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The Newport Miner

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THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNT Y SINCE 1901

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Public to meet superintendent candidates

Fourteen applied, board hopes to make decision by early July BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

MINER PHOTO|DON GRONNING

The rain left a slick arena and the bareback horse Supremo and rider Seth Shelton had a scary time, as the horse fell and slid into the fence. Shelton helped hold the horse down until help could come get the animal untangled from the fence. Neither horse nor rider were hurt in the wreck and Shelton ended up tied for second.

Rain stays away for Newport Rodeo weekend

Best attendance in years BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – Rodeo organizers were nervous, as an inch of rain fell in the two days before the rodeo, but by Fri-

day afternoon the rain had stopped and the sun started to shine. On Saturday, the 64th annual Newport Rodeo and parade drew some of the biggest crowds in years. “Saturday was phenomenal,” Newport Rodeo Association president Ray

75¢

Volume 110, Number 21 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages

NEWPORT – The board of directors of the Newport School District have narrowed the list of candidates for the superintendent position from 14 to three, with public meetings set for Wednesday, June 26, 6 p.m. at Newport High School. The three finalists are David Smith, a high school principal from the Freeman School District; Steven McCullough, superintendent of the Curlew School District; and Chris Rush, a high school principal from the Warden School District. “I’m confident we have some good candidates,” school board chairwoman April Owen said at Monday night’s regular school

board meeting June 24. The board met twice in executive session to discuss the candidates. The plan is to have school staff meet with the candidates at noon Wednesday, before the public meetings. The board will use a similar process as the one they used to hire Jason Thompson, the district’s current superintendent. Thompson resigned to take a job as executive director of human resources for the Marysville School District. His last day is June 26. Thompson was emotional at the meeting as he expressed his appreciation for working as superintendent of the Newport school board. The appreciation was reciprocated, as the board complimented him on the job he has done at Newport. The candidates will meet with the board, staff and then the pubSEE CANDIDATES, 10A

Hanson said. “We had good numbers of contestants and a good crowd.” Rodeo association treasurer Nick Tucker said that there was an increase of about 400 in rodeo ticket sales at the SEE RODEO, 2A

Fiber work slowing down Newport could be ready for service soon BY JANELLE ATYEO OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – Work on the fiber optic system in South Pend Oreille County is slowing down as the public utility district (PUD) reels in expenses due to cost overruns. Retail service providers are serving some customers with high speed Internet over the

PUD system but are waiting ton, D.C., managers told conon the PUD to hook up more. cerned members of the public The PUD’s fiber who visited project is at least W H AT ’S N E X T: the board $1.9 million over PUD MANAGERS WILL discuss meeting this budget and is week. their plans for financing the not yet complete. PUD comoverrun at the July 16 comThe $34 million missioner meeting in Newmissioners project is funded port. heard a mostly by a federal report on the stimulus grant, and there’s current status of the south little to no hope of getting county fiber build out at a more money from Washingworkshop before their regu-

lar meeting Tuesday, June 25. They’ll have a report on the fiber budget and plans the district has for financing the cost overrun at their July 16 meeting in Newport. Last year, the PUD ran a couple of marketing campaigns to get people signed up for fiber service. They were asked to sign a consent SEE FIBER, 2A

New manager takes over at Ponderay Newsprint COURTESY PHOTO|STEVE DAWSON

BY FRED WILLENBROCK OF THE MINER

USK – A new title was officially given to one of the oldest employees of Ponderay Newsprint Company. Myron Johnson started working at the mill during construction 25 years ago and is now the general manager. Johnson, 57, has served as interim manager since earlier this year when manager Der-

rick Lindgren transferred to another paper mill the managing partner, Resolute Forest Products, owned in Canada. Johnson officially took over last Wednesday, June 19. He has served Ponderay in several management positions including assistant paper mill manager. He said he was hired Johnson during the construction of the

newsprint mill and had input in its design. One of the areas, he has been working on and will continue to do is controlling costs. “It’s a trend in the industry to look for opportunities to consolidate job duties,” Johnson said. And they are doing that amongst other steps to keep the mill’s expenses down. Before taking over officially, Ponderay had SEE MANAGER, 2A

|| Security cameras may watch courthouse

NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County officials are looking into installing security cameras at the old courthouse on Fourth Street. Funds from a Help America Vote Act grant would pay for the equipment. Last year, the grant helped remodel the elections office and create a secured area for ballot processing. The cameras would help catch any tampering. “Hopefully we’d never need to use it,” Auditor Marianne Nichols said. She said there is about $18,000 remaining from the federal grant that could go toward security cameras. She is working with other department heads to decide the best locations for cameras.

B R I E F LY

Volunteers to clean up Diamond Lake

DIAMOND LAKE – The annual clean up of Diamond Lake is scheduled for Saturday, June 29 at 9 a.m. Volunteers will meet at the Quonset hut just east of the fire station on Highway 2 for directions and garbage sacks. Organizers said that a couple of trucks are needed to drive around and pick up trash bags for delivery to the transfer station. The Diamond Lake Improvement Association (DLIA) is sponsoring the clean up day. They’ll wrap up the work with a barbecue at noon back at the Quonset hut. Bring the family for hamburgers and hot dogs and meet your neighbors. The Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office Marine Patrol will be on hand with their patrol boat for the kids to see, and Charlie Shaffer will have boater safety info available.

Fire claims shop South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue firefighters battle a fire that destroyed a shop in the 9000 block of Coyote Trail Road Thursday, June 20. Pend Oreille County Fire District 4 provided mutual aid. The shop and the contents were at total loss, including a 1995 Ford automobile the owner was restoring. The cause of the fire is unknown, but it isn’t considered suspicious, according to SPOFR Fire Chief Mike Nokes. No one was hurt and no other buildings were nearby, he said.

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Coming up July 13, DLIA will be holding a yard sale to benefit the Clean Boats Clean Waters program in the parking lot at the Boat Launch Restaurant. Donations will be accepted through July 12. Call Pam at 509-447-5942 for the drop off location or to have a volunteer pick it up items for you.

County replacing traffic signs NEWPORT – Drivers in Pend Oreille County will notice shiny new traffic signs installed along roadways. The county’s road department received a grant of $760,000 form Federal Highways Administration to upgrade signs. County Public Works Director Sam Castro noted that the goal is to address the high fatality rate on county roads. “The benefit here, the reason why we’re doing this, is

it’s saving lives,” he said. While local drivers might be familiar with road names and where the curves come up, Castro noted that most fatalities that occur are people from outside the area. Signs have been replaced on Horseshoe Lake Road, Camden, Spring Valley, Scotia and Gray roads. Crews are moving on to Deer Valley and Coyote Trail Road. Castro said the project is about 40 percent complete. Contractors are doing the work, as is required with any federally funded project. There may be a 5 to 10 minute traffic delay in the area crews are working. Flaggers are stationed at either end of the work site, and a pilot car leads motorists through. At least one stop sign has been added as part of the project. Those traveling on South Shore Diamond Lake Road must now stop at Coyote Trail.

SPORTS 1B - RECORD 7B - POLICE 7B - OPINION 4A - CLASSIFIEDS 8B-10B - PUBLIC NOTICES 10B - DOWN RIVER 9A - LIFE 4B - OBITUARIES 7B


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