Pud pnc lawsuit by The Newport Miner

The Newport Miner the voice of pend oreille county since 1901

Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Volume 115, Number 34 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages $1.00

Judge rejects PUD bid to dismiss Ponderay Newsprint-PUD lawsuit continues By Don Gronning Of The Miner

SPOKANE – A Spokane County Superior Court Judge has denied a Pend Oreille PUD motion to dismiss Ponderay Newsprint Co.’s lawsuit. That’s the latest news in the 20-month-old legal dispute between PUD and PNC that started in 2015. The ruling paves the way for the lawsuit to continue, but the case won’t go to court on the October trial date that has been long set. It currently looks like the case

will go to trial in June 2018. The dispute started when PUD general manager Colin Willenbrock interpreted the projected power supply requested by Ponderay Newsprint Co. to be so low that the newsprint mill wouldn’t be able to operate. He declared PNC to be in breach of contract and demanded more than $200 million in liquidated damages. PNC responded by suing, asking a judge to rule that the contracts were valid. The PUD countersued. PNC attorneys had made a motion for a declaratory judgment seeking to

have Superior Court Judge Maryann C. Moreno declare that the power contracts were valid. PUD attorneys sought to have that motion dismissed, arguing that PNC partners may not exist when the contracts are set to expire in June of 2027. Moreno ruled for PNC. She wrote in the Sept. 12 ruling that “... PNC has contractual standing and thus may properly seek a declaration that the District should be required to perform under those contracts.” The ruling is just the latest in the

Freeman: ‘This rural school district is hurting’ By Dave Smith For The Miner

NEWPORT – The shooting at Freeman High School last week was tragic in every way and this rural school district is hurting. A mother lost a son while still grieving the loss of her husband, three students are healing from gunshot wounds, and an entire community of students, teachers and parents are working together to together to overcome this horrible incident. Adding to this tragedy is the fact that Freeman has now joined the long list of school districts that have experienced gun violence. A list that has grown to 200 schools since Columbine. This is a sobering and terrifying statistic and one that has left students, teachers, and parents in our nation’s schools feeling very vulnerable. The horrible incident in Freeman, a district like ours, impacts people that many of us know personally and it reminds us that no school district is immune to the senseless violence in schools.

As the Superintendent of Newport School District, I can tell you that the safety of our students is our first priority. Over the last four years and specific to preventing this type of violence in our schools, we have increased exterior security to our buildings. Our exterior doors are locked during school hours and access is limited to one door at our main entrances. In addition, we are getting bids to install locking hardware on all of our main entrances. The new locking hardware will allow office staff to instantly engage the locks in case of an outside threat. Lock blocks have been installed on every interior classroom and office door allowing doors to be locked at all times. Interior and exterior camera coverage has been increased district wide and we are in the process of upgrading and replacing older cameras. We also conduct lockdown drills in which our students and staff are trained to respond to any type of threat inside or outside of our buildings.

complicated case. The case file includes nearly 20 file folders. The sides met for two mediations in February 2017, but were unable to come to a resolution. Negotiations continue while the court case is ongoing. The judge ruled in January that the PUD should pay its own legal fees going forward. Prior to that, PNC was paying them in their monthly power bill. Moreno ruled that attorneys fees would be paid to whoever prevails in See PUD, 2A

Past lessons become new again Stratton Elementary student Kaidynce Callihan gets help from teacher Alisa Vaughn while panning for precious minerals at Heritage Days Thursday, Sept. 14. The two-day event, geared toward third and fourth grade students, was held at the Pend Oreille Historical Society Museum.

Miner photo|Sophia Aldous

See freeman, 2A

Farmers Market doesn’t feel welcomed by city By Don Gronning Of The Miner

Courtesy photo|Newport School District

Newport High School students came together in the gymnasium to form a heart, while others held a sign in support of Freeman High School after a shooting took place there last Wednesday.

NEWPORT – Supporters of the Pend Oreille Valley Farmers Market brought their concerns about how the city of Newport is treating the Farmers Market to the city council at its regular meeting Monday night, Sept. 18. “The grass was extremely wet Saturday morning,” Nephi White said. White heads up the Farmers Market in Newport. The market is located in Gazebo Park on the city’s south

entrance, near the museum. He said the wet grass made it difficult for vendors to set up. Joyce Weir submitted a letter from Judy Campbell Fredrickson, supporting the market. Frederickson asked about the wet lawn two Saturdays ago. She wrote she was stunned when she was told that the soggy wet lawn is the “city’s passive aggressive way of trying to move us out.” White said he has made numerous attempts to set up meetings with city admin-

istrator Ray King to no avail. White said his group was having better success at the Gazebo location than they did on the city’s east entrance where they were for years. He offered to help with maintenance of the area and preparations. He said he had a market meeting coming up in October and he would let the city know what they could commit to. Mayor Shirley Sands said the group should talk with the city about See market, 2A

B r i ef ly Commissioners schedule town hall meetings

NEWPORT – Pend Oreille County commissioners have scheduled two town hall meetings, one in Metaline and one in Diamond Lake. The Metaline town hall will take place Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Western Star Bar and Grill, from 7-8:30 p.m. The Diamond Lake town hall will be held Thursday, Oct. 5, at the Boat Launch Restaurant and Lounge in Diamond Lake, also from 7-8:30 p.m. There is no set topic for the meetings, people are invited to come ask questions of the county commissioners. classifieds Follow Life us on Facebook Obituaries

Head of the Pend Oreille Regatta coming up

PRIEST RIVER – This year’s Head of the Pend Oreille Regatta will take place Saturday, Sept. 30, at the Priest River Recreation Area (the Mudhole). The last weekend in September has brought rowers from all over Idaho, Washington, and Canada to the Pend Oreille and Priest Rivers for a weekend of rowing competition. Per usual, the public is encouraged to attend and cheer on their favorite rowers. Entry arrivals and rowing practice will take place Friday, Sept. 29 from 2 - 6 p.m. Safety boats will be on the water. For more information, go to www.porpa.org.

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Not too late to the help Stuff the Bus

PRIEST RIVER – The Kaniksu Masons and The Order of the Eastern Star are looking to “Stuff the Bus” with food items Friday, Sept. 22 and Saturday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Mitchell’s Harvest Foods. This is a food drive to benefit local food banks. Items that are needed are all types of canned gods, boxed cereals, crackers, cake mixes, cookies, and frozen foods. Make sure donated goods aren’t expired.

