Tumbleweed Film Festival
Similkameen River Trail
Another chance to catch short movies in Osoyoos Aug. 16-18 See page 2
See page 9
SERVING WASHINGTON’S
OKANOGAN VALLEY
SINCE 1905
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Rawson elected to Environmental groups appeal Superior Court seat Ecology permit for Enloe Dam Looks like Lampe voted out as county commissioner BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR
OKANOGAN – Okanogan County has a new Superior Court Judge in Henry “Hank” Rawson, who won a winnertakes-all primary vote in a race against Prosecutor Karl Sloan. While Rawson had nearly 60 percent of the vote as of the Aug. 7 election night count, well over the 50 percent required to stand alone on the Nov. 6 general election ballot for Superior Court Judge, Position 1, his lead grew to 60.15 percent (4304 votes) as of the last count held Aug. 10. In the nonpartisan judge’s race Rawson, who currently serves as a District Court Judge, received 4,304 votes to Sloan’s 2851, a result unlikely to be changed in the next ballot count scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 15. Rawson will take the seat being vacated by long-time Okanogan County Superior Court Judge Jack Burchard who has decided to retire after 19 years on the bench. Rawson was elected to the District Court in the fall of 2010, following Judge David Edward’s retirement, Rawson, a resident of Okanogan, had a private law practice and has served as Omak’s Municipal Judge since 2002 Chris Culp, the incumbent for Okanogan County Superior Court Judge Position 2, ran unopposed and received 5,512 votes in the primary. He too will stand alone on the November general election ballot. Culp was appointed and assumed the duties of the newly authorized second position as county Superior Court Judge in 2011 for a one-year term. Previously, county residents elected him as District Court judge in November of 1986 and voted to retain him in that position in six subsequent elections. Possibly the biggest upset of the primary election was the ousting of incumbent Andrew Lampe, a Republican, as Okanogan County Commissioner, District 1. Lampe, who has served two terms in the position, was beat out by fellow Republican Sheilah Kennedy, who received 839, votes, or 40.32 percent of those cast by voters in District 1. Democrat Albert Roberts received 720 votes, or 34.6 percent of those cast. Kennedy and Roberts will appear on the top-two general election ballot in November to fight for the position as commissioner, a race that will be decided by all eligible voters in the county, rather than just those who live in District 1. While different parties will be represented in the District 1 race, two Republicans will battle it out for District 2. Incumbent Don R. “Bud” Hover got 1363 votes in the primary, or 55.2 percent and Ray L. Campbell, got 1106, or
44.8 percent of the votes. Again, all eligible county voters get a chance to select the next District 2 commissioner in the general election. County voters prefer incumbent Joel Kretz for Seventh District Representative in Position 2, more than three to one over fellow Republican Robert “Bob” Wilson. Kretz, the hometown favorite from Wauconda, received 2,738 of the votes, or 77.48 percent. Wilson, received 796 votes, or 22.52 percent. Statewide, Seventh District voters cast 15,919 votes for Kretz to 9,727 for Wilson. Both will face off in the upcoming general election. Rep. Shelly Short, the incumbent for Position 1 in the Seventh District, appeared alone on the primary ballot and received 3,047 votes from Okanogan County. The Republican 23,973 total votes from the Seventh District. Twelfth District voters in Okanogan County, also preferred incumbents. Cary Condotta in Position 1 received 1837 votes over fellow Republican Stan Morse who received 861. Condotta earned 16,288 12th District-wide votes to Morse’s 8,801. Mike Armstrong in Position 2 had 1822 votes over fellow Republican Brad Hawkins who received 900. The total 12th District vote count for the incumbent was 14,984 to 10,634. For Washington State governor, Okanogan County voters bucked the statewide trend and voted for Republican Rob McKenna over all the other eight candidates for the office being vacated by Christine Gregoire. McKenna received 4,232 of his votes from Okanogan County. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, received the next highest with 2,752. Statewide, however that trend was reversed and Inslee received 624,052 votes to McKenna’s 568,159. Together the two earned over 90 percent of the votes and will battle it out in November. After the recent redistricting, Okanogan County has become part of the 5th Congressional District and four people sought the office of U.S. Representative in the primary election. Incumbent Doc Hastings, a Republican, did the best pulling 4,498 votes to his next nearest challenger, Democrat Mary Baechler, with 2,323. Hastings did even better statewide, receiving 58,018 votes to Baechler’s 26,141. Okanogan County voters preferred incumbent Maria Cantwell from the eight candidates for U.S. Senator. The Democrat edged out Republican Michael Baumgartner as her nearest opponent in the primary. This result was reflected by all state voters, although Cantwell received even higher approval statewide. She and Baumgartner, who combined for
SEE ELECTION | PG. A3
Photo by Brent Baker
Enloe Dam and Similkameen Falls as viewed from the Similkameen River Trail. Environmental groups say allowing the Enloe Dam hydropower project to proceed would dry up the falls and remove one of the most valuable features of the trail, the aesthetic view. To this end the groups have appealed the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Water Quality Certification Permit.
