T HE F U N N I E S
Goldendale, Washington
ARE COMING ...
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2012
Vol. 133 No. 10 75 cents
Council sets surplus auction, considers Market offer REBECCA GOURLEY REPORTER
Time for a change Daylight Saving time starts this Sunday. Set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night.
A swap of labor for a reduced usage rate for the Farmers’ Market this year may be in the works. Randie Carley and Tom Ireland, Farmers’ Market board members made a presentation to the Goldendale
city council Monday night, proposing the idea that in exchange for a reduced fee for the use of Ekone Park, the Farmers’ Market would work to modernize the kitchen facilities on site. One of the specifics of the project would be to put in an energy-efficient on-demand water heater so that presen-
ters during the market would have hot water to wash their hands and prepare food. Carley hopes that because of the limited cost associated with that type of water heaters, they may be able to get a local store to donate one. As far as the kitchen itself goes, Carley says it is not
functioning. “We also do not believe there is proper venting for drainage,” he added. “At this point, the stove does not work; the refrigerator is intermittent and is probably using an awful lot of energy.” The Farmers’ Market also hopes that the modernization of the kitchen facility will not only benefit the mar-
ket, but it will also be used by others who want to use the park. The Farmers’ Market will have a more detailed outline of the work to be done by the next City Council meeting, March 19. After their presentation,
See City, Page A2
Lawmaker getting to know county issues better
Lyle levy defeat prompts options
LOU MARZELES EDITOR ANDREW CHRISTIANSEN REPORTER
Last month the Lyle school Maintenance and Operations (M&O) levy went down to defeat, 433 to 378 on the $738,000 measure. The levy was more than just a replacement of the continuing M&O levy; in fact, it would have nearly doubled the current levy, which was likely a point of contention for many voters. Why the big increase? Much of the increase was due to loss of state equalization funds, says Superintendent Martin Huffman. Back in 2008, when the last levy was passed, Lyle school district received approximately $212,000 more in total state aid than they did this school year. The school also lost federal support, which dropped approximately $62,000 from four years ago. The difference has been partially made up from local funds and the Lyle School District reserve funds. The school has also run at a deficit every year since the last levy, a total of more than $254,000 over the four years. The school budget has been relatively flat since 2006. It peaked at $4,267,781 in 2009 and is $3,596,107 for the current year. The M&O levy went from $285,000 in 2007-08 to its current level of $378,500. Most of the state money, more than $2 million, comes in the category of state apportionment. That has grown since 2008, but it has been more than offset by a drop in state equalization funds, which went from $164,534 to $51,321 over the same time period, and transportation aid, which went from $707,836 to $458,039. The School Board of Directors met last week and discussed their options for another try at passing the M&O levy. One option presented by Huffman was a two part approach. The voters would vote on a levy amount of $477,000 for part A and an additional $291,000 for part B. Huffman explained that the part A amount would allow continuation of school operation without contracted services, such as school nurse, coaches salaries, stipends and some
See Levy, Page A2
CONTRIBUTED: NANCY MOON
OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD: Dallesport Elementary School presents its spring musical, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, on March 23 and 24 at 7 p.m. Admission is an item for the local food bank. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders have been rehearsing since early January. The cast includes; Kaycee Radke, Bridget Jones, Cristani Coe, Gillian Woods, Ryan Darland, Reco Quintero, Emily Clark, Joe Rodriguez, Cheyenne Brock, Makenzie Chase, Stephen Ganders, Aurora Bowers, Kristina Lagewaard, Gregory Haner, Hadassah Benson, Brandon Lovell, Kevan Bren, Caleb Sayler, Kristal Schultz-Meyer, Olivia Ernst, Crystal Gann, and Savannah Spino. The show is directed by Gail Farris, and Nancy Moon is musical director. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is written by Michele L. Vacca and produced by special arrangement with Classics on Stage of Chicago.
