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Photo submitted by NVHJosiah Anguiano was the first baby welcomed into the world at Tonasket’s North Valley Hospital in 2012. Josiah was born Thursday, Jan. 5, at 3:24 a.m. to Sandina Nelson and Eric Anguiano, both of Oroville. He’s the seventh grandbaby on his mother’s side and second grandbaby on his dad’s side. Josiah weighed in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces and was 18 inches long.

New Years Newborn

Survey says: Hiking and walking trails most popularBy Gary A. DeVonManaging Editor

OROVILLE – Ted Murray and Sharon McKinzie with the Okanogan County Planning of-fice came to Oroville last week to discuss the county’s efforts to update the Comprehensive Recreation Plan and the results of an online public survey.

“The state and federal gov-ernments require an update every six years for the county to maintain grant eligibility,” said Ted Murray, Outdoor Recre-ation Coordinator for Okanogan County. “This doesn’t just help the county... the city can draw off it as well.”

At the Wednesday, Jan. 4 meet-ing held at city hall, Murray said the county didn’t have a lot in the way of recreation fa-cilities. The biggest facility the county operates is the county fairgrounds and Agriplex. They also have a short riverfront park in Winthrop the county acquired about two years ago. In the north-ern part of the county there is the recently developed Similkameen River Trail which runs from the

trailhead at Oroville along the old Great Northern Railway bed and along the Similkameen River, across the old steel and concrete railroad bridge to nearly the Enloe Dam powerhouse. Also in the northern part of the county is the Whistler Canyon Trail which is south of Oroville and can be accessed from Highway 97.

Although the online surveys were anonymous, the county could tell what area they came from through the respondent’s IP Addresses.

“The largest number of sur-veys were from Winthrop, with the second largest number from Oroville. About 110 surveys came from outside the county, from places like Spokane, Colville and the coast,” Murray said. “Many local kids under 18 jumped online in the last three days.”

According to the survey, hik-ing and walking on trails is the number one activity for those that responded. Number two was pleasure driving, three was swimming and four was picnick-ing.

“Farmers Markets did real well also across the county, which is not a big surprise,” Murray said. “Shore fishing did pretty well too.”

Murray said the survey takers answered very similarly across the county, with little difference

County holds meeting on Recreation Plan update in Oroville

Submitted photoLocal high school students work on benches for the Similkameen River Trail. They also helped with signage on the trail.

National Foundation awards grant to outstanding local music programSubmitted by Joan HoehneOroville Elementary Prin-cipal

OROVILLE – Oroville Elemen-tary and Oroville Jr./Sr. High School will soon receive several musical instruments, thanks to The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foun-dation.

With many music programs across the country losing vital funding, the foundation helps under-served schools that don’t have enough money to purchase or repair their instruments.

Oroville Elementary and Oroville Jr./Sr. High School sub-mitted applications for support and the foundation found their program to be a worthwhile investment, allowing more stu-dents to be able to play and experience the benefits of music education.

“The total retail value of the The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foun-dation donation is $72,000, this will add 27 instruments to our elementary music program. In addition, a portion of the dona-tion has been slated for repairs to our current instruments. These instruments, along with others donated by commu-nity members, will assist our elementary band students with practicing and participating in school performances. ” said Oroville Elementary School Principal Joan Hoehn.

Oroville High School Princi-pal Kristin Sarmiento added, “Receiving this donation will allow our Middle and High School music program to grow and prosper. We have many stu-dents who want to be involved with music, but don’t have the ability to attain an instrument. This grant will allow us the op-portunity to take that barrier away and allow more students the opportunity to study mu-sic.”

The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foun-dation donates new and refur-bished musical instruments to under-served schools, com-munity music programs and individual students nationwide, in an effort to give youngsters the many benefits of music edu-cation, help them to be better students and inspire creativity and expression through playing

music. “Learning music in school is

a way to engage kids and give them something that makes them better students and better people,” said Felice Mancini, executive director of the founda-tion. “They deserve every tool available to help them receive a quality education, and we want to insure that music is in that toolbox.”

The organization was inspired by the 1995 motion picture Mr. Holland’s Opus and founded by Michael Kamen, who composed the music for the movie and countless others. In the last 15 years, over 15,000 new and refurbished instruments have been donated to 1,260 school and community music programs across the country. More infor-mation can be found at www.mhopus.org.

Editor’s Note: Each January we take a look back at just a few of the top news stories that made the headlines in the previous year. This week we look back at those stories that happened in the last six months of 2011. We hope you enjoy this look back at the year that was.

July

Oroville to spray for mos-quitos – The city announced that it will begin spraying for mosquitos as soon as the high water goes down. It’s the first time the city has taken this step

against the prolific pests in re-cent memory.

TSD adds fourth kindergar-ten class – The Tonasket School Board agreed to hire a fourth kindergarten teacher as student population in the primary grades continues to grow.

Oroville looking to lease ambulance – The city is trying to find a second ambulance to lease while it’s determined if repairs can be made to the main unit which was damaged when struck by another vehicle.

Hoehn hired as new Oroville Elementary Principal – Oroville School District has found a new elementary school principal

from the “show me” state – Joan Hoehn, pronounced like “Joanne Hane”.

Tonasket receives $1.2M for sewer project – Tonasket re-ceived a forgivable principal loan of $1.2 million from the state to construct the Bonaparte Creek Area Sanitary Sewer Project.

Authorities seek suspects in murder and attempted murder – Law enforcement sought the whereabouts of two men, one believed involved in a murder and the other in an unrelated attempted murder and kidnap-ping.

Herbicide not approved for milfoil control in lake – Con-

cerns were raised in Canada over the county Weed Board’s application to use herbicide in Lake Osoyoos for Eurasian wa-termilfoil control.

Colville Tribes lend ambu-lance to EMS District – The Colville Confederated Tribe agreed to loan Oroville EMS an ambulance while their main unit was being repaired after it was damaged.

August

County picks up $37.4M in new assessed evaluation – Okanogan County picked up

new construction valued at $37,412,700 in assessed evalua-tion in the previous 12 months – an 18 percent decrease over the previous year, according to Assessor Scott Furman.

Cherry harvest wrapping up this week – Cherry harvest should be wrapping up this week, with excellent overall quality of the crop, according to Greg Moser, manager of Gold Digger growers’ co-op.

Gazette-Tribune has new publisher – Sound Publishing, Washington’s largest publisher of community newspapers and NCW Media agreed to swap publications with the Okanogan

Valley Gazette-Tribune going to Sound and the Wenatchee Busi-ness Journal going to NCW.

Oroville Council working on ‘No Wake’ ordinance – Oroville City Council got their first look at a draft “No Wake” ordinance for areas of Lake Osoyoos and the Okanogan River under their jurisdiction.

Primary election narrows field of school board candi-dates – The August 16 primary election narrowed the field of Oroville School Board candi-dates for Positions 4 and 5 from three to two.

Oroville Elementary and High School students to receive musical instruments

See PLAN on Page 3

Looking Back at 2011: The last six months

See REVIEW on Page 3

By Brent BakerStaff Writer

TONASKET - The Tonasket School Board prepared to distrib-ute information on the upcoming replacement levy election even as they worked to cope with uncertainty regarding the level of district’s future Levy Equaliza-tion Act funding.

“We have our first official meet-ings ... with each department on Wednesday,” said superin-tendent Paul Turner. “We’ll be putting together our brochures and we’re visiting five different (community) groups in January

and February (to discuss the levy election).”

Ballots for the $1.15 million replacement levy will come out late in January, with the election taking place Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Turner said the challenge was painting a clear picture of what monies will be available to the district with a combination of the levy and the LEA funding. The state legislature’s December special session left the school funding picture no clearer than it had been before. Lawmakers gathered in Olympia Monday, Jan. 9, to kick off a 60-day ses-sion that may finally result in a

firm clear of the state funding picture.

TSD’s current LEA funding of $762,000 could be reduced sig-nificantly, but the dollar amount won’t be known until well after the election.

“With all the uncertainty with levy equalization, we’re trying to find a way to talk about how much money we’ll have available,” Turner said, adding that the in-formational brochures will show both dollar amounts for items specific to the levy, and items dependent on LEA funding.

“Without knowing what we’re getting (from the state),” Turner

said, “there’s things we don’t want to tie the district up to ... There is the potential for $762,000 but we don’t know how much we’ll actually get of that.”

Some LEA funding could go to the extension of the school day, and the board authorized Turner to study and make a preliminary plan to return the district day to its full length. Tonasket schools have run a shortened day for years, costing students approxi-mately 45 minutes per day of classroom time.

“I’d like to see if that can be accomplished,” Turner said. “It’s not a levy issue, but I want to be

able to come back later to the board with a plan. It’s something we’ve talked about for a long time and haven’t really started the process for. It’s contingent on what happens with the LEA, but we should at least have a plan to move in that direction.”

In other business, special edu-cation director Liz Stucker pre-sented her Title I school-wide plan, the global plan that will govern the special education plans for the elementary, middle and high schools.

Most work on the policies and procedure revision project was not addressed due to the absence

of board member Ernesto Cer-rillo, who is heading up the work on the 4000 series of policies. The first reading of policy 3241, Classroom Management, Correc-tive Actions or Punishment, was approved.

Finally Turner read a procla-mation from Governor Christine Gregoire and presented certifi-cates to each board member as the governor proclaimed January as School Board Appreciation Month.

The next Tonasket School Board meeting will be Monday, Jan. 23, at 7:00 p.m. in the district office board room.

School board prepares for replacement levy election

The official paper of oroville, TonaskeT & okanogan counTy, WashingTonJanuary 12, 2012 • Volume 107, no. 02 Single Copy 75¢

cenTennial year - 1905-2005

INDEX

Community ................................................................2-3

Letters & Opinions .......................................................4

Okanogan Valley Life/Columnists .............................5-6

Movies..............................................................................5

Sports.........................................................................7-8

B&S Directory.............................................................B1

Classifieds/Legals...................................................B2-B3

Obits...........................................................................B4

By Gary A. DeVonManaging Editor

OROVILLE – The Oroville Planning Agency held the first of two informational meetings on Wednesday, Jan. 4 to discuss information on Critical Areas Updates prior to holding a public hearing on the issue.

The meeting took place dur-ing the regular meeting of the Oroville Planning Commission at the city council chambers. Chris Branch, Director of Community Development said, “Critical Ar-eas regulations are required to include the best available science in the designation, classification and regulation of wetlands, fish and wildlife conservation areas, frequently flooded areas, aquifer recharge areas and geologically hazardous areas.”

Branch said although the state makes regulations regarding critical areas, the city decides on whether they are designated as such or not.

“We decide and if we can justify it then the state will not make us change our decision,” said Branch.

He added that if the city com-bines several overlays showing the critical areas they all com-

bine around water bodies.“If you have to protect those

water bodies and have to protect the wildlife habitat the upside is you also protect the green space and livability of your commu-nity,” Branch said. “The down side is that it affects peoples’ property rights.”

Branch gave examples of pro-tection that took place near Tonasket Creek where the Oroville Housing Authority was building Farm Worker Hous-ing.

“At first they looked at build-ing right near the creek. You’ll see they ended up with a green belt between the development and the stream and also a green belt between there and the farm area,” he said. “The Housing Authority may not have real-ized it, but in retrospect I think people will say ‘wasn’t it great they preserved that.’”

