Year In Review - July - December

July 2021

Quad City residents ride out record-setting heat wave

QUAD CITIES – As temperatures rose to record-setting triple-digit highs last week residents tried to stay cool, kept an eye out for wildfire, and wondered how the local power grids were handling the load.
Early Tuesday afternoon, June 29, temperatures at points in Okanogan and Douglas counties were all well above 100 degrees as noted in the first column of numbers. The second column shows the maximum readings on Wednesday, June 30.

Omak         110 – 116+

Okanogan     109 - 111+

Bridgeport    109 - 113

Brewster     108 – 111+

Pateros        107 – 116

Mansfield    107 - 106

Malott         107 – 114

Bridgeport graduate hired as new Pateros librarian

PATEROS – Ana Trejo, a 2014 graduate and class valedictorian at Bridgeport High School, is the new Pateros librarian for North Central Washington libraries.
An NCW Libraries media release said Trejo has served as the customer service technician at the Bridgeport and Brewster library branches for the last two and a half years. Prior to her employment with NCW Libraries Trejo worked with the migrant Headstart program in Bridgeport.

Bridgeport Daze straddles weekends, COVID phases, and controversy

BRIDGEPORT -- The city’s most popular - and lately, most controversial - celebration squeezed in another last-minute festival that began on its traditional first weekend of June, skipped the remainder of the month and concluded on Sunday, July 4. Along the way it claimed the unique distinction hereabouts of being the only event to begin on Phase 3 of Governor Inslee’s WA Healthy: Roadmap to Recovery plan and end in the fully reopen phase. It also generated some controversy within city government that may find the city council considering a remedy for greater control over event deadlines before Bridgeport Daze springs to life again next June.

Brewster grapples with new state law enforcement mandates

BREWSTER – The regular monthly meetings of the city council include updates from various departments like finance, fire, public works, and police. However, last Thursday, July 15, law enforcement was front and center as the city prepares to adapt to a dozen new bills signed into law last May by Governor Jay Inslee that will change the way police statewide discharge their duties.
“There are going to be a lot of changes coming up in law enforcement,” said city clerk/treasurer Misty Ruiz. “People will not be getting the same type of service they have gotten.”

August 2021

Gebbers Farms, L&I reach settlement over 2020 COVID deaths

BREWSTER – Gebbers Farms and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) have reached a settlement stemming from fines and citations levied by L&I last year following COVID-19-related farmworker deaths. Under terms of the mediated agreement Gebbers will invest more than $2 million for housing, health care, and safety of its farm labor force.
In the original action initiated last July 2020 L&I assessed a $2.06 million fine after two Gebbers farmworkers died from COVID-19 and cited the farm for a half dozen related violations.

Colville Tribes eyes new area for economic development

AZWELL - The Colville Tribal Federal Corporation (“CTFC”) has completed a preliminary review of its latest site for economic development, CTFC reported August 6. The site, colloquially known as MA-18, consists of over 640 acres located across the highway from Azwell, between Pateros and Chelan. The site features views of the Columbia River and easy access to Chelan and the rest of Okanogan County.
“MA-18 has all the features we are looking for when it comes to economic development,” stated Kary Nichols, Chief Executive Officer of CTFC. “After discussing with our architects, we are confident that MA-18 could be the home to our new flagship resort, attracting business and tourism from around the Northwest with our state-of-the-art casino, golf course, and concert venue.”
The architectural plans also include 100 lots for residential development. “Housing is becoming increasingly scarce throughout the region and the country,” stated Nichols. “MA-18 gives us the opportunity to provide affordable housing for many families while also giving them access to all the great amenities we have planned for MA-18.”

Kings light up the leaderboard at Brewster Salmon Derby

BREWSTER – When Spokane resident Joe Biggs beached his boat in Columbia Cove late Saturday afternoon, August 7, he had a respectable king salmon to lay on the official scale for the 15th annual Brewster King Salmon Derby as consolation for the lunker that got away earlier in the day.
Biggs was one of the 253 entrants and 84 boats in this year’s derby that launched last Friday, August 6, and weighing in a total of 95 salmon. Had it not been for a combination of bad luck and rough water he would have netted what he estimated to be a 25-pound hatchery chinook that would have easily bumped the then-frontrunning 18-plus pounder from the leaderboard.

