SPRING FORWARD
Theatre and Ballroom Dancing
Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday morning, March 10 at 2 a.m. Turn your clocks forward an hour!
See Page A11
SERVING WASHINGTON’S
OKANOGAN VALLEY
SINCE 1905
GAZETTE-TRIBUNE WWW.GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM | THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013 | 75 CENTS NEWSSTAND PRICE
NVH faces cuts, interest rate hike
WATERING DOWN THE MAYOR
Medicare, Medicaid reimbursements reduced, federal sequestration cuts kick in as money continues to tighten
Additionally the interest on the warrants - loans from Okanogan County used for day-to-day operations that have TONASKET - Protests, pending litiga- been the focus of the hospital district’s tion and an attempt to recall the North moves to rein in costs - had their interValley Hospital Board of Commissioners est rates rise from 2.5 percent to 3.25 aren’t the only issues the hospital district percent, effective March 1. The district’s warrant level was $1.957 million to the is facing. Funding changes coming from all lev- county as of Feb. 28. “We received the notice from the els of government mean that Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements will be county treasurer,” Verhasselt said, noting that this was not a move reduced and the cost specifically targeting of maintaining warNorth Valley Hospital. rants with the county “Sit down with me, “It went to all of the is increasing. NVH Chief show me where I’m other hospitals that are in warrants as well.” Financial Officer wrong, and I’ll eat crow The district reported Helen Verhasselt reviewed a number as quick as I can get the a net loss of $330,000 for December. Verhasselt of notices the district ketchup and mustard.” also reported that for received last week 2012, the hospital disregarding the shifting Danny Gratrix, cosigner of trict wrote off $967,000 petition to recall the NVH Board of landscape of health Commissioners in bad debt and $1.052 care funding durmillion in charity care. ing her report at the “Hospitals have to Thursday, Feb. 28, carry the charity care write-off themBoard of Commissioners meeting. “This past week we received a notice selves,” she said. “(Unlike other states) from Medicaid that the hospital’s in- there is no state help for that.” Early in the meeting, the commispatient reimbursement rate will be going down 4.6 percent,” she said. “The out- sioners met with attorney Mick Howe patient reimbursement will be going up in executive session to discuss pending 1.8 percent. Between 2011 - 2013, in- litigation. Following the session, Danny Gratrix, patient reimbursement has decreased 9.1 percent, and out-patient has decreased who along with Rosa Snider filed a state4.8 percent. So even though this year the ment calling for a recall of all five hosout-patient rate went up, it’s still down pital commissioners, discussed his deciquite a bit from where it was a couple of sion to do so during the public comment segment of the meeting. years ago.” “My original intent was not ever to She also noted that she had received a notice from a senior living and com- have a recall petition to come up,” he munity services association that with said. “And if it did come up it would be sequestration - the across the board fed- much, much further down the line ... eral budget cuts that went into effect on Originally I was hesitant to get involved March 1 - that all health care providers with this issue at all. Because at this time were looking at a two percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements. SEE NVH BOARD | PG A2 BY BRENT BAKER
BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
Brent Baker/staff photo
Claire Jeffko waters down Mayor Patrick Plumb on Tuesday as part of Linda Black’s planned celebration of surpassing the $50,000 fundraising mark for the Tonasket Water Ranch. Plumb was later hosed down by a fire truck.
BIG SPLASH
Tonasket mayor gets sprayed down; council moves on ATVs BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET _ Tonasket Mayor Patrick Plumb had agreed to it. He just didn’t know that Tonasket Water Ranch coordinator Linda Black had already surpassed the $50,000 mark in fundraising for the spray park slated to be built in Chief Tonasket Park this summer. So while he was surprised that this was the night that he would be sprayed down by a Tonasket Fire Department truck during the Tuesday, Feb. 26 meeting of the Tonasket City Council, the mayor gamely got wet, multiple times, via squirt guns, water cans and, of course, the fire truck. “I also said I would only (spearhead funding the spray park) if the mayor agreed that when we get over $50,000, he would go next door (to the Tonasket Visitor and Business Resource Center) and get sprayed,” Black said. “So I’m here tonight to announce that we are at $54,700. Black handed Plumb a fresh change of clothes, including a bright orange swim suit and Tonasket basketball t-shirt. “Patrick Plumb is a man of his word,” Black said. “The fire department is waiting next door to honor him.” That turned out to not quite be true. The fire department did indeed arrive, but not until Plumb had been hit with water balloons, splashed with a bucket of water and doused with a watering can by Claire Jeffko in the 40-degree latewinter chill. The proceedings were witnessed by a crowd that was gathered for a City Council meeting discussion on a proposed ATV ordinance, as well as other community members involved with the water ranch project. While the mayor was being sprayed
Brent Baker/staff photo
Above, Mayor Patrick Plumb gets hosed down by a a Tonasket Fire Department truck. Below, Mayoral First Daughter Symarah Plumb continued fundraising efforts for the Tonasket Water Ranch even as her dad was getting soaked. down, his determined daughter, Symarah, was circulating through the crowd with her pink basket, adding even more to the spray park fundraising coffers. The project is expected to cost between $150,000 and $200,000. “You’ll be noticing around the community, donation pedestals,” Black said. “They are set up in our two grocery stores, Ace Hardware and the Junction and will be in Prince’s next week.... We have a street banner. We’ve begun a newspaper campaign. We have fliers in local busineses. We have a website, a Facebook page, a Gmail account and a QR code and I don’t even know what half these things are. But I have really smart, young volunteers that understand this stuff.” Black noted she’s been getting a lot of help from all corners of the community. “This is a park we’re building without any new taxes,” she said. “It’s being done all with community funds.”
