The Newport Miner the voice of pend oreille county since 1901
Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
www.pendoreillerivervalley.com
Volume 115, Number 35 | 2 Sections, 24 Pages
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Positively bull riding Bull riding legend puts on school at Newport Rodeo grounds By Don Gronning Of The Miner
NEWPORT - Gary Leffew, 1970 World Champion Bull Rider and Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee, is talking to a group of young bull riders at the Newport rodeo grounds about the power of positive thinking. “You have to stay away from negative energy,” he says. He means it. “Every day when you get out bed, you don’t allow any negative thoughts in your head. If one comes in, you kick it out.” Leffew stressed the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people and making a conscious effort to stay positive, every day. The students, from as far away as Hawaii, British Columbia and as near as Bonners Ferry and Pasco took in Leffew’s words. They had each paid $650 for the three-day school
and Leffew is a legendary teacher who has taught numerous Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association world champions, as well as Professional Bull Riders (PBR), including both reigning world champions, Sage Kimsey from the PRCA and Cooper Davis from the PBR. The school took place Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Newport Rodeo grounds. “Like attracts like,” Leffew continues. “And negative energy attracts negative energy. All kinds of bad (stuff) happens when you send out negative energy. Wrecks happen, cops give you tickets. Negative energy just sucks it out of you.” Leffew, now 73, was one of the early proponents of positive thinking when he
rode bulls. His earned the first of his seven National Finals Rodeo appearances in 1966 when he finished 10th in the world standings. Then he hit a slump and self-doubt set in. Enter the positive-thinking program and his use of visualization techniques that took him to the 1970 world and NFR titles. He rode nine out of 10 of the rankest bulls in the world the year he won the title. So Leffew is a believer in positive thinking and he has taught a couple generations of bull riders its value. Kaimi Kamakau, 23, came to the mainland from Oahu, Hawaii to ride bulls. This was his first bull riding school. “I’m learning about See bulls, 2A
Miner photos|Don Gronning
Left: Leffew, the 1970 world champion bull rider, shows the proper free arm position. Right: Students got to put what they learned to use in the arena. Here Tanner Bradley of Goldendale, Wash., rides one. Bradley is a PRCA bull rider who qualified for the Columbia River Circuit Finals last year.
Looking at last year’s building trends And how to get started on construction By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner
NEWPORT – Looking to build a home? Perhaps a business? Maybe add on to an existing one? There are a lot of steps to go through first and it all depends on what is being built. According to information from Pend Oreille County Community Development, 128 building permits were issued in the county in 2016. Of those permits, 26 were for singlefamily homes. The rest were for pole buildings, remodels and add ons. Community Development Director
Greg Snow pointed out that there were 21 single-family remodel/add on permits issued, several of which had to do with repairs to homes after the windstorm in Nov. 2015. “There were seven commercial permits issued last year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that a new business building was going up,” Snow said. Of the commercial permits issued, one was for wind storm repair, another was adding a bathroom to a church, a change of use permit for a marijuana business, a permit issued for a reservoir, another for a
4,800 square foot boat storage, and transfer station needed to make repairs to its tipping floor. Overall, the number of building permits issued in 2016 resulted in 280 transactions with Community Development and a total of a $92,523 in fees. Building permits, once approved, are good for five years in Pend Oreille County. Total cost of the permit depends on the square footage of the project being built by the property owner.
Superior Court rejects recall of Fire District 2 commissioners By Don Gronning Of The Miner
NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County Superior Court Judge Pat Monasmith rejected a recall action against two Fire District 2 commissioners, Donna Mitchell and Pete Smolden. Fellow Fire District 2 commissioner Jim Mundy brought the legal action. Mundy said the commissioners should be recalled because of violations of the Open Public Records Act and Open Meetings Act “There have been issues,” Mundy said. He said commissioners would call him to discuss fire
See county, 2A
See fire, 11A
B r i e f ly Mystery dinner theatre at Cutter METALINE FALLS – Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre returns to The Cutter Theatre with the performance of Lethal Lecture Friday, Oct. 13 and Saturday, Oct. 14, 6 p.m. The plot revolves around a newly discovered Egyptian mummy that leads to an untimely demise. Is it a curse or just plain murder? The audience can guess who the perpetrator is while having dinner. There are only 48 seats per performance, so reservations are required. The theme of the evening is 1920s so people are encouraged to dress up for the costume contest. Tickets are $25.
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For more information, go to www.cuttertheatre.com, or call 509-446-4108.
Deputies shoot, kill man in Coolin COOLIN – Bonner County Sheriff deputies shot and killed a man they were attempting to arrest on a felony warrant Tuesday, Sept. 26, about 9 a.m. According to a press release from the Idaho State Police, “The subject of the warrant was armed and exhibited hostile behavior to the deputies, which led to the deputies firing upon the subject.” The man’s name and age were not released, pending 8B-9B
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notification of next of kin. The deputies hit the adult male with an undisclosed number of shots, according to the news release. “The subject was injured and medical attention was rendered. A ground ambulance carried the subject to where an air ambulance awaited for further transport, but the subject died en route to the air ambulance.” Tim Marsano of the ISP said he didn’t know how many deputies were involved. The shooting is being investigated by the North Idaho Critical Incident Task Force, with Idaho State Police leading the investigation.
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