Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune, January 31, 2013

Page 1

Photos from Tonasket Band and

Tonasket Sports Boosters

Choir Concert

Auction at The Kuhler on Feb. 8, See Page A4.

See Page A4

SERVING WASHINGTON’S

OKANOGAN VALLEY

SINCE 1905

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Honorees, future light up Chamber banquet

Incoming Chamber president Julie Alley talks about “Making a Splash” during last Thursday’s annual banquet at the CCC. Brent Baker/staff photo

BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM

TONASKET - The Tonasket Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual banquet, auction and officer installation on Thursday, Jan. 24, at the Community Cultural Center of Tonasket. And, oh yes, named its annual roster of honorees, which included Patti Middleton as Tonasket Founders Day Parade Grand Marshal; Scott Smith as Citizen of the Year; the U.S. Armed Forces Legacy Project as Organization of the Year; and II Sisters Video Rental as Business of the Year. The evening’s theme was “Make a Splash,” honoring Linda Black’s work to bring the Tonasket Water Ranch Spray Park to Chief Tonasket Park. Smith, who was recently named Grower of the Year by Good Fruit Grower magazine, was introduced by fellow Tonasket Kiwanian Wayne Verbeck. Smith’s work over the years included (but wasn’t limited to) his 35 years with Kiwanis, serving on the Tonasket school levy bond committee for more than 25 years, chairing the Whitestone irrigation district, and serving on multiple agricultural boards, committees and commissions that have taken him all over the state, as well as to Washington, D.C. “Best of all,” Verbeck said as he and Mayor Patrick Plumb presented him with multiple plaques and awards honoring both this and the Good Fruit Growers’ award, “he’s a wonderful father and a good husband.” “You know, these things are very nice,” Smith said after noting that, upon receiving his previous award, he’d forgotten to thank his wife, Montie. “But they all take you away from home. It all means that someone has to take care of life at home ... Honey, thank you very much.” Smith, a lifelong Tonasket resident,

Tonasket Kiwanis Groundhog Dinner this Saturday BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR

TONASKET – The 29th Annual Tonasket Kiwanis Club Groundhog Dinner will be this Saturday, Feb. 2 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Tonasket High School Commons. The event began in the church in Ellisforde but they didn’t have enough space or people to put it on so the Tonasket Kiwanis took it over in 1984 and it’s grown dramatically ever since, according to Herb Wandler, a Tonasket Kiwanian. The dinner will consist of sausage, potatoes, vegetables, coleslaw, a beverage and dessert. All funds will go toward funding the Kiwanis Youth services. The organization sponsors the boy scouts and helps support things like grade school field trips. They also give out scholarships. The Kiwanians prepare the sausage according to an old German recipe. Wandler said they serve between 300 and 400 people each year and any left over sausage is sold in bulk packages. Tickets will cost $9.50 for adults and children 13-years-old and over, $4.50 for children 12-years-old and younger and pre-school children will be admitted free of charge.

Council, chief debate video policy ATV talks on hold until county makes its call BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM

Brent Baker/staff photo

Patti Middleton beams after being announced as the Tonasket Founders Day Parade Grand Marshal at the Tonasket Chamber of Commerce annual banquet on Thursday, Jan. 24. hasn’t lost his appreciation for living here. “We all are very fortunate,” he said. “I’ve lived here all my life, my grandfather homesteaded here. I think there are people that are envious of what we have here and what you all have created here. This building is a perfect example of that.

This doesn’t go on every place. “I’m thankful to live here and am thankful for the people that have worked for us through the years, that work through to their 70s. That’s a pretty nice special thing in a small community. It makes you appreciate the people that you get to know. This is very nice, and I

appreciate it very much.” Middleton, who retired last June after 22 years as the Tonasket Middle and High School music teacher and had been recognized at the previous night’s band and choir concert, said she was “flab-

TONASKET - Differing opinions on what is appropriate use of video surveillance, and even some Constitutional discussion, highlighted the Tonasket City Council’s efforts to finalize a policy that would govern the Tonasket Police Department’s use of video or game cameras in certain situations. Council member Scott Olson had asked for a policy to cover the use of game cameras that Police Chief Rob Burks wanted to put in place at Chief Tonasket Park over a year ago to help track down vandals and other culprits, including the more recent tossing of some park trash receptacles into the Okanogan River. Olson had been concerned about the use of such cameras where images or

“I’m troubled by your logic that Council has no oversight over this. I think we have a very different interpretation of the Constitution on that one”

SEE CHAMBER | PG A2

May Fest Queen candidates OROVILLE – Two Oroville High School juniors have thrown their hat in the ring for the crown of 2013 May Festival Queen this year – they are Shelby Louise Scott and Angela Nelson. Selection night this year will be held on Friday, Feb. 18 in the Oroville High School Commons starting at 7 p.m. “Anyone in the community is invited to attend and this is your opportunity to vote for one of the two girls,” said Michelle Smith with the May Festival Committee. Selection Night activities for the royalty candidates include speeches, modeling and poise, as well as answering impromptu questions from the judges. After which, the community and the judges will vote on a candidate, with the top vote getter becoming May Queen and the runner-up May Princess. “The judges’ votes count for 65 percent of the selection and the communities for 35 percent,” said Smith, adding that Selection Night is the only time in which votes will be cast.

