Staff report

Celebrate the Father of our Nation’s birthday in the town named after him this Monday, Feb. 20 at the an-nual George, Washington’s Presidents’ Day party in the George Community Hall.

The doors open at 10:30 a.m. with fresh coffee in the pot. The day’s events will include a children’s carnival sponsored by the George Elementary School’s Parent Volunteer Commit-tee. There will be patriotic

program by the VFW Post at 11 a.m. and an address by GOP state legislative candi-date Matt Manweller. The potato feed begins at noon and there will be free slices of the Georgette’s famous giant birthday cake specially decorated for George Wash-ington’s birthday. There also promises to be fun, games and music, plus a chance to meet and visit friends from all over the area. The event is made possible through the Georgettes and the George Community Hall.

By ChuCk Alleneditor@qvpr.com

The family of Ramiro Muñoz Jr., has more questions than answers almost six months after he was shot to death in a street near his home in northern Quincy.

On Sunday, Feb. 12, his family members and friends gathered, like they have always done on the second Sunday of the month since he was killed on Sept. 23, to bear each other up, to celebrate his life and also to rally against gang violence.

Prior to the rally on the 100 block of F Street SW, family members expressed their frustration that in almost six months there have been no warrants issued and no arrests made in Junior’s killing.

Eusebio Alvarez, the uncle of Junior’s widow,

Raquel Muñoz, said the family wants answers.“We’re going on six months,” he said. “We’re

not getting the answers. I think there should be arrests.”

Despite the frustration, Alvarez said his fam-ily wants to continue to rally for peace and to continue to cooperate with the police and the investigation.

“We want to see justice and peace in this town for everyone,” he said.

Junior, a 40-year-old who had given up the gang life as a youngster and had volunteered to help end gang activity in Quincy, was killed before midnight on Sept. 23 when a suspected gang member started a verbal altercation at an Alvarez family reunion and then fired shots in the air near a park where Junior’s children were

By ChuCk Alleneditor@qvpr.com

Dell Corporation’s new Quincy data center, named the Western Technology Center, began operations Monday, Feb. 13.

According to a press release from Dell, the 250,000 square-foot center built just north of D Street NW, will provide cus-

tomers in North America access to cloud technologies (cloud technologies are computer ser-vices that exist over a network, rather than those downloaded to individual computers) and information technology out-sourcing services, solutions and delivery options.

Some of the features of

Allied Arts takes trip to ‘Oz’

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Muñoz family seeks answers

‘Wizard of Oz’ musical opens Friday, runs Feb. 18, 23, 24 and 25

Birthday party for George

Off to see the Wizard

Spaghetti feed sales begin

Chuck Allen/Post-Register

Raquel Muñoz (with megaphone) leads chants during a rally against gang violence on Sunday, Feb. 12. Her husband, Ramiro Junior, was shot to death by a suspected gang member last September.

Police chief declares investigation is the top priority

Please see Answers page A6

Tammara Green/Post-Register

Glinda, the Good Witch, (Vonna Harris) meets Dorothy (Kennadi Hawes) during a rehearsal scene from the Quincy Valley Allied Arts production of the musical “Wizard of Oz.” The performances at the Quincy High School Performing Arts Center are at 7 p.m. on Feb. 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25.

By ChuCk Alleneditor@qvpr.com

On Friday, Feb. 17, fourth-grade students from Monument and George elementary schools will begin selling tickets to the annual Fourth-grade Spaghetti Feed, which is Friday, March 2 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The spaghetti feed is the main fundraising activity to

pay for the annual Quincy Fourth-grade Field Trip, which is an overnight excursion to the Puget Sound region in May. Students visit the Pacific Sci-ence Center, Woodland Park Zoo, take a ferry ride, see wildlife and learn about sea life and the environment and stay over at an elementary school

Please see Dell page A6

By TAmmArA Greenwriter@qvpr.com

Quincy Valley Allied Arts is rolling out their first non-children’s production of The Wizard of Oz with performances this Friday and Saturday. The musical, adapted from the book by L. Frank Baum, will be directed by Eric VanWoert of Moses Lake, with Sherri Kooy acting as assistant director. Music will be under the direction of Marilyn Cobia, with choreography by Molly Streich.

Director VanWoert has been acting since childhood, and has spent the last 15 years performing in local plays and musicals. “I love being able to interact with so many people,” said VanWoert. The original play, which has 12 parts, has been extended to include more children playing nonspeaking roles as well. “The play has a lot of appeal. People know the songs,” he said.

