Newport Miner

Page 1

on News ingt pa sh

r

1

st

pe

Wa

Sweets for the Sweet Shop for your Valentine. See inside.

General Excellence

Place

ati lishe rs Associ

o

n

Pu b

Playoffs underway See pages 1B-2B.

The Newport Miner

Follow us on Facebook

THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNT Y SINCE 1901

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Volume 110, Number 2 | 2 Sections, 16 Pages

Son confesses to killing mom in Elk After stabbing at Elk home, suspect caught in Montana BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

Sally Swancara was killed Sunday night, Feb. 10 at her residence on Juanita Lane north of Elk. COURTESY IMAGE|GOOGLE MAPS

ELK – A 24-year-old man confessed to stabbing his mother Matthew to death in Elk Sunday night, Feb. Swancara 10. He was arrested Monday, Feb. 11 in Kalispell, Mont., according to Pend Oreille County Sheriff Alan Botzheim. “We knew he had ties to Montana, so we alerted Montana authorities,” he said. Kalispell police arrested Matthew J. Swancara, 24, while he was hitchhiking. Swancara is

suspected of killing his mother, Sally Swancara, 56, at her home on Juanita Lane in Elk. Pend Oreille County investigators went to Kalispell to interview Swancara Tuesday and got a confession from him, Botheim said. Pend Oreille County will need to extradite Swancara from Montana, which could take some time, he said. Swancara will likely appear in court in Flathead County, Mont., soon. Many times, the suspect will waive extradition and come back voluntarily. If they don’t, the county will proceed through the governor and get a warrant of extradition. According to a report in The SpokesmanReview, a motorist who gave Swancara a ride noticed he had blood on his clothes and

75¢

contacted Kalispell police when he dropped him off in the northwest Montana town on Highway 2. Pend Oreille County dispatchers got a call from the victim Sunday night, Botzheim said. She had already been stabbed more than once, he said, adding that she lost consciousness while on the phone and her husband came on the line. By the time deputies arrived, Sally Swancara was dead and Matthew Swancara had fled in a 2001 Suzuki Esteem station wagon, which was abandoned about 20 or 30 miles outside Kalispell, according to Botzheim. SEE MURDER, 2A

Juvenile admits to writing bomb threat at school Fourth time bomb threat found at Sadie Halstead since 2011 BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – More than 300 Sadie Halstead Middle School students were evacuated Friday, Feb. 8, after a bomb threat was found written on a bathroom wall. It was the fourth time in the last two years a bomb threat was found in the school bathroom. A 14-year-old boy admitted at school Tuesday, Feb. 12, to writing the threat in two of the school’s bathrooms. He was immediately expelled from school and faces criminal charges in juvenile court, according to Pend Oreille County sheriff Alan Botzheim. Three juveniles were convicted

for prior bomb threats at Sadie Halstead. Two of the threats resulted in evacuation of the school and another note threatening to blow up the school was found after school was out. One 14-year-old boy was sentenced to 15 days at Martin Hall Juvenile Detention Facility for writing graffiti threatening to blow up the school in October 2011. A 14-year-old boy was sentenced to nine days at Martin Hall for a threat the month before, and another 14-year-old boy was sentenced to 150 hours community service after being convicted of making a bomb threat in September 2011 Pend Oreille County Sheriff deputies received word of the threat about 12:30 p.m. Friday. Students SEE BOMB, 2A

Inn at the Lake closing March 1 Will return to private residence, allow inspection for building permit BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

DIAMOND LAKE – The Inn at the Lake, which had been operating as a non permitted vacation rental on Diamond Lake, will become a single family home, the owners announced in a letter to Pend Oreille County officials. The inn will stop operating as a

vacation rental March 1. Pend Oreille County had issued a notice of violation and order to correct violations last summer. The violations were of the building code and vacation rental ordinance. According to Mike Lithgow, the county’s community development director, the owners of the inn could face substantial fines for the time the inn operated as an illegal vacation rental. He said county SEE INN, 7A

MINER PHOTO|JANELLE ATYEO

Happy hearts Aspen Teem, left, gets some help from Vicki Bronson in making Valentine crafts at the Newport Library Saturday, Feb. 9. Dozens of kids enjoyed snacks, movies and crafts to celebrate the coming holiday. Valentine’s Day is Thursday, Feb. 14.