NESPELEM -- Recently, hundreds of adult summer chinook were released upstream of Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams. The releases are part of a huge undertaking by the Colville Confederated Tribes (CCT) to reconnect salmon to their historic habitat.  

In July and August, 235 adult chinook were released in the Sanpoil.  On August 16, 107 adult chinook were released in Lake Rufus Woods just behind Chief Joseph Dam. The chinook were surplus hatchery fish from the Douglas County PUD’s Wells Hatchery.

September 2021

Staff vaccinations required

Quad cities students start school amid mask mandates

BREWSTER – Students returned to school last Wednesday, August 25, in the Brewster School District making it the earliest start among the four districts in the Quad coverage area. The Bears were followed by Bridgeport, August 30, Mansfield, August 31, and Pateros due Sept. 3.
Schools statewide are facing a mask mandate imposed the Governor Inslee and a requirement that school staff members be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18.

Mansfield FFA cuts a swath at North Central Washington Fair

WATERVILLE – The Mansfield High School FFA class did not leave much in the way of awards for the other entries at the North Central Washington (NCW) Fair August 26-29 in Waterville. FFA advisor Jamey Jo Steele said the group returned for the Sept. 3, start of their school year with five Grand or Reserve Champion ribbons and a Best Overall award for the livestock they showed.
Steele said 16 Mansfield FFA students took livestock projects to the NCW including three steers, five goats, and eight hogs.

74th Okanogan County Fair returns as a crowd comforting fixture

OKANOGAN – The 74th annual Okanogan County Fair demonstrated both its resilience and adaptability to adverse circumstances when it opened the gates for its four-day run last Thursday, Sept. 9. It was a far different scene from this time last year when the fairgrounds were sheltering livestock during the Cole Spring wildfire and serving as a central depot for recovery supplies.

Brewster approves hydro event application at Columbia Cove Park

BREWSTER – Hydroplane races took a step closer to becoming an annual event in the Columbia River off Columbia Cove Park when the city council, at its regular monthly meeting last Thursday, Sept. 16, approved a public event application for an exhibition race next month.
What the Tacoma Inboard Racing Association (TIRA) described as a “test session” is scheduled for a one-day run in Brewster on Saturday, Oct. 9. If it becomes a regular event like the annual hydro races at Pateros every August, the race will wear the official title of Tony Newton Memorial Regatta.

Malott craftsman builds houses for the upper-crust bird set

MALOTT – Well-to-do birds among The Quad’s flock of readers might want to keep tabs on Malott resident Ken Sumner if they are in the market for a custom home. Sumner’s collection of elaborate hand-crafted birdhouses spans a variety of styles from churches and schoolhouses for the more buttoned-down to barns, lighthouses and saloons for the adventurous.
What is most amazing about Sumner’s creations is that all were fashioned from nothing more than a photo – as in the case of the Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer, Alaska – or visual memory of a building that caught the craftsman’s eye, such as the imposing Winthrop Emporium that anchors the town’s main street at the intersection with State Route 20.

October 2021

Giselle Ceniceros named WIAA Athlete of the Week

PATEROS – Freshman Giselle Ceniceros who plays at the forward position for the Nannies varsity soccer team helped her team win its very first league win in school history by scoring two goals against the Manson Lady Trojans on Sept. 21. Along the way to scoring both goals for the Nannies Ceniceros also picked up the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Athlete of the Week honors.

Anders, Hook on Nov. 2 ballot for Pateros mayor

PATEROS – The Nov. 2 general election finds two candidates running for the office of Mayor of Pateros, two-term incumbent Carlene Anders and former Pateros and Brewster police officer Kelly Hook, both running as nonpartisans.