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The Newport Miner Serving Pend Oreille County, WA

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Men arrested for shooting at boys

Presentation on bullying at Priest River Junior High

PRIEST RIVER – There will be a presentation on bullying and empathy at Priest River Junior High School Friday, Sept. 22, 12 – 2:30 p.m. The public is welcome to attend.

freeman:

PRIEST RIVER – Two men have were arrested last Wednesday after Bonner County Sheriff’s deputies report they shot at two juveniles who were fishing on Priest River. According to a press release from the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office, two boys road a moped to a fishing spot

From Page 1

Due to a shortage in staffing at the Sherriff’s Office, we were notified that we would not have School Resource Officer assigned to us this school year. For overall security of a campus and the immediate response to threats, I believe that it is important for school districts to have a resource officer and will continue to work with our local authorities to see that position return. Our administrative staff and teachers are working hard to keep our students safe. As we take steps to increase the security in our district we also continue to train our staff and students to respond to emergencies. It is critical for our staff to respond to threats in our district. Our staff are trained to be aware of their surroundings at all times in order to make decisions that will keep our students safe. In the coming weeks, our teachers and students will receive additional training on how to respond to a number of school emergencies. As we addressed the staff on the heels of the Freeman shooting, our principals reminded our school personnel to be remindful of their training, but also to be vigilant and keep their eyes and ears open at all times. By being vigilant at all times, schools and communities can work together to keep our youth safe. Our vigilance and our efforts to intercede is the most important thing we can do. As students, parents, community members, and school district employees, it is our responsibility to notify someone if we ever see or hear of anything that may cause harm to others. I was with Freeman staff last week and again on Monday as they welcomed their students and community back into the high school. Freeman staff and students are doing the best they can to get through this difficult time and they have a long road of healing ahead of them. As our friends at Freeman heal, we will also keep Freeman in our thoughts. Newport High School is holding a T-shirt fundraiser for Freeman School District. If you wish to donate to #FreemanStrong and purchase a T-shirt, please contact the high school at (509) 447-2481. Dave Smith is superintendent of the Newport School District. Before he took the Newport position, he was principal at Freeman High School.

Tuesday, Sept. 12, where they had permission to fish which was located near Settlement Road. As they were fishing, the boys told police that two adult men from across the river started firing multiple guns in their direction. The boys noticed the rounds had hit their moped. When they thought the shooting

had stopped, the boys quickly fled the area on their moped. According to the press release, as the boys were fleeing, the men began shooting again, hitting one of the boys in the leg. The two men were later identified as Leo Inwood and Eric Wood of Priest River. Wood was arrested at the scene, but Inwood was

gone when deputies arrived. Wood admitted to detectives he was the one shooting and was booked into jail. Inwood met with detectives on Wednesday and was booked for a firearm charge related to the incident. The injured boy was taken to Newport Hospital for treatment and was released.

market: Law agreement tabled From Page 1

the conditions. Weir cut her off and reiterated that White had been trying to set up a meeting with King for some time. King said the watering would stop in a couple weeks. The farmers market runs through the end of October. The council also heard from Pend Oreille County Assessor Jim McCroskey about the tax rates. McCroskey had been asked to the meeting to clarify if city residents also paid for county services with their property taxes. In answer to a question from council member Mark Zorica, McCroskey said they did. McCroskey said city residents pay for all county service except county roads and fire districts. McCroskey passed out a handout that showed what the different taxing districts contributed to the county’s current expense fund. Newport taxpayers paid $183,549 for the current budget year, according to McCroskey’s documents. Adding the different taxing districts together, McCroskey showed that city residents pay about

$10.32 per $1,000 assessed value for school districts, hospital districts, library districts and cemetery districts. In addition to county property taxes, city residents pay $294,030 in city property taxes. They don’t pay for county roads or fire districts. Newport maintains its own roads and has its own fire department. People living outside the city pay about $10.41 per $1,000 assessed value for school, hospital, library and cemetery districts, depending on where they live, McCroskey said. Council members are preparing for contract negotiations with the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office, which is seeking a substantial increase in its contract to provide law enforcement services in Newport. A law enforcement agreement and dispatch agreement update was on the agenda but was tabled. King updated the council on the land appraisal he’s trying to get done on four parcels of land. The city wants to sell or lease two city parcels and is considering a land swap for another.

It is seeking an appraisal on all four, although the county doesn’t own one of them. The city parcels are the old gas station on Washington Avenue, the property near the Golden China restaurant on Highway 2, and 20 acres up on the bench south of Newport. The city is considering swapping the bench land for some along Highway 2 south of Audrey’s Restaurant. King said he expects the appraisals to happen soon. In other council business, King asked that the council consider some way to waive city parking and other tickets in certain cases. He said he had paid a $10 parking ticket for an elderly woman who he thought the fine should be waived for. City attorney Tom Metzger said the city didn’t have to amend its parking ordinance. He said a policy change would be sufficient for auditors. He agreed to work on a policy change. At the previous council meeting Sept. 5 Paul Hillestad and Terri Ivie were appointed to position 4 and 5 on the city planning commission.

PUD: Relationship between PNC, PUD goes back 30 years From Page 1

the lawsuit. She wrote in January that the PUD had been incurring about $200,000 a month in legal fees. Willenbrock said last month that the PUD attorney fees have amounted to about $100,000 a month, about $700,000 through July. PNC said in a written statement that they had paid about $750,000 of the PUD’s litigation costs. They intend to try to recover that if they prevail, as well as their own litigation costs. Moreno ruled that PNC needed to deposit $2 million with the court. With the amount of money at stake, the law-

yering has been fierce, with each side arguing hard over just about everything. PNC said the PUD has been dragging its feet in producing documents needed for the case. The PUD had produced 300,000 documents requested by PNC and that number may go substantially higher, the PUD has said in court documents. The PUD argued that PNC’s partnership has changed without notifying the PUD. PNC countered that PNC has been paying the PUD between $26 and $30 million a year for power. “The District never refused these millions of dollars because it came from

allegedly new partners,” PNC attorneys wrote in a filing Sept. 8. The basis for the dispute is whether PNC will continue operating. Willenbrock said in January 2016 he was concerned whether PNC would remain in business through 2017. PNC maintains that it intends to stay in business, but cannot know the future. Another factor in the dispute is that PNC is paying above market rates for power from the PUD and is contractually obligated to do so. When it signed the contract, having the electricity rates locked in gave some predictability. But since then power rates have

come down considerably. The relationship between the PUD and PNC goes back more than 30 years, to 1986. PNC general manager Myron Johnson issued a statement in April. “PNC believes that its long-term relationship with the District has been mutually beneficial over the years and that both parties should build on this relationship to amicably resolve the disagreement over contract interpretation,” Johnson wrote. “Representatives of the parties involved in this dispute have tried to settle this matter through mediation. At this time the parties have not been able to find a so-

lution acceptable to all. PNC continues to assess possibilities for future settlement/mediation alternatives, as a resolution of this dispute is in all parties’ best interest.” Willenbrock issued a written statement to The Miner about a month ago. “I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the long-standing relationship between the parties has always been firmly grounded in the principle that our general service customers cannot be harmed by PNC’s operations or eventual departure. We are taking prudent action to protect the communities we serve,” Willenbrock wrote.