Pend Oreille County Park a focus for tourism County tourism group starts new year with $23,000 budget BY JANELLE ATYEO OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – One of the next big projects for the Pend Oreille County’s designated visitor bureau, the Pend Oreille River Tourism Alliance (PORTA), will be promoting Pend Oreille County Park along Highway 2 south of Newport. PORTA’s website has had hits from all over – lately several from Sweden and Romania –

|| Port accepting board applications

USK – The Port of Pend Oreille Board of Commissioners is accepting applications to fill the vacancy in District 3, which will be vacated by Steve Kiss in March. Kiss became a member of the Pend Oreille County board of commissioners this year. Applicants must be registered voters in the county and reside in District 3, which serves the north end of the county. Interested citizens are asked to contact the port office in person, by mail or telephone to receive the application process information. The inquiry/application process will be closed at 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 25. Interviews will take place at the port’s regular meeting in the port office March 28.

and a good num- “All we do is tell the ber of people who story of what we’ve visit the website at got here.” www.porta-us.com have been interested in Pend Oreille Susan Harris County Park’s trail PORTA Executive Director map. “The interest is there,” said Meg Decker, a PORTA board member. A hope is that the park sees an influx in users, drawing more people to use other

B R I E F LY

Contact the Port of Pend Oreille, 1981 Black Road, Usk, WA 99180 or port manager Kelly Driver at 509-445-1090.

Biomass bill aims to lower costs for schools OLYMPIA – Sen. John Smith, R-Colville, has introduced a bill that could help lower operating expenses for Washington schools, freeing up more money to spend on educating kids, while encouraging the state’s densified biomass industry. Senate Bill 5709 would create a program to evaluate the feasibility of using biomass as a clean-burning, renewable-energy source to heat schools. The bill is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Energy, Environment and Telecom-

services and businesses in the county. PORTA executive director Susan Harris talked to county commissioners about the bureau’s latest focus. Harris and board members Decker and Terri Ann Hedtke put on a presentation Jan. 28 to familiarize the new commissioners with what PORTA does for the county. “A lot of people don’t know what PORTA does,” Harris said. While PORTA helped out with the Greater SEE TOURISM, 2A

||

munications Committee Thursday, Feb. 14 at 1:30 p.m. Smith’s bill would have the Washington State University energy program choose one public school to conduct a two-year pilot program to help determine the feasibility of heating schools with biomass fuel. The program would look at the measurement and evaluation of the heating system and include a cost comparison of other conventional fuels. “Among the main cost drivers for schools are maintenance and operational expenses – which include energy and utility costs,” Smith said. “This measure has strong promise to reduce the overall financial operating needs and promote greater efficiencies within schools, all by replacing the

heating and cooling systems.”

Government offices close for Presidents’ Day NEWPORT – Presidents’ Day is Monday, Feb. 18, and most schools and government offices will be closed for the federal holiday. No mail will be delivered, and the post office window will be closed. The Newport and Priest River city halls will be closed for the day. The city councils will meet Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. Pend Oreille PUD offices will be closed. The Selkirk school board has moved its meeting to Tuesday at 6 p.m. as well. The board also has a work session planned for 5 p.m. Feb. 13.

SPORTS 1B-2B - RECORD 4B - POLICE 4B - OPINION 4A - CLASSIFIEDS 5B-8B - PUBLIC NOTICES 7B-8B - DOWN RIVER 7A - LIFE 3B - OBITUARIES 4B


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.