Newbriefs

North Dam “Clean and Fix Day” this weekend

Citizen volunteer hours this weekend can go a long way toward helping keep North Dam Park a viable community asset.

Park commissioners are arranging a day to clean up North Dam Park this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and community helpers can have their hours recorded to help with qualifying the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District for grant funds.

Commission chair Bob Valen said the plan is to generally pick up the entire grounds and to reinstall some disc golf equipment.

Volunteer hours will count toward an “in-kind” match of grant money from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The district has a large grant from the USBR, but it requires a 50-percent match.

“That’s important to us,” Valen said. “The more the merrier.”

Valen asked that people show up with gloves, rakes and other tools ready to pitch in.

Grant applications

due soon

Columbia Basin Foundation says the deadline for the 2015 grant cycle is next Tuesday.

The four grant opportunities available to non-profit organizations are: The Alvar & Louise Swanson Greater Community Grant, Erle & Helen Sola Community Grant, Jim Campbell Jr. Memorial Grant and the Women & Childrens’ Fund Grant. The dollars available for each fund may be awarded to more than one grantee.

Those 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations interested in applying for the grants should visit the website at: columbiabasinfoundation.org. For any questions, contact Executive Director Donn Cook at: dcook@columbiabasinfoundation.org or (509) 754-4596.

The deadline is 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31. The applications must be received at the foundation office, not postmarked, by that time to be considered. There is a drop slot to the left of the office door if you need to drop off the application after hours or when the office is closed.

Sex offenders caught for not registering

Two convicted sex offenders were sentenced last week to prison time for failure to register with the local authorities, Okanogan County Sheriff Frank Rogers said.

Warren McCrea, 27, of Nespelem was taken into custody by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police last November in Oliver, B.C., brought south and booked in Okanogan County Jail, then sentenced on March 18 for failure to register to 45 months in prison and 36 months of community custody supervision.

Neal Hall, 41, of Brewster, was homeless at the time of his arrest on a Franklin Couty warrant for failure to register as well on probable cause for forgery and theft.

Homeless sex offenders are required to check in with the sheriff’s office weekly while they are homeless.

In August, 2014, Hall stopped making his weekly homeless check-ins.

He was sentenced to 43 months in prison for failure to register as a sex offender. Hall will also be on 36 months of community custody supervision by the Department of Corrections.

NPS has summer

youth jobs

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area is taking applications for the 2015 summer Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program.

Eight to 12 YCC enrollees will be recruited for positions at Spring Canyon, Fort Spokane, Hunters, Gifford, and Kettle Falls. Positions are open to young men and women who have attained the age of 15, but must not reach the age of 19 during the term of employment. This will be a non-residential camp, and all enrollees must have a social security number prior to entrance into the program. The minimum wage jobs should last from June 15 through Aug. 7 for a 40-hour work week.

To apply, contact the National Park Service or a high school for a YCC application form. Applications will be accepted through April 24. For further information, contact Ron Sacchi, 509-754-7821 or Alberta