Washington jobless rate drops to 7.8 percent, Stevens County at 9.2 percent

October 16, 2020

(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

The economic recovery seems to be slowing in Washington state, but the numbers still appear to be positive. The Evergreen State saw its unemployment rate drop to 7.8 percent last month, but the economy added just 2,400 jobs.

For comparison, in July, there were 62,400 jobs added to the state economy and in August a total of 69,000 jobs were added.

Washington’s unemployment rate is lower than the national rate, which sits at 7.9 percent, and the Seattle-Bellevue Everett region (where the bulk of the state population resides) has a seven percent unemployment rate.

Stevens County’s unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in August, down from 11.1 percent in July.
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WA Supreme Court rules $30 car tab initiative is unconstitutional

October 16, 2020

(MELISSA SANTOS/crosscut.com)

The Washington Supreme Court issued the long-awaited ruling on Thursday…

For the third time in state history, a measure promising to cut car-tab taxes to $30 a year has been blocked by Washington state courts.

On Thursday, the state Supreme Court struck down Initiative 976, a measure Washington voters approved last November to reduce the cost of annual vehicle licensing fees. The measure has been on hold for nearly a year, as legal challenges worked their way through the court system.

In a unanimous ruling, the state’s high court said the measure was unconstitutional because it combined more than one subject in one initiative, something the state constitution forbids. Eight of the court’s nine justices also said the initiative had a misleading title, striking it down on that basis as well.

The Supreme Court ruling is the end of the road for I-976, which was the brainchild of anti-tax activist Tim Eyman. One of Eyman’s main targets with the initiative was Sound Transit, which is building a regional light rail network paid for in part by higher car-tab fees. A majority of Puget Sound voters approved that transit expansion, and the increased fees, in 2016.

Libraries of Stevens County aiming for early November open date

October 16, 2020

(PRESS RELEASE/Libraries of Stevens County)

On October 6, the State of Washington released guidance for public libraries in Phase 3 counties such as Stevens County. There are many details to address, but the most exciting news is that we can start planning to open doors, with limited services, at up to 50% capacity of normal.

In order to safely open, however, there are many requirements and procedures to be put into place before we are approved by health authorities. We are already working on these issues and hope to be able to move as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, there are some things that will simply take time (e.g. the reopening plan approval process, ordering personal protective equipment (PPE) that is in short supply nationally). We are currently aiming for early November for limited indoor services. More

Jobless claims in the U.S. rose last week as hiring stalls

October 15, 2020

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

The new batch of economic data continues to be something of a mix bag as the nation deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, its economic restrictions and the biggest shock to the economy perhaps in the country’s history.

September saw the national unemployment rate drop to 7.9 percent in September as nonfarm payrolls grew by 661,000 jobs.

However last week, new jobless claims in America rose to 898,000, according to Thursday’s Labor Department report that shows a slowing in hiring in an economy that still has roughly 10.7 million people who are unemployed.

The Labor Department said that new jobless claims rose by 53,000 last week, but the number of people who are continuing to receive jobless benefits dropped by 1.2 million to 10 million.

Chewelah School District providing free lunches to children

October 15, 2020

(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

EAT UP: District to offer free lunches to children under age of 18…

During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which kept many students from attending school across the country last spring and into this fall quarter, one concern was kids who relied on school meals for their food.

As the Chewelah School District switches to a hybrid learning model, a new announcement on Monday came as good news for many in the community.

The Chewelah School District will be providing free lunches to all children ages 18 and younger through the end of the 2020-21 school year. Meals will be sent home with students on the days they attend school for the days they are doing remote learning or families can still pickup meals at the schools or at other remote sites. More

Remember When for Oct. 1-7

October 15, 2020

Here is a look back in time with the Chewelah Independent archives…

Stevens County Cattlemen Fat Stock Sale rewards local youth

October 14, 2020

(PRESS RELEASE/SCCA)

Milayna Hartill from Chewelah shows at the Stevens County Cattlemen Fat stock sale. (Courtesy photo)

MARKET MONEY: Over $140,000 raised at cattlemen’s event…

The 2020 Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association (SCCA) Fat Stock Sale was a tremendous success this year due to all the hard work from volunteers and participants, according to SCCA.

Despite challenges created by Covid-19 restrictions, SCCA opted to host the fat stock sale as a stand-alone event. The sale is usually incorporated into the Northeast Washington Fair, which was canceled this year due to Covid concerns. However, the decision to cancel the fair was well into the animal production season for most youth hoping to sell an animal at the fair. To ensure young people in Stevens County didn’t end up having their hard work go to waste, SCCA President Scott Nielsen said the organization made a commitment to make the show happen. More

Adam Cares selected to fill city council seat

October 14, 2020

Adam Cares

TAKING A SEAT: Natural Resource Planner Adam Cares appointed to open seat on city council…

The Chewelah City Council selected a new member to fill position number 2 at its regular meeting last Wednesday evening, September 16.

Adam Cares, a two-year resident of Chewelah, was selected from a group of five applicants including former mayor Ron McCoy, former councilman John May, David Wantland and Ben Carpenter.

Cares has been a Natural Resource Planner for Stevens County since 2017 and the coordinator for the county’s Voluntary Stewardship Program since 2016. He also serves on the Water Conservancy Board, the Colville River Watershed Management Partnership and the Stevens County Broadband Action Team. More

Twitter to pay $100,000 to Washington for multiple campaign finance violations

October 14, 2020

(PRESS RELEASE/Washington’s Attorney Office)

Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced today that Twitter will pay $100,000 to Washington’s Public Disclosure Transparency Account for violating the state’s campaign finance disclosure law, which Washingtonians adopted through initiative in 1972. Twitter unlawfully failed to maintain for public inspection records about Washington political ads that ran on its platform from 2012 until Nov. 22, 2019. On that date, Twitter implemented a ban on all political advertising.

The judgment, filed today in King County Superior Court, asserts that at least 38 Washington candidates and committees reported paying $194,550 for political advertising on Twitter’s platform since 2012, and Twitter unlawfully failed to maintain the required records for those ads. Washington’s campaign finance law requires political advertisers to retain records related to political ads because the public has a right to inspect the records. More

Governor Inslee announces statewide ‘Recovery Group’ for COVID-19

October 14, 2020

(RICK BANNAN/Centralia Chronicle)

Governor Jay Inslee

Governor moves all counties out of Phase 1 in ‘Safe Start Washington’

Washington state’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic was the focus of Gov. Jay Inslee’s latest announcements, as the governor is forming a group focused on a broad vision of rebuilding while still rejecting the call for a special session of state lawmakers before 2021.

During a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 13, Inslee announced the Washington Recovery Group. Operating under the state Office of Financial Management (OFM), the group is intended to coordinate with state agencies to help in recovery efforts with local governments, higher education and the private sector, Inslee said. More