April 25, 2012 Newport Miner

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Pend Oreille County schools compete at Priest River Invite. B1

The Newport Miner

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THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNT Y SINCE 1901

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Volume 109, Number 12 | 2 Sections, 18 Pages

75¢

Series of burglaries lead to arrests Diamond Lake, Flowery Trail burglaries not related BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – Five people are in jail following arrests by sheriff deputies who were working a series of burglaries in Pend Oreille County. Three of the people are believed to have been involved in one burglary on Flowery Trial Road and two others were arrested for their involvement with three Diamond Lake

burglaries. Deputies don’t believe the burglaries are related. Zane Lumpkin, 31, Remington Lumpkin, 26, and Sarah E. Savage, 22, were arrested Thursday, April 19 in connection with a burglary that had occurred about nine days earlier on Flowery Trail Road near Usk, according to Pend Oreille County Sheriff Alan Botzheim. Zane Lumpkin and Savage were booked on charges of residential burglary, possession of stolen SEE ARREST, 2A

Invasive Asian clams found in Lake Pend Oreille Boaters encouraged to clean and dry their vessels BY JANELLE ATYEO OF THE MINER

HOPE – Invasive Asian clams were discovered during the recent drawdown of Lake Pend Oreille. About 150 feet of shoreline in the Ellisport Bay area of Hope appears to be the only area affected at this time. The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team and the Boundary County Dive Team are working with the Idaho Department of Agri-

culture in an effort to determine the distribution area of the clams. They participated in a joint dive effort from Ellisport Bay April 16. They found the clams spread over about 5 acres, according to Tom Woolf, aquatic plants program manager with the Idaho Department of Agriculture. He says an Asian clam infestation is not as troublesome as zebra or quagga mussels, and the small population at Lake Pend Oreille could be eradiated. Asian clams don’t stick to SEE CLAM, 2A

MINER PHOTO|JANELLE ATYEO

Country Lane employee Linda Sinclair reaches for a bottle of liquor at the store in Newport. Country Lane is a state contract liquor store, but owners have applied to keep selling liquor after the privatization June 1. Manager Mark Zorica said they’ll see how the business does with the change.

Liquor stores prepare for privatization BY JANELLE ATYEO OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – It will be one more month before you’ll be able to buy liquor at grocery stores in Washington, and local retailers are preparing for the change. Already in North Pend Oreille County, one state-run liquor store has closed down and a handful of new places are applying

to be able to sell. In Newport, Safeway has applied for its permit to sell hard liquor by the bottle, but Country Lane on Washington Avenue, currently a state contracted liquor store, is hanging on to its stock until they see how privatization of the liquor industry is for their business after the June 1 shift. “We’re doing it because we always have. We’ll see how it goes,” Country Lane man-

Bigger trout await anglers on opening day

MINER PHOTO|FRED WILLENBROCK

Tuesday morning, 5,000 triploid trout were dropped into Diamond Lake at the boat launch by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Those 10-inch sterile trout from the state’s Ford Hatchery will grow an inch a month. Diamond has a cooperative net pen project that releases 12,500 rainbow trout in addition to the fish stocked by WDFW last year that should be catchable-size now.

|| Chamber meeting focuses on economic development

OLYMPIA – Anglers preparing for opening day of the 2012 lowland lakes season on Saturday, April 28 can expect to reel in trout that are one-third bigger this year. With opening day fast approaching, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is releasing 3 million hatchery-reared trout averaging 11-13 inches – two to three inches longer than last year. Those fish will join millions of other trout that were stocked last year and have grown to catchable size in lakes around the state. Many of those lakes have also been stocked with triploid and jumbo trout weighing 1.5 to 11 pounds apiece. “We have made some changes in our trout hatchery rearing programs in response to the feedback we heard from anglers who really enjoy catching larger fish,” WDFW Director Phil Anderson said. “With these fish, our state’s biggest fishing day of the year just got better.” At least 300,000 anglers typically turn out for the first day of the lowland

B R I E F LY

No wake added to Bead Lake

NEWPORT – The Greater Newport Area Chamber of Commerce May Members’ Meeting is Tuesday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m. at the Pend Oreille PUD’s CNS Fiber Showroom, 110 W. Pine St., Newport. The agenda is designed to bring members up to speed on regional economic development projects – both current and planned – and will feature speakers from the Pend Oreille County Economic Development Council (Jamie Wyrobek, Terry Knapton and Dan Peterson), the Priest River Development Corporation (Seth Callos & Greg Snow) and the CNS (Joe Onley).

SEE FISH, 7A

NEWPORT – Boaters on Bead Lake need to operate at a no wake speed limit. Pend Oreille County commissioners declared an emergency Tuesday, implementing a temporary no wake zone on Bead Lake until further order from the board. The no wake zone on Diamond and Sacheen lakes the commissioners put on March 27 still stands. The Diamond Lake Improvement Association is asking residents to document the current high water levels by taking pictures of flooded areas. Forward pictures and a narrative of the impacts to dliahighwater@gmail.com. The group will compile the information and have it ready to present in the future when government agencies need documentation of spring flooding.

ager Mark Zorica said. Washington voters approved I-1183 last fall to privatize liquor sales. The Lady Bug Corner liquor store has already pulled out of the game. The store in Metaline Falls closed at the end of February. Manager Ruth Reiber didn’t return The Miner’s call, but state officials said the SEE LIQUOR, 2A

PORTA, chamber join efforts at visitors center BY MICHELLE NEDVED OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – Coordination of staffing the Greater Newport Area Chamber of Commerce visitors’ center has been passed from the chamber director to the Pend Oreille River Tourism Alliance. The countywide group is now operating from the chamber office. Susan Harris, director of PORTA, said the goal is to establish a pool of volunteers to staff the office and provide information and literature to visitors. In the past, the paid chamber director had run the visitor center with the MINER PHOTO|JANELLE ATYEO help of volunteers. PORTA director Susan Harris, left, Visitor center hours are to be stands with Peggy Greene, PORTA’s 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday secretary and volunteer coordinator. through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, with the intent located in Centennial Plaza in to included coverage on Monday downtown Newport, are expected and Tuesday as volunteers are to be between two and four hours available. Harris said the hours for volunteer time at the building, SEE PORTA, 8A

||

The Pend Oreille River was at 2,038 feet above sea level at the Cusick gage Tuesday. It’s considered flood level when it reaches 2,042.9 feet.

Selkirk levy passing METALINE FALLS – The Selkirk School District’s maintenance and operation levy is passing with 52.79 percent approval as of the latest count Wednesday afternoon, April 18. Ballots were due at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 17. School levies need a simple majority to pass. A total 435 voters have said yes so far, and 389 or 47.21 percent said no. Only two ballots were held for lack of signatures. A few more may trickle in through the mail. The next tally won’t be until April 27 when the election

is canvassed and results are made official. The Selkirk district is seeking a replacement for its two-year maintenance and operation levy. It would raise nearly $500,000 a year. Property owners would pay an estimated $2.11 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The current levy, which expires at the end of the year, is collected at a rate of $1.53. Voters in the far south end of Pend Oreille County voted on an M&O levy for the Deer Park School District and a replacement educational programs and operation levy for the Riverside School District. Combined with results from Spokane and Stevens counties, the Deer Park levy is passing with 58 percent approval. Riverside’s levy is tied evenly at 50 percent.

SPORTS 1B - 3B - RECORD 5B - POLICE 5B - OPINION 4A - CLASSIFIEDS 7B -9B - PUBLIC NOTICES9B - 10B - DOWN RIVER 7A - LIFE 4B - OBITUARIES 5B - 6B


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