Outlook The Othello
PUBLISHED SINCE 1947 • HOME OF THE SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL • WWW.OTHELLOOUTLOOK. COM • VOL. 73 NO. 21 • 75¢
T H U R S DAY, M AY 21, 2 0 0 9 Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Sunny
Partly Cloudy
Partly Sunny
Mostly Sunny
Mostly Sunny
Partly Sunny
H 77º / L 48º
H 81º / L 51º
H 79º / L 50º
H 78º / L 49º
H 75º / L 56º
H 88º / L 56º
Area agencies prepare for emergencies By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer The Hanford Nuclear Reservation isn’t that far away from Adams County. Yet, in the event of an incident, residents don’t need to be overly concerned. Part of the reason is because of the way the wind blows. The other part is because each year, members of every emergency department in the county take part in a refresher course on radiological incidents.
“Communication is important,” said Steve Williams, with the state Emergency Management Division. “You may not have a lot of resources until the cavalry arrives.” The cavalry Williams mentioned at last week’s training session is comprised of the various state and federal departments, which will bring supplies and manpower. EMD is part of that group. Locally, the organizations that will muster include law enforcement, such as the Othello
Police Department and the Adams County Sheriffs Office, the health district and the county emergency management team. They will be joined by not only the state EMD but representatives of the state health department and Hanford. Williams said the key to communication between all those entities is to make sure everyone knows what the others mean. “You may know what you mean, but does the other person?” he asked the group. “Communication needs to be
done verbally and in writing.” Another important part of communication is to keep the media informed, Williams said. “When news is released, it goes through each group to see if it’s correct,” he said. “We are also working on a Web site to place news releases on.” That site will act as a Joint Information Center, providing up-to-date reports on the incident and what is being done. RCW.38.52.70 provides the executive authority for declaring a state of emergency. Lo-
cally, those who can declare an emergency include county boards of commissioners and city mayors and councils. In the case of Hanford, the state Emergency Operations Center, located in Olympia, is the first agency to respond when the governor declares an emergency. “Most of the response is the same as any other major emergency or disaster,” Williams said. “With a radiological event, there are some additional needs.” If an incident were to occur at one of Hanford’s nuclear
Senator talks about budget
Basic Health: The state cut 40,000 people from its insurance plan. Schoesler said adjustments last year may have prevented those cuts when the realization hit in December with Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposal. “We procrastinated, so every week and every month, the savings decreased,” Schoesler said. “That made a difficult job even worse.” This was one item he said that demonstrates how the public was cut out of information.
See Schoesler, Page A4
By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer
Photo by Darla Hussey
On Saturday, members of the Columbia Basin Livestock 4H group held a car wash to raise money for their community service project. At a previous meeting, members decided they wanted to donate a tree, or other landscape element, to the new Leah Layne Dialysis Center being constructed on First street. By noon, they had washed about 20 cars and were well on the way to reaching their $100 target.
Old Hotel breaks ground on unique garden area By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer
Visitors to The Old Hotel Art Gallery are in for a treat. Work has begun on a demonstration garden that will feature drought-resistant plants, many of which are indigenous to the area. The garden is being designed by Master Gardeners Linda Crosier and Terry Rice, both of Othello. “We want to use this garden to educate people,” Rice said. “We hope to have classes for kids and Community Schools.” Located behind the gallery near the ceramics shed, the
Senator Mark Schoesler Opinion A2
|
garden is situated in a spot that previously contained two lilac bushes, a big dead tree and bags of garbage. Members of the Othello Lions Club have been helping by cleaning out the plot. On Saturday, they moved the fence to the back of the site. “These guys have done a lot of work here,” Crosier said. The next step will be to haul in top soil and then, the planting can begin. Rice said they are taking donations of money, soil, mulch, plants and shrubs. For more information, call Sally Laufer at 488-5936. Crosier said it was Laufer who first called them a month
See Garden, Page A5
Photo by LuAnn Morgan
From left, Bill Morris, Sally Laufer, Terry Rice, Linda Crosier, Larry Bray and Rod Marsh take a break from working on the new drought-resistant garden at The Old Hotel Art Gallery to pose for a picture.
