News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1 - 13 of 13
As you read this letter, there may be only a week until the deadline of 12 pm, Nov. 29, for written public comments on the draft Okanogan County Comprehensive Plan. Fortunately, this revision supports our county’s need to form “More Completely Planned Areas” to address varying values and landscapes in different areas of the county. Citizen Advisory Committees would lead these efforts. If you’re interested in how land is used in your area of the county, write a letter to the Okanogan County Planning Department regarding the following situati...
If you are a resident or landowner concerned about how water, air, and land resources in our county will be managed for humans, wildlife, and natural occurrences such as wildfire in the coming decades, you should read the County Legal Notices with the eyes of an eagle in the next week or two. This year, the Omak Chronicle is the county’s official newspaper of record for these legal notices. According to the County Commissioners’ proceedings, your first deadline for comment on new draft Comprehensive Plan documents will be February 10th. The...
If your family member or loved one is employed by Okanogan County, I would be seriously concerned due to: The attitude of County Commissioner DeTro, chairman of the Board of Commissioners and Board of Health. Recent positive Covid tests of 11 inmates and four staff, along with 23 exposures at the county jail (not to mention 16 recently confirmed Covid-related deaths at North Valley Extended Care.) On Dec. 7, 2:21 p.m., the County Planning Department supervisor expressed her employees’ distress due to a recent unidentified positive test in t...
Let’s not risk losing Chris Branch as Okanogan County District 1 commissioner. I can confirm the complexity of an Okanogan County commissioner’s job, having taken notes at commissioners’ meetings since 2014. It includes such duties as writing and repealing laws; land use decisions; economic planning; coordinating over 20 departments, such as public works, the judicial system, emergency management; and more — including responsibility for an approximately $70 million budget. With this job, varied and extensive experience are crucial. Previou...
I urge voters to consider personal qualifications of candidates - rather than simply party affiliations. My votes for unaffiliated/independent candidates Ann Diamond and Salley Bull are for their ability to unite people rather than divide them. I support Democrat Christine Brown for joining these independents in their push for good healthcare for all. I support Republican Arian Noma for Okanogan County prosecutor because he addresses, with knowledge and passion, a consistently minimized issue. In 2015, the U.S. held 21.0 percent of the world’s...
In 2016, Okanogan County’s voters made a clear statement on values by ousting the two county commissioners who were up for election at that time. Issues included: lack of transparency regarding plans for housing juvenile offenders; failure to listen to the public regarding vacation of Three Devils Road, which is needed for public egress during wildfires and for access to public lands; lack of accountability in expenditure of county tax dollars for travel expenses to promote transfer of ownership of public lands to the states and counties n...
It hasn’t been long since our previous county commissioners held evening meetings discussing the pros and cons of sending our juvenile offenders to Martin Hall in Medical Lake. Individuals from the Coulee Dam area even made the long journey to Okanogan to testify in favor of keeping these young people in our county, where they would be close to family support and therapy programs designed to fit their needs. Our collective voices demanded attention, and the current board of commissioners has continued this trend by presenting a plan for funding...
One bright spot in an otherwise troubling political scenario is the significant change in Okanogan County governance made by our two new county commissioners, Branch and Hover, during their first four months in office. Now that they are elected, they need citizen participation and support. Improvements and involvement opportunities include: On Thursdays at 8 a.m. on KOMW, Branch and Hover address important county issues. A Methow broadcast may soon be available. Citizen comment opportunities are scheduled most Tuesday afternoons, and the commis...
Public participation and support from citizens are essential to carrying out improvements that are now underway by our newly- elected Okanogan County commissioners. These commissioners have inherited significant difficulties, including dealing with a budget that was balanced by incurring large loans at the end of 2016. They need our support. But improvements are already being made. County agendas for the following week are now being published on the county website on Fridays (including citizen comment periods), assisting especially working...
I am one of eight citizen volunteers from Oroville, Okanogan, the Chilliwist, Twisp, and the upper Methow who have recorded notes of county commissioner proceedings during the past year. This effort was initiated because minutes had been posted weeks or months late, and commissioners had been unresponsive to citizens on essential issues. On Oct. 27, 2015, the commissioners discussed sending juvenile offenders to Martin Hall in Medical Lake while the Superior Court judges and Juvenile Administrator were out of town; it didn’t appear on the a...
Two letters attacking our Superior Court judges and commissioner candidate Chris Branch appeared in the Omak Chronicle recently. Citizens county-wide, including Districts 2 and 3, will be choosing between Branch and Sheilah Kennedy in the November general election, so this misinformation must be addressed. James Miller criticizes Chris Branch for accepting campaign contributions from outside the county, specifically from a family that has owned and operated a large cattle ranch in the Tunk valley family for 30 years and are family-oriented. He...
How old were you when you first learned about Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, and the First Amendment? Fourth grade? High School? It is disturbing that our county commissioners publicly questioned whether a critical editorial comment in the Omak Chronicle violated its contract as newspaper of record. Fortunately, their attorney urged the commissioners to drop that thought like a hot potato. While ignorance of basic founding principles of our country is often tolerated in friends, we expect much more from elected officials. Reassurance...
On 1/11/16, the Spokesman Review announced that Okanogan County is one of five Washington counties that each donated $1,000 to the American Land Council (ALC), an organization supporting the militant (Bundy) takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. As of last April, 47 counties nationwide had given an average of $4,660 apiece to this organization. The ALC supports the transfer of ownership of federal public lands to local governments. Do we really want our hard-earned tax dollars spent in this manner, considering the very...