This is the first of a series of articles introducing Klickitat County to its new 14th District legislators. Nor m Johnson knows Goldendale from a long way back. “This goes back a while,” Johnson says. He is one of Klickitat County’s upcoming new legisltators in the state House of Representatives, after this year’s redistricting. “I knew Pete May and his family back when he owned The Sentinel,” he recalls. Johnson was born and raised in Toppenish and is in his first term as representative for a good portion of Yakima County—and now, of course, Klickitat County as well. The Republican has been around local politics for some time, having served as
See Law, Page A2
Republican Caucus draws large voter turnout in Goldendale Some 200 people voted in Goldendale Saturday in the Republican caucus, according to voters.
“This is the largest crowd for this I’ve seen,” said one voter. “Last time there wasn’t anywhere near this many
people. This is fantastic. People are getting involved.” The election this year is in marked contrast to the
2008 election, which centered on two key candidates emerging from the Republican pack. This year, clear
leaders have not been so readily apparent, that that may be shifting.
LOU MARZELES
REBECCA GOURLEY
BUCKLES AT LARGE: A small number of these Goldendale-theme belt buckles were made in the early 1980s, at the behest of what was then Ted’s Cafe Restaurant. Now a search is underway to find more of them, with a view toward creating a display. “They’re a part of our history,” says Rita Liska, who is organizing the search. For more information, call Liska at (509) 261-0854.
AT YOUR SERVICE: Rachel Olp is now The Sentinel’s advertising sales representative, coming from her former position as executive director of the Greater Goldendale Chamber of Commerce.
Bill to approve funds for community, youth fairs passes Legislature Financial help for community and youth fairs has advanced through the state legislature and now awaits the governor’s signature to unleash the funding resource. The measure sailed through both House and Senate with no opposition despite operating budget proposals aimed at drastically cutting money to the state’s Fair Fund. Minority Caucus Vice Chair, Rep. Judy Warnick (RMoses Lake) is prime sponsor of House Bill 2356, which allows organizers of small community and youth fairs to request capital funding for
health and safety projects. “We realized that the smaller fairs, which are struggling just like everyone else, could not apply (under current rules). This bill would open it up so that the smaller ones are eligible for these grants,” said Warnick. The funds enumerated in the legislation are administered as grants by the Department of Agriculture. Last year the state’s capital budget appropriated $1 million from state bonds to area and county fairs, specifically for health and safety projects. Before that, $2.2 million was stretched over eight
years for the same upkeep. These projects include updating electrical wiring, installing parking-lot lighting, renovating to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and replacing rotting bar ns throughout fairgrounds. Betty Backstrom, secretary for the Lacamas Community Fair, said that her group would be interested in requesting capital funding because their two-acre fairground facilities need to be updated because of some safety issues. “We have a concrete floor and it’s cracked and one half
of it is raising up and now it’s getting to the point where people are tripping over it,” said Backstrom. For the larger fairs to receive this funding, the agriculture department would hold a competitive application process in which the county or area fairs have to be evaluated by the state fair commission. According to Kelly Frost, program coordinator with the Department of Agriculture, the competitive process entails a ranking system that prioritizes the capital projects for funding. Frost said those fairs that
provide an in-kind match are many times scored higher because it shows they are committed to the project. The bill proposes the 12 youth fairs and 17 community fairs join the 37 county and area fairs in this competitive process. Once ranked, the fair officials would work with the Department of Agriculture to comply with contracts. “The youth and community fairs funding has been fairly static for the last several years,” said Frost. “Provided they continue to meet qualifications, they would get a set amount.”
Fair officials who don’t follow through with the project would be ordered to repay the state General Fund the grant support provided. Events such as Lacamas Community Fair, StanwoodCamano Community Fair and Wheatland Community Fair are more financially insecure because they rarely have other sources of revenue and often rely on state funding for capital projects, according to Heather Hansen legislative liaison for the Washington State Fair Association.
See Fairs, Page A2