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 109 No. 10
ATV ordinance to be drafted soon Area ATV enthusiasts were pleased with the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting, at which the council voted 3-1 to direct city staff to write an ordinance that would allow ATVs on city streets. Okanogan County Commissioner Jim DeTro was on hand to answer questions about the county’s plans to connect the city to off-road trails (i.e., make it possible to legally drive an ATV from the city to trails that could get a rider to Conconully). DeTro said he only saw positive economic benefits from increased ATV access and added that criminal activity actually decreased. “Small places like Conconully and Chesaw, they have events around these situations,” he said. “It’s an economic gain for them. To you, 11 cents of every gallon (of gas) comes back to the county and the cities. We share in that, and that’s something a lot of people don’t consider.” DeTro added that ATV clubs tend to minimize the impact of scofflaws. He said a recent chat with the Stevens County sheriff illustrated that. “Your incidence rate of people outside the law goes down,” DeTro said. “You have a lot of people in these clubs, they tend to be older and more mature and police themselves. In their experience, the outlaws will break the law anyway
SEE ORDINANCE | PG A2
TSD to mull change in vocational program New state scoring system presents areas of concern BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - The Tonasket School District is looking at changing the focus of its vocational program, and superintendent Paul Turner is hoping that those who want to have a voice in whether to do so or not will be in attendance at the next school board meeting. Turner said at the Monday, Feb. 25 meeting that he and high school principal Jeff Hardesty would be presenting data on a proposal that would shift the vocational program curriculum from family consumer science to agricultural science. “When you look at the data of the number of kids taking certain courses, that’s driving this,” Turner said in an interview on Friday. “Number one, when you look at offerings for kids, we can meet some of the board’s goal of increasing different offerings. We’ve got offerings now, but they’re not ones that kids are taking. “Number two, this will give us more flexibility for scheduling at the high school.” In that regard, Turner said it would, for instance, allow students taking agricultural biology to meet state biology testing standards, which could in turn free up portions of some teachers’ schedules. Still, Turner said, it won’t be an easy decision to make.
RESPONDING TO NEW SCORES Turner also informed the board of the school’s initial scores under new guidelines as part of ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act), which resulted from a waiver the state received from the Annual Yearly Progress system. While the scores are primarily measured internally against previous internal data, the recently-released scores also left a number of questions. The good news: the high school ranked as a reward (high progress) school and the middle school met requirements. The elementary, however, was listed as an “emerging priority” school, based largely (though not entirely) on its scores from three years ago. The school’s scores for low-income
SEE SCORES | PG A2
INSIDE THIS EDITION
CONTACT US Newsroom and Advertising (509) 476-3602 gdevon@gazette-tribune.com
“It would take away an opportunity for kids to learn things they need to know,” he said. “But we don’t have kids taking those courses. So lets put in something the kids want to take and it lines up with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math requirements).” Additionally, it could help with the districts efforts to get the full school day reinstated as that schedule flexibility would mean that the high school could get by on one fewer staff person than is currently projected in planning for that eventuality. “Losing the home ec stuff isn’t good,” Turner said. “I get that. It’s a sad deal that we get pinched to do that. But economically, and offerings for kids, I think it’s what we’ve got to do.”
Schools A4 Letters/Opinion A5 Valley Life A6-A7
Classifieds/Legals A8 Real Estate A9 Sports A10
Arts Obituaries Police Stats
A11 A12 A12