VanWoert promises a unique experi-ence. The play is slightly different from the movie, but what it might lack in Hol-

lywood glitz and special effects it will make up for in originality. According to VanWoert, the play adaptation includes full-length songs with missing introduc-tions and extended versions most people have never heard. A lot of things were edited out of the 1939 movie, including a song called “Jitterbug” which is important to the story in the play.

The part of Dorothy will be played by Kennadi Hawes. Aunt Em will be

Please see Oz page A6

Dell opens data center

Please see Feed page A6

the new data center include redundant network connec-tivity, constant power supply and diesel-powered backup generators. The center is also built with the largest installa-tion of energy-efficient heat wheel technology in the United States. The heat wheel cools the data center with a low energy consumption, which helps to re-

duce energy use and expenses. The heat wheel exchanges cooler air from the outside with hot air created by the computer server equipment.

“Dell is proud to be listed as one of the top Green IT companies in the world,” stated Patrick Mooney, execu-tive director of Dell Services. “Our efforts to optimize the power usage effectiveness at our Western Technology Center appeals to customers who want to consider the im-

pact to the environment when configuring their IT solutions and to our environmentally conscious team members who participate in green initiatives across Dell.”

Construction of the Dell facility began in April, 2011. The company plans two more phases of expansion at the facility.

When all of the phases are completed, the company esti-mated it will have 40 employees at the facility.

A6February 16, 2012 Valley News

playing. After those first shots, Junior tried to get the gunman to stop and instead had the gun turned on him. Junior died in the street in front of his family.

Quincy police named three persons of interest in the shooting, Gerardo Miguel Va-lenzuela Navarro, who was 19, Erwin Vazquez, who was 20, and Eddie Alvarez Hernandez, who turned 21 on the day of the shooting, but there have been no arrest warrants issued against them.

“I don’t understand,” said Marcy Alvarez, a cousin to Raquel Muñoz. “They know who they are and they’re not going after them. If it was (the police’s) family, they would be after them that night.

Adding to the family’s grief are the reports that the persons of interests have been spotted around town.

“We hear that they are going around living normal lives,” said Noelia Mendoza, another one of Raquel’s cousins. “I can’t stand the thought that they are living normal lives like nothing happened. It’s not right.”

Quincy Police Chief Richard Ackerman said he understands the family’s emotions.

“I understand the frustra-tions,” he said. “I want them and everyone to know that our number one priority as a depart-ment is this case. We have an active investigation and we’re working as hard as we can to gather evidence.”

He explained that the depart-ment is working closely with the Grant County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to have a solid case to bring before the court.

“It’s not like TV,” he said. “We can’t wrap everything up in an hour. We’ve flown officers out of state to talk to witnesses. We’ve gone to a lot

of expense in this investigation and we are working very hard to build a case.”

He added that the depart-ment has to be careful in reveal-ing all the information it has on the case because it could inhibit the investigation.

Ackerman said his depart-ment has been trying to keep Raquel Muñoz and her family informed of what is happening with the case.

The deliberate pace is hard on the family, said Juan Muñoz, Junior’s younger brother, who wants to see the shooter answer for his crime.

“All I want is to hear them say that they have arrested him and that he is going to jail for what he did and then that will be it,” Muñoz said. “Junior was a good guy. He had heart. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the police department at (509) 787-TIPS.

Answers:Continued from front page

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in Burlington. The spaghetti feed and field trip have been a Quincy tradition since 1976.

Another tradition is the rising cost of con-ducting such a field trip. This year, the students must raise $17,000 to pay for the costs of send-ing about 300 students and adult chaperones on the field trip.

Tickets to the feed, which will be held at Quincy High School, are $5 a plate. The or-ganizers decided to charge just one price for all meals, rather than selling a children’s and adult-size meal, said fourth-grade teacher Jean Luebber. All meals will also be to-go this year to help speed up the serving process.

“We want to eliminate the long lines and streamline the serving process,” she said.

Fourth-grade students will be out in the com-munity selling their tickets starting on Friday. If community members are not contacted by a fourth-grader, they are encouraged to purchase their tickets at the school at 1400 13th Ave. SW, or by calling 787-9826. Tickets can also be purchased at the feed and donations are always gladly accepted.

Hydi Hoeger, who attended the trip as a fourth-grade student and is now a parent volun-teer for the feed, said the trip was a highlight of her school years and she is now excited to help her children and other Quincy students have the same experience. “It really is a special time,” she said. “It’s one of the things that makes Quincy such a great place to live.”

Feed:Continued from front page

Dell:Continued from front page

Tickets now on sale for QVTA’s trout fishing derby on March 3Staff report

Quincy Valley Tourism Association will hold its sec-ond annual Trout Derby on Saturday, March 3.

The derby, held at Burke Lake, begins from sun-up to 1 p.m.