Branch recalled visiting unde-velopeable protected areas when he lived in Seattle for a time.

“I appreciated being able to go to a green space... it gives you the idea you are getting out of town,” he said. “However, those protected areas, sometimes on private property, don’t always have to be made open to the

public, but remain protected anyway.

“There can be a partnership advantage to allowing trail cor-ridors. There was a Canadian property owner who traded land with us and the county for the trailhead in exchange for access to Kernan Road... that turned into an asset to him for a small housing development.”

Branch said the city hasn’t spent a lot of time on the Critical Areas Ordinance in the past and now they were trying to draft goals, objectives and policies for the Oroville Comprehensive Plan which was recently revised and provide the underlying basis for the recently completed draft Critical Areas regulations.

About buffer zones and ripar-ian areas, Branch said, “People tent to focus on one or two spe-cies.. there’s actually a whole lot of critters in the riparian area. We are trying to protect biodiversity.”

Marc Egerton, a member of the Oroville Planning Commis-sion said, “I think most people care when it affects their land.”

Egerton suggested the city contact property owners who have land where the update to the Critical Areas Ordinance

may have a potential to affect their property.

With the Oroville city limits pushing northward with an-nexation areas that were under county regulations are coming under city jurisdiction, making it important that the differences be kept in mind as they work on updating the city ordinance.

“If you compare to the county we are not doing much differ-ently than they are. In fact, if you look at the regulations in 2007 that they have in place we are actually providing some relief,” said Branch, adding that the draft of the regulations were on the city’s website www.orovillewa.com.

The second workshop will be Wednesday, Jan. 18 in the coun-cil chambers starting at 5 p.m.

Additional information for this workshop is available from Community Development Direc-tor Branch at (509) 560-3535, or e-mail him at chrisb.oroville@nvinet.com. Persons with spe-cial needs, including access and language assistance, should call or e-mail to make arrangements for accommodations.

The council chambers are at Oroville City Hall and are located at 1308 Ironwood.

By Maida Suljevic, ReporterWNPA Olypmia News Bureau

The Washington State Sen-ate Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters Commit-tee on Jan. 9 voted unani-mously to refer a bill to the Ways and Means Committee that would make the Discover Pass transferable between two vehicles.

The Discover Pass was es-tablished by the legislature and the creating bill signed by the governor during last year’s legislative session. It went into effect July 1, 2011.

The Discover Pass is re-quired on vehicles to access state parks, heritage sites, wildlife and natural areas, and any recreation lands or water-access sites managed by Washington State Parks, the Washington State Depart-ment of Natural Resources and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Under current law, the Dis-cover Pass costs $30 annually and $10 for a daily pass per vehicle.

The current fine for not displaying a Discover Pass on a vehicle while on state recre-ation land or a water-access site is $99.

Under the proposed legisla-tion, the cost would remain the same, but the pass would be transferable between two vehicles at the same address.

According to Ilene Frisch, acting deputy director of the Washington State Parks, the state parks projected rev-enue from the Discover Pass through the December 2011 was pegged at $15.6 million. The actual revenue realized for that period was $6.5 mil-lion.

Initial projections from the Discover Pass were based on a survey done by a policy research group from Wash-ington State University. Once the Discover Pass was insti-tuted, Washington State Parks employed the group again

to determine why residents weren’t purchasing the pass.

“The number one issue that came out of hat survey was the transferability and that some people thought it was a better bargain if it was for two vehicles in their same home,” said Frisch.

If the legislation is ap-proved, it will go into effect immediately.

However, revenue from the Discover Pass depends on when people purchase it, thus spreading income through the year. If the proposal passes the legislature and the amend-ing law is signed by Gov. Christine Gregoire, people who have recently purchased their annual Discover Pass would write in their second vehicle plate number on the pass, and wouldn’t have to purchase another one until the original expired. If people wait until the summer months to purchase a pass, the state parks system won’t see that revenue come in until the be-ginning a the new biennium, which starts July 1.

“If they purchase it through their license renewal, some additional funding could start coming in. The sooner it pass-es, the better it is for us, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that a lot of money will come in right away,” said Frisch.

If the bill does pass, state parks could lose revenue if households that bought more than one Discover Pass re-vert to a single pass for two vehicles.

“The information that we have suggests that it’s more likely that we’ll earn addi-tional money,” said Frisch. The new pass would have space for two vehicle license plate numbers and the pass would only be valid for those two vehicles.

Discover Passes are avail-able from recreation license vendors, by phone, when ve-hicle licenses are renewed, or at state parks.

Submitted by Andrew PerlebergWSU Extension Forester

SPOKANE VALLEY – Spo-kane Valley will host the 20th Annual Family Foresters Workshop at the Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center on Friday, Jan. 20 and registrations are due by Friday Jan. 13.

Family-owned forests are vital to the economy and quality of life in the Inland Northwest. These lands are critical for wildlife habitat, timber supply, water qual-ity, and many other values. Unique skills are required of foresters and other natural resource professionals who help family forest owners manage their property.

The Fami ly Foresters Workshop is designed to strengthen the skil ls of consulting foresters, state-employed service foresters, and other natural resource professionals who work with family forest owners. It serves as a forum to provide updates on emerging tech-nology and knowledge ap-plicable to family forestry.

This year’s program will be held at the Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center

in Spokane Valley on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Topics planned for this year include: logging & trucking cost assessment on family forest ownerships, prescribed burner certifi-cation to reduce liability, Pacific Northwest family forest landowner’s needs regarding climate change, climate models and relat-ed tools being created for landowners and managers, the future of markets for wood products from Inland Northwest family forests, us-ing Google Earth and other freely available mapping software; balancing wildfire risk reduction with wildlife habitat needs; and the an-nual family forest econom-ics/policy update.

The program can accom-modate up to 100 people. Registration forms are avail-able at local University of Idaho and Washington State University Extension Offices, and should be returned by January 13, 2012. An $85.00 pre-registration fee ($95.00 after Jan. 13) includes lunch and refreshments. For ques-tions on the program, con-tact: Chris Schnepf at (208) 446-1680 or Andy Perleberg at (509) 667-6658.

Oroville Planning Agency holds Critical Area Ordinance workshop

Registrations due Jan. 13 for Annual Family Foresters Workshop

Discover Pass expansion gets senate committee nod

By Brent BakerStaff Writer

TONASKET — Paul and Lana Beyers have been busy.

Since buying Al’s IGA of Tonasket in April, 2011, the gro-cery store’s new owners have been putting their own stamp on the business, renaming it Beyers Market, changing to a new distributor, reorganizing the floorspace and redecorating the interior to reflect and honor the history and character of the town.

And as 2012 dawns, the trans-formation is nearly complete.

“All the changes are done,” Paul Beyers said. “For people who haven’t been in the store for awhile, we’re hoping they’ll come check it out and see what they think.

“There’ve been a few issues. It’s not always fun to shop when a store is being reorganized. And we had a few computer

glitches for awhile. But the work is wrapping up and we’re pretty excited.”

The purchase of the store pre-sented Beyers with the chance to fulfill his dream of owning a business in his hometown.

“I grew up in Tonasket, and the longer I was away, the more I wanted to come back and have my own business here,” he said. “We had no idea Al (Seccomb) was wanting to (sell) until we approached him. It couldn’t have been more perfect timing.

“So now I’m living in the place that I love, doing the business I love and getting to see and talk with people constantly.”

The biggest change to the store, which included some changes to inventory and pric-ing, was the move away from IGA to URM Food Service, which operates out of Spokane.

“They are as local as you can get for this area,” Beyers said. “The previous warehouse

operates out of Tacoma, and a lot of their products are geared toward the west side. We felt that URM dealt better with our demographic of customer.

“Change isn’t easy for cus-tomers, we recognize that. But we think that the products are improved, and even though some prices have changed, I think if you fill a basket with grocer-ies you’ll find that overall the changes (some price increases vs. some decreases) have bal-anced out.”

There’s also a new reading area near the front of the store which has already started at-tracting some regulars to its comfortable chairs and homey setting.

One thing that didn’t change was the majority of the staff.

“We kept almost all of our em-ployees,” Beyers said. “We love our employees and we want them to be happy working here.”

Beyers said his emphasis is on serving local customers, encouraging the health of local businesses, and being involved in the community wherever possible.

“We feel our prices are com-petitive with anyone in Oroville or Tonasket,” Beyers said. “We’re not wanting to drive anyone out of business in town, not at all. We need as many businesses here as possible for the town to be

healthy. What we’re hoping for is that after shopping here people like the variety and the shopping experience and will want to stay here in Tonasket to do most of their shopping.

“We want to see the town grow, see the local economy start to turn around, see all the businesses here prosper, and have new people wanting to live here.”

Shoppers will also notice fresh decor, including historical pic-tures of Tonasket, renamed aisles (after local lakes) and freshly painted signs in the store.

“We really want to capture the history and atmosphere of Tonasket,” Beyers said. “We want that to be part of what it means to be in the store.”

Beyers has donated its time and resources to a number of local causes, including food for the Community Cultural Center’s Thanksgiving dinner, the Tonasket Free Method-ist Church’s Soup for the Soul soup kitchen, and purchasing the books for the Tonasket El-ementary School’s Battle of the Books competition that begins this month.

“We love doing this,” Beyers said. “We love the area. We thor-oughly enjoy everything about being here. The economy has been tough, but it’s tough just about everywhere. Coming back has been everything I hoped it would be. We’re just really thankful to the community for sticking with us through all the changes.”

Photo by Brent BakerBeyers Market, formerly Al’s IGA, sports a fresh new look after new owners Paul and Lana Beyers completed their remodeling of the Tonasket grocery store.

Tranformation of Beyers Market complete

2 OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune • January 12, 2012

Submitted photoStudents put together benches that were installed at various points along the Similkameen River Trail.

between those inside and outside the Methow.

“I’m surprised that hunting and gathering did not score a little higher. I’m also surpirsed that snowmobiling did not come out higher, especially since 50 percent of those that responded said they did it at least annually.”

Survey takers were pretty even-ly divided for their desires for recreation facilities: Number one was nature and interpretive trails; number two was indoor pool and number three was picnic areas. Several kids from the Oroville area said they would like to see a skatepark, said Murray.

George Thornton, an Oroville teacher who is also a member of the Oroville Chapter of the Pacific Northwest Trail Association, said he had gotten a call where the caller state there was almost a “traffic jam” at Palmer Lake with people trying to get a look at a rare Ross’s Gull that was spotted there by a state Wildlife Biologist.

Chris Branch, Oroville’s Direc-tor of Community Development said, “Even if we do build a pool we would still have to come up with the dollars to maintain it, the same could be said for a com-munity center.”

Branch also said building trails around the east side of Lake

Osoyoos has been the topic of discussion over the last couple years, as well as building a bridge to Driscol Island.

Murray said the county’s popu-lation had been growing older, with the greatest growth in those ages 54 to 70 since the 2000 cen-sus.

“My years with commercial real estate have taught me that com-panies that are looking to locate in an area are not just looking at the transportation grid, schools and community, but also the rec-reation possibilities,” said Sharon McKenzie. “With more activities

you bring in companies and that will boost the tax base.”

Branch, who just led a work-shop on updating Oroville’s Criti-cal Areas ordinance, also added that part of a planner’s job is to educate people on the value of protected areas.

“If we protect areas and provide public access we then have the opportunity to educate the public on why the areas were protected,” Branch said.

