(COLIN HAFFNER/Chewelah Independent)

Get ready for some great weather at Chataqua. (File photo)

Goldilocks would be happy with the weather forecast…

Grab your favorite shirt, shorts, and sandals and slather on the sunscreen this weekend if you’re planning to spend your days at Chataqua. Oh, and you can leave the raingear at home.

According to the extended forecast on Weather.com, all four days of Chataqua will be in the low 80s with sun and a few clouds throughout. The prognosis for the weekend is ‘fun in the sun.’

Here’s a quick look at the forecasted weather.

Thursday promises a partly cloudy outlook with winds coming from the SSW at five to ten mph. The high is expected to be 83 and a low of 56 is predicted. The UV index will hit eight on a sclae to ten. Humidity will be moderate, about 43%, but there is a 0% prediction for precipitation. More

(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

A 29-year old Deer Park woman, Brianna Arena, was killed in a car accident on Saturday afternoon six miles north of Loon Lake on Highway 395. The WSP is reporting the vehicle that Arena was driving crossed the centerline and struck a 2011 Lexus RX head on.

Arena was driving a 2006 Toyota Camry.

Both occupants of the Lexus, a 40-year old woman and 65-year old man, were injured and transported to Sacred Heart. Their vehicle had rolled over.

Both vehicles were totaled and no charges were filed, Washington State Patrol said.

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Benjamin Franklin

The BBQs are no doubt in full swing around Stevens County but at the newspaper we’re trying to remember some of the Great Americans in our country’s history. The current one we’re talking about is a big one: Benjamin Franklin.

Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 and would soon become almost a force of nature in the colonies. As an inventor, he made the first lightning rod, biforcals and the Franklin stove. He also founded the Library Company, Philadelphia’s first fire department and the University of Pennsylvania.  More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Molly Pitcher (Mary Ludwig Hays)

Hopefully everybody is enjoying themselves as the 4th of July swings into full gear. With our series of “Great Americans” we’re now turning our attention to the Revolutionary War Era. We’d like to feature Molly Pitcher, or rather Mary Ludwig Hays who fought in the Battle of Monmouth in June of 1778.

Hays was given the nickname of Molly Pitcher, as the history is still a little bit contested as some say there were other women that also earned the nickname Molly Pitcher at the battle. Mary Ludwig Gays, however, is generally believed to be the original Molly Pitcher althought there is a great deal of folklore around the woman.
Hays was born in 1744 in Trenton New Jersey and lived to be 87 years old, passing away in 1832. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

It is 4th of July and we will be celebrating some great Americans on our website today with periodic posts. Today, a great president leads off our Great Americans column.

Abraham Lincoln

The Civil War was one of the most transformative periods of American history and leading the county at the time was Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln oversaw the bloodiest war the nation had ever seen and had to try and reunite a shattered United States. Abraham Lincoln served as president from 1861 to 1865 before he was assassinated in April 1865 by John Wilkes Booth.

Lincoln’s legacy is preserving the Union, abolishing slavery and moving America into a post-Civil War period of modernization and a stronger federal government.

Lincoln was born in Kentucky in 1809 and grew up on the frontier in a poor family. He self-taught himself to be a lawyer and would eventually become an Illinois state legislator and Congressman. He became a Whig Party leader before stepping down from government to resume his law practice. With the growing slavery controversy spreading west, however, he joined politics again in 1854 and joined the new Republican Party. More

(K.S. BROOKS/Chewelah Independent)

Pets and pot do not mix.

BE AWARE: Marijuana consumed in big doses can be harmful to pets…

Is Fido acting funny? That might be because your best friend is. well, baked. With marijuana now legal for recreational purposes in 10 states (Wikipedia) and for medicinal purposes in 33 states (WebMD), the incidents of pet exposure are on the climb. “In fact, over the past 6 years, Pet Poison Helpline has experienced a 448 percent increase in marijuana cases,” the Pet Poison Helpline states on its website.

Veterinarian Dorrie Black, of the veterinary clinic Animal Internal Medicine and Specialty Services in San Francisco, said in an article on NPR.com she sees up to three affected dogs a week in the summer. Closer to home, Chewelah Veterinary Clinic’s Dr. Jessica Adams agreed. “We have seen an increase, both in accidental ingestion (primarily edibles) and accidental overdose by people using marijuana or hemp products intentionally in their dogs,” she told The Independent. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

With the 4th of July just around the corner, and already a bevy of controversies floating around social media, we’d figure we’d do something different and just celebrate great Americans. We’ll be doing a bunch of short features on countrymen and women who did great things in history. We’re kicking things off on July 3 because we haven’t left the office yet for a BBQ. Our first feature is on a man who was the first human ever to set foot on the moon, recently passed Neil Armstrong.

More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Indian Agency Cabin, 1880s.

THE AGENCY CABIN GETS NEW LIFE: Important preservation step taken by historical society…

Surprisingly, Chewelah is an old town by West Coast standards, and community members are currently working hard to preserve some of that history.

For the past two weekends, work has been done on the historic Colville Indian Agency Cabin and McPherson Family Home on 3rd St. to continue restoration. Windows, floors, a door and the porch were installed on the building which dates back to at least the 1870s.

“We can declare victory on preserving the Agency Cabin,” one of the projects leaders, Janet Thomas said. According to the Stevens County Historical Society, the Indian Agency services were provided starting around 1878. Services included medical care, agricultural training and materials and tools. The cabin was home to John A Simms and his wife Lucy and then became the McPherson’s family home that they owned for over 100 years before donating the cabin to the Stevens County Historical Society in 2010. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

CHATAQUA IS HERE: Chewelah’s celebration begins next Thursday…

Chataqua week always has Chewelah buzzing with excitement as the carnival rides slowly get set up, the vendors and food carts start popping up in the park and then eventually the people start coming into town.

While it’s in a town of just 2,600, an estimated 30K people frequent the award-winning community celebration that has been around since 1974. From rides, arts and crafts, food, little league games and more, it can be a bit overwhelming with its plethora of activity, but here is how you can enjoy the busiest weekend Chewelah has to offer. More

(JARED ARNOLD/Chewelah Independent)

SURPRISE MOVE: Frizzell steps down from city administrator position, takes over as public works director…

In a quick and surprising move at the June 19 meeting of the Chewelah City Council, the council agreed after just 20 minutes of discussion to make personnel changes requested by the mayor that will fundamentally change the city’s management structure that has been in place for over 40 years.

Mayor Dorothy Knauss asked the council to consider the last-minute agenda addition after City Administrator Mike Frizzell had earlier announced to her that he would be resigning his position and asked to step into the unfilled public works director spot. The only item of business on the council’s published agenda was a new “Public Records Policy,” but that topic was tabled for a future meeting because Knauss and Frizzell “weren’t quite ready for it.” However, the two were well prepared to recommend the personnel changes that will eliminate the city administrator job, move Frizzell into the public works position and create a new role of administrative assistant to the Mayor. Knauss had a package of information ready for each of the council members that outlined the job descriptions for the new positions, proposed salaries and a new organizational chart for all city workers. More