Filmmakers eye big screen
Up for debate
SEF film fest hits 10th year
A summer job
Tribe looks to repair popular trestle A-12
Columnists mull Sequim center’s future A-10
B-1
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
SEQUIM GAZETTE www
Sequim’s Hometown Newspaper
com
75 CENTS
Vol. 42, Number 15
The state of lavender More changes coming to Lavender Weekend by MATTHEW NASH
Let’s recap: there have been a lot of changes with Sequim’s lavender farms in the past few years. Lavender Weekend, the all-encomEditor’s note: This is the second in a series about different aspects passing name for lavender events of Sequim’s arts community. Look from July 17-19, is arguably Sequim’s biggest tourist draw and continues next week, April 22, for Part 3. to shape the economic climate of the Sequim Gazette
area. Each summer, dozens of farms bring in tens of thousands of people to the area and each year farmers continue to find the right formula to keep lavender a boon for their farms and Sequim. The latest change sees the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association stopping its three-day Farm Tour as an Farms with the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association, such as
See LAVENDER, A-12
Washington Lavender, seen pictured in 2011, host individual festivals July 17-19 at each of the four farms instead of offering a tour between the farms. Sequim Gazette file photo by Michael Dashiell
Opening Day, Sequim Style Carter Gagnon, 6, leads his Blake Tile & Stone teammates in high-fives after playing their first T-ball game of the season versus the Law Office of Alan Millet on April 11. Sequim Gazette photos by Matthew Nash
County seeks to invest $2.5M in local economy by ALANA LINDEROTH Sequim Gazette
Clallam County commissioners continue to move forward with developing multi-approach plan to spend $2.51 million from the county’s 2015 General Fund in an attempt to stimulate the local economy.
T he com mis sioners unanimously approved a resolution to notify the Washington Department of Revenue of a countywide tax holiday, April 14. Beginning July 1, the county’s optional sales tax rate will be reduced within
See ECONOMY, A-6
Fire District to select new fire chief April 21 Andrews, Hudson are finalists for job
Little League hits its way into a new season
Ivana Miller, 5, is all smiles after her first T-ball game of the season for Advanta Dental. She got a base hit and said she had a lot of fun.
Sequim Gazette staff
And it’s off to the bases for Sequim Little League. Baseball and softball players kicked off their season at the James Standard Park on April 11 with players and coaches gathering for the opening ceremonies before starting the season later in the day. More than 250 boys and girls ages 4-16 make up five co-ed T-ball teams, eight boys minors teams in two age groups, six boys majors teams in two age groups, and two girls’ majors teams, one juniors and one seniors softball team. Teams play through May and June. For more information on Sequim Little League, visit sequimlittleleague.com. See more opening day photos at www.sequimgazette.com.
Sequim Gazette staff
He still has four-and-ahalf months on the job, but Fire District 3 chief Steve Vogel will get to work with his replacement as early as next week. The Board of Commissioners of Clallam County Fire District No. 3 meet this week to talk about replacing Vogel, a three-decade veteran of the district. James Barnfather, chairman of the fire commission, said commissioners will chose between Assistant Chiefs Ben Andrews and
Tony Hudson. Vogel, 62, announced he intends to retire Aug. 31, after 34 years of service in Sequim. The board meets in executive session April 16 VOGEL to discuss the selection, then plans to announce the new chief on April 21. A reception for the new fire chief is set for 4-6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22, at the district headquarters at 323 N. Fifth Ave.; the reception is open to the public. For more information, call 683-4242.
Drought precautions under way in Clallam County Dry-year lease program aimed to conserve water by ALANA LINDEROTH Sequim Gazette
Without a reservoir system and with little to no snowpack in the Olympic Mountains, officials with Washington Water Trust are in the
midst of spearheading a dry-year leasing program with funds from the Washington Department of Ecology. The program targets the last 30 days of the irrigation season, beginning mid-August, and is intended as a mechanism to conserve water and
maintain surface water flows. To offset the cost of irrigating during the late season, Washington Water Trust officials have $200,000 to pay willing water users. “We’ve had some interest already,” Amanda Cronin, Washing-
ton Water Trust project manager, said. “We would like to lease as many acres as possible. The Dungeness Valley is one of, if not the largest area, to rely on irrigation and surface water in Western Washington, Cronin said. Within the valley an estimated 5,700 irrigated acres are under the Dungeness Water Users Association.
In collaboration with members of Dungeness Water Users Association, Washington Water Trust personnel mailed 53 solicitations for the volunteer lease program, Cronin said. Any bids for the program are due today, April 15, to the Washington Water Trust.
See DROUGHT, A-12
Sports B-5 • Schools B-7 • Arts & Entertainment B-1 • Opinion A-10 • Obituaries A-9 • Classifieds C-1 • Crossword Section C
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