Proposal would dry up Similkameen Falls, say those bringing appeal BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR
OROVILLE – This week several national, state and local environmental groups appealed a decision by the state Department of Ecology that would allow the licensing of the proposed Enloe Dam hydropower project on the Similkameen River to move forward. The project, proposed by Okanogan County PUD, would reduce Similkameen Falls to a trickle, according to these groups, which are appealing Ecology’s Water Quality Certification Permit which was issued in mid-July. “The falls are located immediately downstream of the dam and could potentially attract thousands of visitors to the area each year, bringing up to$516,000 to the local economy,” they state in a press release announcing the appeal last Monday. The groups appealed the decision because they say Ecology failed to adequately consider the water quality and aesthetic impacts of the project, which
are an important part of the state’s water quality standards under the Clean Water Act. Okanogan County PUD is reserving the right to comment after staff at the utility has had more time to study the appeal. “Because it is litigation, we won’t have a comment at this time, not until we’ve had a chance to look at it,” said Dan Boettger, the utility’s director of Regulatory and Environmental Affairs. Enloe Dam blocks the Similkameen River approximately four miles west of Oroville. The dam, which was originally built in the early 1900’s, has not generated hydropower since 1958. The dam ceased operation in 1959 because the equipment became obsolete. This is Okanogan PUD’s fourth attempt since the mid-1980’s to add power generation to the dam, and previous licensing efforts have failed due to poor economics and fish passage issues, the groups say. They go on to cite an economic study completed in 2012 by Rocky Mountain Econometrics (www.rmecon.com) they say shows the project is economically unsound and that the Okanogan region would lose $20 million over the term of the license while simultaneously dewatering the falls. “The falls are important to this
community,” said Jere Gillespie with the Columbia Bioregional Education Project. Her group, which is based in North Okanogan County, filed the appeal along with the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, the North Cascades Conservation Council, American Whitewater and Sierra Club. “Ecology’s decision ignores not only the Clean Water Act, but the tremendous public and economic benefit of the falls for tourism, aesthetics and recreation,” Gillespie adds. “The beauty of the falls against the stark landscape has made them the focal point of the newly developed Similkameen River Trail, which will become part of the 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail. If the dam is reactivated under Ecology’s present certification, the viewpoint of this new trail will be a dried up reach of boulders. Ecology’s decision also ignores the falls’ cultural and historical importance to the region’s First Nations and Native American Tribes,” stated the group in their press release. “Ecology acknowledges in its certification that aesthetics are a designated use under state law for the Similkameen River, but fails to protect the beauty of the falls,” said Thomas O’Keefe of American
SEE ENLOE | PG. A3
Oroville School Board approves $1.2 million capital levy Three-year levy will address roof on elementary building BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR
OROVILLE – The Oroville School Board approved a three-year capital improvement levy of $1,200,129 to put a new roof on the elementary school. Approval of resolution #254 came at the board’s special meeting held on Monday, Aug. 6 in the district board room. After discussing the various options to address the repairs, especially to the elementary school roof, Director Todd Hill made a motion to approve the resolution and it was seconded by newly seated Director Travis Loudon. The resolution passed unani-
mously 3-0, as board members Amy Wise and David Nutt were unable to attend. The three-year capital levy will cover the costs for a new roof at the elementary school, which is badly in need of repair. If bids come in lower than expected and there is any money left over, it will be used for elementary school capital improvements to the facility. “We approved the Capital Projects Levy for the roof because we felt it was an absolute priority and in the best interest of the town to be focused on limiting the money we ask for as much as possible because of the current economy,” said Director Rocky DeVon, board chairman. The advantages of a Capital Projects Levy is there is no interest cost and they can be approved with a simple majority
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 108 No. 33
vote. Superintendent Steve Quick said there will be some interest as the district will have to take a loan, which will be paid back through the levy. “We will have to get some non-voter approved debt to pay for the roof project because the money comes in over three years. Otherwise we would have to divide the project into three phases, working on each phase as the money comes in, or wait three years to start the project,” Quick said. “The roof can’t wait that long.” Quick said the $1,200,129 price tag was estimated by a construction management firm hired by the district. “We’ve had bids from two firms that were both high, I assume the construction management firm’s estimate was conservative, because the district wants to avoid cost overruns. The old roof has served for well over its life, we want to
make sure we get a new roof that serves for more than its estimated life.” In the only other item on the agenda, Chuck Ricevuto, head of the Oroville Coach’s Association, voiced his support for allowing eighth grade students the opportunity to play on high school athletic teams in accordance with Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) regulations. Ricevuto, who coaches wrestling, said he especially supported eightth grade participation in baseball, softball and boys and girls soccer. After considerable discussion between Ricevuto and the school directors, the board decided to ask the administrators to research the proposal. They suggested the administrators especially talk with schools that have been involved in the practice in order to find out the pros and cons of let-
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ting eighth graders play on high school teams. “We directed the AD, the coaches, principal and superintendent to investigate how other schools do this and the impact on their programs, especially injury rates in the eighth graders compared to other kids,” said Director DeVon. “We understand we want to solve this problem of not having enough players on the team, but we don’t want to risk the health of the kids.” Dual participation will be an agenda item at the upcoming regular August board meeting, according to Supt. Quick. DeVon said that there is some talk of raising the GPA requirements for those wishing to participate in two sports during a season. “Last year we only had two kids who did dual participation,” DeVon said.
Community 2-3 Tonasket Fiber Arts 4 Letters & Opinions 5
Valley Life 6-7 Police Stats/Obits 8 Outdoors/Sports 9
Classifieds/Legals 10-11 Valley Life 12 Church Directory 12