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The latest news from around the Chewelah Valley

Chickenpox vaccine required for high schoolers

September 7, 2016

High school students in Washington State who did not get the required two doses of the chickenpox vaccination before school started have 30 days to comply with the state rule or they won’t be allowed to attend school.

Per rules from the state Department of Health (DOH), students in the 9th thru 12th grade are required to have two vaccines against the chickenpox disease, also known as Varicella. A double vaccine was required for 7th and 8th grade students in 2015. Prior to that, only students from Kindergarten to 6th grade were required to have two doses.

The new requirement for high schoolers is being implemented in Washington State at the recommendation of the national Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Washington DOH said teens are at higher risk of severe complications if they get chickenpox.

“The new requirement helps protect these young people,” DOH said. “Washington State has required only students in kindergarten through 6th grade to have two doses of chickenpox vaccine, until now. More

Hunting prospects now available online

September 2, 2016

September marks the start of hunting seasons for elk, deer, waterfowl and upland game birds in many areas of the state, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has released its annual guide to help hunters have a successful hunting season.

Hunting Prospects, which includes information for every district in the state, can be found on the WDFW website athttp://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/prospects/

Hunting seasons will continue despite the presence of several wildfires in eastern Washington, so hunters need to be aware of land access restrictions around the state due to fire, said Mick Cope, Wildlife Program deputy assistant director. More

Horse events cancelled at NEWA Fair

August 31, 2016

Two fairs in Eastern Washington cancelled their horse barns and events last weekend, citing concerns about West Nile virus and a recent case of Equine Herpes. Both the Northeast Washington Fair in Colville and the Lincoln County Fair in Davenport closed their horse exhibits.

Lori Matlock, manager for the Northeast Washington Fair, said the parents and exhibitors from the horse barn decided to forgo having their horses at the fair due to the potential for contagion.

“There wasn’t a mandate from the state to close the horse exhibits, that was a decision from the parents and exhibitors,” said Matlock. “We are hoping to move the horse section to October and hold the premiums so the kids can be part of the fair.” More

Environmental group sues Forest Service over fire fighting methods

August 31, 2016

A Eugene-based environmental group is suing the U.S. Forest Service, saying they took destructive emergency actions during last year’s fire season, reports the Capital Press.
Filed in the U.S. District Court in Spokane by the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics in the middle of August, the lawsuit takes issue with actions taken during last year’s 65,000-acre Wolverine Fire in Chelan County.

The lawsuit contends that a “community protection line” built to protect homes in the fire’s path was “unnecessary, destructive and violated the National Environmental Policy Act’s Requirement to assess beforehand the impact of federal actions.”

The Capital Press said the line in question by the lawsuit was a 50-mile long, 30-foot wide protection line that was put in place to protect rural areas in Chelan County. The environmental group — Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics — said it was miles from the fire. More

WDFW targets entire wolf pack

August 31, 2016

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s decision to kill all the wolves of the Profanity Peak Pack in Ferry County has earned national headlines, support from local ranchers and criticism from conservation agencies.

After wolf attacks by the Profanity Peak Pack on local cattle in July went above the threshold for lethal removal, state officials decided it was time to act. The pack roams around grazing lands between Republic and Kettle Falls.

There were six confirmed cattle kills by wolves and five others that were probable. In August, the state killed two females belonging to the pack and would continue lethally removing wolves if the attacks on cattle continued. More

Prosecutor’s Column for Sept. 1,2016

August 31, 2016

Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Superior Court Judge in Spokane. We have known each other for 15 years and frequently talk about situations that we face and sometimes exchange stories.

He told me he presided over a jury trial in which the evidence was clear that the defendant committed a very serious assault just a few months after his release from prison after completing a 20-year sentence for a pair of armed robberies. His crime demonstrated that he was not a rational thinker. He broke into a house with a weapon and thereby terrorized the woman and child inside. All because someone told him Sasquatch was inside and had taken a family hostage. Law enforcement nearly had to shoot him when they took him into custody. He was examined and found competent to stand trial and he did. A jury convicted him.

After the trial, some jurors asked to talk with the judge, so he spoke to them. They asked about the defendant’s prior record. The judge told them about the serious nature of his criminal past and explained that the rules of evidence do not allow jurors to know about a defendant’s prior record. He explained that it was because they might find him guilty based partly on the fact that he had done other bad things in the past.

One of the jurors said that was nuts. The juror said that was like being asked to hire a person without being able to see a résumé and or check references, but base the entire decision on what was said in the interview. The juror said that they were being asked to make a decision but were not given enough information so they could determine what was right to believe. The juror did not understand how this could be. The judge tried to explain but the juror was not satisfied. The juror said the system made the jury decide based on who was the best liar. He was disgusted with the process.

In Washington, the evidence rules do not let jurors know about a defendant’s criminal record except in very limited and special circumstances. This is a choice Washington courts have made, not the people. That is not true in all other states. In some states, the jury can be told about the past convictions of any person who testifies; either witness or defendant. Some states justify this by saying that juries need to know what a witness has been guilty of in the past so the jury can judge whether or not they should be believed.

There is an old saying, “hang em’ high, but use a clean rope.” I agree we should use a clean rope and Washington’s is extremely clean, but we do need to hang ‘em. (disclaimer) The preceding statement is not to be taken literally as to the manner of holding persons accountable, but merely to the existence of the need to.

-Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen

Police Blotter for Sept. 1, 2016

August 31, 2016

The Chewelah Police Department would like to remind everyone in North America to remove valuables from your vehicles, roll up the windows and lock the doors even if your car is parked inside of your locked garage. It’s also a very good idea to evaluate how secure your house and outbuildings are by making sure your door and window locks are in working order. Smart people protect their valuables from the people in the world who steal things.

