley.com
Volume 115, Number 51 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages $1.00
Smelter foes urged to focus on strategy CANSS attorney says process, elected officials must be respected By Don Gronning Of The Miner
NEWPORT – Attorney Norm Semanko told a public meeting of The Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter (CANSS) about a meeting he had with Pend Oreille County officials and outlined strategy for opposing a proposed silicon smelter. He spoke at the Hospitality House
A little street music Sadie Halstead Middle School students Savyon Curtis (alto sax), Isabel Olivera (flute and Nakiya Green play some notes on their instruments coming home from school Friday, Jan. 12. Green was being a good friend and carrying Curtis’s case so he could play while he walked.
Will apply for permits within two months for silicon smelter
Water use set to weigh heavily on lawmakers in 2018 WNPA Olympia News Bureau Editor’s note: The Washington Newspaper Publishers Association funds journalism students who cover the Washington Legislature. Many of their stories will appear in The Miner during the short 60-day Legislative session that started Jan. 9.
OLYMPIA – With the 2018 Washington state legislative session kicking
off, a 2016 state Supreme Court decision on water continues to make waves in the House and Senate. The so-called Hirst decision in October 2016 set a precedent that compels local governments and landowners to take into account the availability of water before issuing permits to developers. The decision came after the court determined
that Whatcom County had been issuing permit exemptions that violated instream flow rules designed to protect stream water levels. According to the Department of Ecology, instream flow rules hold that water withdrawn from underground aquifers could impact the water levels in streams and rivers within the
See Canss, 2A
HiTest CEO: ‘We’re very committed’
Miner photo|Sophia Aldous
By Alex Visser
Tuesday, Jan. 9. The HiTest Sands company has proposed building a $325 million silicon smelter about a mile south of Newport, just off Highway 41 and the Idaho border. Semanko said he has looked at what has been proposed by HiTest. “Without any actual applications in hand,
By Don Gronning Of The Miner
watershed. A “Hirst fix” was a topic of contention in the Legislature last year, and the issue was not resolved. This year’s Legislative session opened with a water bill floated by Sen. Kevin Van De Wege, DSequim. Senate Bill 6091, which would leave the present rules in place and
NEWPORT – HiTest Sands, the Canadian company that wants to build a silicon smelter outside Newport, isn’t dissuaded by the organized opposition to the smelter. “We’re very committed,” Jayson Tymko, HiTest CEO said when asked if they were reconsidering the smelter location in light of the opposition. “We’ve made further investments.” Tymko, in a telephone interview with The Miner, said the company isn’t discouraged by the confrontation last week over snow plowing on the right-of-way under the Bonneville Power Administration powerlines, which mark the northern boundary of the property where HiTest wants to
See Hirst, 9A
See HiTest, 2A
New art teacher finds her place in Priest River By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner
PRIEST RIVER – It’s about progress, not perfection, in Rebecca Chaney’s art class at Priest River Lamanna High School. Newly hired after former art teacher Joel Holmes quit at the end of the 2016-2017 school year to take a job in Indonesia, Chaney, 60, moved from San Antonio, Texas. “If it was about being absolutely perfect, there wouldn’t be
any art classes at all,” Chaney said, smiling. “I tell my students that they just need to create results. It doesn’t matter if it’s technically perfect; that can be learned. If you sit around waiting to be a master at something, you’ll never actually be any good at it.” Chaney teaches two art one classes, ceramics, drawing, and advanced art. She was born and raised near Milwaukee, Wis., in a small town where art was not considered to be an important
influence. “I was really into art and my parents were not thrilled,” Chaney recalled. “They were worried I wouldn’t make any money, no one would want to hire me, you know. I understand where they were coming from, and I’m glad I never lost that love of the arts. It’s not that they were bad parents, I just don’t think they could see what the arts have to offer.” A mother of three grown daughters, ages 28, 31, and 33,
Chaney realizes the importance of allowing kids to follow their own path. “You can have all the ideas and advice in the world for them, but at the end of the day, they are their own people who have to make their own decisions,” she says. “The aim is not to control them, but to be one of the people that gives them the tools they need to go out into the world and find their own success.” Chaney spent time working
in newspapers after high school doing design and composition. She dropped out of college as a sophomore and moved to New York City for several years to, “live among the art scene” and served in the United States Air Force from 1979-1984. Going back to college later in life, she graduated from Texas Tech University with bachelors in art and masters in teaching in 1987. She taught art to See Teacher, 10A
B r i e f ly 7th District legislators to hold telephone town hall meeting Jan. 23 OLYMPIA – Northeast Washington residents are invited to take part in a 7th Legislative District telephone town hall meeting Tuesday, Jan. 23. The community conversation, which is similar to a call-in radio format, will begin at 6 p.m. and last one hour. The 7th District’s legislative team – Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy; Rep. Joel Kretz, R-Wauconda; and Rep. Jacquelin Maycumber, R-Republic – will take listeners’ questions and provide information and perspectives on
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the 2018 legislative session in Olympia. To participate, constituents can call 509-404-3053 beginning at 6 p.m. Once connected, they can listen in and press the * (star) key on their telephone keypad to ask questions. Participants can take part in the community conversation, listen to their neighbors and leave a message for the three lawmakers. The legislative session began Jan. 8 and is scheduled to end March 8.
7B-8B
Kiss county commission chair for 2018 NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County Commissioner Steve Kiss began his tenure as the Pend Oreille County Board of Commissioners chairman Jan. 2, 2018. He takes over from District No. 1 commissioner Karen Skoog. Kiss oversees District No. 3 and will serve the usual one-year term as chairman. District No. 2 commissioner Mike Manus is scheduled to serve as chairman of the board in 2019, but his position is up for election this fall. The Board meets every Monday and Tuesday in the Courthouse located at 625 West 4th Street, in Newport. Meetings are open to the public. Public Comment is at 4 p.m. every Monday.
Opinion
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