(By Staff Reports)

The JJSHS cafeteria was full last month as a student-run clothing drive helped families in need. (Courtesy photo)

Families aided with school clothing and supplies for new year…

With school starting back up, area families got a big help from several JJSHS students Haven Rainer helped organize a clothing and school supplies drive before the start of school and then used the JJSHS cafeteria as a pickup point last month. The generosity from the community was on display as the cafeteria was full of clothes thanks to the drive and families in need could find school clothes for their kids.

Only about six to eight bags of clothing were left over, and the school supplies were almost gone after the first two hours of the pickup time.

“The response of the clothing drive was absolutely amazing,” JJSHS student Haven Rainer said.

“It was so heartwarming to see the people that got what they needed to get through the school year. I can’t even count how many bags and baskets of clothes we received, the high school cafeteria was full,” Rainer said.

Rainer spent two days in August collecting clothing and then another two giving out the clothing to families.

“It wasn’t just me, I had a great group of people helping me out: Elle Carpenter, Mandie Orne, Haileigh Allen, Lexi Robertson, Lily Kirry, Hollister Buckley and Hailey Norris were all a huge help to the success of this project,” Rainer said. “This project made me feel so happy for everyone that received clothes and school supplies. The looks on everyone’s faces were unexplainable. My heart is so full.”

No adults helped with the organization of the clothing drive. Haven said she will be looking this school year for a storage unit to be donated to help store clothes throughout the year.

For more info, contact Haven at havenrainer@hotmail.com

(By Jared Arnold/Chewelah Independent)

Chewelah native Evan Schalock was selected by the Chewelah City Council to fill the vacant position #6 last Wednesday evening, September 6.

He was selected from four applicants after a short round of open interviews by the council. The other applicants included local business owners Luke McGuire and Patrick Sawyer and retired financial consultant Mike Bentz. Winston Griepp and Mary Ludwig had submitted letters of interest last month but did not participate in the interviews.

In voting by the council, Schalock received three votes from councilpersons Sharon Ludwig, Dee Henderson and Payton Norvell. McGuire also got three votes from councilpersons John May, Carra Nupp and John Wight. According to council rules, the tie-breaking vote is cast by the mayor. Mayor Dorothy Knauss selected Schalock.

City attorney Mike Waters administered the oath of office and Schalock took his seat at the council table.

Schalock was raised in Chewelah and returned here a little over one year ago after working in the financial services industry in Spokane, Portland, and Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in finance and economics and earned a masters degree from Gonzaga University. He is now a real estate broker with Windermere Chewelah and a financial planner with HD Vest. He also serves as vice president of the Chewelah Chamber of Commerce. Schalock is married with two sons.
In his interview, Schalock said that one of Chewelah’s biggest issues is a lack of jobs that will attract and keep young workers here.

“There is a fine line between an appropriate dose of keeping Chewelah ‘as it always has been’ and adapting the community to the future. Working together with other council members I believe that together we can achieve that fine line to ensure the success of our home town this year and many years to come,” Schalock said in a letter to the council and Knauss.

Schalock will fill the position that was vacated by Roberta McMillin earlier this summer. The position’s term expires in 2019 and Knauss appointed him to three committees: Public Safety, Lodging Tax, and Parks/Recreation/Cemetery. More

(By Jamie Henneman/Chewelah Independent)

Aenks missing since Aug. 10…

A Springdale couple that was running an animal rescue at their farm has been missing since Aug. 10, abandoning over 20 horses and four dogs that were left at the facility. According to reports from the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office, a neighbor who had agreed to feed the horses for a week called when Carrie and Allen Aenk failed to return.

Stevens County Sheriff’s Deputies began feeding the horses from hay located on site since the 13th and the department seized the animals, relocating four dogs to an animal shelter and adopting out two of the horses. The remaining 20 horses have been taken on by a neighboring horse rescue, Rough Start Horse Rescue, in Lincoln County.

While the reason the Aenks have failed to return is still not known, information on various social media websites suggests that it may be tied to their involvement throughout most of the set.
More

(By Staff Reports)

New industry adds 6,227 full-time jobs…

A recent state study has shown the legalization of marijuana has not caused an increase in teen usage of marijuana. The Seattle Times reports that a study by the Washington State Insitute for Public Policy (WSIPP) has found limited impact in youth use of pot. The study is mandated by Initiative 502, the state’s legal pot law.

A biannual survey by the state Department of Health showed that 17 percent of 10,835 high school sophomores consumed pot in the previous month. This survey was taken last year.

In 2010, the number was 20 percent and in 2006, it was at 18 percent.

WSIPP also looked into the economic impact, saying that the marijuana industry accounted for the equivalent of 6,227 full-time jobs. Wages paid from 2014 to 2016 totaled $286 million.

The average hourly wage was $16.45 and the median wage was $13.44. Licensed pot businesses averaged nine full-time employees.

Marijuana legalization was approved by Washington voters in November of 2012 and legal sales began in July 2014.