Charley Long & The
SENIOR BREAKFAST
Okanogan Kid, Part II
Oroville Senior Center Pancake Breakfast, Saturday, April 11
See Pages A3, A12
SERVING WASHINGTON’S
OKANOGAN VALLEY
SINCE 1905
GAZETTE-TRIBUNE WWW.GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM | THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 | 75 CENTS NEWSSTAND PRICE
GET READY, GET SET, GO
Katie Teachout & Gary DeVon/staff photos
There were Easter Egg Hunts and visits from the Easter Bunny at both Tonasket and Oroville last Saturday morning. As usual a wave of happy children vacuumed up colorful eggs and hoped for one of the prize eggs. Above, Parents and kids alike took off at the start of the race to grab colorful eggs Saturday, April 4 at Tonasket. Left, One-year-old Kendyl Leslie scoops up one of 3600 Easter Eggs at the hunt at Oroville’s Lake Osoyoos Veterans Memorial Park Saturday. Right, The Easter Bunny, AKA Dan Haven, is seen here with Grand Prize Winner Heriberto Bejar (front, right), along with his brother Esteban Bejar (left), sister Mayra Bejar (center) and mother Janet Bejar.
Biochar presentation spurs conversation More hands on demonstrations planned in future BY GARY A. DE VON EDITOR@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
OROVILLE – Biochar – Capturing value from waste biomass by turning it into fine charcoal that can be used for other purposes, was the subject
of a presentation made by Gloria Flora in Oroville last week, one of many she is making around the state. Flora, who owns her own farm, is getting the word out about biochar as a way to use agricultural and other waste products generated on farms, ranches and forests and saving money while doing so. She explained how biochar can be used to enhance soil to retain water for better plant growth, especially when mixed with compost. The biochar can
trap things that are bad for the environment, like heavy metals and carbon dioxide, CO2. By trapping the CO2 in the soil it is not released into the atmosphere, she said, reducing pollution. Flora, from Montana, runs the U.S. Biochar Initiative. She spoke about how ancient civilizations in the Amazon were able to produce enough food to feed large cities, despite having less than perfect soil by turning the waste biomass into biochar to enhance the
soil. There are many processes for turning the waste into biochar, both highly technical and home built. The process, called pyrolysis, can be used to generate electricity and provide heat for homes, industries and whole cities, according to Flora. It can also be used to make biofuels like syngas and bio oil. Flora emphasized that the process can be done on a small scale and can help farmers and others who find they have biomass they
need to get rid of without having to pay fees to haul it off or put in landfills. She showed several examples of converting the biomass into biochar, many of them simple, that can be used on farms and ranches. Rather than putting the waste in landfills, the biochar produced can be used on the farm to increase crop yields, protect water quality and protect air quality by avoiding burning. It can also be sold to others as a soil amend-
ment. It can also be used to clean up forest lands and reduce wildfies, according to Flora. While only about 10 people attended the Oroville meeting, a few were somewhat familiar with the process and wanted to learn more about how to do it. Flora said that future meetings will take place outside where some of these technics for making and using biochar can be demonstrated. More information can be found at www.biochar-us-org.
Oroville enrollment drops, but in line with last year Senior project collects 5000+ tires for recycling BY GARY A. DE VON EDITOR@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
OROVILLE – The Oroville School Board heard that enrollment had dropped by 11 FTEs between the semesters within the district. “We are starting budget work for the 2015-16 school year. We usually see a drop off between the semesters and we lost 11 students between February and March,” said Business Manager Shay Shaw in her financial report. The state pays the district basic education funds based on student population – FTEs, Full Time Equivalents. In the
past the board has taken a conservative Steve Quick was out of town to visit view and set the yearly budget based his first grandchild, a baby girl. Board on numbers that are lower than the Member Amy Wise reported that the expected FTEs for the Oroville Scholarship next school year. Foundation’s talent “Looks like we will show was well attend“There are 10 billion be budgeting at the ed. same level as last year, scrap tires generated or at a little more,” TIRE COLLECTION EVENT each year globally...” Shaw said. Teacher Tam The Monday, March Tam Hutchinson, teacher Hutchinson gave a Oroville High School 30 meeting began report on the recent with “Good News tire recycling event and Announcements.” organized by two Among the good news shared by High senior students, Steven Maupin and School Principal Kristin Sarmiento Trevor Shear, for their senior project. He was that the board would be signing first showed a PowerPoint slideshow, crea diploma for a student who had been ated by student Hunter DeVon, on how a few credits short of the graduation many used tires are generated each year requirements and had made them up. It in the state. was also announced that Superintendent “There are 10 billion scrap tires gen-
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 111 No. 15
Gary DeVon/staff photo
Just a few of the more than 5000 used scrap tires were collected in a tire recycling event held by two Oroville senior students working on their senior project. erated globally. Each person generates about one scrap tire per year, there are 7 million generated in Washington alone,” said Hutchinson. “They are waste and health and fire
SEE TIRES | PG A2
INSIDE THIS EDITION
CONTACT US Newsroom and Advertising (509) 476-3602 gdevon@gazette-tribune.com
hazard. Each tire can harbor mosquitos, snakes and other vermin,” he said. “Every tire is a potential breeding ground for up
News History Cops & Courts
A2 A3 A4
Letters/Opinion A5 Community A6-7 Classifieds/Legals A8-9
Sports Schools Obituaries
A10 A11 A12