(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Melissa Jones, Pharmacy Technician, Aaric Ross, NEW Health Pharmacy Director and Jacque McKinney, Pharmacy Technician can serve you at the Chewelah NEW Health Clinic. (Brandon Hansen photo)

GREATER INTEGRATION: NEW Health adding layers of care with in-house pharmacy team…

In rural Stevens County, access to healthcare can be difficult. NEW Health, which has been in the area since 1978, has been very aware of this issue and has constantly been trying to improve patients’ access to healthcare. With 180 staff members, the company has worked to see how they can provide the most comprehensive care, which can be difficult in the large geographical area of NE Washington. Still, the company has seen a 27 percent growth in total patient numbers since 2008 and is continuing to look at how they provide healthcare.

One of their most recent moves is to start offering in-house pharmacies. While the model of health clinic pharmacies isn’t new, and many people still use the model of getting a prescription and then taking it to your favorite outside pharmacy, NEW Health feels that this will give more layers of care and greater integration between the healthcare provider, pharmacist and the patient.

“Providing primary care in rural areas can be a challenge, so we’re always looking at how we can expand the care team and this brings the pharmacy into that care team,” NEW Health CEO Desiree Sweeney said. More

(JARED ARNOLD/Chewelah Independent)

A younger community member writes his thoughts on the community of Chewelah during the “Chewelah’s Got Vision” meeting which asked for community input for the WA Department of Commerce to identify the greatest needs for the community. (Jared Arnold photo)

CHEWELAH’S GOT VISION: Department of Commerce will help Chewelah identify two priority projects…

Over 100 residents showed up with their big ideas to a Nov. 12 event at Chewelah’s Civic Center, and many of those ideas were transferred in bright colors and fun designs onto a oversized poster by an artist brought in by the Washington Department of Commerce (DOC).

The event, an open house-style meeting called “Chewelah’s Got Vision,” was hosted by Commerce and the City of Chewelah to gather ideas that the residents would like to see happen here. Many local leaders from the city, chamber of commerce, Tri County Economic Development District, the library and schools manned several “stations” where attendees could share their thoughts. The station leaders collected information about how long each of the attendees had lived in Chewelah, what they liked about the community, their ideas on new projects that would benefit the town and finished with a written survey.

The visioning meeting was part of the DOC’s pilot project called New Approaches, a program that will help the community identify two priority projects and provide technical assistance to guide those projects through planning, funding and, hopefully, completion. More

(JARED ARNOLD/Chewelah Independent)

COMMENT ON THE MONEY: City hoping for your feedback on how they’ll spend money…

The Chewelah City Council will hold a public hearing at their Dec. 4 regular meeting to receive public comments on the city’s proposed 2020 budget. By state law, the council is required to approve the annual budget before the end of December. The Wednesday evening meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall.

The nearly $7 million budget includes spending in the following departments: Electric $1,897,257; Water $945,430; Sewer $1,039,369; Garbage $543,955; Airport $74,369; Streets $791,264; Lodging Tax $11,500; and General Fund $1,616,089.

While the electric, water, sewer and garbage departments collect user fees to fund their operations, the general fund relies primarily on taxes such as property taxes, retail sales taxes and utility taxes to pay for services like law enforcement, fire protection, parks and general management. The general fund expenses break down as follows: General Government/Management $437,781; Law Enforcement $805,425; Fire $82,259; Jail/Dispatch $121,055; Cemeteries $32,448; Environmental/Animal Control $500; Planning $60,685; Social Services $7,247; Museum $5,795; Civic Center $1,475; and Parks $61,419. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Chewelah was unanimously approved by an ArtsWa selection panel to become the second designated Certified Creative District in the state, joining the city of Edmonds. (file photo)

DAIRY DISTRICT? : Enjoy some info on Chewelah’s new Creative District designation…

With Chewelah’s recent designation as a creative district in Washington, some people still might be wondering what is going on and what that means for the town.

Over the summer after countless hours of work by community members, Chewelah was unanimously approved by an ArtsWa selection panel to become the second designated Certified Creative District in the state, joining the city of Edmonds, which was approved in December of 2018.

Organizers for the Creative District are now hosting an Ice Cream Social from 6-8 p.m. on Dec. 4. At the social there will be an explanation of what a creative district is and why it will be an asset for Chewelah. There will also be a rolling media presentation of the process and what can be expected going forward. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

A Stevens County snowplow works on Quarry-Browns Lake Road outside of Chewelah in 2018. (Brandon Hansen photo)

MOBILE IN THE SNOW: How the county and City of Chewelah deal with snow and what you should expect…

Snow.

Snow never changes.

It keeps falling on Stevens County year after year, and in order to keep the arteries of transportation and commerce open, the county has a winter maintenance plan in place to contend with the elements.

According to the Stevens County Public Works Department, the county has primary roads which are the priority in case of a storm event.
What constitutes a storm event? A storm that produces greater than two inches of snow, freezing rain causing hazardous driving conditions and other weather conditions. More

Here are upcoming events for November 28 to December 7, 2019 in the Chewelah area…

More

On November 15, road signs were vandalized on Evans Cutoff Road between Highway 25 and Williams Lake Rd. Signs were pulled down and mailboxes were destroyed in the process. If you have any information on the vandalism, please call Stevens County Dispatch at 509-684-2555.

Mary Walker High School (Springdale) seniors are working hard on wreaths, to sell as part of a senior class fundraiser. Help support the senior class this Holiday season with a beautiful wreath or centerpiece! Check out https://www.springdalechargers.com/can-u-dig-it-form for more information.

(KS Brooks/Chewelah Independent)

LEVY ON THE MIND: Board talks about some details concerning the newly passed Capital Levy in Chewelah…

The Chewelah School Board of Directors met last Tuesday, November 13, and Chairperson Loretta Burkey took the opportunity to commend the winners of the recent election, all who were in attendance. Deanna Norvell congratulated them, adding that it was challenging at times but worth it. The new board members will take their seating at the December 18, 2019 meeting.
Along with this, the board also approved the new agreed on contract with the Chewelah Educator’s Association.

Some changes with the new contract are the state funded cost of living adjustment, a state-funded professional development day, building administrators must now appoint a “designee” when they will be out of the building to act as the building principal and updates were made to the contract to reflect the new state laws surrounding student discipline.

The contract has already been ratified by the CEA and agreed upon by the district’s negotiation team. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

The Stix and Spokes shop is ready to serve your needs this winter. (Brandon Hansen photo)

STIX AND SPOKES YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP BEFORE THE HILL: Chewelah store offers skis, snowboards, service and much more!

Chewelah is “A Place for all Seasons,” and Wes Porter has a store for all seasons. The owner of Stix and Spokes has restocked his store in preparation for the winter season. Porter has been servicing winter equipment for years, but this season is different as he is carrying the most inventory he’s ever had.

After “switching over” from a lot of the biking inventory he had during the summer, Porter’s shop will be offering repair and tuning services, rentals for skis and snowboards, along with sales of performance and economy skis and snowboards. It’s a one-stop shop for the winter sports enthusiast and also comes with the experience and knowledge that Porter provides himself.

“It’s important when getting equipment to get the right size and the right type,” Porter said. “I’ve heard some horror stories of things going wrong because a shop just wanted to get whatever they had off the shelf – both bikes and skis.” More