The survey is still open will remain online for a short period, those that wish to take it should go to www.okanogancounty.org.

Continued from Page 1

PLAN: Survey open for short time on internet

Decision on joining Con-servation District postponed – After a short public comment period about whether or not to join the Okanogan County Con-servation District, the Tonasket Council decided to again post-pone their decision.

People worry they’ll have to pay for sewer – Concerned they’ll be taxed for a sewer line they say they don’t benefit from, several Eastlake area residents gathered to take precautions against inclusion in a possible Special Assessment Area.

September

Okanogan shooting leaves two dead, one in hospital – Two people died and another was injured in what appears to have been a murder-suicide in Okanogan Aug. 26.

Carbon Cycle Crush demos canola seed crushing mill – The Carbon Cycle Crush team demonstrated the machines they’ll soon use to crush 100 tons of canola seed a day into oil and meal.

Water Science Forum to dis-cuss sustainability of Osoyoos Lake – The 2011 Osoyoos Lake Water Science Forum was sched-uled to take place in Osoyoos, B.C. on Sept. 18 to 20.

Ecology approves treatment of milfoil in Osoyoos Lake – Ecology approved a plan by the county weed board to treat milfoil in the lake, although in an area less than previously requested by the board.

City has pubic hearing on Reman and Reload expansion – The Oroville City Council held a public hearing to discuss a conditional use permit regarding expansion of Oroville Reman and Reload’s lumber mill operation.

Tonasket approves CDBG contract for sewer project – The Tonasket City Council approved a state Community Development Block Grant to cover the city’s match for the $1.3 million project extending the sewer to the Mill Drive area near Bonaparte Creek.

Following in footsteps of the Fur Brigade – Several people fol-lowed in the footsteps of the fur brigades that trailed through the valley some 200 years ago, listen-ing to lectures and going on field trips to McLaughlin Canyon and the Similkameen River Trail.

PUD won’t pursue power generation at Shanker’s bend – Okanogan County PUD wrote the Federal Energy Regula-tory Commission surrendering their preliminary permit for the Shanker’s Bend Hydroelectric Project.

Planner says no decision on special assessment area – County Planner Perry Huston said a decision on forming a special assessment area to pay for the Eastlake Sewer Project has not been made – county commissioners pursuing differ-ent avenues.

Tonasket EMS adds new am-bulance to fleet – Tonasket EMS District added a third ambulance to their fleet in an effort to fulfill a promise made to voters when they approved the EMS levy.

October

Tonasket holds hearing on update of Comp Plan, land use map – Tonasket held a public hearing regarding amendments to the municipal code, Compre-hensive Plan and land use map.

Student enrollment up at Oroville schools – The number of students attending Oroville schools increased, and the dis-trict hired a third kindergarten teacher.

Oroville Council discusses fire truck, boat and ambulance – Emergency equipment seemed to be on the minds of the Oroville mayor and council, with discus-sions heating up regarding the purchase of a rescue boat.

Five vie for 2012 Miss Tonasket Rodeo – Five threw their Stetsons into the ring for the honor of being named Miss Tonasket and representing the community as the 2012 Tonasket Founders Day Rodeo Queen – Kayla Davis, Karlie Henneman, Cortney Ingle, Breanna Howell and Emily Tietje.

Tonasket concerned about cost of water system improve-ments – Mayor Patrick Plumb said something was going to need to be done to fix problem areas in the city’s aging water system.

Ingle wins 2012 Miss Tonasket Rodeo – Once the totals were tal-lied Cortney Ingle, a 2010 THS graduate, was crowned 2012 Miss Tonasket Founders Day Rodeo Queen.

Tonasket FFA team is nation-al runner-up in Indianapolis – The Tonasket FFA team’s state championship last May was only the beginning. Six THS students, five who graduated in June, proved they could compete with anyone in the nation as they took national runner-up honors.

Oroville School District working on facilities improve-ment plan – Supt. Steve Quick told the Oroville School Board he had met with the pre-bond fa-cilities committee and that they were working on a “solid plan” to finance improvements.

November

Apple harvest finishing up this week – Apple pickers ex-pected to have the last of this year’s crop, which was larger than 2010’s, off the trees by the end of the week.

Tonasket council considers crematorium request – Repre-sentatives from Bergh’s Funeral Services appeared before coun-cil to discuss the potential for locating a crematory near the cemetery, council to seek public input.

Oroville and county agree to wait for development fees – Oroville decided to join an agreement the county made with an Eastlake property owner that puts off collecting development fees until the developer sells his first lot.

Several new faces elected to Oroville School Board – The face of the Oroville School Board appeared to have changed dramatically following last Tues-day’s election-day vote count.

Tonasket council approves sewer contract – The Tonasket City Council approved its con-tract with engineering firm

Varela and Associates for the sewer project, holds tax levy at previous year’s rate.

Library Media Association honors Cravy – Tonasket El-ementary School Principal Jeff Cravy took some convincing to believe he was named Principal of the Year by the WLMA.

Veterans Service Officer oversees growth of NVH Vet-erans’ Clinic – It’s no secret that Okanogan County is home to thousands of Armed Forces Veterans and it’s Shane Barton’s job to make sure that services are available to those veterans.

Earthquake rattles Okanogan Valley – The Okanogan Valley is not known for being a hot earth-quake zone, but Friday Nov. 18, proved to be an exception as a magnitude 4.6 temblor rattled the area.

December

Tonasket weighs budget choices in tough economy – The Tonasket City Council laid the final groundwork for the 2012 budget accepting the finance committee’s recommendations, which included some reduc-tions.

George Thornton Golden Apple Recipient – While it’s rare for a teacher from Eastern Washington to be named a re-cipient of one of the ten Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Education, it is even rarer that two are from Okanogan County, including Oroville’s own George Thornton.

Canola crushing plant turns seeds to oil and meal – Oroville’s Carbon Cycle Crush proved it can be done as 10 tons of lo-cally grown canola seed from the Havillah area was pressed into oil and meal before invited guests.

Lighting up for the holidays – North county communities rang in the Christmas holidays with a tree lighting in Oroville and Winterfest in Tonasket

Hospital board discusses budget cuts – CFO Bomi Bharu-cha discussed the potential affects of proposed federal and state budget cuts with North Valley Hospital District Board of Commissioners.

Oroville receives TIB grant for street improvements – Oroville will receive a state Transportation Improvement Board grant to improve Iron-wood Street and portions of Fir with a pavement overlay.

Tonasket schools to ask for $1.15 million replacement levy – Faced with looming deadlines and uncertainty from a special legislative session in Olympia, the Tonasket Schools Board ap-proved a $1.15 million levy, that if passed by voters, will replace the current maintenance and operations levy.

Tonasket Council approves budget – Tonasket City Council approved a 2012 budget amount-ing to $4,521,318 in projected expenses, including $1.2 million in state grant-funded construc-tion projects.

Rare Ross’s Gull spotted at Palmer Lake – A Ross’s Gull, a rare sight in the lower 48 states, was spotted on Palmer Lake, near Loomis, by state Fish and Wildlife Biologist Jeff Heinlen.

Oroville adopts 2012 budget of $6.5 million – The City of Oroville adopted a $6,519,580 budget that includes $1.48 million in current expenses, as well as $1.85 million in the Water-Sewer Fund.

Continued from Page 1

REVIEW: Looking back at the year 2011

Submitted by Libby SiebensCommunications ManagerWenatchee Valley College

WENATCHEE – Wenatchee Valley College has announced the Fall Quarter Dean’s and Pres-ident’s Lists for their Wenatchee and Omak campuses.

The following area students have been named to WVC’s fall quarter 2011 Dean’s List for earning grade point averages 3.5-3.99 in 12 or more college-level graded credits: Brewster - Miriam Acosta, Maria Marin, Josias Navarro, Rachel Son-neman; Bridgeport - Hailey Henderson; Malott - Kathrine Hagen; Okanogan - Jamie Berch, Jamie Gavin, Jeremy Gibson, Kayla Good, Cristina Kirchner, Kaitlan Klepec, Debbie Shibley, James Spencer; Omak - Ruby Amezquita, Diane Anderson, Brenda Cate, Danielle Cor-son, Deshawn Dunham, Ashley Gann, Erika Godina, Mahle-ah Grant, Labrie Gunn, Bryan Jones, Steven Keith, Jorden Kruger, Tiffany Lange, Cheryl Levi, Brandon Martin, Joclyn Michel, Taylor Nicholson, Daniel Oleynik, Leonard Simpson, Shan-non Statler, Richard Tonasket, Heather Watson, Nicole West; Oroville - Adeline Sylvester; Pateros - Martin Nolan, Jaymes Richerson, Gerardo Silva, Phil-lip Smith; Riverside - Mari-

anne Zelinski; Tonasket - Rhian Bailey-Scarberry, Ian Woodrow and Winthrop - Timothy Bou-dreaux.

The following students have been named to WVC’s fall quar-ter 2011 President’s List for earning a grade point average of 4.00 in 12 or more college-level graded credits: Brewster - Kyle Johnson; Malott - Iver Hull; Okanogan - Katie Brown, Ma-rissa Carter, Naomi Cummings,

Joseph Davidson, Elizabeth Davis, Raul Luna, Julie Martin, Luecin Soriano-Churape; Omak - Brandon Black, Garren Brown, Sarah Brown, Simon Chapa, Jr, Amanda Chavez, Marilyn Dick, Larry Hudson, Teresa Moomaw; Riverside - Sherry Stevens; Tonasket - Joanna Martin, Han-nah Tomlinson; Twisp - Douglas Bryan and Winthrop - Jean Ber-gevin, Pi Dombernowsky.

WVC announces Dean’s and President’s Lists

Submitted by Margaret ViebrockWSU Extension, Douglas County

REPUBLIC — Washington State University Extension is sponsoring a state-wide conference for women involved in agriculture to be held simultaneously in 16 locations on Saturday, Feb. 11. Three of these locations are in North Central Washington area.

Area locations are at the WSU Extension Office in Republic, 350 E. Delaware Ave.; the Nespelem School Library, 229 School Loop Rd.; and the WSU Research and Extension Center, 1100 North Western in Wenatchee. The con-ferences begin at 8:45 a.m., with registration at 8:00. Pre-registra-tion is encouraged online.

We have two outstanding na-tional speakers and also local producer panels.

Women farmers have emerged

as an important segment of the agricultural community. Accord-ing to the Washington State agri-culture census, female principal farm operators increased 44% from 5632 in 2002 to 8090 in 2007. Women manage 881,612 acres of farmland and sell $184,307,000 annually in farm products. Ninety-eight per-cent of women-owned farms are small farms with total sales less than $250,000 Latino women, as

principal operators, increased 67% from 2002 to 2007.

Despite this dramatic increase, women farmers continue to be un-derserved in agriculture education and technical assistance. Social stereotypes often portray women as “farm wives” rather than farm operators or decision makers.

More information can be found at the Women in Agriculture web-site at www.womeninag.wsu.edu

Women in Agriculture conference coming to area

By Gary A. DeVonManaging Editor

OROVILLE - Oroville Mayor Chuck Spieth reappointed de-partment heads and the city council approved them at their Tuesday, Jan. 3 meeting, their first meeting of 2012.

