(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

WDFW originally looked at 12 to 15 percent increase…

According to the new WDFW budget, a five percent fee increase could be imposed on hunters and fishers and it could have been a lot more, reports The Spokesman-Review.

The department staff had first asked the WDFW commission for a 12 to 15 percent increase on all license costs. This comes as the agency is looking at a $30 million budget shortfall. To fully fund the department, WDFW policy director Nate Pamplin said $60 million is needed.

During a meeting on Friday, the WDFW commission had reservations about the hike and didn’t approve the 12 to 15 percent increase, deciding to make adjustments and instead decided to pull more from the state general fund to make up the $30 million gap.

WDFW staff were asking for a budget including a hike in license fees that would have funded two-thirds of the $60 million needed from the state general fund and the remaining one-third from license fees.

The shortfall comes after general fund taxes and recreational license sales have not kept up with costs. There was a one-time funding fix for the department in 2017 voted on by the state legislature but it expires in 2019. WDFW also had several cuts from the Great Recession.

The commission approved of a bill request to give themselves the authority to adjust licenses fees to deal with yearly inflation.

Here is Remember When for Aug. 16, 2018…
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(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Stranger Creek Evergreen 4-H kids volunteered their time and talent to revitalize the sign for the Hunters Community and 4-H Club Fair. (Courtesy photo)

Work needs to be done to Hunters Fair barn…

Held in the barn right next to Columbia High School, the Hunters Community and 4-H Club Fair is the oldest one-day fair in the State of Washington after going for 109 years straight.

Hunters – an unincorporated community in Stevens County with a population of 306 people – draws in community volunteers to help put on the event each year.

“We consider each of the approximately 85 people contributing their time and efforts to the fair, a volunteer. From the Superintendents who run the departments, to the vendors who come to sell their wears, they all contribute to the experience of Hunter’s Community and 4-H Club Fair,” said organizer Jessica Boivin. More

(PRESS RELEASE/Fire District 5)

Stevens County Fire District 5 is making plans for a fire station with room for training.

Parts of the plan for a fire station include applying for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The grant process requires that a brief survey of households be conducted. It is anticipated that the firefighters will conduct the door-to-door survey of households towards the end of August

Fire District 5 covers 75-square miles. Besides encompassing the communities of Addy, Basin, Summit Valley, and Blue Creek, the boundaries take in portions of the outskirts of Colville and Chewelah. There are currently about 1,175 occupied households in Fire District 5, plus several commercial and industrial businesses along Highway 395. More

(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Black Sheep Vintage used to be The Sugar Bowl. (Brandon Hansen photo)

“The walls themselves carry a special kind of reverence in the town of Chewelah…”

Black Sheep Vintage not only has nostalgic items and historic finds within its walls, but the walls themselves carry a special kind of reverence in the town of Chewelah.

“People come here and remember when it was the candy store, the Sugar Bowl, right across from the school,” owner Kamber Farneman said. “There was a 90-year-old woman that came in and had boarded upstairs during World War II. A lot of “oh I haven’t been in here since…’”

It’s a fitting feeling considering Black Sheep Vintage looks for the used, the sought after and the oddities of the past. Farneman had started out selling vintage items on an Etsy store years ago and had no intention of getting a storefront.
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(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

Ehorn Lane, a popular route around Chewelah, got some much-needed work so it can continue to be a main road. (Brandon Hansen photos)

Top of hill ground down for safer travel on Ehorn Lane…

Contractors are still on track to finish the resurfacing of Ehorn Lane and sidewalks throughout the city of Chewelah.

The road and sidewalk work is part of a million-dollar project thanks to state and federal funds. While currently closed to through traffic, the familiar route has been getting worked on by Baumann Brothers and subcontractors for months now.

The road is getting rebuilt from the ground up, the crest of the hill of Ehorn Lane is getting taken down three feet so sightlines will be better for motor vehicles.
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(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)

WA Gov. Jay Inslee and David Govedare pose with what the basket would look like with the Vantage horses. (Courtesy photo)

Organization created to construct basket for famous horses by Chewelah’s David Govedare…

Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies is one of Chewelah-area artist David Govedare’s most recognizable pieces of work. It’s one of the most-seen public works of art in Washington.

And it’s still on the mind of Govedare.

“I have a lifetime to take on the things I’m doing,” he said.

Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies was installed in 1990 by Govedare near Vantage. Consisting of 15 life-size corten steel horses that look as if they’re running wild along the Columbia River, it was presented as a gift for the centennial of Washington’s statehood and has created a story of its own.

Govedare originally envisioned a basket to put with the horses and years later, he’s focused on making that happen. More

(JARED ARNOLD/Chewelah Independent)

Main Ave. parking subject of discussion…

In an effort to curb late-night illegal activity in Central Park, the Chewelah City Council set new hours for all city parks at their regular meeting last Wednesday evening, August 1. The council also discussed parking on Main Ave. and expressed their support for the creation of a Certified Creative District in Chewelah.

The council approved by a vote of 4-2 a new ordinance which sets the hours for both Everett Jenne Memorial Park (the main city park) and Central Park, the triangular park at the intersection of West Clay Ave. and Victoria St. The hours of operation for both parks are now set at 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Previously, hours for Everett Jenne park were 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. and there were no hours set for Central Park.

“The primary reason we did it was because of the times, there was not a time set in Central Park, and there was some activity going on there at night that we didn’t want,” City Administrator Mike Frizzell explained about the change. More

(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)

63-year-old employee identified as Randy Rowland…

Last Thursday a shelf collapse in the Colville retail store North 40 resulted in the death of a store employee, 63-year-old Randy Rowland.

The Stevens County Coroner Lorrie Sampson was called to North 40 at 7:45 a.m. last Thursday after reports of an accidental death.

The store was closed and the gates to the parking lot were shut as the case was investigated by the Colville Police Department and the Washington State Department of Labor.

The Statesman-Examiner first reported the shelving collapse after hearing it come over the police scanner.

The Spokesman-Review quoted Sampson as saying a very large shelving unit toppled and caused a domino effect which took out another shelving unit that came down on the store employee.

(PRESS RELEASE/Jenkins High School)

Jenkins High School is now offering the convenience of online athletic registration and clearance through FamilyID. FamilyID is a secure registration platform that provides you with an easy, user-friendly way to register for our programs, and helps us to be more administratively efficient. When you register through FamilyID, the system keeps track of your information in your FamilyID profile.

Please make sure that parents and your student-athletes have completed this process before the first day of practice of the athletic activity they intend to participate in. For fall sports, this means August 15th for HS football and August 20th for HS volleyball and cross country. Students will not be allowed to participate unless this has been completed and a current physical is on file. Use the unique link below to reach the online registration portal.

If you have any questions, please contact the school directly! Check out www.familyid.com/organiza…/jenkins-jr-sr-high-school to register.