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PUD forced to consider lawyer change By Don Gronning Of The Miner

SPOKANE – A finding from the courtappointed Discovery Master in the Pend Oreille Public Utility District-Ponderay Newsprint Co. legal battle has the potential to force a costly change of attorneys for the PUD because of a potential conflict of

interest over sanctions. Mary E. Owen is an attorney assigned to oversee discovery, the process in which each side turns over relevant materials to the other side. In this case, discovery documents number in the hundreds of thousands and possibly more than a million. Owen is the See PUD, 2A

Citizen group energetic, prickly Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter keeping up pressure in grassroots opposition to smelter By Don Gronning Of The Miner

NEWPORT – Gretchen Koenig is one of the earliest smelter opponents. Her leafleting spread the word of a silicon smelter proposed to be built about a mile south of Newport, abutting the Idaho state line. “It’s my fault,” Koenig said jokingly when asked how the Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter was formed. Koenig and four CANSS members, including vice chair Michael Naylor and secretary Sheryl Miller, former chair Bill Ellis and Theresa Flannigan stopped by The Miner for a scheduled interview last Wednesday. The CANSS members abruptly walked out of the interview after about 20 minutes when they objected to some of the questions. See Canss, 2A

Courtesy photo|Dona Storro

And a cherry on top Over 60 students met the second Quarter Reading Challenge at Idaho Hill Elementary and were awarded the opportunity to make ice cream sundaes on three staff members. Students had to complete six of the nine weekly challenges of reading 20 minutes per night for three days each week. In this picture 4th graders Traxston Nordby and Tanner Hughes add toppings to Mrs. Myrvang’s and Mr. Selle’s heads.

HiTest says 240,000 gallon a day water request for a study HiTest declines to give Washington business name By Don Gronning Of The Miner

NEWPORT – HiTest Sands Inc., the Edmonton based company that wants to build a silicon smelter near Newport, says that it still projects its maximum water use at 8,000 gallons a day for the

smelter, even though it requested 240,000 gallons a day from the city of Newport. HiTest Sands CEO Jayson Tymko says HiTest is working with the state Department of Ecology on a number of studies into technologies to reduce air emissions. “One of the available technolo-

gies consumes 240,000 gallons of water a day and creates similar waste, which we would never want to use as the benefits gained are not worth the impact of using them,” Tymko wrote in response to emailed questions from The See HiTest, 2A

Sergeant Glenn Blakeslee to run for sheriff By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner

NEWPORT – Sergeant Glenn Blakeslee has added his name alongside Kalispel Tribal Officer Jon Carman’s as candidate for Pend Oreille County Sheriff. Current Sheriff Alan Botzheim announced plans to retire at the end of the year earlier this month. Blakeslee, a 19-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, made the announcement of his candidacy

last Friday. He lives in Newport with his wife of 29 years, Marylos. The couple has two adult sons. “With my years of experience and training, I think I’m the man that can do the job,” Blakeslee, 49, said. Blakeslee has Blakeslee worked for Pend Oreille County more than nine years as a deputy, two years and

six months as a major crimes/ drug detective, and seven years as a sergeant. Before enrolling in the Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien, Wash., at age 30, Blakeslee served three years in the United States Coast Guard before being honorably discharged. He also worked for five years as a medical assistant and psychical therapy aid and worked in construction after graduating from Selkirk High School in 1987.

“I think we need to continue to progress in communityoriented policing by being open to what the public has to say and being available to people and listen to what’s going on,” said Blakeslee. “The majority of time when we’re dealing with people, that person is having a bad day, maybe the worst day of their lives.” Blakeslee added that he is thankful for the support of Botzheim, Pend Oreille County Undersheriff Grant Sirevog, and

his coworker, Sergeant Questin Youk. In his opinion, compassion is one of the most important traits a police officer should possess. “The position of sheriff is not to be taken lightly, and even though a person may have committed a crime, they are still a member of our community, they aren’t outside of that,” Blakeslee said. “You have to like working with people and caring about them to last in this line of work.”

B r i e f ly Priest River Chamber seeks Citizen of the Year nominations PRIEST RIVER – The Priest River Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations for 2018 Citizen of the Year. If you know that person who goes above and beyond in the community helping others, nominate them. “There are some wonderful community members that should be recognized for their outstanding acts of kindness,” chamber board members said. All nominations will be considered. The only qualification is that they can’t be a chamber board member. Send in writing or email nominations to the Chamber office: Priest River Chamber of Commerce, 119 Main St, Suite 102, Priest River, ID 83856; or email priestrivercoc@gmail. com. The deadline is Feb. 5.

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Start planning your garden now PRIEST RIVER – Gardening season is coming. The Priest River Library will present a Live & Learn program, Garden Planning in Bonner County, Thursday, Feb. 8 at 5:30 p.m. These dark and cold days are the perfect time to plan next year’s garden, organizers said. Whether you are an experienced gardener or new to gardening in north Idaho, there is always new information to be learned about crop varieties, soil preparation, propagation, pests and making it all work with our short gardening season. Jennifer Jensen with the University of Idaho Extension Office in Bonner County will touch on all these subjects and try to answer any other questions you may have. For more information, call the library 7B-10B

at 208-448-2207 or email library@westbonnerlibrary. org.

Beauty and the Beast Jr. coming to Priest River Junior High PRIEST RIVER – The Priest River Lamanna High School Off the Wall drama group will perform Beauty and the Beast Jr. Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Priest River Junior High School auditorium. Tickets are $5 for students and senior citizens and $7 for adults. Directed by Russell Bean, the musical features music by Alan Menken and choreography by Conner Converse and Anne Chamberlain.

