SPRING FORWARD
MISSOULA CHILDREN’S
At 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, our clocks will move an hour ahead (or spring forward) to begin daylight savings time!
THEATRE VISITS TONASKET
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OKANOGAN VALLEY
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Tonasket to hold off on bond re-run School Board decides more time is needed to consider options, comments BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - The Tonasket School Board has every intention of making another attempt at passing a capital improvement bond to fund expansion and upgrades of the school facilities. When that will happen and what it will look like have yet to be determined. After two weeks of getting community feedback at the first attempt, which gar-
nered 54 percent of the vote but required 60 percent to pass, the board voted unanimously not to try again in April. A resolution would have needed to be filed by March 7 for the April election; the next potential vote would be August 5. “I’ve thought about this a lot,” said board member Lloyd Caton. “We have a lot of people here with a lot of input and questions. I would love to run it in April but I don’t think we can get the kind of work done that our constituents are asking for and that we need to do in order to run an intelligent campaign.” Caton made the motion to not run the bond next month. “It seems like we need to inform people more of what we are trying to do,” said board member Ernesto Cerrillo. “Some people ... don’t know what we are
Tonasket approves loan/grant combo for cop car
asking.” Board member Catherine Stangland, who spearheaded the recent campaign that included nearly two dozen community meetings, reluctantly made it a unanimous vote. “I hate to lose momentum that we had with the people who have been working on it,” she said. “But I do hear what people are saying; they want more informatioin, they want more input, they want more opportunity for consideration of different options. “I think that would be hard to do between now and April 22, and campaign, so I am prepared to wait.” “I think if we were half a percent off we could redouble our effort (right away,” said board chairman Jerry Asmussen. “But with where we’re at a later start
Board votes against contract extension The Tonasket School Board voted at a special meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 26, not to extend Superintendent Paul Turner’s contract. The board’s vote was 4-0. It is the second straight year the board declined to extend Turner’s contract. Turner’s contract runs through the end of the 2014-15 school year. is more prudent. All we really have to decide tonight is if whether or not to wait.” Prior to the start of the regular meet-
Ecology says new permit will correct Buckhorn environmental issues BY GARY A. DEVON MANAGING EDITOR
YAKIMA - An updated wastewater discharge permit issued to the Buckhorn Mine near Chesaw will better protect water quality and help correct environmental problems that have challenged the mine since operations began in 2007, according to the state Department of Ecology. Ecology issued the updated water quality permit to Crown Resources (part of Toronto-based Kinross Gold), which operates the gold mine near Chesaw, following negotiations with the company and environmental interests. The permit takes effect March 1. Under the new permit, the mining company has until the end of 2014 to comply with more protective standards. The updated permit authorizes new outfalls where the mine can discharge treated water from its wastewater treatment plant back to the environment. Treated water from the mine can be discharged to surface waters in Gold Bowl Creek, Nicholson Creek and Marias Creek. Untreated non-industrial stormwater can be discharged to the ground, in compliance with Ecology’s water quality standards. The permit also requires the mine to correct failures to capture and contain contaminants from the mine that resulted
BY BRENT BAKER BBAKER@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
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Mine gets updated permit
GRAND SEND-OFF
Mayor gets WDOT’s attention regarding state of US-97 TONASKET - Three motions, two votes, one hard-won agreement by the Tonasket City Council means that the Tonasket Police Department will be in the market for a new police vehicle. Not “new” (as in a patched-together remnant from another department), but brand spanking new, with the help of a Rural Development loan/grant that will allow the city to spend up to $30,230, with just over half of that in grant money. The city would take on a loan of $12,700 and come up with a $2,330 “applicant contribution.” Where to come up with the money to take care of a monthly car payment of $237 to pay off the loan was the topic of a spirited debate amongst the council members that stretched for over an hour. In the end, thanks to a motion by council member Scott Olson, the council unanimously approved the acceptance of the loan, with 50 percent of the monthly payment to come from the regular police budget, with the other half from the capital expense fund. The grant/loan could only be used for a new vehicle and could not be used for a vehicle that was significantly less expensive. “In the past we’ve always gotten used cars,” said Sgt. Darren Curtis, on hand in place of Chief Rob Burks. “Cars we ended up with in the past, most are 60, 70, 80,000-mile cars. We get about 20,000 miles before they start nickel and diming us to death. “I put 10-13,000 miles on my car each year, 90 percent here in town. A lot of it is idle time that is not included in the milage. My car is at 104,000 miles, but if equated to actual hours it’s closer to 200,000 miles.” Curtis pointed out that a new vehicle would come fully equipped for police use, with only a radio needing to be installed. Repair bills should be significantly reduced, he said, particularly in the first few years while it is under warranty. And fuel efficiency in newer vehicles would also save the city significant money. “The grant is what it is,” said Mayor Patrick Plumb. “We don’t get it unless we get a new car. Basically we were able to
ing the board hosted a public hearing in which they had asked for further comments about the bond. In contrast to the previous week, a contingent of backers of the Alternative and Outreach programs spoke to the value of the program, the effects of hosting the program in a portable that was obsolete since the day the school purchased it, and why it needed to be separate from the main school building. Rob Inlow and Mark McMillan, who have researched the board’s proposed expansion plans, toured facility with superintendent Paul Turner and acted as liaisons with others who have concerns about the project, offered a number of their own recommendations for modifications to the project.
