(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent) 

Photo by Heidi Lampert Seitters

No injuries despite heavy damage to both vehicles…

Highway 395 three miles north of Colville was closed on Wednesday night after a log truck collided with a tractor hauling a hay baler. No injuries occurred and the accident happened near milepost 234. The accident happened at roughly 10:11 p.m.

Photos of the incident show heavy damage to the front of the log truck and heavy damage to the baler and tractor.

The road was blocked fully as authorities dealt with the accident. Community members also helped with the removal of farm equipment off the highway.

Please be aware of farm equipment on area roadways during busy haying seasons and overall. We live in a rural community and tractors can’t go as fast as a normal car.

(PRESS RELEASE/Colville National Forest)

Be safe and don’t feed the bears…

The Colville National Forest is urging people to safely store all food and drinks, water, garbage and other attractants to prevent contact with grizzly bears, black bears and other wildlife.

The CNF’s food storage order has been in place since 1989 to minimize the potential for grizzly bears, black bears, and other wildlife to access human or pet foods. The federal organization asks that all food and drinks, water, garbage, and other attractants, such as uncleaned cookware/utensils or scented items, must be stored in a secure building, a hard-sided vehicle, a bear-resistant container, or suspended 10 feet off the ground and 4 feet from any vertical support at all times, day or night. The order does not apply to water or when food is being prepared to be eaten, being consumed, being transported, or being prepared for storage.

The order covers acceptable storage methods, defines other wildlife attractants, addresses harvested animals, describes how to dispose of human waste and grey water, and provides information on feeding wildlife. Follow the links below for info on storing food, to read the food storage order, and to learn how to reduce the risk of encounters with bears. Stay safe and enjoy your National Forest!

Food Storage Info | https://bit.ly/2IokboP
Food Storage Order 2019 | https://bit.ly/2WNBBnN
Be Bear Aware | https://bit.ly/2KXzuGO

(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

The Stevens County Sheriff’s Office has recently welcomed two more into their ranks. Sheriff Brad Manke recently swore in new corrections deputy Stacey Tanner and new deputy Michael Shawgo. Tanner is a long time resident of Stevens County, has served in the Coast Guard and is a valuable member of the Sheriff’s Ambulance service as an EMT.

Shawgo is an experienced officer from the Bethel, Alaska police department. He grew up in rural Eastern Washington.

For more updates about the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office, go to their Facebook page.  

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

State Senator Shelly Short, State Representative Jacquelin Maycumber and NEW Health CEO Desiree Sweeney cut the ribbon on the new N.E.W. Health Springdale Dental Clinic last Friday with a large crowd in attendance. (Brandon Hansen photo)

NEEDED SERVICE: Old modular building served 3,000 people per year…

Since 1978, NEW Health has been providing health care services to the people of Stevens, Ferry, and Pend Oreille Counties. In 2006, NEW Health began to provide much needed dental services to the residents of Springdale in a 1,400 square foot modular building. While the community was grateful to have access to dental care close by, the nature of the modular created barriers to care.

Space was a limiting factor in the building, as reception was in just 400 square feet and dental work spaces were just even smaller. Despite the small area to perform dental care, since 2015, NEW Health’s dental clinic in Springdale has provided over 3,000 dental visits per year. Even with the limited space, the NEW Health and the staff of the Springdale Dental Clinic provided much needed dental care to the people of Stevens County. More

(K.S. BROOKS/Chewelah Independent)

Stevens County Sasquatch hunter Will Ulmer has spent years looking for the creature…

Over the past few weeks, everyone and their brother has been claiming their town or state is home to Sasquatch. This surge comes on the heels of the FBI’s release of a 22-page report revealing that it had tested hair and tissue samples back in the 1970s to determine if they came from… Sasquatch.

While the results showed that the samples belonged to deer, many people are not discouraged by the findings, as they claim that this is typical of the government’s treatment of anything to do with Bigfoot.

States such as Vermont, New York, Oregon, Ohio, California and others boast of their Sasquatch sightings – but only Stevens County, Washington has a famous Bigfoot print in the Hearst Museum at the University of California, Berkeley. The print, which belongs to a creature named “Cripplefoot,” as the print created by the left foot demonstrates a deformity, was discovered in the late 60s in Bossburg, Washington, now a ghost town between Evans and near Northport. More

(PRESS RELEASE/Bureau of Land Management)

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Spokane District has issued a fire restrictions order on public lands administered by the BLM and the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) in
eastern Washington. The order is effective June 22, 2019 at 12:01 a.m. in the following counties:

Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and Yakima. Caution is advised at all times when operating motor vehicles on roads or trails with vegetation or high grasses, and due to fire hazard risk the public is asked not to bring fireworks or exploding targets onto public lands at any time. While campfires are allowed under this order in certain places and circumstances (please see official order), the public is still asked to ensure any campfires are completely extinguished and cold before departure from a camping area. More

(PRESS RELEASE/Washington DNR)

HIGH FIRE DANGER: The temporary closure is effective on June 17…

Due to high fire danger, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), working with Stevens County, is temporarily closing a portion of state land to shooting, effective June 17.
This comes as Eastern Washington moves into a wildfire season where authorities are expecting hot and dry conditions.

Closure of the area known locally as “Stonelodge” or “Mile Marker 19,” to shooting coincides with fire danger increasing from moderate to high in Stevens County. This land is located off Highway 291 west of Suncrest, Wash.

Violators of the shooting closure could be subject to fines. DNR may re-open Stonelodge to target shooting as conditions allow.

As a reminder, incendiary devices, such as exploding targets, sky lanterns, or tracer ammunition, are illegal on all DNR-protected lands.

If you see smoke or a fire, please call 911.

(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

Fire burns around signs just before you get into Colville. (Jamie Richardson photo)

BE ALERT, BE SAFE: Fires can start easily from most causes and small fuels in these conditions…

The Washington Department of Natural Resources has increased the fire danger to “high” in southern Stevens County and many other Eastern Washington counties as things dry out for summer. Local fire districts and departments have been kept on their toes with small fires breaking out around the county.

Chewelah residents woke up on Friday to the news that the fire danger had been raised, only to see a plume of smoke rise near Sand Canyon Road. A small outbuilding had caught fire from unknown causes and, with timber and more houses nearby, the danger of it spreading was great. Quick response from Stevens County District 4, the Chewelah Fire Department and Washington DNR ensured that the fire was essentially kept to a tenth of an acre. More

(Irv Schick/Fire District 4) 

Chewelah area Fire District responded to 40 incidents overall…

FOR THE RECORD
In May, Fire District 4 responded to forty incidents. One structure fire, one cooking fire, one RV fire, two grass and brush fires, one grass fire, one illegal rubbish fire, twenty-three emergency medical calls, five vehicle accidents including one with injuries, one search (in the wildland) for injured persons, one authorized controlled burning and one  dispatched and cancelled.

For the month, our volunteer members gave five-hundred and twenty-nine hours of their time for incident responses and training. More

(PRESS RELEASE/Tri County Economic Development District)

Margo Sety

Gallery TEDD welcomes back Featured Artist Margo Sety…

Tri County Economic Development District is pleased to welcome Margo Sety as it’s current Featured Artist in Gallery TEDD. This is the second time the Gallery has displayed the Chewelah native’s beautiful watercolor paintings, many of them featuring scenes from around the Chewelah area. TEDD currently has twelve of Sety’s original watercolors, along with prints and notecards, on public display through the month of July. The public is welcome to come view and purchase the displayed art during regular business hours, Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

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