Mayor Chuck Spieth named Kathy Jones, clerk-treasurer; Rod Noel, city superintendent and fire chief; Clay Warnstaff, police chief; Chris Branch, plan-ning/community development director; Christian Johnson, building official/permit admin-istrator; Debra Donoghue, am-bulance coordinator and Mick Howe, city attorney.

The meeting was also a public hearing on the extension of the Critical Areas Ordinance. The current ordinance has been extended several times while an updated ordinance is being worked on. The extension will be until July when the city will have a public hearing to adopt the

final Critical Area Ordinance.Planning and Community De-

velopment Director Branch told the council that fish and wildlife habitat, riparian areas and wet-lands components were “very changed” with the state giving small communities much more flexibility, adding that the first of two workshops was scheduled for the next night.

Councilman Jon Neal made a motion to approve the extension and Councilwoman Neysa Roley made a second and it passed.

The Oroville Council is consid-ering an increase in the water and sewer rates.

“Oroville’s rates are the low-est in the county,” said Clerk-Treasurer Jones, who provided the council with a comparison sheet that listed water and sewer rates in Oroville, Tonasket, Omak, Okanogan, Brewster, Coulee Dam and Republic. Inside Oroville’s city limits the base rate (for 5000 gallons) of water is $21.50 a month, lower than all the

other cities in the chart. Those in the North End Water Users sys-tem pay $29.00 and those in the Eastlake system (outside the city limits) pay $31.00 for the same amount of water. By comparison Tonasket pays a base rate of $27.25 a month for 3750 gallons. Sewer rates within the city limits are $26.00 per month and those outside the city limits pay $39.50. Tonasket sewer system users pay $30.61 per month inside the city limits and $35.61 outside the city limits. The sewer rate inside the city limits is the lowest of all the cities on the comparison sheet, with the exception of Re-public which has a rate of $25.00 a month.

Under old business, the coun-cil authorized Mayor Spieth to sign an agreement renewing Veranda Beach Resort’s lease of the city’s Skyview industrial park building for one year. The resort uses the building to store construction equipment and materials.

Oroville mayor reappoints department heads

January 12, 2012 • OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune 3

OUT OF MY MIND

Gary A. DeVon

The Town Crier

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Opinion by Dr. Jeffrey Pat-terson

2011 was a scary year for nu-clear reactor sites. The summer floods threatened to encroach on reactors in Nebraska and Iowa, an earthquake and a hurricane happened in quick secession to rattle and flood the East Coast, and the continuing events of the Fukushima-Daiichi reactor accident provided harrowing examples of the threats posed

to spent fuel at reactor sites. The fate of spent fuel there kept the world on edge for days. It’s worth noting that the amount of fuel in vulnerable storage pools in Japan was far less than what is crowded into pools at many U.S. Reactors. As we all learned, a loss of coolant could produce a fuel melt and large radiation releases.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Used reactor fuel was to be permanently stored in deep

underground repositories, away from floods and other natural hazards. But the solution to the nation’s nuclear waste problem has been elusive for decades. Meanwhile, 65,000 metric tons of spent reactor fuel is still looking for a home.

So what’s to be done?Many states made a sensible

decision years ago when they imposed moratoriums on new reactor construction until the waste problem was solved. What other industry is allowed to op-erate without being required to responsibly handle its waste? If more states had followed suit, we might be farther along in finding a safe disposal method.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future is set to release its final report to the Administration about how to fix a nuclear waste management system that the commission itself has described as “all but completely broken down.”

The bipartisan commission has been charged with draft-ing a management strategy for waste that can clear scientific, environmental, public opinion-- and political-- hurdles.

The most important recom-mendation from the commis-sion’s draft report is to develop one or more permanent deep geologic repositories using an “adaptive, staged and consent-based” approach.

PSR agrees that the long-term storage for spent fuel should be in a deep geologic repository. The Obama administration’s de-cision to pull the plug on Yucca Mountain turns up the heat on achieving a solution.

Finding one or more perma-nent repositories is not going to be easy. But it’s certain that it will be next to impossible if com-munity consent is not solicited and obtained.

What are our options in the meantime?

Some have raised the pos-sibility of reprocessing-- a false promise to “solve” the waste problem, but in reality an op-tion too dangerous to pursue. Reprocessing raises global se-curity and proliferation issues. It guarantees greater waste problems and safety hazards at huge potential costs.

The Blue Ribbon Commission has proposed moving spent fuel,

now scattered around the U.S. at 70 locations, to “interim” storage areas. Moving spent fuel around the country is not a risk worth taking. Rather than addressing the problem, an “interim” facil-ity would only relocate it.

So what is the best option? Hardened on-site storage of spent fuel. It’s safe, cost-effective - and readily available.

PSR and over 170 other public interest organizations from all 50 states are calling for adop-tion of this approach. Storing reactor fuel at reactor sites in hardened buildings that can resist severe attacks, such as a direct hit by high-powered explosives or a large aircraft, as is done in Germany, offers the safest and most sensible option until a permanent repository can be found.

There is no need for further study of the HOSS option; it is economical and protects public health and safety. Communi-ties near reactors with vulner-able spent fuel pools can be reassured that the risks of an accident will be significantly reduced with hardened on-site storage.

The Blue Ribbon Commission needs to seriously consider and recommend this and not defer a decision to the Nuclear Regula-tory Commission, which has shown little interest in address-ing this issue.

The risks inherent in our cur-rent “storage” option of packing spent fuel in pools, long after the necessary five year cooling period, and relying on circulat-ing water to keep the rods from overheating became obvious during the Fukushima accident. A natural disaster such as a flood or earthquake, or a ter-rorist attack, could release huge quantities of radiation.

Keeping the fuel in or very near its present locations but placing it in secure hardened storage augments safety and keeps the focus on finding a long-term permanent location for this waste.

Dr. Jeffrey Patterson is past president of Physicians for So-cial Responsibility and a profes-sor in the department of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison.

Do they really want an answer?

Dear Editor,Since the beginnings of Chris-

tianity there have been religious wars and conflicts, Christians against Christians of different denominations -- and it is still happening in many places in our world.

I certainly can understand why there are so many people who are atheist or agnostic and find it hard to believe in a power greater than themselves. When they see a denomination saying all others are Satan's ground except theirs, false evangelists or priests being arrested for be-ing child molesters, a Reverend destroying his whole congrega-tion and himself, or a wacko from Waco calling himself the Lamb of God and seducing young girls and women and many of his followers died believing in what he was.

Should I throw all my faith in a golden angel on top of a building blowing a horn, or refuse a blood transfusion because a demon might enter me even if it would cost me my life and jeopardize the people I care about.

Or should I just accept the theory that two pieces of dust decided to create a man and think of nothing else!

If I put a rattlesnake around my neck and it doesn't bite me. Does that mean I am saved?

Let's get real, there are Chris-tians in all denominations and

likewise some are not Chris-tians.

If all denominations really want an answer they have to start moving together and pre-pare themselves for one answer, by magnifying the grace of one power.

Jerry HutchinsOroville

Trampling the little guy

Dear Editor,I’ve come to the conclusion

that Steve Lorz and millions of others were either in a coma the first eight years of this century, were brainwashed beyond repair by the Bush terror scam, or they really are ignorant backwater hicks as he jokingly referred to himself in the past.

Dubya’s legacy is one man’s bane, the next man’s saga. No wonder the polarization grows daily. We as "the people" are being more disagreeable to each other with every tick of the clock.

As the Republicans scramble for a legitimate candidate, they have put the needs of most Americans in a burlap bag and buried it under layers of hate for Obama. As the time winds down and they get more desperate, they must be concerned with the field of clowns in the running. A last minute Hitler relative may be their choice. Someone who can carve and slice at the middle and lower classes with no

remorse -- with glee, as they "fix" America. Just trample the little guy. We are their problem.

I know some of you hate my opinions, but I don’t plan on stop-ping. Just a break now and then. I should change my name to Jack, because I pop up every time something turns my crank.

Dan DixonOroville

Your vote vs. their money

Dear Editor,Career politicians in the U.S.

Congress are quick to reach out to voters around election time. This is natural since it is the voters who will determine who gets elected. However, these politicians are continuously reaching out to special interests who supply the large amounts of money needed to run a suc-cessful campaign. So, the voters supply the votes and the special interests supply the money.

The problem here is that the voters and the special interests are different groups with differ-ent expectations. Voters expect politicians to represent the country and their local district. Special interests expect favors for themselves and their compa-nies. Voters never have enough money to get the attention of members of Congress after the election. If you would like to sup-port candidates who will refuse to accept special interest money, are independent of a political

party, and will serve a limited term, go to www.goooh.com to learn more.

Billy D. CliffordAustin, Texas

Get out of our house

Dear Editor,The US Congress has contin-

ued to bargain away our future with the constant error of logic that compromise is necessary to get along with their political adversaries. Ninety percent of the incumbents are re-elected every two years. The same poli-ticians that have caused all our problems are put back in office to continue the same mistakes over and over.

GOOOH (get out of our house) will challenge those incumbents in the primaries with citizen representatives chosen by the members of their district. This is no third party movement. We will compete against the entrenched politicians in the primaries. The few good rep-resentatives there will grow stronger with honest competi-tion. Almost every person in America supports fair and hon-est competition. The politicians are the only ones who seem to disagree. They care more about their party than fairness to the process. For more information: GOOOH.COM.

Roy T Newsom Granbury, Texas

Turnout for the Okanogan County Recreation Plan meet-ing last Wednesday in Oroville was rather disappointing. How-ever, the information gathered in the recreation survey was very interesting from many perspectives.

As a member of the press, a Chamber of Commerce Board member and as someone who enjoys many of the recreational opportunities this county has to offer I think we need to encour-age the county to do all it can, with the limited money it has, to enhance the recreation pos-sibilities it offers. The natural beauty of our area is the one constant we have to offer both the people who live here and those that come to recreate here, leaving some of their dol-lars behind.

That beauty stays with us whether the regional economy is good or bad and perhaps when things are hardest is when we start to benefit the most. When times are tough people who live near here enjoy “stay-cations” and rather than travel-

ing out of the state or even out the country with their vacation dollars. They spend their money closer to home – in places where their dollars go further.

It came as no surprise when Okanogan County Outdoor Recreation Coordinator Ted Murray said that hiking and walking on trails was the most popular activity, according to the recreation survey. Here in the north part of the county we benefit greatly from the work the county and volunteers have done on the Similkameen River Trail and the Whistler Canyon Trail. There is also a trail that starts in Winthrop and follows the river and a park that is very

popular. Hopefully the county will be able to expand its trail system to the benefit of all who live here and those that visit. Working with the state to add a bridge to Driscol Island south of Oroville would also enhance the trail system in the area. Other potential trails discussed might go north from Oroville toward Veranda Beach Resort and the possibility of constructing a bridge from Oroville’s Veterans Memorial Park to existing pub-lic trails at Sundalia. Anything that would attract people to the community, especially trails that connect directly with town like the Similkameen River Trail, could be of economic

benefit.Of course, an indoor swim-

ming pool, a dream of the Tonasket community, was also high on the list for those who filled out the online survey. The top four answers were Hiking and Walking Tails, Pleasure Driving, Swimming and Picnick-ing. Farmers Markets also did well across the county.

The highest number of sur-veys were returned from the

Methow, with Oroville second. Several Oroville kids under 18 also returned surveys in the three days leading up to the Oroville meeting. A skatepark was high on the Oroville kids’ list. The top three responses about the needed facilities were pretty evenly divided between Nature and Interpretive Areas, and Indoor Pool and Picnic Ar-eas, according to Murray. The recent traffic jam of birders

trying to get a glimpse of the Ross’s Gull at Palmer Lake is testament to the draw that wild-life can have to our area.

