THURSDAY
NOV. 26, 2015 Opinion ��������������Page 4 Community News ���Page 5 Sports ���������������Page 7 Classifieds ���������� Page 17 SERVING THE WEST END SINCE 1931
Volume 84 No. 10
• WWW.FORKSFORUM.COM •
Draft assessment for Lake Crescent project A draft environmental assessment for Olympic National Park’s plans to improve U.S. Highway 101 along Lake Crescent is expected to be released to the public sometime after Jan. 1. The park, along with the Federal Highway Administration as a cooperating agency, plans to replace sections of road bed, remove rock-fall hazards, repair or replace failing retaining walls and rotten guardrails, and repair culverts on 12.3 miles of this vital link between the West End and the rest of the peninsula. If approved, the project — currently estimated at about $20 million — could begin in the spring of 2017. Project funding would be provided through the Federal Aid Highway Program. The Federal Highway Administration implements the program in cooperation with state and local governments.
Beach combers walk First Beach in LaPush on Nov. 18 after the recent storm left piles of logs and debris scattered along the shores of the Pacific. Photo by Lonnie Archibald
The park’s options include the required alternative of performing no repairs, three years of 30-minute delays in the construction season from March to November or closing the lake stretch of the highway entirely
for 1.7 construction seasons with traffic rerouted to state Highways 112 and 113. The public comment period will start as soon as the release of the draft for review. The draft environmental assessment includes
responses to public comments taken through June 7 about six alternatives for scheduling traffic delays and closures during construction. The entities involved in the project say that they really hope
to look hard and consider any avenue that they can in limiting the impact on local communities and hope to make sure that whatever wait times motorists experience during the project will be as small as possible.
Ann Penn-Charles receives honor
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PRSRT STD US Postage Paid Permit No. 6 Forks, WA
Ann Penn-Charles with the Quileute Nation received the honor of Exemplary Tribal Prevention Professional, one of eight of the Washington State Exemplary Substance Abuse
satisfied with good enough. Miss Ann leads a group of youth on an annual substance-free canoe journey, connecting with other coastal tribes to build cultural awareness among youth. She organizes a weekly Drum Circle to honor Quileute tribal traditions. The Drum Circle draws tribal members from neighboring Hoh and Makah tribes, who travel great distances to participate. Miss Ann coordinates several healing and organizing groups in the community to further community connectedness. Miss Ann attended the Washington Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training in September and now plans to complete her paperwork to become a Certified Prevention Professional. Miss Ann’s prevention work is admired by other tribal prevention specialists. She is looked to as a leader for her efforts and fearless ability to get programs going in the face of opposition.”
ECRWSS - BOXHOLDER
Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, Ann Penn-Charles and Sarah Mariani DSHS/DBHR. Submitted Photo
Prevention Awards presented by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen at a prevention conference in Seattle on Nov. 16. “Miss Ann,” as everyone knows her, has worked in prevention for over 20 years. She is a natural community organizer and makes the most of her resources through networking and engaging partners to serve as many community members as possible. She is invested in her community and wants to make it a better place for the health and wellness for future generations. Owen’s remarks from the ceremony: “Miss Ann works incredibly hard to mobilize a community that is fighting to reduce the results of generational trauma. She understands the importance of comprehensive prevention planning and how to integrate the prevention language and translate that language for her community to be culturally sensitive. She goes above and beyond her annual prevention plan each year and is never