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| January 31, 2018

The Newport Miner Serving Pend Oreille County, WA

Michelle Nedved Publisher

Jeanne Guscott Office Manager

Natalie Babcock Assistant Office Manager

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HiTest: Waiting for marketing to be done to release name From Page 1A

Miner. “As always, we want to show we have investigated every possibility and how those impacted feel. This was very much a case of us wanting to have a letter from the city confirming why that solution would not work.” The 240,000 gallons a day request was discovered through a public records request to the City of Newport from Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter member Theresa Flannigan. The request turned up a Jan. 12 response to Jim May, HiTest’s Chief

Operating Officer. “It was great hearing from you regarding HiTest Sand and your inquiry of the City of Newport,” city administrator Ray King wrote. “The City of Newport will not be able to provide you the requested 240 thousand gallons of water daily. Additionally the permit for your waste water would exceed the maximum of our waste water NPDES discharge permit and our treatment plant’s design flow.” HiTest declined to release its Washington business name, although it has one,

Tymko said. “At this time we are keeping quiet with our Washington name until all our public information is ready for circulation,” Tymko wrote in response to another emailed question from The Miner. He said he wants to wait until the marketing and branding people are finished putting together the smelter project. There are a number of HiTest names registered with the state Department of Revenue to Jeffrey Pittman at 2852 Gray Road in Newport, including HiTest, HiTest Copper, HiTest Sand, HiTest Silica, HiT-

est Silicon, HT Copper, HT Sand, HT Silica, and HT Silicon. Tymko says HiTest has no connection to Pitman. “I believe he registered those names somewhat opportunistically with the hope that we would buy them from him,” Tymko wrote. Opposition to the silicon smelter isn’t going away. At the Jan. 23 meeting at the Camas Center, the Spokane County Democratic Party chairman spoke against the project and said he was going to encourage the state party to oppose it.

The state Democrat Central Committee is on record opposing the smelter. They are going to send a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, pointing out that the “ ... pollution poses unacceptable risks to the health, culture, and natural resources of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians and all reservation residents as well as other residents of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.” The risks outweigh the speculative benefits of the smelter, the state Democratic Central Committee wrote to Inslee, the Democratic governor.

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CANSS: Holds volunteer training, board meetings regularly From Page 1A

But before they left, they explained a little about the grassroots organization. Koenig, one of the group’s directors, said she had been following the HiTest proposal from when it was proposed for the Usk area. Smelter developers then said they wanted to build in Addy, in Stevens County, before settling on a site just outside Newport last June. The Canadian developers bought the property from the PUD in July. Koenig said when she found HiTest had closed on the roughly 178-acre property, she set about telling people about the potential dangers of a silicon smelter near a residential area. “I got up a bunch of flyers with some friends of mine and went up to Solar Acres and all around Rena Road and as far as my flyers went and leafleted everybody,” Koenig said, “basically threw a stick in a hornet’s nest and here we are.” Solar Acres and Rena Road are on the Idaho side of the line. Naylor said he first became aware of a proposed silicon smelter in October. “I found about it early October when I came and got a haircut here,” Naylor said. “A barber told me about it.” Naylor had just purchased property on State Line Road, about 1,000 yards from the proposed smelter site, so he was concerned. He tried to get information

from the PUD, who referred him to the county. He went over to the county, where there was a map showing the proposed site. “I said how come nobody informed anybody in the public,” Naylor said. “How is this happening?” Koenig said she was aware of the possibility of a smelter, since she had been following it since it was first announced in 2016. “I knew about it, I read the paper,” she said. But there wasn’t much an individual could do until HiTest showed themselves. “They showed themselves when they bought the property,” she said. Naylor said the group had its first meeting at the Boat Launch in Diamond Lake. Pend Oreille County commissioners held a previously scheduled town hall meeting at The Boat Launch Restaurant Oct. 5 to talk about a variety of matters and were asked about the smelter. “When I saw the county commissioners, the way they were and refusing to answer our questions, and just the stance that they took, it put alarms off in me,” Naylor said. Flannigan said she also found out about the smelter Oct. 1. “I had just bought my brand new forever home approximately 400 meters from the site,” Flannigan said. “Gretchen had put a flyer on my door October first and I’ll never forget it. I’m like ‘who in the hell would put

a smelter in this area?’” She said she got in her motor home and went to Montana for a couple of days to figure out what she was going to do. She said she knew there would be a fight when she got back. A Facebook group was set up and organizers formed a nonprofit group and started meeting regularly. The Facebook group currently has more than 1,500 members. The Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter is a non profit business group registered in Idaho. They have a board of directors that meets weekly, Naylor said. Debbie Barker is CANSS’ chair and treasurer. Barker, who didn’t attend Wednesday’s interview, is retired and lives off Highway 41 near Oldtown. She has a bookkeeping background, Naylor said. Naylor is also retired. He has two properties that he says would be affected by the smelter, one in Newport and one in Oldtown. Sheryl Miller is the group’s secretary. She is retired and lives adjacent to the HiTest property on the Washington side. Other directors include Betty Berkhousen, former Moses Lake mayor Bill Ecret and Gretchen Koenig. CANSS holds volunteer training the second and fourth Tuesdays at the Hospitality House in Newport. The group declined to say when and where the board meets. “(It) varies,” Naylor said. “I don’t think that really is pertinent,” Flannigan said. “We meet and that’s sufficient

enough, I think.” The group also declined to answer questions about their finances. They have sent out mailings, rented venues, hired an attorney and solicit money from the public to pay for it. Group members denied they were being secretive. “It would be unreasonable for us to tell you how much money we have since that would tell you how much we can afford to fight this, wouldn’t it?” Ellis, the former CANSS chairman, said. Group members said CANSS has to raise every penny that they need to fight the smelter but the county and the state use tax money to promote the smelter. HiTest, as a private company, doesn’t have to reveal any of its financial information. CANSS members have used public records requests to local governments to find out what is going on with the smelter. One public record request turned up a Jan. 12 email response from Newport city administrator Ray King to HiTest responding to a request from HiTest about getting 240,000 gallons of water a day from Newport. King wrote the city would not be able to supply that amount. Naylor said CANSS had proof that the Pend Oreille County Economic Development Council had written the $300,000 state grant that started the process. Interviewers challenged that claim. CANSS left without showing the proof.