Time is running short on your ability to fill out a survey, but there is still a little time left. To make your voice known and to guide the county on how their limited recreational funds should be spent, go to the county’s website: website www.okanogancounty.org

Submitted photoWhistler Canyon is a popular hiking and horseback trail that the county helped to develop with help from the Backcountry Horsemen, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Your chance to guide the county’s recreation plan

Time to Fix our Nuclear Waste Disposal System

4 OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE • January 12, 2012

Okanogan Valley Life

oroville senior news

hilltop comments

tonasket eagles

I’m starting this writing Jan. 9, 2012. On this date 65 years ago I was married to my pres-ent husband. What were we thinking? Probably that two could live just as cheaply as one and we could be poor to-gether, or perhaps we weren’t thinking at all. At age 20, it is a given that nobody could reason with us and convince us that we didn’t know what we were doing. Our former school superintendent, the late Robert Drummond, told me he didn’t think it would last, and I’ve always wondered

if he knew something I didn’t, but alas, one didn’t argue with Bob Drummond.

A friend at Church, Sunday, said she thought it would be fitting for me to write in my column this week some of the pertinent facts about our long lived marriage, as so many of the younger people today seem to “give up” in a short while, if “things” don’t go just right. First of all, I doubt the younger generation read the article and if they did, would just think we were quaint. I will say that it just doesn’t happen. Two, have to work at it. We both worked hard, throughout our years together, but we always took time to “play”. We discussed and made deci-sions together and that’s not to say they were always the right ones but we made them together. The roads have had

some bumps along the way, but for the most part, it’s been a pretty smooth trip.

Always remember to forget the troubles that pass your way. But never forget the blessings that come each day.

We will be having a celebra-tion, March 17, the date of our first date, hosted by our family, somewhere to be announced.

Last Saturday we attended the memorial service of one of our classmates, from the class of 1944, Theda (Balmes) Jones. We are getting few in number that are still alive, but of course, we were few in number to start with. Only 13 girls and 3 boys were left by graduation, as boys had either been drafted or volun-teered for the military. It was interesting to visit with the younger generation and fill them in on some of the “tales”

of their grandparents, Oliver and Gleneva Balmes, which I was asked to write down for their memory books.

The family of Irene Kelle-man are having some distress-ing times as Irene is having health issues, in the form of multiple strokes. Give your support to them by cards or calls. It does help to know others care.

Noble Law, is having some difficult times and is in Central Washington Hospital. He is 87 now, and is known throughout the valley as he has spent a lot of those years located here, af-filiated in one way or another with the orchard business.

Ann Williams, mother of Ted, who has been seriously ill from bronchial pneumonia and hospitalized in C-W Hospital, tells me Ted seems to be on the road to recovery, after a long

“hard pull”.There seems to be a strain

of this Pneumonia that is be-ing difficult for the antibiotics to deal with, so don’t ignore symptoms if you are among the unfortunate.

What a nice lot of friends, family and work associates were on hand for the 60th Wed-ding Anniversary of Ron and Ruth Thompson, last Saturday at the Old Depot.

We made a stop in at the Prince’s warehouse store last week and work is being done to rearrange, clean and make more inviting the store and some surprises are to come, so we were told.

Well, the condo, by the Cath-olic Church has been setting empty for quite some time...now there is a sign saying “Apartments for rent”. They lowered the prices and that

didn’t work so now they’re gonna try something else. Shoulda been a motel in the first place, or so it seems to me.

To come home from playing cards, last Saturday night, and find the ambulance, ablaze with red lights flashing in our driveway, was a shocker, to say the least. That was when the snows came down and the roads were slick and it would seem a half dozen or so kids were riding their snow toys down 21st Street and one of them apparently got hurt, re-quiring assistance. Seemed to be just one hurt and the others went on their way. We thought our house was on fire...scary!

It’s good to have Fat Boys open again. Now those needing breakfast can feast there. And it seems that Trino’s is closed for his rest period.

Submitted by Marianne Knight

On Jan. 2 with 38 present at the Molson Grange Hall, the Pinochle players who received the best, or maybe the worst cards, to play with their team member, so they can win and get their names in the paper, or be awarded the $1 reward.

I have been told that other things are involved also, like bidding, calling the right suit

so your partner can help, by passing the cards to you, so you can “Trump”. (Donald comes to Molson?)

Ok, enough silliness for this week. Oh! Right, the winners: High scores: Jerry Beeman and Sally Eder, Low scores Clayton Emry and Myrtle Wood. The Traveling went to Everett Turner.

The Grange meeting for this month will be on Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.

The Knob Hill Home Eco-

nomics Club is having a membership drive. Their first meeting of the new year will be on Jan. 25 at 12 p.m. and start with a potluck. For more information call Kymi Pratt 485-2361.

There are several on the Get Well List this week: Nita Myrick, Barbara Hartman, Barbie Freimuth, Warren Zesiger and Sandee Everly (the Merc.) Also for Pauline Wait (Chesaw Tavern).

Happy Birthday wishes go

to Mary Ellen Field and Molly ‘Meow’ Dougherty.

Prayers for safe travel go out to Jordan as he comes home for a visit from school

in Spokane.We grieve the loss of War-

ren Brazle a long time Hill-topper who was one of the developers and builders of

our Chesaw Community Building. Know that he is in a better place and he will be missed.

Until next week.

Submitted by Dolly Engelbretson

Hope you all had a happy New Year! The officers for the next two years have been duly installed; however, there are still two positions to be filled. That is the position of Secretary and another board member. The Secretary posi-tion became vacant when I was elected President and after two years on the board, Darlene

Allen had tendered her res-ignation from the board. We accepted her resignation with a vote of thanks for a job well done. Nominations for the two positions are now open and the schedule is posted in the dining room.

Due to the installation of the new range hood, the senior center will not be serving lunch during the week of Jan. 11, so there will be no exercise class, no Pinochle playing,

no Bingo, no pool playing, no card playing and no potluck on Sunday. All activities resume on Jan. 17.

Pinochle news: Thee was no pinochle on Christmas and New Year’s eve. So, on Jan. 7, Jean Jones won the door prize, Zane Gazaway had the most pinochles and Howard Cumbo and Leonard Paulsen were partners all evening and both had the highest scores.

More next week.

Submitted

Winter is here. Hope all are well and ready for some more.

Friday Bingo is okay but need volunteers, lots of good money to be won. Special burger every Friday start-ing at 5:30 p.m. and Bingo at 7 p.m.

Come out for our meat draw. There’s lots of great meat.

Saturday there will be a

memorial service for Larry Scriver at 11 a.m. and later that afternoon Super Satur-day Taco Soup donations for kids party’s.

Sunday breakfast starts at 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Come and enjoy a great meal.

Name Game, Shake a shift, pull tabs and lots more. You can’t win if you don’t come in. Come and enjoy your friends and meet new ones.

Pinochle winners for Sun-

day, Jan. 8: 1st – Jeff Wilson; 2nd – Gene Michels; Last Pi-nochle – Ted Zachman; Low Score – Nellie Paulsen.

We wish anyone who is ill a speedy recovery to good health. God bless you all, the biggest little Eagles in the state.

the learning treeSubmitted by North Valley Community Schools

Winter catalogs in stores this week reflect a couple of changes. The Oyster Feast will be on Friday, Jan. 20 (instead of the 21st), and the price per person will be $30 (instead of $35 for one and $65 for two).

The Special Music Jam is Saturday night and should be an outstanding event. Check out the Gazette Bulletin Board for more information. Also coming up in January is a two session class on the Mayan Calendar. Remember the doomsday prediction

for Dec. 21, 2012? Serious for some, absurd for others, the information you gain in this class should be very interesting.

Toward the end of the month you can take a knit-ting class, learn Spanish medical terms or find out how to ace your job inter-view. Your signup at least five days in advance of the class you want to take will be appreciated.

The number to call for information or registration is (509) 476-2011. If Ellen doesn’t answer leave your name and number. She will get back to you soon.

January 12, 2012 • OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune 5

Okanogan Valley Life

oroville/tonasket gun clubs

community bulletin boardLocal Food Banks

OROVILLE – The Oroville food bank operates every Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., excluding holidays, in the basement of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. For more information, call Jeff Aus-tin at 476-3978 or Sarah Umana at 476-2386. It is that time of year again - the Oroville Food Bank could use help in food and money donations for the upcoming holiday season and thank you too everyone who helped out through the year.

TONASKET – The Tonasket food bank operates every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Sarge’s Burger Bunker, 101 Hwy 97 N. For more infor-mation contact Jack Gavin at (509) 486-2480.

Town Hall MeetingOROVILLE – Parents, teach-

ers and staff are invited to a Town Hall meeting on Thurs-day, Jan. 12 from 6:45 p.m. to

8 p.m. in the OHS Commons. Items to be discussed are the upcoming M&O Levy in Febru-ary, meet the new school board members, Mr. Quick, Mrs. Sarmiento and Mrs. Hoehn. Concerned parents, teach-ers and staff members with questions are asked to send questions to the OrovillePTO@gmail.com or private message us on Facebook.

Musical JamOROVILLE - There’s nothing

like good music to cheer you up on a cold winter evening. Bring your instrument and join in this special musical jam on Saturday, Jan. 14. Everyone is welcome, including those who want to sit, tap your feet or clap your hands and enjoy the music. Some might even want to dance a bit. It’s from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Oroville Pub-lic Library. Refreshments will be available with a donation to North Valley Community Schools.

Closure NoticeOROVILLE – The Oroville

City Hall, Shop and Police De-partment Office will be closed Monday, Jan. 16 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Customers with a Monday collection day will be picked up on Tuesday.

Board of Adjustment Meeting

OKANOGAN – A regular meeting of the Okanogan Coun-ty Board of Adjustment will be held Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Okanogan County Com-missioners’ Hearing Room, 123 5th Ave. N., Okanogan. The public is welcome to attend.

Chamber BanquetTONASKET – The Tonasket

Chamber Banquet is being held Thursday, Jan. 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Community Cultural Cen-

ter. Social Hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner being served at 6:30 p.m., live auction will follow. Tickets are available at US Bank, II Sisters, Roy’s Pharmacy and Lee Frank Mer-cantile. Call (509) 486-1096 for more information.

Benefit Dinner and Auction

OROVILLE – A benefit spa-ghetti dinner and auction is be-ing held at the Oroville Eagles in memory of Justin Gemmell on Saturday, Jan. 21 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. All donations for the auction can be dropped off at the Oroville Eagles. Proceeds will help with funeral costs. For more information call (509) 476-3039.

Democratic Central Committee Meeting

OKANOGAN – The Demo-cratic Central Committee will meet at the home of Jackie Bradley for a potluck lunch at 1 p.m. on Jan. 21. Coffee and water will be provided. Jay Clough, candidate for the 4th Congressional District will be the guest. Enjoy good food, good company and great conversation. If you have any questions or need directions call Jackie at (509) 422-3723.

School Board Meeting

OROVILLE – A school board orientation meeting will be held in the District Office Board Room on Monday, Jan. 23 at 6:30 p.m. The regular school

board meeting will be held Monday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m.

