052417newportminer

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The Newport Miner the voice of pend oreille county since 1901

Wednesday, MAY 24, 2017

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Volume 115, Number 17 | 2 Sections, 16 Pages $1.00

State, local positions face challengers in election By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner

NEWPORT – It may be an odd year election, but it will be up to voters to decide if the candidates are evenly matched. The deadline for candidate filing for the 2017 general election was Friday, May 19, cementing the running status of candidates vying for state and local government. Candidates could still withdraw from the election as of Monday, May 23. The Primary is scheduled for Aug. 1. Positions that only have one or two candidates running will automatically advance to the general election Nov. 7 and not be voted on in the Primary. For state office, incumbent Legislative District No. 7 Senator Shelly Short, a Republican from Addy, is being challenged by Democrat Karen Hardy of Valley. Short replaced former senator Brian Dansel of Ferry County, after Dansel took a position with President Trump’s administration as special assistant to the U.S. agriculture secretary in January. A race is also going on between Short’s Legislative District 7 Representative replacement, Jacquelin Maycumber, a republican from Colville, and Democrat Susan Swanson of Omak. In Pend Oreille Valley communities, there are several nonpartisan city council and mayoral races with some competition. Incumbent Shirley Sands, mayor of Newport, is running against Ken Smith. The position is a four-year term. Sands and Smith are the only candidates in this election required to pay a filing fee. The filing fee is one percent of salary for yearly salaries over $1,000. It is $10 for an annual salary of $1,000 or less. If paid for attending meeting (per diem), with no fixed annual salary, then no filing fee is required. The fee for both Sands and Smith is $84. Nancy Hawks-Thompson is running unopposed in

Miner photo|Sophia Aldous

Kittens, anyone? It’s springtime, and that means litters of kittens. Zoey Siemers, 6, and her brother, Jack (not pictured) went with their mother to pick out a pair of pet kittens from a giveaway in Newport Wednesday, May 17. For information on low-income spay and neutering for cats, check out the Pawsitive Outreach Spay and Neuter Alliance at www.pawsitiveoutreach.wixsite.com.

High water may peak first week June By Don Gronning Of The Miner

See election, 2A

More students attending alternative school Miner photo|Don Gronning

By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner

NEWPORT – With graduation on the horizon for many high school seniors, Pend Oreille River School (PORS) the alternative high school for Newport School District, is no different. Peg Waterman, teacher at PORS, was at the Monday, May 22 school board meeting to update board members on the state of the school. For the 2016-2017 school year, the school served 65 students; an increase from last year says Waterman. In 2016,

26 seniors graduated from PORS with 12 kids walking the graduation ceremony. This year 34 students are graduating from PORS. Waterman says that 43 percent of students are from Newport School District, while the other 57 percent from “other areas,” including 30 percent from Cusick. Of that amount from Cusick, the majority are tribal members, but not all are Kalispel. There are also student from the Spokane tribe, Colville tribe, and Blackfeet nation. See School, 8A

Joel Fenolio of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers answers questions Friday night at Cusick High School. The Corps, PUD and U.S. Weather Service had people making presentations about risk of flooding.

CUSICK – High water in the Pend Oreille River should come the first or second week of June. That was one of the takeaway messages from a flood meeting held in Cusick Friday, May 19. Katherine Rowden of the U.S. Weather Service said this has been the coldest winter since 1988-89. The combination of a cold winter following a wet October, left the ground so saturated it couldn’t absorb the water. “It stayed cold, so we didn’t get the snow melting earlier,” she said. Mark Cleveland of the Pend Oreille See flood, 2A

Judgment nears in Moon Creek lawsuit By Don Gronning Of The Miner

NEWPORT – An exasperated Pend Oreille County Superior Court judge has dismissed most of the claims filed in a lawsuit filed by aggrieved landowners over unwanted weed spraying and beaver dam destruction and killing on Diamond Lake. The Friends of Moon Creek are made up of a group of property owners west of Diamond Lake.

Three people involved in the lawsuit have died since the cases were filed in U.S. District Court and Pend Oreille County Superior Court against the Diamond Lake Improvement Association, the Pend Oreille County Weed Board and the state of Washington and Sharon Sorby of the county Weed Board. Superior Court Judge Jessica Reeves said in a March 16 summary judgment hearing that the case was complicated and

convoluted, with many parties and claims. She said she had been pushed to the “absolute brink of her capabilities” reading and understanding the voluminous files. “ … after spending weeks of my spare time reading this file and all the materials provided along with desk books and case law, I’ve about reached max capacity,” she said. “And this is a very, very convoluted case. I mean right down See moon, 2A

B r i e f ly Blanchard plant, yard sale this weekend BLANCAHRD – The annul Memorial Day Plant and Yard Sale in Blanchard is expected to be the biggest one yet. There are lots of bargains, and organizers are still looking for volunteers. Call 208-627-3604. The sale is from 9 a.m. until they get tired, located at 26299 Highway 41. Also happening soon is the Spirit Lake Fire and Rescue Summer Sizzler, Saturday, June 3, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The events offers kids a chance to be a firefighter.

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There will be a physical agility course, smoke house, fire trucks, free lunch and face painting.

Bead Lake gets wake ban NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County Commissioners approved a temporary wake ban on Bead Lake the morning of Tuesday, May 23. A no wake zone means a vessel must travel at or below idle speed, or at such speed that the boat or its waves are not big enough to cause damage to other persons, boats or property.

In an op-ed piece submitted to The Miner on May 16 and appearing in this edition, commissioners wrote that they were considering a wake ban at Bead Lake because of the amount of sediment in the lake, as it is also the surrounding community’s drinking water supply. Shoreline debris has washed into the lake causing additional risk to boaters. The story that ran in this month’s edition of Lake Life addressing the possibility of a wake zone on Bead Lake went to print before the commissioners made their final decision Tuesday morning.

classifieds

6B

Opinion

4a

Record

5B

Life

4B

Police Reports

5B

sports

1B

Obituaries

5B

Public Notices

7B-8B

Priest Lake Fest

2B-3B

Priest Lake Spring

See pages 2B-3B Festival this weekend


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052417newportminer by The Newport Miner - Issuu