SERVING WASHINGTON’S
OKANOGAN VALLEY
SINCE 1905
GAZETTE-TRIBUNE WWW.GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015 | 75 CENTS NEWSSTAND PRICE
It’s the gift that keeps on swimming and dancing
LIVENING UP WESTERN AVE
“The minimum donation is $10, so anyone can be a philanthropist,” said Tonasket Pool Committee member The Community Foundation of Karen Stangland. “Let’s all help the non profits this holiday North Central season, so they can Washington is startcontinue to make our ing a ‘Give NCW’ fundraising cam“The minimum donation communities a great place to live.” paign that launches is $10, so anyone can be Stangland said the Thanksgiving Day Foundation handles and runs through a philanthropist. ” all the credit card fees, Dec. 31. Karen Stangland, member so the entire donation The Tonasket Pool Tonasket Pool Committee goes to the organizaand Community tion the giver chooses. Cultural Center “One can also make were both awarded the donation as a gift $10,000 grants from the Foundation and are part of the five- to, or in memory of, another person,” week crowdfunding campaign, along Stangland said. Donations are tax-deductible. with 23 other NCW non profits. BY KATIE TEACHOUT
KATHERINE@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
Katie Teachout/staff photos
Bellingham’s Lindsay Street Band delighted audience members Saturday, Nov. 21 at the Community Cultural Center in Tonasket with original tunes and covers ranging from Ireland, England, Quebec, Scandinavia and France. Above, Elizabeth Elton played violin and sang; Robin Elwood played the button accordion and regular accordion along with guitar and vocals; and Jean Rogers played guitar and penny whistle, along with singing in both French and English. Left, Patty Chambers played percussion, banjo, tin whistle and sang. A dinner prior to the show was available through Tonasket’s La Ultima. For more see page A2
Green Okanogan aims for ownership
Turning shipping containers into housing BY KATIE TEACHOUT KATHERINE@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
TONASKET - The GO Recycle and ReStore will be closed Thursday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 28 to allow volunteers to spend the Thanksgiving holiday “recycling delicious edibles.” The center has been running three days a week since July, and has moved into their winter hours of Tuesdays noon to 4 p.m., Thursdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The change allows the recycle center and GO ReStore to close earlier during the dark of winter, as the yard is not lit for night recycling. GO was happy to report in their November newsletter their cardboard buyer in Wenatchee turns the material into apple packing trays. The GO ReStore building supply exchange which opened in September gathers lumber, plumbing and electrical
fixtures, pipe, wire and wood and metal furnishings to resell at affordable prices. The GO yard helps fire relief groups by offering the Recovery Shed Program a staging area, and providing firewood space for Fire Relief and Recovery Network. GO will partner with Okanogan Community Action Council when they begin a program turning shipping containers into living spaces for homeless vets. Other future plans are to develop a system to re-use glass locally by producing a gravel product. GO organizers are pleased with their new space at 3 Rodeo Road, which meets their current needs and will allow for expansion. Their lease is up in May, at which time the owner intends to sell the property. GO volunteers are intent on raising $149,000 to purchase the site. GO will apply for grants and possibly loans, but would like to emphasize the importance of community support. The current drive to raise funds will funnel all money collected toward the purchase of the facilities.
Oroville looking at $7.9 million budget Budget is slight increase over this year’s BY GARY A. DE VON MANAGING EDITOR
OROVILLE – The City of Oroville is looking at approving a 2016 budget of $7,878,862, about $46,000 higher than in 2015, according to JoAnn Denney, City Clerk/Treasurer. “We did pretty good about not increasing it much over this year’s,” Denney told the city council at their Tuesday, Nov. 17 meeting. She said the budget includes repairs to city Well No. 1 and improvements to the public library. “We also have a TIB application in for 16th Avenue the budget reflects that project as well,” said Rod Noel, city superintendent, adding that the fund is for cities with populations under 5000. “It’s questionable if it will be funded, this is the third time it has been submitted,” Noel said. Chris Branch, the director of community development presented another draft animal ordinance. In fact he presented two, one with an exemption for
animals used for vegetation control and one without. “It would be hard to enforce an ordinance with the vegetation control exemption,” said Branch. Councilman Ed Naillon, who has voiced concerns about the exemption at previous meetings, as well as Councilman Jon Noel, indicated they were against the ordinance in that form. “I would prefer the exemption be out of there. If it remains you could get in to a situation where a potentially dangerous animal was being transported,” Naillon said, adding that saying the animals could only be allowed during daylight ours would also be hard to enforce. “That might be an irritant,” Naillon said. Violation of the ordinance, in whatever form it is formally adopted, would be an infraction rather than a misdemeanor, according to Branch. Police Chief Todd Hill said the civil service has tested eight people for potential officers, including one lateral officer. He said they got three entry level applicants. Councilman Naillon, who is stepping down from the council at the end of his term, will also lose his position on the Okanogan County Transportation
OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE Volume 111 No. 48
Board. He emphasized that Oroville should chose someone from the city government to take his place. “It is important work, especially for this end of the valley, we tend to get shorted,” he said. “Since I am vacating my seat it is important to find a council member to serve. We have approved our five year plan and I have pushed hard for our end,” said Naillon, adding that Tonasket Mayor Patrick Plumb has also been vocal for improved service for the north end of the county. “Patrick does a great job representing the north half, he really looks out for us,” said Naillon. The transportation system has hired bus drivers, a CEO and bought new buses. It is also funding the Okanogan Senior Transportation and Nutrition buses. The system has started by expanding the service in the Omak/Okanogan area, according to Naillon. “There is really a lot of good work to be done with our tax dollars. We need to expand ridership appeal. We need to get nice comfortable places for people to stand. We have purchase four or five shelters and we are looking for some park and ride locations,” he said, adding, “We have a functioning organization
Gary DeVon/staff photo
One of the Okanogan County Transportation busses waits outside the main bus stop in Oroville at the Oroville Quick Mart, 76 station. now.” Naillon said the CEO they hired has experience. The Oroville bus has multiple spots where it stops, more like a shuttle.
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“If you call ahead they will even pick you up anywhere if you are disabled or have a hardship. “We appreciate Ed’s work on the board,” said Mayor Spieth.
News A2 Schools A3, B6 Letters/Opinion A4
Cops/Courts/911 A5 Community A6-A7 Business B1
Classifieds Real Estate Obituaries
B4-B5 B5 B6