Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune, January 23, 2014

Page 1

FRIDAY NIGHT COFFEE HOUSE

TIGERS WIN APPLE PIE TOURNAMENT Page A8

Topic: Frontier Photographer Frank Matsura’s Japanese Family. Friday, Jan. 24 , 6:00 p.m.

SERVING WASHINGTON’S

OKANOGAN VALLEY

SINCE 1905

GAZETTE-TRIBUNE WWW.GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM | THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2014 | 75 CENTS NEWSSTAND PRICE

OHA wants mine to address water pollution Crown says working closely with Ecology BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR

CHESAW – A watchdog group is calling on Crown Resources to address water pollution problems at the Buckhorn Gold Mine near Chesaw by initiating a comprehensive appraisal and taking corrective action. The Okanogan Highlands Alliance, a long time critic of the mine and parent company Kinross Gold, said in a press

release that since the mine began opera- mit to discharge water from the treattions in 2008, water quality monitoring ment facility and the treated water is reladata in ground and surtively clean, according face water has showed to the OHA. mine contaminates are “However, the “We have been continuously escaping increased level of mine patient. OHA has contaminants outcapture. They say the state Department of held off on Clean side the mine is comEcology made a decifrom unpermitted Water Act litigation....” ing sion to forgive all previsources,” they write. David Kliegman, OHA ous water quality vioThe group says Executive Director lations at the mine in Crown has not estaborder to break through lished control of mine a deadlock and start related contaminants finding solution to the problems. and the Buckhorn Mine continues to disThe mine is required to capture and charge contaminants in locations where treat contaminated water and has a per- no discharge is authorized, degrad-

City to pursue pump repairs

ing surface and groundwater and even exceeding water quality standards. “We have been patient,” said David Kliegman, OHA’s Executive Director. “OHA has held off on Clean Water Act litigation in hopes that solutions can be achieved through cooperation. However, patience is not limitless. Cooperation means Kinross must apply on-theground efforts that improvement water quality.” OHA is concerned that unless action is taken soon, long-term protection of water resources may be jeopardized for current and future generations. Data, they say, shows that contaminants outside the mine boundaries in surface and

groundwater remain elevated. OHA believes Crown/Kinross has the resources to deal with the problems. In response, “Crown’s top priority is to not only ensure compliance with existing permits, but to operate in an overall manner that is both environmentally and socially responsible,” said Buckhorn General Manager Mark Ioli. He added that the company continues to work closely with Ecology to maintain the highest environmental standards at the Buckhorn mine, particularly the protection of water quality. “With Ecology’s oversight, Crown

SEE POLLUTION | PG A2

Shows draw a crowd

MOVED BY THE MUSIC

Next performance, Saturday, Jan. 25

Tonasket seeking Planning-Only Grant for Parry’s Acres

BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR

OROVILLE – The second week of “It’s Showtime” drew a crowd that filled the Backdoor Club at Vicki’s Unique Boutique last Saturday with Chuck Oakes and Brock Hires performing together and separately on stage. Wes Westphal from World of Gaia was the evening’s host and told many interesting facts about Oroville’s past forms of entertainment during his introductions. Oroville Chamber President Clyde Andrews read an excerpt from one of Pat McManus’ books “Skunk Ladders” during the break, giving the audience a good reason to purchase tickets for the upcoming show “A Fine and Pleasant Misery to be performed on Valentines Day at Oroville High School. “Our entertainers for the evening, Brock Hires and Chuck Oakes, did a marvelous job performing sets both alone and together,” said Rick Braman, with the Oroville Friends of the Library, which is hosting the weekly events as a fundraiser. “Once again there were many good treats, as well as pizza from Hometown Pizza. Plan on joining the fun next Saturday when our guests will be Julie Ashmore, Harvey Swanson, John Phillips, and Steve Pollard. Doors open at 6:30pm, said Braman. The events are free and those that wish to can purchase snacks or make donations to the Friends of the Library towards the library remodel and other projects.

BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM

TONASKET - Sewage collection and pumping systems in the Parry’s Acres and John’s Landing areas, which are operated by the City of Tonasket, are in need of repair. The Tonasket City Council, at its Tuesday, Jan. 14, meeting, authorized Mayor Patrick Plumb and the city’s engineering firm to seek a planning-only grant from the Community Development Block Program to begin the process of repairing the system. The sewage system is outside the city limits, but responsibility for operating it was transferred to the city about 20 years ago. Since then, the lift station and involved pumps have deteriorated to the point where some are only partially functional, and the city has had to manually pump sewage out of the accompanying septic tanks at John’s Landing. Complicating matters, the system was constructed in the early 1980s by Okanogan County, and original system plans and drawings are no longer available. “We should look at doing this,” said council member Scott Olson. “The system needs repairs. If we get that built up and then get the fees right we can finally have things set up to pay for the continual cost of the system.” Because the system is outside the city limits, users pay an additional fee, but at previous meetings it has been noted that that fee has not been sufficient to maintain the system. An on-site inspection by engineers with Varela and city manager Hugh Jensen last September revealed problems with pumps, electrical systems, and some portions of the system that have an undetermined use. The pumps are reaching the end of their 30-year life cycle, have been rebuilt or repaired several times and no longer have readily available parts. “We don’t want to pay on debt for the rest of the city and this is a good way to get it up to snuff,” Olson said. “Then we can set a proper water fee that in perpetuity will keep the system working without needing outside funds.”

PEDDLER’S PERMIT The council again put on hold a request for a peddler’s permit until it can be determined the full extent of the

SEE SEWAGE | PG A2

Above, Chuck Oakes sang several songs, including one about the Okanogan and Brock Hires, right, got line dancers Walt and Vicki Hart and Naomi Alloway on their feet with “Your the reason God made Oklahoma.” The audience included several of the two singers’ fans from Oroville and Tonasket, including a group that travelled from Okanogan to attend. Gary DeVon/staff photos

School board treated to recent highlights BY BRENT BAKER

late have been anything but dry.

BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM

TONASKET - School board meetings usually involve hours of talk about finances, assessments, legislation and educational theory. The Tonasket School Board meeting of Monday, Jan. 13, provided a change of pace as a number of district staff, primarily from the middle and high schools, presented highlights of recent teaching that showed that student’s experiences of

OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 110 No. 04

STEHEKIN Bob Ashmore, GEAR UP (Gaining. Early Awareness and Readiness for. Undergraduate Programs) director and a number of staff and administrators took two groups of eighth and ninth students to Stehekin, a remote community at the north end of Lake Chelan, for an out-ofclass learning experience in September that he said yielded the kind of results he’d been hoping for.

“To sum up my goal, it was to provide not only students but staff the opportunity to experience experiential, out of class, common core, rigorous, fun learning,” Ashmore said. “To sort of prove to all of us what we know is right, that all can of that can coexist in the same experience.” Ashmore said the students, after arriving, had to hike into a camp site and had to learn to set up camp even before the academic portion of the trip got underway. “We placed a heavy emphasis on students in groups, preparing and cleaning up meals, setting up tents, cleaning up camp,” he said. “There were a lot of kids on our trip who had never even been camping,” said middle school principal Jay Tyus. “It was insane that that was an experience in and

SEE SCHOOL | PG A2

INSIDE THIS EDITION

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

of itself. And being on a boat. It’s a long ride. It didn’t wear off, the newness, at least on the way up.” “We had learning activities that were rigorous and aligned with state standards,” Ashmore said. “They took iPads and field guides and they formed teams and went out. If the field guide was on trees, they had to find trees that were in the field guide, and with their team had to determine that really was that tree. “They had to take two pieces of information from the field guide and one piece of observation and create a PowerPoint slide.” Ashmore said that particular activity took three hours, which included a basic tutorial on how to use the computers and field guides. “They didn’t know yet how to use

Cops & Courts Letters/Opinion Community

A3 A4 A5

Classifieds/Legals A6-7 Real Estate A7 Sports A8-9

Community Obituaries

A10 A10


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune, January 23, 2014 by Sound Publishing - Issuu