Food Bank MeetingTONASKET – The Tonasket

Food Bank’s annual meeting will be held Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. at the Tonasket Community Church, 24 East 4th Street. All interested people are invited to attend.

Free NAT ClassTONASKET – North Valley

Extended Care is now accept-ing applications for the next Nursing Assistant Training Class beginning Jan. 30. This class will be completed in March. Applications may be picked up at the NVH Hu-man Resources office. This is an excellent opportunity for motivated, caring individuals to prepare for a challenging career, leading to employment. Course content includes basic personal care, restorative and technical skills needed to care for residents and individuals rehabilitating towards inde-pendence. Interviews for the class will start Jan. 19; applica-tions will no longer be received after Jan. 24. For information call the Extended Care at (509) 486-3110 or Dixie Brown at (509) 486-2151 ext. 353.

Fund raising Auction and Dinner

TONASKET – A fund raising auction and dinner for Conor Prichard will be held Saturday, Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. at the Tonasket Community Cultural Center. Enjoy live music as well as live

and silent auctions. To donate items to the auction or to finan-cially help call Michelle Lau-rent at (509) 322-4864 or Melissa Calhoon at (509) 322-1372.

See’s Candy SaleOROVILLE – Oroville PTO

along with Royal Neighbors of Oroville are selling See’s Candies until Jan. 31. The order will be ready for Valentine’s Day. Contact the Oroville PTO or Royal Neighbors of Oroville. The money raised goes towards both organizations.

Family Caregivers Support Group

OROVILLE – Are you caring for a family member? Aging and Adult Care of Central Washington will be starting a support group for family care-givers. Caregiving can have its challenges and often fam-ily caregivers aren’t aware of the help available, how to find it, or how it can actually be of benefit to the caregiver. For more information on a support group starting in the Oroville area contact Wendy Shrable at (888) 437-4147 ext. 408.

Tonasket PlaygroupTONASKET – A playgroup

for chi ldren ages 0 -5 and their caregivers meets every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Community Cultural Center in Tonasket. For more information contact Aldona at (509) 485-2477 or at kadenac@yahoo.co.uk or call the CCC office at (509) 486-1328.

Oroville Gun Club

16 yard:25 – Ben Peterson24 – Brian Rise23 – Logan Farris22 – Sue Gero, Bob Peterson

and Dylon Rise21 – Tod Richardson, Paul

Schwilkie and Owen Radke20 – Craig Jordan and George

Miklos19 – Pete Valentine18 – Louie Wilson and John

Leslie17 – Roger Owen and John

Rawley16 – Jenna Valentine14 – Verne Cole and Wyatt

Radke13 – Vinny DeMartino9 - Jaxon Rise

Handicap:23 – Logan Farris18 – Dylan Rise and Brian

Rise7 – Vinny DeMartino

Tonasket Gun Club

16 yard:24- Dennis Lorz, Robert Mc-

Daniel and Bob McDaniel23 – Lloyd Caton Jr.16 – Jeff McMillan

Handicap:21 – Bob McDaniel20 – Dennis Lorz18 – Lloyd Caton Jr.

Photo by Darla BedardHarmony S ta f fo rd f rom Tonasket delivered some cookies to the Tonasket Fire Department recently to thank them for all of the hard work they have done this past year.

Submitted by Robin DeMarioPublic Affairs Specialist Okanogan-Wenatchee Nat’l Forest

WENATCHEE - The Forest

Service is seeking applicants for several vacancies in two provin-cial advisory committees to the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.

Applications can be obtained from the Forest headquarters in Wenatchee, the Okanogan Valley Office, or any ranger district. They should be submitted by March 30, 2012.

“For the past 17 years, advice from provincial advisory commit-tees has helped the Forest Service and other federal land managers implement the Northwest Forest Plan on federal lands in ecological provinces within the range of the northern spotted owl,” said Forest Supervisor Becki Heath.

Two of these committees pro-vide advice on federal lands in North Central Washington. The Eastern Washington Cascades Province encompasses feder-al lands within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Chelan County and west of the Chewuch and Methow Rivers in Okanogan County. The Yakima Province encompasses feder-al lands within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest in Kittitas and Yakima Counties.

“These advisory committees must be rechartered every two years, and we are now seeking replacement members for several vacancies to serve for the next two-year term,” Heath said.

Advisory committee mem-bership represents federal and state agencies, counties, tribes, and public interests including recreation and tourism, environ-mental groups, the forest prod-ucts industry, fisheries, wildlife, forestry conservation, mining, and grazing.

Currently, applicants are being sought for positions on one or both committees representing public interests that include fish, envi-ronmental groups, forest products industry, forest conservation, and mining.

Applicants for advisory com-mittee positions must be United States citizens at least 18 years old. Criteria for selection will include considerations such as an applicant’s knowledge of local and regional resource issues as well as public land uses and activities; the ability to communicate well; will-ingness to work toward mutually beneficial solutions to complex issues; and respect and credibility in local communities.

Applicants must also be willing to make a commitment to attend advisory committee meetings—generally one-day sessions, held in Wenatchee, every two to three

months. Field trips and alternate meeting locations may also be scheduled. The two advisory committees generally meet in joint session.

Advisory committee members serve without pay, but reimburse-ment is provided for mileage expenses. A routine Advisory Committee Membership Back-ground Information Form (AD-755), included in the application package, must also be completed by all persons before they assume membership on a Department of Agriculture advisory committee.

Those interested in serving on either committee should submit an application to Becki Heath, Designated Federal Official, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, WA 98801, by March 30, 2012. Faxed submissions may be sent to her attention at (509) 664-9286. Letters of endorsement from groups or or-ganizations may also be included with applications. Questions about the process may be directed to Roland Giller at (509) 664-9314 or Robin DeMario at (509) 664-9292.

Selections for advisory com-mittee positions will be notified of the final selections by mail. The next regularly scheduled advisory committee meeting will occur on Feb. 22 in the Okanogan-Wenatchee Forest headquarters office in Wenatchee. All advisory committee meetings are open to the public.

Future firefighter?

Forest Advisory Committee Members Sought

6 OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune • January 12, 2012

Sports

By Brent BakerStaff Writer

TONASKET - Two games into the Caribou Trail League season, the Tonasket boys bas-ketball team showed that they are capable of success against other league teams.

But they also showed that they need to bring their “A” game for the full four quarters, as for the second straight night a disastrous third quarter cost the Tigers a shot at victory.

Tonasket led Cascade 34-26 at halftime on Saturday, Jan. 7, but the Kodiaks blistered the Tigers with five 3-pointers during a 30-3 run to open the second half.

The Tigers trailed 50-37 head-ing into the final quarter and gave up the first six points of the fourth before getting back on track in the final minutes.

“The third quarter did us in again,” said Tonasket coach Glenn Braman. “(Thirteen points) is a big spread to over-come. Not impossible, but it makes it much more difficult.”

The Tigers built their lead by playing what Braman said was their best half of the season, with crisp ball movement and solid defense. Damon Halvors-en scored all of his 17 points in the first half, mostly on wide open spot-up 3-pointers.

But Cascade played much more aggressive perimeter

defense in the second half, and those open shots disappeared. The Kodiaks’ Flynn Steinke and Tyler Harrod, both tremendous leapers, swatted enough shots away on the inside to dissuade the Tigers from venturing too often into the paint.

Harrod and Steinke each hit a pair of treys in Cascade’s third quarter run. Alex Trevino hit another triple and Nick Wood scored a traditional 3-point play during the run.

Dyllan Gage’s 3-pointer end-ed Cascade’s 11-point run that started the third quarter and tied the game at 37 after the Ko-diaks had taken their only lead. But it didn’t stop the onslaught, as the Tigers didn’t score again until John Stedtfeld’s 3-pointer ended a 19-0 run that had the Tigers in a 56-37 hole with five minutes to play.

Stedtfeld finished with a team-high 20 points along with four rebounds and three steals. Lazaro Ortega led the Tigers with seven rebounds and Michael Orozco had four assists.

Harrod f inished with 31 points, with Steinke and Trevi-no adding 12 each for Cascade (3-9, 1-2). The Kodiaks strug-gled with early-season injuries against a tough non-league

schedule, but looked like they’d gotten into a groove by the end of Saturday’s contest.

“We have to come out of the locker room and continue the good play from the first half,” Braman said. “If nothing else, we showed that we can compete with some good teams in our league. If we can fix the things we are making mistakes on now we still have a lot of bas-ketball left and anything can happen.”

The Tigers (7-5, 0-2) face their toughest stretch of the season this week, playing at Okanogan (10-2, 3-0) on Tues-day and at Cashmere (8-2, 1-1) on Saturday, Jan. 14. Okanogan surprised Cashmere, which started the season ranked No. 1 in many state 1A polls, 59-57 on Saturday night.

Chelan 58, Tonasket 46C H E LA N — Th e T i g e r s

trailed 35-29 at halftime, but a 13-2 run by Chelan to open the second half put the game out of reach on Friday, Jan. 6.

“(The third quarter) put us in a position that we had to dig out of a big hole in the fourth,” Bra-man said. “Up to that point we had kept the game close and we were within striking distance. It’s difficult to come back on a

good team when you get down by 17-plus points.”

Stedtfeld scored 19 points and pulled down seven re-bounds to lead the Tigers. Hal-vorsen added nine points, Zac Davis scored eight and Orozco tallied seven.

Tyler James led Chelan (4-6, 1-0) with 18 points.

“I thought we battled all night,” Braman said. “The de-fensive effort and rebounding were there. We just need to learn how to finish games.”

Tonasket 52, Republic 25

REPUBLIC — The Tigers domi-nated the glass as they opened the new year with a 52-25 victory at Republic.

Tonasket, which beat the “other” Tigers by a similar mar-gin the previous week at the Brewster Christmas Tournament, outrebounded Republic 52-25, including 16 boards from guard John Stedtfeld.

“We controlled the boards, moved the ball well and had im-proved intensity to our defense,” Braman said.

Stedtfeld also led Tonasket in scoring with 19 points, with Damon Halvorsen adding 14. Trevor Terris had six assists. The Tigers shot just 6-of-26 from 3-point range, but Braman said he was pleased with his team’s overall play.

“Outside of our shooting per-centage I thought we played a very good game,” he said. “The shots were good looks, out of the offense. They just haven’t been falling for us of late.

“We are about five points away from being 9-1 (in non league games, the Tigers were 7-3). We can’t be merely happy with where we are. The CTL will be a test every single night. We have to get back to shooting the ball with a higher percentage, defend the best we can and keep working together to get some league wins and fight for a spot in the top four.”

By Brent BakerStaff Writer

BRIDGEPORT — Oroville’s boys basketball team outscored Bridgeport in every quarter on Saturday, Jan. 7, but couldn’t pull away until the fourth quar-ter in a 74-50 victory over the Mustangs.

Bridgeport hit 10 3-pointers in the game to stay within striking distance until late. Cameron Cavadini hit six treys for the Mustangs and finished with 20 points, but the Hornets held him scoreless in the fourth quarter as they finished on a 22-10 run to break the game open.

“Bridgeport played a good

game,” said Oroville coach Al-len Allie. “Those kids hustle more as a team than I’ve seen awhile.”

Michael Garrett led the Hor-nets with 22 points, with Con-nor Hughes adding 20 and C.J. Mathews 14.