There will be prizes for tagged fish, worth $1,000 if caught during the derby, heavi-est fish, cumulative weight, mystery fish and raffles. There are youth and adult categories. Tickets are $20 for 16 and over and $10 for 15 and under.

Ticket sales and rules are

available at Quincy Ace Hard-ware, Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce, Hooked on Toys in Wenatchee and High Mountain Hunting Supply in Moses Lake.

Participants can also reg-iser online at www.quincyval-leytourism.org.

by Jeanne Bushman. Larry Clark will play the part of Un-cle Henry. Pat Connelly plays the part of Zeke and the Lion. Tom Harris plays Hickory and the Tin Man. Paul Slager plays Hunk and the Scarecrow. The parts of Almira Gulch and the Wicked Witch will be played by Sherri Kooy. Oz and Pro-fessor Marvel will be played by Bob Jasman. Vonna Harris is Glinda the Good Witch.

There are many support-ing roles, which are: Monica Berndt, Rachel Johnson and Shannon Slager as the trees; Reed Hyer, Tom Parrish and Larry Clark as the crows; By-ron Buys as Nikko and Monica Berndt as Jitterbug.

Citizens of Munchkinland are as follows: Rod Luce as Mayor; Hanah Allen as Coro-ner; Emily Bensch as Barris-ter; Cyril Berndt, Trevor Bush-man and Gabe Latimer as the City Fathers. Hannah Bensch, Julianna Buys, Camryn Hawes

and Grace VanderMerWe are the Lullabye League. Spencer Bushman, Tanner Bushman, Kendrick Buys and Alec Mar-Nicholson are the Lol-lipop Guild. The parts of the teachers will be played by Kory Buys and Torrie-Lynne Wilson. Trumpet Heralds are Juliana Mancini, Savana Man-cini and Wyatt VanderMerWe. Playing poppies are: Gregory Berndt, Camryn Hawes, Tren-ton Hawes, Hannah Bensch, Tanner Bushman and Savana Mancini. Snowflakes will be played by Daisy Dominguez, Sarahi Dominguez, Alex Latimer, Bella Latimer, Owen Mar-Nicholson and Wyatt VanderMerWe. Beauticians of Oz are; Janet Lybbert, Hanah Allen, Kory Buys, Jeanne Bushman, Debbie Latimer, Courtney Wilson and Torrie-Lynn Wilson. Polishers of Oz are Byron Buys, Larry Clark, Reed Hyer and Tom Parrish. Winkies will be played by Ha-nah Allen, Cyril Berndt, Kory Buys, Larry Clark, Tom Par-rish and Torrie-Lynn Wilson. General of the Winkie Guards

will be played by Spencer Bushman.

Munchkins are Torrie-Lynn Wilson, Courtney Wil-son, Wyatt VanderMerWe, Grace VanderMerWe, Owen Mar-Nicholson, Alec Mar-Nicholson, Savana Mancini, Juliana Mancini, Gabe Lat-imer, Bella Latimer, Alex Latimer, Chloe James, Trenton Hawes, Camryn Hawes, Sara-hi Dominguez, Daisy Domin-guez, Kory Buys, Kendrick Buys, Julianna Buys, Trevor Bushman, Tanner Bushman, Spencer Bushman, Monica Berndt, Gregory Berndt, Cyril Berndt, Hannah Bensch, Em-ily Bensch and Hanah Allen.

Catch The Wizard of Oz Feb. 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25 at the Quincy High School Performing Arts Center. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for everyone. On the opening night of Feb. 17, there will be a QVAA member’s only gala.

If you are interested in becoming a member and sup-porting local theater, please call Sherri Kooy at 787-4953.

Chuck Allen/Post-Register

The Dell Western Technology Center is located on D Street NE.

Oz:Continued from front page

Man gets three months for biting copBy ChuCk Alleneditor@qvpr.com

A Quincy man was sentenced to three months in jail for biting a Quincy police officer. According to a report from the Grant County Prosecutor’s Office, Manuel Ramirez, 43, was sentenced on Feb. 6 after being found guilty during a jury trial.

Ramirez was charged with biting officer Joe Westby when he was being handcuffed outside of a nightclub on the 900 block of

Central Avenue S on Aug. 13, 2011. Prosecuting attorney D. Angus Lee asked for

the maximum sentence on the charge of third-degree assault of a law enforcement officer.

“The role of a police officer is an essential one in maintaining a free society,” Lee stated. “This office will not tolerate assaults on law enforcement. The court honored our request to impose the maximum sentence allowed and let Mr. Ramirez spend three months in jail thinking about whether it’s in his best interest to bite a police officer.”