Chasing a title
Wolves top powerhouse NK on soccer pitch
Rest, recreation
B-5
School bond Q&A
Focus on Carrie Blake kicks off series about Sequim parks B-1
District leaders get specific
A-12
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Sequim Gazette www
Sequim’s Hometown Newspaper
com
75 cents
Vol. 41, Number 16
Inside Clallam’s first pot farm
Tropic Grow LLC, Clallam County’s first retail producer of marijuana, is starting small, its owner said, but he plans to slowly expand the product growth each month for close to a year. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
Dungeness farmer becomes first local recreational marijuana producer
2 — to grow recreational marijuana. Ash, a retired health care executive and current health care consultant and farmer, said he had to come around to the idea of growing mariing marijuana, he never would have juana after his wife, Jean Davis, first by MATTHEW NASH imagined it. Sequim Gazette suggested it. Now he’s the first of his kind in “We’re not users or advocates,” Ash If you asked Thomas Ash when Sequim and on the North Olympic See POT, A-8 he moved to Sequim he’d be grow- Peninsula — a marijuana producer tier
Sequim’s Best Button Design
Powell Jones, Dungeness River Audubon Center executive director, is a self-proclaimed “outdoor fanatic.” He and other outdoor enthusiasts kick off the center’s “River Center Rally” fundraiser. Submitted photo
‘River Center Rally’ replaces ‘Spring Fling’ Sequim Gazette staff
Participants in the Dungeness River Audubon Center’s activity-based monthlong fundraiser, formerly called ‘Dungeness Spring Fling,’ are gearing up to put their increased energy to good use. “Changing the name from ‘Dungeness Spring Fling’ to ‘River Center Rally’ doesn’t change our objective,” board member Julie Jackson said. Since 2009, participants have raised more than $108,000 to support the center’s educational programs and maintain Railroad Bridge Park at 2151 W. Hendrickson Road, Sequim. The Outdoor Fanatics start the fun this year at 7 p.m., April 23, at the river center, where river center Executive Director Powell Jones demonstrates the heights and depths of his passion for biking. Columbia Bank of Sequim is sponsoring these “shows” by obsessed hobbyists, who characterize themselves as “outdoor fanatics.” The four-part series also includes birding (with Denny Van Horn, April 30), hiking (with John Bridge, May 7), and driftwood sculpting (with Tuttie Peetz, May 14). Each of the Wednesday evening presentations will start at 7 p.m. at the river center. Admission is by donation to support the center and park through the River Center Rally. Each donation made between midnight and midnight on May 6, will receive a prorated portion of the matching funds from The Seattle Foundation. (The Seattle Foundation will “stretch” all donations up to $5,000 per donor, per organization.) To donate on May 6, go to www.seattlefoundation.org, find Dungeness River Audubon Center.
Jessica German holds up her Irrigation Festival button in front of the limo she won a ride in to lunch with friends. German, 10, made her mark recently by winning the 119th Sequim Irrigation Festival’s button design contest. She and her friends and family got a ride in a limousine courtesy of 7 Cedars Casino on April 10 to lunch at the Oak Table Cafe sponsored by Liz Parks, owner/broker of RE/MAX Fifth Avenue. After lunch, Jessica and her crew were dropped off at Sequim Middle School before a tour for next year’s classes as sixth-graders. For the contest Jessica used the motto “Mountains to Sea … A Pristine Place to Be” in her design. She was also the biggest seller of buttons with 240 to benefit the festival and promote it among the community. The festival is held May 2-11. Read about changes to this year’s Irrigation Festival on page A-3. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash
Mervin Manufacturing cuts 20 percent of staff Co-founder expects growth in company next five years
Former SHS coach goes to court May 2 Pedersen faces five felony counts
by MATTHEW NASH Sequim Gazette
by MATTHEW NASH
Mervin Manufacturing, local stalwarts of the premiere skate, snow and surf industry, made recent cuts to its work force in a restructuring of the business. Pete Saari, co-founder of the Carlsborg factory-based company, confirmed that they Kevin Weaver, an employee for Mervin Manufacturing restructured and cut 20 percent of their staff for 3 ½ years, compiles a snowboard inside the Carlsborg factory. Mervin recently made one-time cuts in late March after shifting from a public to mostly to its weekend staff during a restructuring of a private business model in November 2013. the business. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash Employees estimate the loss at more than 20 staffers who were mostly weekend employees are full-time and year-round. of the snowboard division. Of Mervin Manu“As part of a larger restructuring initiated facturing’s current 120-plus staff, a majority
See MERVIN, A-10
Sequim Gazette
Jerry Jeff Pedersen, 28, a former assistant Sequim High School girls basketball coach, goes to Clallam County Superior Court on May 2 for arraignment followpedersen ing five alleged felony counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. A Sequim Police investigation
See PEDERSEN, A-8
Sports B-5 • Schools B-8 • Arts & Entertainment B-1 • Opinion A-16 • Obituaries A-15 • Classifieds C-1 • Crossword Section C
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