“Connor had a good night shooting, as well as Michael,” Allie said. “”They were both coming off shooting slumps. Once again C.J. and Zack Speik-er hold down our middle defense with great rebounding and blocked shots that don’t show up in the scorebook. Dylan Rise and Luke Kindred usually don’t get enough press but again they provide some critical plays in

our wins.”Allie said that the Hornets

(6-3, 1-0 CWL North Division) are adjusting to his new style of play.

“I am very proud of these kids for sticking to a new system and continuing to change their old habits.”

Bridgeport (0-9, 0-2) remained winless.

The league season heats up considerably this week. The Hornets hosted Pateros on Tues-day after press time, then face defending champion and league favorite Lake Roosevelt on the road on Friday, Jan. 13. Oroville’s next home game is Tuesday, Jan. 17, against Liberty Bell.

By Brent BakerStaff Writer

COULEE CITY — Oro-ville’s wrestling team, wres-tling in its first tournament in 16 days, brought home three individual titles from the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Alex Kelly (138 points), Alex Alvarez (160) and Duke Sykes (170) not only won their weight classes, they each pinned every opponent they faced on the day.

Nick Perez (152) finished second to former state cham-pion Kyle Kirkendall of Re-public. Perez led by one point heading to the third period

before Kirkendall scored a reversal and a near fall for the 7-4 win.

Leo Curiel (126) and Eric Herrera (285) each recorded pins and finished fourth in their brackets. Cory Childers (145) also had a pin before being eliminated in the con-solation semifinals.

Michael Ripley (126) was ahead in his first match be-fore suffering an injury that ended his day.

There were no team scores kept. The tourney included the Hornets, host ACH, Wil-bur-Creston-Keller, Ephrata’s JV, Wahkiakum, Tri-Cities Prep, Republic, Okanogan, Sprindale, Davenport, Well-pinit, Lind/Ritzville-Sprague

and Wellpinit.The Hornets travel to To-

nasket’s Apple Pie Invita-tional on Saturday, April 14.

Hornets compete at Omak

OMAK — Oroville com-peted at a mix-and-match on Thursday, Jan. 5, at Omak, taking six wrestlers to com-pete against the Pioneers, Brewster and Wilbur-Cres-ton-Keller.

Perez and Sykes were win-ners in their bouts, with Alex Kelly losing a 5-2 decision.

Leo Curiel, Eric Herrera and Kaylee Harris also com-peted.

Tigers host Apple Pie Invite this SaturdayBy Brent BakerStaff Writer

WARDEN — Tonasket ’s wrestlers finished third at the 10-team Jeremiah Schmunk Invitational at Warden on Saturday, Jan. 7, claiming one individual title and seven top-four finishes overall.

“We had a good showing and a fun trip,” said Tonasket coach Dave Mitchell.

Warden won its home tour-nament with 233 points, with Liberty Bell (142) edging the Tigers (138) for second.

Jared Stedtfeld (113 pounds) rolled through his weight class

with a pair of technical falls and one win by injury default. He beat Liberty Bell’s Taylor Woodruff 16-0 in the champi-onship match. Stedtfeld is the highest-ranked Tigers in his 1A weight class (third) in ratings released by the Washington Wrestling Report at the start of the year.

Austin Booker (ranked fourth in the state) took second at 152 after he was injured and had to forfeit the championship match.

“(That was the) one real bummer during the day,” Mitchell said. “When Austin was ‘slammed’ and hurt his shoulder (he) wasn’t able to wrestle in his finals match.”

John Rawley (152) also took second place, getting to the fi-nals with a pin in his semifinal match.

Dalton Wahl (138) celebrated his birthday by going 3-1 and finishing third, while Collin Aitcheson (120), Ryker March-and (126) and Tanner Good (285) each placed fourth. Quinn Mirick (160) and Daniel Or-tega (220) took fifth and Frank Holfelz (285) was sixth.

Tim Frazier (106) and Aus-tin Knowlton (145) also com-peted.

The Tigers had a JV mix-and-match at Chelan on Tues-day, Jan. 9. On Thursday, Jan. 11 they take on Omak and Okanogan in Caribou Trail League duals at Okanogan, then host their annual Apple Pie Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 13. Of the eight or nine teams attending the tourna-ment, two (Chewelah and Rog-ers of Spokane) are coached by Mitchell’s sons.

Third quarter blues scuttle Tigers

Photos by Brent BakerDamon Halvorsen’s hot hand helped the Tigers roll to an eight point halftime lead against Cascade on Saturday.

Tonasket’s Michael Orozco draws a foul as he tries to split the Cascade defense during Saturday’s loss to the Kodiaks.

Oroville boys fend off Bridgeport

Hornets boast three champs at ACH invite

Tonasket takes third at Warden tournament

January 12, 2012 • OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune 7

Sports

By Brent BakerStaff Writer

TONASKET - With the memo-ry of the previous night’s tough loss at Chelan fresh on their minds, the Tonasket girls basket-ball team couldn’t be blamed for being anxious to get things going offensively during Saturday’s Caribou Trail League contest with Cascade.

It didn’t help that they were playing without Baylie Tyus and the threat of her long-range shooting. Tyus was injured the previous night and was awaiting a doctor’s clearance to resume playing.

After getting blanked in the first quarter, the pressure seemed only to be building. For-tunately, the Tigers were able to get some shots to drop and made a game of it late in the first half before the Kodiaks pulled away to a 60-30 victory.

“We still had a lot of turnovers but we shot the ball better,” said Tonasket coach Mike Larson. “Even without Tyus we played with a lot of energy. We’re a very young team with very little experience.”

Trailing 11-0 heading into the second quarter, the Tigers put together a solid stretch where they were able to make enough shots to get into their pressure defense, create some turnovers and capitalize on turnovers. Amber Kilpatrick’s steal and score cut the deficit to 16-9 with 2:30 left in the half, but Kodiak, putting plenty of pressure on the ball themselves, forced four Tiger turnovers in the final min-utes that led to 10 quick Cascade points. The start of the third quarter was much the same as three more Tonasket turnovers fed into a second quick 10 point run that gave Cascade an insur-mountable 36-9 lead.

Still, 30 points in the final three quarters gave the Tigers something to build on heading

into back-to-back road games against CTL powers Okanogan and Cashmere.

Devan Utt led the Tigers (4-8, 0-2 CTL) with 13 points and Me-gan Beyers had eight.

Freshman guard Kaycee O’Brien led Cascade (6-6, 1-2) with 18.

Chelan 52, Tonasket 9CHELAN - The Tigers started

off their first weekend of CTL play with a rough 52-9 loss at Chelan.

The Goats held Tonasket to just four baskets in the game. Remarkably, the Tigers didn’t get shut out in any of the four quarters, making one basket in each.

“They played more physical than us and forced us into many turnovers,” Larson said.

Chelan led 21-4 at the half.Kathryn Cleman had three

points to lead the Tigers. Abby Phelps had nine for Chelan (3-6, 1-0), which had all nine of its play-ers score in the contest.

Tonasket 34, Republic 30R E P U B L I C Ñ To n a s ke t

avenged its Christmas tourna-ment loss to Republic with a vic-tory in their rematch on Tuesday, Jan. 3, pulling away in the fourth quarter to a 34-30 victory.

Amber Kilpatrick scored 14 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers to offset the defensive attention paid to Devan Utt, who was held to seven.

“Republic focused their atten-tion on Utt,” Larson said. “She was able to help us on defense and rebounding. The bench did an outstanding job of con-tributing with points and great defense.”

The Tigers racked up 20 steals, including eight by Kelly Cruz and six from Kilpatrick.

“Our defense isn’t bad; we just need to capitalize on the other team’s mistakes,” Larson said.

The Tigers finished non-league portion of their schedule at 4-6.

“Our shooting percentage has got to get better if we’re going to compete in the tough Caribou Trail (League),” Larson said.

By Brent BakerStaff Writer

BRIDGEPORT - Briana Mo-ralez didn’t start Saturday’s game at Bridgeport for the Oroville girls basketball team.

But she made sure they fin-ished it on the right side of the ledger.

Moralez came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, to lead the Hornets past the Fillies 43-33 in their Central Washington 2B League North Division opener.

“It wasn’t pretty until the last

two or three minutes, when we decided to play some defense,” said Oroville coach Mike Bourn. “But Briana played hard the whole game.

“She’s starting to show some more confidence in her shoot-ing.”

The Hornets endured early foul trouble to Lily Hilderbrand and Kelsey Hughes, who each picked up two quick fouls and sat out most of the first half. Hughes was also playing her first game in three weeks.

Oroville led 20-14 at the half, but the Fillies cut it to 27-24 after three quarters. Bridgeport post

Lidi Bucio scored 18 points.“We tend to play at the level of

the teams we’re playing,” Bourn said. “That can be good when we’re playing the better teams, but it’s a dangerous habit to get into.”

Naomi Peters added six points as the Hornets improved to 6-3 (1-0 CWL North).

Oroville faces a busy week, and a key one as far as league play goes. After hosting Pateros on Tuesday (after press time), the Hornets face a stiff non-league test at Chelan on Thursday, Jan. 13, then travel to state-ranked Lake Roosevelt on Friday.

It’s still the most telling sports photo I’ve ever seen.

Two kids on a ladder, about to cut the net down from a bas-ketball rim. A typical pose after championship games.

But what’s different is the looks of crushing shock on their faces, mouths wide open, the net beside them hanging untouched.

It was the most infamous moment in Washington state basketball history. I was there, but I’d forgotten my camera.

* * *I fell in love with hoops when

I was 12, when we lived for a year in Chapel Hill, NC. I couldn’t help but become a Tar Heel fan, hiding under my cov-ers secretly listening to games through my crystal radio that I’d built with my grandfather. I cried myself to sleep that horrid night in March of 1977 when UNC lost to Al McGuire’s Marquette team for the NCAA title. Basketball was big enough there that we watched tourna-ment games on TV in my sixth grade classroom.

Yes, during school hours.I went to Dean Smith’s bas-

ketball camp that summer and from then on was determined I would play at UNC someday.

A couple of years and a cou-ple of moves took us to Mercer Island. The basketball culture was everything I dreamed of. Unfortunately, a lot of the guys there had something I didn’t have enough of: basketball tal-ent. I discovered that the hard way when a seventh-grade Quin Snyder exposed ninth-grade me during junior high basketball tryouts.

End of career. I probably wasn’t as bad as I

felt that day. Snyder eventually played in three Final Fours at (respectfully) hated Duke.

But what I discovered the next year made up for it in many ways: the Animal Band. We took pep band antics to a new level. The WIAA hated us, and we found out just how much after a fateful night in March of ‘81.

The 1980-81 Mercer Island basketball team is still my favorite team ever, and not because of that night. Of the 12 guys on the team, 10 averaged at least four points a game or more. Only one, Al Moscatel, averaged in double figures at 12 points a game. They were decent but not great that year in the ultra-competitive KingCo (just one league in those days, not two). Didn’t even win their division, but then caught fire, surviving six loser-out games in that year’s playoffs to make the eight-team state tourna-ment, where the Seattle Times’ legendary sports writer, Craig Smith, picked them as the eighth-best team.

So it didn’t discourage our rowdy band too much when they upset #2 Richland in the quarterfinals, blew out un-beaten Lakes in the semifinals, and faced #3 Shadle Park (led by future Super Bowl MVP Mark Rypien) in the finals. I was all set to bring my camera to the game, as we were seated right behind one of the bas-kets. My intent was to shoot the final seconds of the game as we (surely) would win the state title. Click it as the clock, right above the far-end basket, hit zero.