Shelby Louise Scott

Angela Nelson

Hi! I’m Shelby Louise Scott. I’m a 16-year-old junior at Oroville High School. I was born in Omak, Washington on Feb. 18, 1996. My parents, Kim and Brad Scott, are life-long Oroville residents and both 1990 graduates of Oroville High School. I have dreamed of being May Day Queen since I was very little. When I was seven-years-old I was a train bearer for Queen Skylar Guenther. Ever since then I have been involved in May Day. In fourth and fifth grade I did the May Pole dance. Then in the sixth grade I was the elementary school princess and in eighth grade I was a class attendant. The past several years I have helped the Oroville Booster Club with the 3 on 3 basketball tournament and concessions. I have also Shelby Scott marched in the band, helped represent the Molson-Chesaw fire Department, and been on the Oroville Sportsmen’s Club boat/float. In school, I have been involved in cheerleading for both football and basketball as well as the “little cheerleaders” program. I also play fast pitch. I am currently the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) secretary. I’m involved in the Local Association of Student Councils (LASC) and the Washington Association of Student Councils (WASC). I am the Social Chairperson for the Junior class. Previously I was the “0” club treasurer and the Junior High ASB president. My hobbies are shopping, reading, bowling, trap shooting, and taking care of my animals. I am also an active member in my church. My goal after high school graduation is attending college to become an ultrasound technician. May Day is always a special time for family, friends, and the community to all join together to celebrate our heritage and our future. Being selected as your May Day Queen would be a great honor, especially since Oroville has always been my home.

My name is Angela Nelson. I am 16-years-old and I am currently a junior in Oroville High school. My parents are Alan and Marcie Nelson. I have two sisters, Alanna and Ariona, and one brother, Adrian. My family and I moved to Oroville in the summer of 2004. This year the only sport that I am involved in is football cheerleading because I wanted to focus on my grades and school work. Since my freshman year I have been involved in the “O” Club. I was ASB secretary for two years and this year I am the ASB Social Chiarperson. This year I was chosen to be Angela Nelson the Junior Representative for North Central Washington. Next year I will be the senior representative and I will run LASC (Local Association of Student Councils) meetings and I will also be on the WASC (Washington Association of Student Council) board. Last November I volunteered at the Senior Center and I hope to go there more often in the future to help out. After high school I want to attend a culinary school or enroll in a business college. I would like to become your May Day Queen because representing our wonderful community and being a part of a tradition that has now been going strong for almost eighty years will be such a great honor. I have looked up to all the past May Day Queens and I hope to be in that prestigious group so that I can be the one that other girls look up to in the future.

OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 109 No. 05

video of citizens might be captured, and wants a policy in place to govern such surveillance. Olson, however, was less than pleased with a policy Burks put together based upon a similar policy in use in Colville. Council member Dennis Brown felt that the policy was incomplete. “It implies video and game type cameras,” Brown said. “If there are handheld video cameras in use, the policy needs to include those too. There needs to be further clarification on those.” “There are different kinds of cameraS that can be used in different situations,” Burks said. “You can have cameras over the stop lights, city park, city pool, city shop, parking lot. Those are city property for the protection of city property. Not necessarily for law enforcement ... “The reason the handheld and game cams don’t fall under those, because those are police work. Like the game cams, the only time we use them is if a crime has been committed. That’s usually on private property, which mean Council has no say over that. The property owner has the say over that.... “If we’re investigating a drug case it’s confidential, so we’re not going to tell you. In some case we’ll have a search warrant, which is a judge’s decision to let us do that by law, which once again you have no say over. “I can’t put it in policy when it’s stuff the Council can’t control. If we have an incident in a city park, of course I will let you know... Business property or private property, you have no say over.” “I believe that is what the policy should (cover),” Olson said. “I’ve asked you to put that in writing. I’m disappointed in this. I was very clear about my concerns with the Fourth and Fourteenth amend-

SEE COUNCIL | PG A2

INSIDE THIS EDITION

CONTACT US Newsroom and Advertising (509) 476-3602 gdevon@gazette-tribune.com

Scott Olson, Tonasket City Councilmember

Valley Life Letters/Opinion Community

A4 A5 A6

Sports A7 Classifieds/Legals A8 Real Estate A9

Police Stats Obituaries

A9 A10


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