Thursday Mostly cloudy, but sun might appear A14
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS No November ovem 28, 2013 | 75¢
Port Angeles-Sequim-West End nd 2013
28-page gift guide INSIDE
The season of thanks ement produced by
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Peninsula Daily
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Deanna Richards, first assistant manager at Maurices clothing store east of Port Angeles, arranges merchandise in preparation for day-after-Thanksgiving sales.
KEITH THORPE/PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
Nancy Henson of Port Angeles, left, watches as a plate is prepared for her by volunteer Sue Chesley, right, as volunteer servers Robin Prentice, second from left, and Lloyd Hickerson dish out food during Wednesday’s Port Angeles dinner.
Younger age group drawn to pre-Thanksgiving meal BY ARWYN RICE PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
PORT ANGELES — More than 200 people ate a hot, hearty Thanksgiving feast Wednesday thanks to the Salvation Army and donations of food from the public. The guests to the free feast chatted cheerfully while waiting in line at the Salvation Army dining room at 206 S. Peabody St. as it opened at noon. The Salvation Army put out a call earlier this month for donations of turkey and ham and was flooded with food. The traditional meal has always drawn an eclectic mix. This year, though, a new group emerged. “There are a lot more younger people,” said LaDonna Sickert, 53, of Port Angeles. Sickert, sitting with her son and the friends with whom she has enjoyed hot meals at the
Salvation Army soup kitchen for more than a year, said the number of young adults — older teenagers and those in their early 20s — who depend on the soup kitchen is increasing. Many of them have nowhere to go this year, even those who have family in the area, she said. “Families don’t care anymore,” she said, shaking her head. The people Sickert has met at Salvation Army meals have become her family, she said.
Many struggling Rocky White, 35, of Port Angeles said more young people are struggling to put food on the table. “We may have to go to Kansas to get work,” White said, nodding to his young companions. TURN
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FORKS — Forks Community Hospital Administrator Bill McMillan has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, hospital directors confirmed Wednesday. Daisy Anderson, chairwoman of the public hospital district’s Board of Directors, said McMillan was placed on leave but could not elaborate
on the reasons behind the board’s decision. “I can tell you he was put on administrative leave the McMillan afternoon of Nov. 21, last Thursday,” Anderson told the Peninsula Daily News. TURN
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The sixth annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner will be served in the Queen of Angels gym in Port Angeles today in what has become the North Olympic Peninsula’s largest free public turkeyday dinner. Turkey and all the trimmings will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the gym at 209 W. 11th St., Port Angeles. Doors will open at 11 a.m. TURN
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MEAL/A8
Forks hospital chief put on leave for investigation BY JOE SMILLIE
More public feasts today
LEAVE/A8
Area retailers hope, gird for Friday onrush today, Friday, Saturday and Sunday — according to the survey. That’s a decrease from about 147 million people last year. In Clallam County, some retailers from the West End to Sequim are slated to open early Friday. Among them are Swain’s General Store at 602 E. First St. in BY JEREMY SCHWARTZ Port Angeles, which will open at PENINSULA DAILY NEWS 5 a.m. Friday, three hours earlier Merchants both big and small than on a normal business day, across the North Olympic Penin- said manager Don Droz. sula are preparing to welcome the historically brisk after-Thanks- Friday-only promotions giving shopping binge with speSwain’s will have a number of cial sales and promotions, as well Friday-only deals, Droz said, as earlier hours at some. The day after Thanksgiving is including offering gift cards at 20 traditionally one of the busiest percent off, meaning a $100 card shopping days of the year, with could be bought for $80. “That’s kind of a big one,” Droz roughly 97 million shoppers said. nationwide expected to brave the Just east of Port Angeles, Maurush, according to a recent rices women’s clothing store will National Retail Federation shopopen two hours earlier than usual pers’ survey. at 8 a.m. Friday, store manager Some 140 million people Corene Wickland said. nationwide are expected to shop TURN TO SALES/A8 over the holiday weekend —
Many stores open early, offer specials
4% water, sewer rate increase voted by Sequim City Council BY JOE SMILLIE PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
SEQUIM –– Water and sewer rates each will go up 4 percent in Sequim next year. On a split vote as it approved the $55.3 million 2014 budget, the City Council opted to increase the rates. Administrative Director Elray Konkel said the increase will amount to an additional $3 per month for the average user.
“I almost feel as an individual like somebody’s reaching into my back pocket and taking the money out,” Councilman Dennis Smith said. “All these things are not just $3.” Smith voted with Councilmen Erik Erichsen and Ted Miller against the 4 percent increase. Councilwomen Laura Dubois, Candace Pratt and Genaveve Starr and Mayor Ken Hays voted to pass it. The base rate for water service
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for a single-family home will rise from $22.22 per month to $23.11 per month. The base rate for sewer service will rise from $58.42 per month to $60.76 per month. “It isn’t just $3; it’s a lot more than that,” said Erichsen, who also was the sole vote against a 1 percent increase in the city’s property tax rate, an amount permitted annually by the state.
BUSINESS B10 B5 CLASSIFIED B4 COMICS COMMENTARY/LETTERS A13 B4 DEAR ABBY A11, A12 DEATHS B4 HOROSCOPE A14 MOVIES A5 NATION/WORLD
PENINSULA POLL A4 PUZZLES/GAMES A10, B6 B1 SPORTS A14 WEATHER