(By Brandon Hansen/Chewelah Independent)

Narcan has been saving lives in Seattle…

A new topic was brought up during the Candidates Forum, as city council candidates were asked about Chewelah police possibly being equipped with Narcan.

Nalxone or better known as Narcan is a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in overdose situations.

Both Dee Henderson and Cori Wuesthoff expressed support for police officers in fighting crime, but were also unclear as to what using Narcan would mean for the Chewelah Police Force. They questioned what training would be needed for them to use it and what kind of legal ramifications would they face when administering it.

It’s a somewhat new law enforcement tool, but it is making headlines across the country. Seattle began having its officers use Narcan last March and the results have saved lives. More

(By Brandon Hansen/Chewelah Independent)

Bill Lacy

Lori Larsen

TO Bakken

Judy Bean

Clint Kirry

CHEWELAH SCHOOL DISTRICT POS. 1
Three members for the school district Pos. 1 began their line of questioning asking how they should handle the vacant Middle School building in town.

Candidate Bill Lacy said that the surplus of space around town is because of declining school population. Lacy in comments with The Independent said he feels the middle school can be rennovated. He also said the City of Chewelah uses an old school building, so why can’t school children use a renovated middle school? The high school, he added, has been mentioned as needing renovations yet they already moved the middle school kids there.

Lacy said the building could be renovated and used for school programs and even post-graduation education for adults. More

(By Brandon Hansen/Chewelah Independent)

HIRST DECISION
When asked about the state-wide Hirst Decision, Democratic candidate Susan Swanson said that she is on the fence about the complicated issue and that she would definitely want to reach across the aisle to solve the problem.

“Those planning to build and homeowners are affected by this and we need to be careful,” Swanson said. “I’d be willing to hear more about it.”

Current appointed State Rep. and Republican Jacquelin Maycumber said that the Hirst Decision is about control of the water and the land. She said the exempt wells only draw one percent of water drawn in the state. More

(By Brandon Hansen/Chewelah Independent)

Candidate Karen Hardy (D)

State Senator Shelly Short (R)

Candidates agree on a number of topics…

State Senator Shelly Short and Democrat Candidate Karen Hardy were both asked what they thought about the recent Hirst Decision concerning domestic wells.

This year, in a 6-3 ruling, the Washington State Supreme Court determined Whatcom County had failed to protect water resources by allowing new wells. They said this reduced flow in streams for fish and other uses. The court ruled counties must ensure, independently of the state, that water is available before issuing building permits in certain areas.

Both opposed the Hirst decisions with added caveats.

Short, a Republican, said the Hirst decision was absolutely horrific, saying that it threw out decades and decades of precedent on how domestic wells were developed and treated as a de minimus use. Senate Republicans, including Short introduced legislation that would nullify the Hirst Decision for most people in Washington.

Senate Republicans are currently fighting the Hirst Decision and have refused to compromise, saying that the decision would undermine landowners’ long standing fundamental right of development of exempt wells. The deadlock in Washington legislature has resulted in the legislature not passing a capital budget for this year.

Senate Republicans feel they are certainly willing to consider meeting in the near future to address both Hirst and the capital budget.

Short said it hurts economic development because people would not have the ability to drill their own well for their property. This would result in the lack of tax revenue to local and state governments.

Hardy agreed with Short on the Hirst Decision, but said in taking it back, this should allow the state legislature to review current domestic well issues and come up with better regulations.

“We have an opportunity to re-evaluate all these waters laws,” Hardy said. “I don’t think we can just go back pretending we’re not drawing out of the aquifer, we don’t know how much water we’re drawing.”

In a fact-checking effort by the Independent, a Department of Ecology said this is true for the Chewelah aquifer.

“Generally speaking, we don’t know a lot about total quantity because it’s a complex interaction between a lower and upper aquifer, which also interacts with surface water,” Dept. of Ecology official Brook Beeler said. “There are some snapshot stats of water withdrawals in [our study]. But because we don’t meter groundwater use or require reporting we can’t say with certainty how much is being used.”

Hardy still reinforced her stance however, that the Hirst Decision does not work for property owners. She said a relook at water laws could allow the state of Washington to become a leader in how to manage water rights.

“I used to live in New Mexico and I see what happens when you turn the water on and nothing but dust comes out because somebody upstream is taking all the water,” Hardy said. More

(By Brandon Hansen/Chewelah Independent)

Mayoral candidates Bob Belknap, David Wantland and Mayor Dorothy Knauss enjoy a laugh before the Candidate Meet and Greet at the Chewelah Golf Course and Country Club on July 18. (Ed Broberg photo/for more photos of Ed’s work, go to edbroberg.com)

Marijuana and business community also discussed…

At the Candidate Meet and Greet last Tuesday, all three mayoral candidates were in attendance to answer questions. Current Mayor Dorothy Knauss has a quarter decade of experience on all levels of local municipal government and is facing Bob Belknap and David Wantland in the upcoming election.

Bob Belknap grew up in Chewelah and spent over 30 years working for the City of New York retiring from his position as Director of Financial Systems for the Human Resources Administration in 2003.

David Wantland is retired after growing up in Oregon and then acquiring an extensive business background in the state of California.

One question for each candidate was what their recipe of success would be as mayor.

David Wantland said that communication, listening and being proactive was the key. He said when there is a problem, the city needs to drill down to the core of the issue and find a way to solve it.

“The secret ingredient is to have an open mind,” Wantland said. “You should be willing to listen to someone else’s view.”

Bob Belknap said the city needs to be more transparent to the public and stop doing things outside the view of the public, saying there should be no secret ingredients.
“Engagement at the last council meeting was absolutely fabulous,” Belknap said. “We need a slight change toward engagement.”

Belknap added that the recent suggestion by the city lawyer to make a change in how the agenda is voted on and approved regarding people speaking at city council was a good step.

Mayor Dorothy Knauss said that she has been transparent and very involved with the community. She said she always tries to look at the big picture for the city instead of just 10, 20 of 50 people in town or at the council meeting.

“I’m transparent with what I’m doing and I’m like Bob, I don’t think there should be any secret ingredients,” Knauss said. More

(By Brandon Hansen/Chewelah Independent)

Cori Wuesthoff

John Kabosky

Dee Henderson

Jon Wight

Kabosky, Nicole and Payton Norvell, John Wight, Cori Wuesthoff and Dee Henderson all weight in on city topics…

More

(By Jamie Henneman/Chewelah Independent)

The National Parks Service has confirmed that one individual drowned at Colville Flats on Lake Roosevelt on July 14. The name, gender and age of the victim is not being released at this time, as the incident is still under investigation, according to NPS Ranger Craig Brower. More