November 2021

Design team visits Brewster for NCW Libraries revitalization project

BREWSTER – Last month NCW Libraries announced an ambitious multi-million-dollar, system-wide revitalization for 28 of its 30 branches. Last week Margaret Sullivan, Robin Osler, and Tasmin Abdelkarim from the New York design firm Margaret Sullivan Studio visited the Brewster library to gather information about the library specifically and the community generally as they launch the $10 million project.

Challengers lead in races for Pateros mayor, council.

If the most recent results from the third unofficial count of general election voter ballots in Okanogan County are any indication, Pateros will have both a new mayor and new city council person when the Okanogan County Auditor certifies the final tally on Nov. 23.
As of the auditor’s report of Nov. 10, two-term incumbent mayor Carlene Anders trails challenger Kelly Hook by 32 votes, and appointed council member Frank Herbert is six votes behind challenger Chantel Poole.
With approximately 300 votes remaining to count, Chief Deputy Auditor Jamie Groomes reported Hook with 111 votes or 58.42 percent of 190 votes cast to 79 votes, or 41.58 percent for Anders. Poole has 95 or 51.63 of the 184 votes counted for the Council 1 Position while Herbert trails with 89 votes or 48.37 percent.

December 2021

NCW Media publisher/co-owner passes
William “Bill” Forhan
March 20, 1947 - November 21, 2021
Leavenworth, Washington
William “Bill” Edward Forhan, age 74, passed away suddenly at his home in Leavenworth, WA. on Sunday, November 21, 2021.
Born on March 20, 1947, in Butte, Mont. to Rudi and Alice (Mehrens) Forhan. He attended and graduated in 1965 from Butte High School where he met his wife, Carol, as a freshman. Graduated from the University of Montana, Missoula, in 1969 with a degree in Business Administration. Bill served in the Army ROTC in college, then was stationed at the Field Artillery Training Command at Fort Sill, Okla. where he earned the rank of First Lieutenant. He was then deployed to West Germany as a battery commander with the 4th Missile Battalion, 41st Artillery Regiment during the Vietnam era.

Culpepper & Merriweather Circus to revisit Brewster in 2022

BREWSTER – The Culpepper & Merriweather Circus knows a good venue when it sees one, and this city responded with one of a handful of sellout crowds when the show made its Brewster stop in June 2019. That’s why the circus contacted the Brewster Chamber of Commerce last month to request a return visit as C&M prepares its 2022 performance schedule.

Chantel Poole sworn in as newest Pateros council member

PATEROS – Chantel Poole is an example of a lifelong Pateros resident and PHS graduate who is taking the term “community service” personally by putting it into action through her own initiative and ideas.
Poole declared her candidacy for city council position 1 occupied by appointee Frank Herbert on the Nov. 2 general election ballot and received 52 percent of the 190 votes cast by Pateros residents. She was the only opponent in nine other council races in the Quad City coverage area, four of those in Bridgeport, four in Brewster, and one in Pateros.

Pateros school superintendent challenges legislators following firearms threats

PATEROS – The superintendent of the Pateros school district has reached out to the state’s congressional delegates to urge legislative reform following a pair of firearms threats directed at Pateros schools earlier this month.
Superintendent Greg Goodnight sent letters to Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Representative Dan Newhouse calling for changes to current Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) restrictions governing the release of information.

Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce welcomes new president

BRIDGEPORT – The city’s Chamber of Commerce has a new president, Carlos Henriquez, co-pastor of the Wellspring of Life Community Church who took over the helm last August.
Henriquez and wife, Zuni, dedicated the Wellspring of Life Community Church in the Foursquare Building at 1300 Foster Avenue in July 2000 two years after the Bridgeport Community Church closed unexpectedly, taking with it the food bank that had served community members fir more than a decade.

Concerned parents address Pateros school student security

PATEROS – More than half a dozen citizens spoke during the first meeting of the Pateros School District Board of Directors last Thursday, Dec. 16, held since a firearms threat directed at the school earlier this month put all concerned on a high alert for the future security of students.
The threat was reported from a social media exchange that mentioned a firearm and threat of violence at the school. The subsequent investigation by school staff and law enforcement left many parents confused as to what transpired and who was involved.