The Newport Miner the voice of pend oreille county since 1901
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
www.pendoreillerivervalley.com
Volume 114, Number 52 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages $1.00
Businesses weigh in on minimum wage law By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner
NEWPORT - Workers across the state who make the least amount of money got a raise New Year’s Day. As of Jan. 1, Washington State’s minimum wage went up to $11 an hour. Initiative 1433, approved by Washington voters in last November’s general election, would increase the minimum wage to $13.50 an hour by 2020 and also require paid sick leave for employees. The measure would require employers to pay employees age 18 or older at least $11 an hour starting next year, $11.50 in 2018, $12 in 2019 and $13.50 in 2020, with subsequent annual adjustments for inflation. Paid sick leave would be earned at the rate of one hour for every 40 hours worked, starting in 2018. The minimum wage prior to the initiative’s passage was $9.47. For the state’s lowest-paid workers, the new wage will immediately boost regular, full-time earnings by about 15 percent, about $245 per month. That’s money that theoretically should make it easier for low-wage families to afford rent and put food on the table. But some employers are wrestling with the rapid increase in labor costs. With less than two months between the passage of Initiative 1433 and See minimum wage, 2A
Miner photo|Enrique Pérez de la Rosa
Rick Halle, national coordinator of the Gun Rights Coalition, addresses attendees to the Rally 4 UR Rights at the Washington State Capitol Jan. 13. “Gun rights is a non-partisan issue,” Halle said, urging supporters to remember the second amendment is an American right, not just a conservative or Republican right. Various bills have been introduced to the legislature regarding gun rights and control, including a bill that would require gun dealers to offer to sell or give a lock or lock box with every gun sale.
Legislators aim to protect, restrict gun rights
By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa WNPA Olympia News Bureau
OLYMPIA – After the heavily backed and massively popular ballot measure, Initiative 1491, passed with 69 percent of the popular vote in Washington last November, lawmakers in Olympia have proposed legislation to protect gun rights from further restrictions. The initiative has not sig-
nificantly changed the type of legislation introduced this session, according to Rick Halle, national coordinator for the Gun Rights Coalition, but he believes it sets a precedent for future restrictions sought by gun-control groups in Washington state. “They might be more empowered to shoot for initiatives,” Halle said of a possible future strategy, instead of relying on legislated limits or reactions to limits.
Jan. 13 the coalition held the Rally 4 UR Rights in Olympia at which gun owners stood on the steps of the capitol building carrying firearms. Attendees were asked to meet with and write letters to their legislators addressing firearmlimitation issues. Initiative 1491 authorizes courts to prevent a person from See guns, 9A
The Brains: Newport takes first at state Math is Cool competition By Sophia Aldous Of Miner
Miner photo|Sophia Aldous
Getting creative with all that snow Adrian and Esther Lawrence and their 4-year-old daughter Kodyann work on the snow dragon their family built Sunday night in front of Esther’s business, Indulgence Salon in Newport. Their children, Aden, 15, and Noah, 11, also helped craft the 57-feet long sculpture. On Monday, Jan. 23 the family continued to fill in the creation with food coloring and Kool-Aid. “It’s Puff, the Magic Dragon, who lives by the sea,” Kodyann said.
NEWPORT – One need not be a good at mathematics to appreciate the story---Newport High School (NHS), with its five student team, went on to take first place at the 2016-2017 Math is Cool state competition in December at Moses Lake, going up against larger schools from Spokane County and King County that have five or six teams per school. Senior Travis Dillon took seventh place overall in the calculus
division. “When they started to announce the overall winners, they kept going down the list, and once they got to the top three I was like, ‘I guess we didn’t place,’” remembers Josh Cunningham, a senior. “Then they announced us in first place and I was like, ‘What?’” Not a bad start for their first year as a team, much less first year competing. While Math is Cool has been a staple at Sadie Halstead Middle School for several years, taught by Irene Ewing, there has
never been a high school group. According to NHS advanced statistics teacher Karen Behrend, The Math is Cool contests are given annually at two levels. The first level is the regional level, which NHS also took first place at Spokane Falls Community College in November. Tests are administered in Spokane, Moses Lake and Seattle. The top schools are then invited to participate in a statewide Masters contest, which is See Math, 2A
B r i e f ly Dansel resigns from senate to take job with Trump OLYMPIA – Republican Sen. Brian Dansel has resigned from the Washington Senate to take a job with the administration of President Donald Trump. Dansel, state senator for the 7th Legislative District from Republic in Ferry County, resigned his seat Tuesday, Jan. 24 and announced that he will be a special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Republicans control the Senate with a narrow 25-24 majority with the help of a Democrat who caucuses with them. With Dansel’s resignation, they will be tied
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Lewd conduct case sentencing stands PRIEST RIVER — The Idaho Court of Appeals is affirming the sentence imposed against Priest River man who pleaded guilty to lewd conduct with a minor in Kootenai County, according to a story in the Bonner County Daily Bee. Reginald Ivie, 38, was ordered to serve up to life in prison last year by First District Judge John T. Mitchell for having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl twice in 2015. The first seven years of the term were 7B-10B
fixed. Ivie appealed his prison term after being sentenced in Feb. 2016, stating it was excessive. Appeals court judges Sergio Gutierrez, John Melanson and Molly Huskey ruled that Mitchell did not abuse his discretion when imposing the prison term, according to an unpublished opinion released on Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Bee’s story said. A status hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 2 in Coeur d’Alene. Ivie is serving his sentence at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, according to the Idaho Department of Correction’s website.
Opinion
4a
Record
3B
sports
6A-8A
Life
1B
Police Reports
3B
Obituaries
3B
Public Notices
7B-10B
Honor roll of businesses See pages 4B-6B