PUD: Conflict of interest doesn’t occur until court ruling From Page 1A

second Discovery Master assigned to the case. The first Discovery Master withdrew. The legal action started in December 2015, when the PUD declared Ponderay Newsprint Co. to be in breach of contract for not filing accurate power projections. The PUD claimed PNC projected a power use that showed the mill was closing and demanded more than $200 million in collateral damages. PNC sued, asking a judge to declare the power schedules valid. The PUD countersued. Owen found that the PUD and its attorney, C. Matthew Anderson of Winston & Cashatt, had not turned over all the discovery documents required. Owen wrote that, “Despite multiple discovery orders and the imposition of lesser sanctions, the District and its counsel have persisted in engaging in willful nondisclosure in violation of discovery rules and repeated orders.” Owen wrote that lesser sanctions against he PUD have been tried and

have failed. She wrote that PNC and third party defendants, such as Lake Superior Forest Products, have not been able to prepare adequately for trial as a result of the PUD’s not producing adequate discovery. For those reasons, Owen recommended more severe sanctions against PUD. “The Discovery Master reserves the decision to recommend the most severe sanctions, that being the termination of the claims of the District, until the discovery deadline, which is presently set for Feb. 28, 2018,” Owen wrote. At that time, all actions will be reviewed. “The Discovery Master will also consider recommending that the Court consider granting the entry of judgment in favor of PNC as to all portions of its claims, including seeking to establish that it did not breach the Power contracts in 2015, and that the Power Contracts were not properly terminated by the District.” Owen’s recommendations are just recommendations. It will be up to the judge to decide whether they should be

followed. PUD commissioners held a special meeting Friday, Jan. 26, to decide what to do about the potential conflict of interest. Commissioner Curt Knapp and General Manager Colin Willenbrock held the meeting at the PUD office in Newport. Commissioners Rick Larson and Dan Peterson participated by phone. Two members of the public also attended. A big issue for the PUD is conflict of interest. If the judge adapts the recommendations, the PUD and its attorney could potentially sue each other over the sanctions, which could amount to several million dollars, Willenbrock told the PUD commissioners in Friday’s special meeting. Willenbrock said the PUD could keep Winston & Cashatt as attorneys to handle a Jan. 29 motion addressing Owen’s recommendations. He said he had spoken with three law firms to possibly take over if the PUD decides to not keep Winston & Cashatt. One would not be able to represent the PUD because of another conflict and two could.

Willenbrock said a limited conflict of interest waiver was prudent to get through the Jan. 29 legal action. Willenbrock said an actual conflict doesn’t occur until the court makes a ruling on sanctions and either the PUD or Winston & Cashatt say they are going to sue the other. PUD commissioners voted unanimously to grant the limited waiver and keep Winston & Cashatt on until a ruling is made. The board reserved making any decision on whether to formally retain independent counsel full time to monitor the potential conflict or whether to accept a withdrawal from Winston & Cashatt and retain substitute counsel. Willenbrock said if a second firm has to completely take over the case, it would require at least a year for them to get up to speed. Owen, the Discovery Master, also recommended the PUD pay for a third party vendor to immediately pull all PUD data and “ ... and take any measure necessary to ensure complete preservation and production,

and to determine whether additional evidence has been compromised or lost.” The vendor was on site at the PUD Friday. The PUD says the goal is to protect ratepayers. The PUD and PNC staff have a cordial working relationship, the PUD said in a Jan. 22 press release. “Despite PNC’s artificially low power estimates, over the past three years PNC has continued to schedule and purchase a record-high amount of power from the PUD. The working relationship between PUD and PNC personnel remains cordial despite the lawsuit,” the news release reads. Willenbrock contends the PUD has tried to comply with discovery, but that it has been overwhelmed by the amount of files and number of attorneys requesting discovery. He said the PUD has produced more than 700,000 documents and responded to 400 requests for information from PNC alone. The Discovery Master was apparently unimpressed by the PUD’s claims. A June trial date is set.

The Newport Miner the voice of pend oreille county since 1901

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Volume 116, Number 2 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages $1.00

PUD signs off on PNC settlement Lengthy legal clash nearly over By Don Gronning Of The Miner

NEWPORT – The Pend Oreille Public Utility District commissioners signed off on a settlement Monday that will bring to an end a legal battle that has gone on since January 2016. “It’s a great win-win for the District and Ponderay Newsprint,” PUD chairman Dan Peterson said. Ponderay Newsprint manager Myron Johnson didn’t return a call seeking a comment on the settlement Tuesday. While it wasn’t finalized as The Miner went to press, the settlement agreement was expected to be signed by all the different parties involved See PUD, 2A

Miner photo|Don Gronning

PUD commissioners Curt Knapp, Dan Peterson and Rick Larson listen while PUD General Manager Colin Willenbrock goes over some settlement terms at Monday’s day long special meeting. PUD commissioners approved the settlement with Ponderay Newsprint and its partners.

The flu is not over yet Disease carries multiple strains this season

By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner

NEWPORT – Newport resident Kaleigh Kirschbaum was ill for three weeks with a positive influenza test from her doctor’s office. Then both of her young daughters, ages 4 and 7, became sick with the disease as well.

“I also took them into the clinic and they were sick for a week each,” said Kirschbaum, 29, on The Miner’s Facebook page. She added that neither she nor her daughters received the flu vaccine this year, though she has gotten the vaccine while pregnant. “I am not sure about the

vaccine because I have heard on the news that this year’s vaccine has not been very effective,” Kirschbaum said. “This is the only time I have gotten a positive influenza test, but I usually do get the common cold every year. It’s a risk getting the See Flu, 10A

Miner photo|Sophia Aldous

Sam Kinney, 8, and his sister Annabelle Kinney, 5, play with their mom, Angela Kinney at a Newport Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) meeting.

City council asked about partnering for new library

Local moms find gathering place with MOPS By Sophia Aldous Of The Miner

NEWPORT – Sunni Jeffers remembers what it was like to be a new mom. It was something that she had looked forward to and while she loved her children, it turned out to be a lonely endeavor at times. “My husband was in the military, so he was working a lot and we were

moving around,” Jeffers, 72, recalls. “It was hard to make friends, to find other women to relate to. It’s not like my family was nearby. I remember at times I felt helpless, like I had bitten off more than I could chew.” Of course everything turned out all right, and now Jeffers is a grandmother watching her children be parents.

By Don Gronning Of The Miner

NEWPORT – Growing pains at the Newport Library caused Pend Oreille County Library Director Mandy Walters to approach the council about partnering and possibly using some Community Development Block Grants to fund a new library. “We’re growing and space is a prob-

See mops, 2A

lem,” Walters told the council at its regular Monday meeting. An event that attracts 10-15 people makes the library overcrowded, she said. She would like to get funding to build a new library and wants the city to participate with her. Walters said that since the library district is its own special taxing district, it can’t apply for CDBG funding itself. See Council, 9A

B r i e f ly Free AARP tax service starts this week NEWPORT – It’s that time of year again to start thinking about taxes. AARP tax aide sites will be open starting the first week of February in Newport, Priest River, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry. As always, it is a free service for low to moderate income clients. Newport Hospitality House will be open for the service on Fridays, walk-ins welcome. Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Priest River and Bonners Ferry hours will be posted later. Taxpayers need to bring photo ID and Social Security cards for all family members. If married and filing jointly, both spouses must be present. Also bring 2017

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federal and state tax returns and current tax documents – W-2s, 1099s (interest, dividend, pension or IRA distributions) and evidence of medical insurance. Volunteers do not do returns with rental income or anything with depreciation. Volunteer greeters are always needed to help. They will not be asked to actually file taxes. For more information, call Karen at 208-597-3236.