Oroville celebrated the OHS girls basketball team’s post-season run to the state regional round of the playoffs with a parade through town on Friday, Feb. 28,, as the team prepared to leave for its trip to Richland. The parade included a stop at the elementary school where a crowd of young fans waited with signs and wellwishes for the team. The Hornets lost to DeSales on Saturday to bring their best-ever season to an end. Details and photos from the game are on page A11. Gary DeVon/staff photos
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Legislators at odds on basic ed funding BY ELLIOT SUHR WNPA NEWS SERVICE
OLYMPIA--While the budgets the House and Senate Democrats proposed this week were nearly identical, Senate Republicans believe the debate over education funding is a battle best fought next year. The McCleary v. Washington decision in 2012 ruled that the state was not sufficiently funding basic education. According to education officials and lawmakers, the state needs to invest more than $5 billion into education by 2018. The state Supreme Court ordered earlier this year that “the pace of progress must quicken” in regard to education funding. In the Senate budget released last Monday, about $40 million would be allocated to fund technology-related materials in schools. The House version of the budget makes a $60 million invest-
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 110 No. 10
ment in K-12 materials, supplies and operating costs. However, while the two budgets are similar, the House Democrats also included a plan to increase funding for education through House Bill 2792 and 2796. “The supplemental budget—it’s not another bite at the apple,” said Sen. Andy Hill, R-Redmond. “It sets us up for next year.” The supplemental operating budget proposed in the Senate would add $96 million to the state’s $33.6 billion twoyear operating budget approved last June. The budget passed last year added $1 billion to the state’s education system for the 2013-2015 biennium. Carlyle’s HB 2796 would close four tax exemptions and would raise $100 million. The increased revenue would be directed toward restoring cost-of-living adjustments for teachers and to fund early learning.
The bill is more modest than Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed list of eight tax breaks that aim to raise more than $200 million for education. “The House budget goes further than the Senate’s in addressing our constitutional basic education obligations,” Inslee said in a written statement. “While I would like to see a bigger K-12 investment, it is significant that we all agree we must take additional action this year.” The Senate budget passed off the floor on Thursday with a 41-8 bipartisan vote. Other than the $40 million investment into materials, supplies and operating costs, the budget doesn’t provide any additional funding to the other areas of education mentioned in the court order. “I’m disappointed with the budget proposals. Neither one comes close to the $400 million that is needed this biennium to keep us on track for full funding in 2018,” state Superintendent of Public
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INSIDE THIS EDITION
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Instruction Randy Dorn said. “If the Legislature can find a way to pass a revenue package and fund a cost-of-living adjustment for teachers, that will get us closer.” The court called for more money to pay for existing reforms—including teacher cost-of-living adjustments, additional funding for schools, and a plan to fully fund basic education by April 30. In addition to the reforms, the court called on legislators to address four areas of basic education: transportation, MSOCs (Materials, Supplies and Operating Costs), K-3 class-size reduction and fullday kindergarten. “For the first time in five decades, the state of Washington is under court order that we’re not fulfilling our public responsibility to fully fund education,” said Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. “We’re facing pressure from the court
Schools Cops & Courts Letters/Opinion
A2 A4 A5
Community A6-7 Classifieds/Legals A8-9 Real Estate A9
Sports Obituaries
A10-11 A12