Hard to do when my camera was sitting on the kitchen table.

The rest, as they say, is histo-ry. The Seattle Center Coliseum was falling apart prior to its days as Key Arena. The stadium scoreboard broke early in the

tournament, forcing the timer to use a handheld airhorn.

Which almost guaranteed that the state championship would go to the wire.

Pepple (son of the coach, Ed Pepple, who went on to win 952 games in 49 years) went to the line with the score tied at 64, with six seconds left. He missed the first free throw, made the second.

Shadle’s Scott Poole inbound-ed the ball to teammate Dave Ray, who dribbled across mid-court into an MI double team. He passed out of it...

<Snap>(In my mind’s eye, I can still

see that moment, because I was dearly wanting to shoot it. The ball in mid-air, on the pass, the clock over the scoreboard read-ing 0:00. But time didn’t freeze, and neither I nor anyone else has that picture.)

. . . to Greg Schmidt , who jumped, gathered it in and shot it before hitting the floor. Noth-ing but net, and according to at least one official, in time.

It was so late that the MI team, some of the fans, and a lot of us in the band were storming the floor, celebrating. Kyle Pepple and Doug Gregory were up on the ladder about to take the first cut of champion-ship net.

That was when the score-board f inal ly changed, 30 seconds after 0:00, and we were joined on the floor by our friends from Shadle Park. Some claim that one official waved the basket off, though video only shows the ref under the basket counting it. At any rate, they later claimed to be so confident of their call that they refused to ask the timer’s opin-ion (which, if sought, could have overridden the original call, but not unless he was asked). With a hand-operated “buzzer” it would seem to be, even now, a no-brainer to make sure.

Things got ugly. Fights broke out, the Shadle cheerleaders had their purses stolen, the MI players had their warm-ups swiped. Poole climbed onto the opposite basket wearing the net and taunted angry MI fans, who in turn tried to pelt him with rolls of toilet paper. Finally, the elder Pepple took to the micro-phone to implore us to meet back in the school gym.

When we in the band got back to the gym after midnight, the stands were full, the floor was packed and the atmosphere was as charged as it had ever been for a game. The players even cut down the nets. Inspired by the 1972 Olympic basketball team (another story for another day), the school didn’t even ac-cept the runner-up trophy.

It didn’t get better. Protests were filed, people from both school communities flung re-criminations back and forth

across the mountains. The Seattle P-I and Spokane

Spokesman-Review went over, frame-by-frame, video of the final seconds. Without a clock visible in the picture, they (of course) came to opposite con-clusions.

I rest my case with Bob Rob-ertson, the legendary voice of WSU athletics (and Rypien’s destination the following year). I still have a tape of Robertson’s radio call, which was broadcast statewide:

<italicize>“Full court pressure now by

Mercer Island. Ball in … Five … four … three ... two ... one ... Ray with the ball throws it under and it’s over and they didn’t get the shot.... Yes they did! Oh! Mercer Island got robbed! … They called it good! It wasn’t good! The clock had run down before the shot from the right side and Mercer Island got robbed of the state champion-ship!”

<back to regular print>In the end, Shadle Park got

the championship trophy and Mercer Island was put on two years probation for its part in the near-riot. The band was specifically called out, even though we’d been quickly whisked from the arena before the real trouble started. About 10 of us picketed the WIAA of-fice, then in Bellevue, over the one-sided response of the state association.

* * *Why go into all of this now?A lot of time has passed.

Life puts things into perspec-tive. One of the Mercer Island captains, Chris Kampe, died of cancer in 1993. Rypien lost a young son in a similar manner. I even had a former Shadle Park cheerleader as a friend in col-lege. We got along great, unless that game came up, which was usually initiated by my room-mate hoping to egg us on.

But that night inspired my career as well, at least on the sports side of things. Strange things happen in sports. I’ve developed a lot of sympathy for referees when it comes to the difficulty of making judgment calls, but an almost maniacal intolerance (I admit) of game mismanagement. When some-thing happens at a game I’m covering — like the frenzied, confusing end to the Tonasket-Pateros boys game in Decem-ber, when the Billygoats ended up with four extra seconds and/or an extra 45 feet to set up their final game-winning shot — it brings back memories of a game that would otherwise be long-forgotten.

It may be just a game. And life is often unfair, sometimes harshly so. But when you’re 16 with a crush on basketball, it’s the kind of thing you never forget.

Half-baked

Brent Baker

Shooting woes plague Tonasket girls

Photso by Brent BakerTonasket’s Devan Utt gets hold of Cascade’s Taliyah Riddick-Waters while going after the ball during Saturday’s loss to the Kodiaks.

Cascade’s pressure defense left the Tigers, including Amber Kilpatrick, little room to maneuver.

Alicia Edwards looks for a teammate to pass to during the Tigers’ loss to Cascade on Saturday.

Moralez leads Hornets past Fillies

Some things we never forget

Photo by Owen Blauman/Provided by the Mercer Island ReporterUnforgettable: two of the writer’s classmates, Kyle Pepple (left) and Doug Gregory, can’t believe what they see as they’re about to cut down the net. Thirty seconds after the 1981 state AAA championship game ended, the scoreboard changed to show Shadle Park had beaten MI 66-65. Even 31 years later, that game still gets people talking.

8 OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune • January 12, 2012

Not a dead month

Most folks that aren’t part of the fishing crowd think that January is a dead month. That’s far from the truth. There is a ton of great fishing going on in January, and there are some special events in Janu-ary each year, too. The 19th Annual Tri-Cities Sportsmen Show at the TRAC starts on Jan. 20, and this is one I have attended for years. I like this one as you can get up close and personal with the exhibi-tors and seminar presenters.

On Jan. 25, the Washington Sportsmen’s Show begins in Puyallup. This is a monster show spread out over the fair grounds just to fit everything in. Here you will see the state’s largest gathering of exhibitors from all over the world, end-less products for the outdoors and great seminars. It runs through the 27th. The Seattle Boat Show is largest of its kind on the West Coast, with over 1,000 boats on display at the Centurylink Field location and on Lake Union. I went with the folks from Bob Feil Boats and Motors, my Jetcraft sponsor, last year and was astounded! This show is so big and there is so much to see it runs from Jan. 27 through Feb. 5. I am excited about going again this year and I hope you can come by our booth and say hello.

Ice fishing at Fish Lake

My friend Terry Rudnick, author of Washington Fishing, was over for a visit and stay-ing in Plain. This gave me the opportunity to do two things. One was to tape an interview with him on the new edition of the book, which will be out in March, and to do some ice fish-ing. I picked up Terry and his friend Jeff, got a license at Mid-way Grocery near Fish Lake and headed out. There was a thin layer of ice and water on top of the ice that made getting out on the main lake sloppy, but there was at least five inches of good ice under the muck. People have been fishing here for about two weeks and catches have varied. Some days the perch and trout are on the bite and limits can be taken. On other days it can be slow.

We were there on a slow day. We did get enough perch for a meal and one rainbow, too. I had brought along a variety of bait, including meal worms, wax worms, nightcrawlers and Power Bait. We caught fish on all of these baits. I had hoped for fast action for Terry and Jeff, but you know how that goes. When you really want the fish to bite the snub you!

Triploids

I talked to Joe Heinlen, Lake Chelan Adventures the other day. He has been busy fishing for lake trout on Lake Chelan and on Rufus Woods for trip-loids. I want to get up there and do a show on winter fish-ing on Rufus and he is willing to help me out. The fishing for lake trout on Chelan is fan-tastic right now, with double

digit numbers of lakers being caught and even some nice, big rainbow. He even caught a small Chinook the other day. On Rufus Woods he is working harder for fish. He likes to troll and cast for triploids, so he can release them. He doesn’t get as many in the cold water of win-ter with this method as he does in the spring and summer, but it is a lot of fun for his clients. He gets some big fish doing

this, too. He got an 11-pounder the other day, but he has taken triploids over 20 pounds. I am really looking forward to tap-ing the show and getting out on the water with Heinlen to have him show me his secrets. He did share a tip, and that’s many of the triploids gather along the can line above the dam when food gets scarce.

Big shows on the way

January 12, 2012 • OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE B1

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B2 OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune • January 12, 2012

January 12, 2012 • OkanOgan Valley gazette-tribune B3

OBITUARIES

Larry D. Scriver

Larry D. Scriver, age 76, a lifetime resident of Tonas-ket, died Dec. 14, 2011 at his home. He was born Jan. 27, 1935 to Russell and C. Isa-belle Scriver. Larry gradu-ated from Tonasket High School in 1953 and entered

the National Guard. Later he was a rancher and a log cutter. Larry enjoyed be-ing retired, loafing around, snowmobiling and four-wheeling. He was a member of the American Legion Post 84 of Oroville and the Tonas-ket Eagles.

He is survived by his daughters Teri Weedman and Jeri Stephens, both of Cashmere; sister, Vera (Jim) Watson of Riverside; six grandchildren and five great grandchildren and his Caregiver, Jean Jones, of Tonasket.

He was preceded in death by his sister Gladys and brother Clarence “Slim” Scriver.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 at 11 a.m. at the Tonasket Eagles. In lieu of flowers please send memo-rials to Okanogan County Hospice or to Our House in Wenatchee.

Please share your thoughts and memories by signing Larry’s online guestbook at www.berghfuneralservice.com

Bergh Funeral Service of Oroville/Tonasket in care of arrangements.

Norman Andrene Oberg

Norman Andrene Oberg, age 81, of Havillah died on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012 at his home. He was born on June 8, 1930 in Tonasket to parents Bill and Minerva (Stever) Oberg.

Norman grew up in the Havillah area and attend-ed the Bonaparte school through the eighth grade and then attended and graduated from Tonasket High School. Growing up on the family ranch, Nor-man worked with his family until entering the U.S. Army, serving during the Korean War. Following an honorable discharge, he moved back to the ranch.

On June 24, 1956, he mar-ried Joyce Thygesen in Seat-tle. Soon after his marriage he began a partnership in

ranching with his brother Marvin, called Oberg Broth-ers Ranch. Today this ranch is operated by Mark and Tina Timmerman. Norman was a member and active with Immanuel Lutheran Church and the Washington Cattleman’s Association. He enjoyed forestry and was a good steward of the land.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce at home; two daugh-ters Tina and husband Mark Timmerman of Havillah and June and husband Tom Kershner of Havillah; two sisters Verna and husband Earl Horngren of Kirkland and Marvel Smith of Ione; six grandchildren April and husband Keith Whitworth, Tim Kershner, Ben Ker-shner, Brian Timmerman, Sean Timmerman and Mi-chelle Timmerman and two

great grandchildren Colton and Charlee Whitworth. Norman was also very close to his nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three broth-ers Willie Weaver, Elmer Oberg and Marvin Oberg and his nephew, “Little Bill” Weaver.

Services will be held on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 1 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Havillah with Pas-tor Dan Kunkle, officiating. Interment will follow at the Havillah Cemetery. Memori-als may be made to the Lu-theran Hour Ministry or to Okanogan County Hospice. Please share your memories by signing Norman’s online guestbook at www.berghfu-neralservice.com

Bergh Funeral Service of Oroville/Tonasket in care of arrangements.

B4 OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE • JANUARY 12, 2012

Okanogan Valley Life