Newport Post Office now open on Saturdays NEWPORT – As a convenience for customers, the Newport Post Office, 100 N. Washington Ave., will be 7B-8B

open on Saturdays beginning this Saturday, Feb. 10, according to Postmaster Tyler Robinson. Passport applications are also available. The Newport Post Office will be open for all retail services from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Passport applications will be accepted between noon and 3 p.m. “Being open on Saturdays will provide an opportunity for our customers who may not be able to get to the office Monday through Friday to use our office on the weekend,” Robinson explained. “Providing passport services will make it more convenient for our customers who have international travel plans in the near future.”

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| February 7, 2018

The Newport Miner Serving Pend Oreille County, WA

Former employee, volunteer’s allegations old, have been dealt with, trustees say

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Office Manager

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Sophia Aldous Reporter

School board has confidence in superintendent

Michelle Nedved Jeanne Guscott

ThE newport mineR

By Don Gronning Of The Miner

PRIEST RIVER – West Bonner County School District board trustees are baffled by the continuing publicity given allegations by former district employee and long time volunteer Betty Gardner. “It’s old news,” board trustee and vice chair Drew McLain said. He said Gardner’s continued public bashing of district superintendent Paul Anselmo was unproductive. “There are other remedies than the court of public

opinion.” Gardner has called attention to a number of things she sees as wrong with the district and Anselmo, including a personal relationship between Anselmo and district clerk Jennifer Robinson. She questions whether Anselmo was properly hired and paid as superintendent. Gardner also brings up a 2013 complaint that resulted in an investigation by the district into the behavior of several staff members at the junior high school, including Anselmo. She says Anselmo was one of the four teachers ac-

cused of misusing prep time. The district hired an investigator at the time, at a cost of $8,000. According to Gardner, the four teachers ended up with written discipline notices in their personnel files. The board hired Anselmo as interim superintendent in 2014. He and one other candidate were interviewed. Gardner claims they hired him even though they knew of his role in the junior high misbehavior. Anselmo didn’t have superintendent credentials when he was hired as superintendent, yet the board started him at a pay scale equivalent to an interim

superintendent with five years experience, she said, at $75,700 annually. McLain said he thinks the board followed the state salary schedule and paid Anselmo appropriately. He said Anselmo had three years to obtain superintendent certification, which he did last December. As for the personal relationship between Anselmo and Phillips, he said no policies or laws were violated. “We’re not the morals police,” he said. He said the board had taken See School, 9A

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MOPS: The organization is open to all mothers From Page 1A

That memory though of her first foray into motherhood is one of the main drivers that inspired her to start a Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) chapter in Newport. A local branch of MOPS International, the group provides a support system for mothers with children age infant to preschoolers. “They are never all the same, but you do get more comfortable by the time you have your second kids,” said Rhonda Hutcherson, 34, of Laclede on raising children. “It’s like learning a new season. When I had my first baby, I was super nervous. Now, I’m more relaxed, and being around other moms reminds you that you’re not the only one experiencing these feelings.” Though the international organization is Christian-based, it is open to all mothers and is non-denominational. The Newport MOPS group is a non-profit and was started September 2017 and meets every first and third Mon-

day of the month, 9 a.m. at Pine Ridge Community Church. According to Jeffers, there are 24 registered members in the group from Pend Oreille and West Bonner Counties. An average of 12 members attend each meeting. “There’s no pressure to attend,” Jeffers said. “The purpose is to just give mothers a sense of community. It’s easy to feel isolated at home when you’re raising babies and toddlers, so it’s nice to have some place you can come for a little while to take a breath and get some moral support from some moms who have been through what you’re going through.” The ages of the moms in the group run from 19-years-old to women in their mid-40s, as well as a few volunteers who will watch over infants for mothers while they socialize. Children are welcome at the monthly meetings and there are craft activities available to them and snacks. The group occasionally provides edu-

Miner photo|Sophia Aldous

Jessica Mandingo volunteer holds 4-month-old Adeline Hutcherson while her mother, Rhonda Hutcherson, visits with other mothers at Newport MOPS.

cational presentations for mothers, including first aid and CPR, meal planning and budgeting. “I’ve been coming to the meetings since they began,” said Priest River mother Angela Kinney, 31. Kinney has four children ranging in ages from 3 to 9. “I always like hanging out with other mothers, and I appreciated the

presentation about first aid. A few days after one of my daughters got a bloody nose and I used a trick I picked up from it, which worked well.” Newport resident Sara Fisher said she found out about Newport MOPS through the WIC program at Rural Resources. She attends meetings with her 5-month-old son, Jensen.

“I like that there’s a lot of people the baby can socialize with and that I can socialize with,” said Fisher. For more information about Newport MOPS, call Jeffers at 509-671-1214 or email sunni.jeffers@gmail. com. Check out their Facebook page at www. facebook.com/MopsInNewport.

PUD: The PUD will provide a $50,000/month credit to PNC From Page 1A

in the litigation by the end of Tuesday. At the heart of the disagreement was whether projected power use schedules indicated that PNC was going out of business in 2016. PUD officials claimed the projected use was so low that it appeared PNC was closing. The PUD unilaterally declared PNC to be in breach of contract. PNC sued, claiming that it wasn’t in breach and that the contracts were valid. PUD countersued, claiming that PNC breached the contract and failed to immediately pay more than $200 million in liquidated damages. That set off a lengthy court battle that was concluded with the settlement. In the settlement the PUD agrees to pay PNC $557,000

for attorneys fees that were charged to PNC as a cost of producing power. Other than that, each of the litigants is responsible for its own litigation costs, Peterson said. He said he was unsure what PUD’s total costs for the litigation would be, although it was approaching $2 million in October 2017. The settlement also calls for the PUD to provide a $50,000 a month credit to PNC on electric costs as an incentive to stay in business. That will go on indefinitely. PNC is the PUD’s largest purchaser of electricity, buying about $30 million a year of power from the PUD. PNC will pay the PUD $150,000 to help market power. The settlement also called for changes in the way liquidated damages are calculated. Liquidated damages are the amount of money a party to a contract

agrees to pay if there is a breach of that contract. Going forward, liquidated damages won’t be tied to the power schedules; rather they will be based on actual net liquidated damages or estimated damages. PNC can go out of business at any time and pay the net damages. PNC will provide its 48-month power projections by June 30 of each year, instead of at the end of the year. PNC will only be required to pay for power for a full year if they take delivery of power in January. PUD commissioners and several community leaders were on hand Monday as Willenbrock took them through a PowerPoint presentation on the case. A recent recommendation that went against the PUD over discovery likely prompted the

move to settle, although the sides have met several times to try to settle previously. An attorney was appointed Discovery Master to oversee the handling of the hundreds of thousands of pages of discovery documents. The Discovery Master found that the PUD hadn’t been complying fully with discovery and recommended sanctions against the PUD and its attorneys, Winston & Cachett. That put the PUD in the position of possibly having to hire another law firm because of potential conflict of interest and pushing a court date off another year if they had to hire another law firm and give them time to get up to speed. The potential conflict was that the PUD and Winston & Cachett could sue each other over the sanctions.