Second water model phase begins By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer
Courtesy photo
See Ready, Page A5
Board examines sex ed
By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer
For Senator Mark Schoesler, it was a long budget session. Faced with a $5 billion deficit, there were lots of items that needed scrutinized. “It didn’t have to be this way,” Schoesler (R-Ritzville) said. “The state was spending way too much and we said it wasn’t sustainable.” Many budget cuts came down the pike, including slashes to Basic Health, schools and transportation. Schoesler, for one, is glad to be home, although until the economy rebounds, further cuts may take place in upcoming sessions. Last Thursday, Schoesler discussed the following budget items when he stopped in Othello on his way to Ritzville.
reactors, the immediate threat is within a short radius of the plume. In Adams County, the hazard involves beta particles that deposit on crops. However, Tom Rogers, with the state Department of Health, said a very small amount of dust would settle on those fields. “The health impact to Adams County would be minimal,” Rogers said. “But economically, it could be tremendous.” That impact would result more
The strata graphic mapping has been completed for the Odessa subarea and five reports are currently being compiled. That was the most recent news Paul Stoker, director of the Ground Water Management Area, reported to the county commissioners at their meeting here last week. Stoker said two of the reports are done, with the other
Community A3–A5
|
three to be completed within a week. “I’m pretty pleased with what we’ve done,” Stoker said. Now, GWMA will be using $2.5 million given in the House and Senate capital budget to extend that model. A hydrologic model will be created from the maps of the underground layers to start answering questions for what Stoker called “a water budget.” “First of all, I want to say my understanding has changed through this work,” he said. “I
Neighbors A6
SECURITY
|
AT
Schools A8
|
used to believe we had a healthy (water) recharge system.” However, his studies have shown the layers beneath the surface are not divided by rivers or lakes, but compartmentalized divisions of water tables. “There are places that have recharged, but some don’t,” Stoker said. “That’s troubling.” Stoker spent 10 days with his team to outline what steps need to be taken to begin creating the hydrologic model.
See Commissioners, Page A5
Sports B1–B2, B8
|
State appropriates funds for hydrologic model Two weeks ago at the Columbia Basin Ground Water Management Area (GWMA) Administrative Board meeting, staff relayed news the Legislature recently passed ESHB 1216, the fiscal year 2009-11 state capital budget, with the $2.5 million GWMA requested to create a working hydrologic ground water model and assess the feasibility of recharging the depleting regional aquifers.
See Model, Page A4
Cops & Courts B3
|
EVERY STAGE
The Othello School Board will soon be seeing the final revisions to the FLASH (Family Life and Sexual Health) curriculum. The directors heard testimony at their meeting last week. Heather Franklin, curriculum director for the district, said the committee likes the program, but some items need tweaked. “It’s recommended we teach the boys and girls together in fifth grade, but the committee decided to keep them separate,” Franklin said. “Also, some of the vocabulary is questionable.” Franklin said FLASH is a very comprehensive program. The curriculum the district has been using, she said, hasn’t been working. “We know we need a change,” Franklin said. “We have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the county.” She said some parents would like to adopt the curriculum as is, while others would like the district to take a more conservative approach. The program is designed for districts to adapt to local expectations. “We’re also looking at teaching fourth grade for the first time,” Franklin said. “We would focus on family, personal safety and decision making, not sex or puberty.” Jan Walker, one of several parents who came to the meeting to give her opinion, said the program is very indepth. “I’m not in favor of all these lessons,” Walker said. “I think some could be consolidated to add more about abstinence.” Walker said she would like to see the girls and boys separated in all grades during the classes. “Having them together leads to experimentation,” she said. “It’s also less embarrassing for the girls.” She said she recognizes it’s harder on scheduling, but she thinks it should be done.
See Board, Page A8
Classifieds B7
|
Outdoors B8
Ariel Garza STATE FARM AGENT
1010 S. Pioneer Way, Suite A Moses Lake, WA ••• (509) 766-0054 (509) 766-0073 fax ••• arielgarza.com ariel@arielgarza.com
SE HABLA ESPAÑOL