During the week of Aug 21 – 27 the Chewelah P.D. handled 53 calls. Sixteen of the calls were traffic stops; officers contacted a few suspicious people while you were sleeping; theft of a personal check; and two burglaries were reported in the 700 and 900 block of 3rd St. E. The thief entered the residences through unlocked windows and made off with jewelry. While looking for a possible suspect to the burglaries an officer contacted a homeless man who had warrants. In another call, a known thief was caught prowling a vehicle, taking change, on the east side of town. The owner of the vehicle confronted the suspect, snapped a good photo of him and posted it on Facebook. A citizen reported finding a bicycle along Lincoln, west of Bernard. The bicycle was an older off-white ladies bike with low miles. A citizen made a littering complaint after tires were found on his property; a complaint of barking dogs; and two neighbors engaged in an argument and they both called 911. The responding officer heard their complaint which included derogatory remarks regarding the police department’s inability to either prevent the argument or help them become friends. A restraining order might work, or perhaps one could enroll in interpersonal communication courses. Some people suggest seeking inner peace through the healing powers of interpretive dance. Another vehicle prowl was reported in the south 300 block of Bernard. Items stolen were a black leather bag containing personal information; a laptop computer, change, etc. An accidental overdose was reported; a few welfare checks; a disturbance call; and a concerned person reported that a man in his 50’s was asking various people, including a teenage girl, if they wanted to smoke MJ near Park and Lincoln. The man was riding a black bicycle with orange forks. Other calls included an assist to the S.O. on a DV north of town; barking dogs; an incomplete 911; a citizen assist; a report of people arguing; trespassing; and threats.
By Chewelah Chief of Police Mark Burrows

WDFW resumes sale of fishing and hunting licenses

August 31, 2016

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) resumed the sale of fishing and hunting licenses and the state Discover Pass through its network of about 600 dealers across the state.

Customers also will be able to purchase those items by phone beginning Monday, Aug. 29, by calling WDFW’s licensing customer service number at (360) 902-2464.

All license sales were halted earlier this week in response to the discovery of a vulnerability in an outside vendor’s system that was recently exploited to expose personal information about customers in several states, including Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. More

Meme Mondays: Internet comments, Burning Man and going back to school

August 29, 2016

Happy Monday everyone! We’re still 70 days from the presidential election and the end to our national embarrassment! College football begins this weekend with the WSU Cougars hosting the EWU Eagles! Ben-Hur continues to bomb at the box office after being one of the worst remakes in human history (It’s that bad!)!!!!

And of course, Meme Mondays…

Apparently we can’t have nice things. There is a reason we’re not allowed to pump our gas before paying anymore. There’s a reason that they have to put those sneeze guards up at Subway. Now that ridiculousness is going digital as media sources try to protect us from ourselves.

Remember when social media on the internet first came out and everyone thought “cool people can share their thoughts and views, there’s no way that can go wrong.”

Now several years later we’re thinking “Oh man, this is an awful idea and I wish the internet would go away and take cable news with it.” Trolling – the internet equivalent of being that guy at the bar that just says something to see if a fight starts – has gotten so bad that NPR is shutting down the comment section of their website. You can no longer attribute a politician to being the next coming of Hitler, or say “Thanks Obama” when a tornado touches down in Kansas. They’re on the list of a growing number of media outlets that are like “well, do we really want to hear what internet troll No. 12 has to say?”

For example, Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post explains what happened when he started a political blog called The Fix…

“I would regularly go into the comments to interact (or try to interact) with readers. I incentivized and deputized regular commenters to keep order,” he wrote in a column that extolled NPR’s decision. “Then I gave up. Because none of the tactics or strategies we tried ever had any real impact on the quality of the dialogue happening on The Fix. No matter what the original post was about, a handful of the loudest — or most committed — voices in the room hijacked the comments thread to push their own agendas.”

Will we stop allowing comments on The Independent? No sure, I’ll let you know when somebody adds a comment!

Switching gears from national public radio, let’s switch to the Burning Man festival, which is coming up soon! It’s an annual gathering that takes place at Black Rock City, which is basically just a bunch of people camping in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada. Think any concert in the Gorge, but tons more partying and they end up burning a bunch of things at the end. Sound fun?

Sounds legit. Tickets are $390, so please pay the Burning Man to prove you’re part of counter-culture!

This is the big one! Don’t forget school starts this week! There’s a football game this Friday too as the Chewelah Cougars take on Bridgeport! What does this all mean? The end of summer. Which means teachers have to go back to school and work like 10 hour days. Which means it will soon be fall. Which means snow soon. Which means I have to learn how to drive in the snow again. Which means I hope I have good insurance. Which means I still wish it was July.

Maybe I can go to Hawaii. Did you hear that President Obama just made the world’s largest ocean reserve? A whopping 582,500 square miles near Hawaii. It was originally established by George W. Bush, containing 140,000 acres. I’m assuming he saw the an article of the big floating plastic garbage flotilla’s that hang out in our oceans. I’m thrilled as long as they can preserve the habitat of my favorite fish…

This struggle is real. I just checked my fridge again and all I have is a block of cheese.

Have a great week!

Larger classes means more teachers for Valley School

August 25, 2016

The Valley School staff participated in a number of problem-solving activities last winter and spring based on needs identified through the 2015-16 school year.

This analyzation process is part of our continuous improvement philosophy to best serve student needs with the resources available. As a result of this work, students and parents will see new class configurations and locations when school starts on August 30.

Starting off, we will offer two first grade teachers and classrooms and two fourth grade teachers and classrooms to support higher-than-usual student enrollment in those grades. Additionally, in the middle school, we will split both the eighth grade class and the sixth grade class into two sections to create overall smaller classroom sizes during core subjects. More

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