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The Newport Miner THE VOICE OF PEND OREILLE COUNTY SINCE 1901

Wednesday, FEBRUARY 21, 2018

www.pendoreillerivervalley.com

Volume 116, Number 4 | 2 Sections, 20 Pages $1.00

Willenbrock: PNC lawsuit shouldn’t affect PUD rates

‘We got spoiled and now it’s payback’

BY DON GRONNING

BY SOPHIA ALDOUS

OF THE MINER

NEWPORT – Colin Willenbrock, general manager for Pend Oreille Public Utility District No. 1, says he doesn’t anticipate any direct impact on general service ratepayers following the settling of the lawsuit with Ponderay Newsprint Corp. The PUD and PNC settled the lawsuit two weeks ago, with the PUD agreeing to pay $557,000 to PNC for the PUD’s attorney’s fees that were rolled into the PNC power contract before a judge stopped the practice. The PUD also agreed to a $50,000 a month discount on PNC’s power purchases as an incentive to stay in business. That will go on indefinitely. PNC is the PUD’s largest purchaser of electricity, buying about $28 million – $30 million a year of power from the PUD. For its part PNC will pay the PUD $150,000 to help market power. It also agreed pay $50 million to the PUD if it goes out of business. That amount decreases by $8 million each year the mill continues operating. Willenbrock said the PUD has spent $2.94 million on the litigation so far. That doesn’t include PUD staff time that wasn’t tracked separately. The litigation costs billed to date included $1.95 million in attorney fees and $991,347 for data processing vendors and expert witnesses. So what did the PUD get out of the litigation? “The mutual benefit of the litigation is the continued presence in the community of a vital employer and substantial rate payer to the District on business terms that have been negotiated to the satisfaction of the parties,” Willenbrock wrote in response to emailed questions. He said PNC represents roughly 70 percent of the PUD’s total power load. “The litigation and resulting settlement refined the planning practices between the parties and understanding of the cost recovery upon eventual

NEWPORT – Admit it: Even though you knew winter wasn’t over yet, you were getting used to those upper thirties, lower forties temperatures that transitioned the Pend Oreille River Valley from January to February. “We got spoiled and now it’s payback,” joked Bob Lutz, an applied climatologist that lives in Newport and records local weather patterns. “There’s really no rhyme or reason as to the warmer weather we had in January.” Apparently Mother Nature didn’t want Pend Oreille and West Bonner counties’ residents to get too comfortable with the idea that spring was on its way, after unleashing a deluge of snow last Friday night and throughout Saturday, Feb. 17. According to the National Weather Service of Spokane it snowed approximately six to eight inches in the Pend Oreille

MINER PHOTO|SOPHIA ALDOUS

Just in case you like it colder… This little girl makes sure the water is frigid enough before mom jumps in for the 18th annual Polar Plunge at Bonner Park West last Saturday. Billy Mullaley raised the most money for the Panthers Special Olympics Team fundraiser, collecting $2,100. For more photos, see this week’s Booster page.

SEE PUD, 2A

SEE WEATHER, 2A

Drag racing with PICS Local kids take top spots in high school drag racing BY SOPHIA ALDOUS OF THE MINER

NEWPORT –While local high school basketball and wrestling

teams have been duking it out on the courts and the mats, the Selkirk Mountain Race team was recently recognized for taking top spots in drag racing at Spokane

COURTESY PHOTO|RENEE MONKIEWICZ

The Selkirk Mountain Race team’s Camaro takes the line at the Spokane Raceway last summer. Doing mechanical maintenance and work on the car is one of the requirements for teens to be a member of the team.

Raceway during the 2017 season. Students from Newport, Cusick, and Priest River attended an awards banquet in Spokane in December 2017, where Newport’s Marcus Frantz took home a first place trophy for being the top racer for the season in the high school bracket. Will Pierre finished fifth as an individual and his points helped Cusick earn fourth place in the school point total. Hunter Mason from Priest River finished sixth individually and his points put Priest River Lamanna High School in sixth place. “I’m definitely looking forward to racing again this season,” said Pierre, who has raced in the Selkirk Mountain Race Team’s

Priest Lake Thorofare to get revamp BY MICHELLE NEDVED OF THE MINER

BOISE – The Priest Lake Thorofare looks to be getting a long overdue revitalization with a $5 million package put together through county, state and local funding. Bonner County Commissioner Jeff Connolly said Tuesday it appeared the state legislature approved a budget proposal by Gov. Butch Otter that included a majority of the funding for the project. The county committed $50,000 to the project. “I think it’s obviously long overdue. It appears that the funding has come through,” Connolly said. “I think that with the local funding, I think it’s there.” The discussion as to what to do about the long narrow body of water that connects Priest Lake to Upper Priest Lake has been ongoing for years. “It’s been at the top of the discussion for 20 years

SEE RACING, 2A

SEE PRIEST LAKE, 10A

B R I E F LY Anti-smelter march Saturday NEWPORT – Citizens Against the Newport Silicon Smelter (CANSS) will hold a march through Newport Saturday, Feb. 24, at 10 a.m., according to a post to their Facebook group. The group plans to start at Stratton Elementary School, march down Highway 2, staying on the sidewalks, down Washington Avenue around to Union and back up Highway 2. Organizers say they have permission of the school district and city. No permits are needed, organizers say, as long as marchers stay on the sidewalk.

Jury convicts Priest River man for ritualized abuse SANDPOINT – It took a Bonner County jury about two hours to convict a Priest River man of 10 counts of lewd conduct, sexual abuse of a child, ritualized abuse and felony domestic violence, according to press reports. He was acquitted of one count of lewd conduct. Dana Andrew Furtney, 49, remains in jail on a $500,000 bond pending sentencing, which is set for May 7. He faces up to life in prison. According to the Bonner County Daily Bee, Furtney

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victimized his wife, son and daughters at their home located north of Priest River for years. The ritualized abuse charge stems from Furtney forcing the preteen boy to eat Furtney’s feces as part of a ceremony. He also fondled his daughters. Furtney also chained the boy by his neck to an unheated outhouse for multiple days in March 2013, giving him limited food and water during his captivity, according to district court filings. Court papers also detail how Furtney locked an adult woman in a stockade, where she was sexually assaulted and beaten over the course of a five-year period, leading up to Furtney’s arrest in Oct. 2017.

