The Newport Miner THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNTY SINCE 1901
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
www.pendoreillerivervalley.com
Finding help
Volume 119, Number 24 | 2 Sections, 16 Pages $1.00
Employers having difficulty finding, keeping workers
BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER
NEWPORT – The federal government’s reaction to the pandemic included providing extra money for people collecting unemployment compensation, now $300 a week on top of the regular benefits. In Washington, that will continue through Sept. 4. Idaho discontinued giving out the extra benefits June 19. Whether it’s true or not, many people think the extra unemployment money has contributed to people not taking jobs. “Everybody is struggling to find workers,” Pend Oreille Economic Development Council Director Jamie Wyrobek said. She said she’s hearing from many employers that they believe the extra unemployment money is a major reason. There have been local businesses that are closing because of not being able to find employees. Tim Skubitz owns the Newport McDonald’s. He said there has always been seasonal turnover in the quick service food industry, but this is different. He said it is a nationwide problem. He said he has 45 people working, but could use 20 more. “Personally, we have noticed significantly fewer applicants during the past six months,” Skubitz
COURTESY PHOTO|KELLY BOWIE
Cooling off Addison Bowie looks up at her mother, Kelly, from the depths of Diamond Lake where the family was visiting Kelly’s uncle.
SEE JOBS, 2A
‘I wish people would stop fighting about it’
Local woman recounts experience with COVID-19 BY SOPHIA ALDOUS
Nothing finalized in Pelleberg negotiations
OF THE MINER
NEWPORT – It was around this time last year that Newport resident Renee Masters didn’t feel so good. She was working at Super 1 Foods in Oldtown when she developed a fever. “It seemed like it happened fast,” Masters, 40, says. “One day I was fine and the next I felt like crap. I wanted water, which I never want.” Masters lives with her mother, Denise, who took her to Newport Hospital and Health Services for a COVID-19 test after calling their doctor. The results came back positive on July 8, 2020. Masters spent the next two weeks quarantined in her room. On July 15 Denise took her SEE COVID, 2A MINER PHOTO|SOPHIA ALDOUS
“I’m so happy to be here,” says Renee Masters, who almost died of COVID-19 last summer. “I’m sorry, I think about it and it makes me cry because I’m happy I’m still alive.”
BY DON GRONNING OF THE MINER
NEWPORT – Negotiations are continuing between the city and former Newport city administrator Russ Pelleberg, Newport Mayor Shirley Sands said. Sands read a letter from Pelleberg at the June 21 city council meeting in which Pelleberg announced he was resigning, effective immediately. Sands did not answer a question from The Miner about whether she asked Pelleberg to resign. Sands told The Miner last week that the city has agreed to give Pelleberg some severance pay and that Pelleberg’s attorney and the city attorney are still in talks over his separation. According to the employment agreement between Pelleberg and the City of Newport, if the city administrator is terminated by the mayor or asked to resign, the city agrees to pay the administrator severance for three months. SEE CITY, 8A
B R I E F LY Kalispel Tribe buys raceway SPOKANE - Following a public hearing June 29, Spokane County commissioners voted unanimously voted to sell the raceway property in Airway Heights to the Kalispel Tribe for $6.1 million. The sale of the property is projected to occur sometime this fall. The 243-acre property is adjacent to Northern Quest Resort and Casino in Airway Heights. The county bought the racetrack in 2007. It has had three operators since then. It terminated the county agreement with the last operator in March 2021, at the request of the operator, Craig Smith of Raceway Investments LLC., according to a news release from the county. According to the Spokesman-Review, the tribe initially offered $4.75 million for the raceway, but raised
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its offer after a couple others made higher offers. The county bought the raceway at auction for $4 million, the newspaper reported. Brandon Haugen, the Kalispel Tribe’s executive director of real estate, said the tribe wants to help grow motorsports. Tim Nydegger, executive director of corporate strategy for the Kalispel Tribe Economic Authority, said the tribe looks forward to “maintaining the park as it is.”
Vendors wanted for Timber Days PRIEST RIVER – The Priest River Chamber of Commerce is currently accepting a variety of applications for the different events for Priest River Timber Days. The theme this year is “Back to my roots” and the an-
nual event is slated for Friday, July 30 and Saturday, July 31. For craft and food vendor applications or parade entries, email priestrivercoc@gmail.com to obtain forms, call 208-448-2721 or stop by the chamber office in the Beardmore Building on Main Street. The car cruise is set for downtown Friday night like usual and Run for the Berries will be first thing Saturday morning as well as the huckleberry pancake breakfast, and booths will be open then also. The parade is at 11 a.m. and the logging events start immediately after the parade. Contact the chamber about logging event entry forms also. The Show n’ Shine car show will be throughout the day and the popular Corn Hole tournament will also take place. The lawnmower races will start at 4 p.m. with registration from 3-4 p.m.
CLASSIFIEDS
6B
OPINION
4A
RECORD
5B
LIFE
3B
POLICE REPORTS
5B
SPORTS
1B
6A, 5B, 8B
PUBLIC NOTICES
7B-8B
BOOSTER
4B
OBITUARIES
WHAT’S HAPPENING FOR SENIORS? CHECK OUT OUR SENIOR CALENDAR PAGE 2B