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The Newport Miner THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNT Y SINCE 1901
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
www.pendoreillerivervalley.com
Volume 111, Number 4 | 2 Sections, 16 Pages 75¢
Firefighters stop school wood shop fire
Woman rescued from icy river
Smoke damage cleanup closes high school for two days
BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER
BY THE MINER STAFF
NEWPORT – School was out for two days but not because of snow. It took that long to clean up smoke damage after a fire in Newport High School that could have been much worse. A small hot ember from a machine operated by a student was sucked into the exhaust system of the wood shop
‘A bunch of smoke came out of one of the vents.’ Daniel Foust
Newport High School Senior
of Newport High School heading to the outside storage sawdust hopper Friday, Feb. 21, just before lunch break. Smoke from the fire infiltrated into the exhaust system of the entire school. Students were immediately evacuated to Stratton Elementary and five fire departments put out the fire fairly quickly. “A bunch of smoke came out of one of the vents,” high school senior Daniel Foust said. The fire was spotted by shop teacher Travis Stott who SEE FIRE, 8A
MINER PHOTO|DON GRONNING
Three firefighters work to clear the fire in the sawdust storage area Friday, Feb. 26, after the fire was spotted by a shop teacher and reported to the fire department. Students were immediately evacuated to Stratton Elementary before being sent home for the remainder of the day. The high school canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday in order to clean the smoke out of the school.
CUSICK – Mike Krei was out clearing the snow from his car about 9 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 20, when he heard screams from the Pend Beery Oreille River. “At first I didn’t recognize what was happening,” said Krei, who lives on the east side of the Pend Oreille River off LeClerc Creek Road. There were two dogs in the water, he said, on the west side of the river, about 500 feet from him. “I didn’t see her right away.” Then he saw 60-yearold Debbie Johnson, who was screaming for help. He called 911. For the next 20 minutes or so, Krei and his wife called encouragement to SEE RESCUE, 2A
County could opt out of growth management Unclear how or if new law would change land use restrictions BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER
OLYMPIA – Pend Oreille County is a step closer to being allowed to opt out of the Growth Management Act if desired, after bills passed the House and Senate recently. If they become law they would allow four
small counties to plan under different requirements than what is required by the Growth Management Act. In addition to Pend Oreille County, Ferry, Garfield and Columbia counties will be able to take advanSEE GROWTH, 2A
Newport adopts pot moratorium State adjusts regs, retail sales unlikely before June BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER
NEWPORT – The Newport City Council passed a year long moratorium on all marijuana businesses at its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 18, declaring it to be a public emergency ordinance necessary for the protection of public health, public safety, public property or public peace. That includes medical marijuana operations. City administrator Ray King said the moratorium is needed until the state decides on final marijuana
MINER PHOTO|DESIREÉ HOOD
No chickens at Polar Plunge Residents of Priest River, organized by the chicken Michelle Schultz, plunged into the chilly Pend Oreille River to raise money for the Priest River Panthers Special Olympics Team Saturday, Feb. 22. About 20 people ran, walked and splashed into the ice filled water raising about $3,200.
rules, including changes to medical marijuana laws. Pend Oreille County isn’t considering such a moratorium now, although county commissioner Mike Manus asked county attorney and Prosecutor Tom Metzger what he thought of a sample moratorium that Manus got from King. Metzger, who also serves as Newport’s civil attorney, said the county and city situations weren‘t the same. The city has zoning considerations the county doesn’t, he said. The city has established a work SEE POT, 2A
B R I E F LY All invited to first River Passage Trail meeting PRIEST RIVER – The first planning meeting for the Pend Oreille River Passage Trail is Thursday, March 6, at 1 p.m. at the Beardmore Building on the corner of Main and High streets in downtown Priest River. The meeting will springboard the initial processes of designing a concept for the trail that will connect Oldtown to Priest River and beyond, and determine a timeline for working towards that goal. Everyone is welcome. The agenda includes introduction of the National Park Service representative for the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program and the
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Idaho/Montana chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and the role they will play with this trail project. Call Liz at 208-448-0210 with questions and check out the website at www.communityforests.com.
New location and day for Newport Driver Licensing Office OLYMPIA – The Newport Driver Licensing Office will be moving to a new location and a new day of operation. The licensing office will be co-located with the Department of Social and Health Services at 1600 W. First in Newport. This 5B-8B
is a move from its current location on Washington Avenue in downtown Newport. The office will be open on Wednesday instead of Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. The Department of Licensing tries to co-locate with other state agencies so it’s most convenient for their customers, and there are some cost savings, too, according to Christine Anthony, media contact for the DOL. There had been talk a couple years ago of closing the Newport office to save money, but Anthony said there are no plans to do so at this time. The Newport LSO will open in its new location March 5. The office can be reached at 509-447-5532.
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