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| FEBRUARY 21, 2018

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THE NEWPORT MINER

WEATHER: FROM PAGE 1A

River Valley area Saturday, with wind gusts of five to 10 miles per hour. The Pend Oreille Public Utilities District (PUD) reported several power outages on its Facebook Saturday due to the storm, which resulted in thunder and lightning by mid-afternoon. “Back east where I’m from we call that blue lightning because the lightning looks blue while reflecting of the snow,” Lutz said. “It’s not as common here.” Lutz added that Northeast Washington and North Idaho have experienced a resilient high-pressure ridge all winter long that has redirected snow and colder temperatures to the other side of the Rocky Mountains. Then last week’s abundant snowfall signaled that ridge was moving out over the Pacific Ocean, causing it to dump precipitation and colder temperatures onto the region. “We’ll see some cold temperatures this week for sure, and this snow pattern could continue for the next few weeks, but not as cold as it is now,” Lutz said Monday. Though the area has received a slightly higher than average snowfall this winter of 103 inches, Lutz said the season hasn’t offered up any record breakers for the Pend Oreille Valley yet.

COURTESY PHOTO|ELIZABETH HAMILTON

Molly Hamilton took advantage of last weekend’s heavy snowfall to climb a snow a snow bank and pull an icicle from the roof of her family’s home in Oldtown.

PUD: FROM PAGE 1A

closure. The PUD can now more effectively plan around those understandings,” Willenbrock wrote. Willenbrock said when he saw the unusually low power schedule projections, he had to act. “The General Manger and Board of Commissioners have a statutory obligation to administer and enforce all contractual agreements of the PUD,” he wrote. With the board’s support, he declared the PNC to be in breach of the power contracts because the projected electricity use was so small it indicated that PNC was going to close. Since liquidated damages were tied to the power contracts, he demanded $200 million in damages. As a result, PNC sued, seeking a ruling that the power schedules were valid. The PUD countersued claiming that PNC breached the contract and failed

to immediately pay more than $200 million in liquidated damages. Willenbrock says what would have happened if the PUD hadn’t declared a breach of contract can’t be known, as it would have depended on how much PNC and its partners would have paid in liquidated damages if the mill closed. If the mill closed and PNC and the partners didn’t pay anything, Willenbrock said an analysis showed there could have been a 40-80 percent rate increase. Willenbrock said all costs in the litigation after the judge stopped them from rolling the PUD’s legal fees into the power contracts were paid for by cost cutting. “No funds have come out of reserves to date,” he said. “The 2018 budget assumed a couple million dollars in legal fees with no required rate increase. In other words, there were sufficient

revenues to cover the projected expense. Now that those expenses have been avoided we are contemplating an amendment to the budget.” Willenbrock said the $557,000 to be paid to PNC is coming out of reserves, with the understanding that the avoided legal expenses will result in those being built back up over time. The PUD’s $1 a month increase to the service availability charge for residential electricity rates passed in December was to build up reserves, PUD officials said at the time. It went from $29.50 per month to $30.50. The PUD wants 180 days cash reserves on hand. In late November, they had 150 days of operating cash, about $11.5 million. They want to get to $14 million cash reserves in five years. Willenbrock said the law firm used in the litigation, Winston & Cachatt, was appointed by the PUD board after reviewing

the credentials and holding an in person interview with Matt Anderson, the attorney who handled the case. Willenbrock used to work for Winston & Cachatt. Willenbrock said Winston & Cachatt wasn’t involved in the decision to declare the power contracts to be in breach of contract or the start of litigation. Willenbrock said Winston & Cachatt was up against three different law firms once the litigation was underway. So, in retrospect, would the PUD have done anything differently? “Our Commission and staff take a lot of pride in serving and protecting all of our ratepayers, including PNC,” Willenbrock wrote. “We are glad to have found a business solution and look forward to working with the community on sustaining and promoting economic prosperity in our County.”

RACING: FROM PAGE 1A

1988 Camaro and his own 1971 Mustang that he bought with his own money. Drag racing is similar to wrestling in that even though high school students attend races as a team, they are scored as individuals. Former racers and coaches Randy Byrd and Rodney “RJ” Nomee joined forces with Travis Sands of Sands Automotive and Harry Paris to resurrect the high school racing program in the Pend Oreille River Valley. Nomee was involved with the original team, Kalispel Racing, from 2002 to 2007, before the program disbanded after officials that oversaw the Spokane Raceway at the time did away with the teenage race bracket. However, the category was reinstated in time for the 2017 racing season and eligible teens can once again test their prowess on the track. “We had a lot of fun seeing some of the kids come out of their shells and form these bonds of friendship with each other,” said Byrd. “You could see their confidence grow after each race, as well as their skill level by working on the team car.” There are firm rules to being a member of the Selkirk Mountain Race team. Participants must have high school identi-

COURTESY PHOTO|RODNEY “RJ” NOMEE

From left to right: Dalton Arrand, Jacob Dean, Marcus Frantz, Brayden Zinsky, Dylan Skipper, and RJ Nomee at the December awards banquet in Spokane. Not pictured is Tessa Pillers.

fication, a legal guardian that will sign a liability waiver, and a minimum of 20 hours of work time on the team’s racing car. Most importantly, teens that want to be on the team cannot participate in illegal street racing, no ifs, ands, or buts. “I’ve heard some people say, ‘That’s so dangerous!’” said Pierre in regards to some people’s opinions of high school students drag racing at Spokane Raceway. “It’s

actually the safest place we could be; that’s why we’re on a track. I still go skiing and snowboarding even though I’ve broken a collarbone and a rib doing both, and no one freaks out about that.” Newport High School’s Tessa Pillers shared a similar sentiment, saying that she loved racing and is looking forward to getting behind the wheel again this year when the season starts in April. “It’s so competitive and

different; we all did pretty well for our first year of racing,” Pillers said. “I think it’s kind of funny when people say drag racing is too dangerous. Maybe they don’t understand what the sport is like.” Six students participated in last year’s season, but Nomee and Byrd are hoping for more this year. There are about 12 to 13 races per season, all held at Spokane Raceway. The team is also looking for sponsorships

this year, since teens no longer race for free. It costs about $300 per participant for the whole season. “We really want to get more kids involved, no matter what school they are from,” said Nomee. The team meets weekly to work on the Camaro. For more information about Selkirk Mountain Race team, contact Byrd at 509-936-3415 or email Nomee at kalispel_kootenai@yahoo.com