NEWS UNBROKEN
Monday Stevens County News
to show you what it's like. Yeah it's a kind of a cloudy start to the week here on a Monday. Thanks for joining this Eric Kerpenter with you on K. C. V. L. K. C. R. K. We had a primary election last week last Tuesday, November election right around the corner. Maybe you want to be part of the process. We talked with Lori Larson, Stevens County auditor about election observers. We have had an uptick in the interest proposed to be official election observers and so I've trained a number of additional people this calendar year. Really this kind of needing more space for observers was based on basically just responding to the expected interest that comes with the presidential election year, but also wanting to encourage that interest. And so the law requires that I work with the two main political parties to identify official observers that do a representation role for those political parties in doing election observation. And I have a great relationship with the coordinators from both political parties in Stevens County. I'm also looking for individuals who would want to be official trained observers that maybe don't want to have a political party affiliation. And a few months ago, I did put something in the paper to have a stipend position to have somebody play a coordinator role for that purpose. I'm still looking for someone to do that. But I also have an increasing number of people who say, I want to watch the elections process. I don't have a strong political party affiliation or I don't necessarily want to associate with the parties, even though they may have a particular linking, they just don't want to have that engagement with the party, but they still want the observers. And so I'm seeing an increasing number of those folks. And as they come forward, I'm putting them through our observer training so that they can come to that process with a good knowledge about what it is there seems, understanding what it is that's happening. And then I'm finding a great deal of success that they didn't go out to talk to their friends and neighbors about what's true and accurate about elections in Stevens County and in Washington. So the stipend is $250 in election. It's not much, but it's an acknowledgement that we're kind of engaged in a relationship that says, you as a coordinator for our observer program, you're going to do certain tasks. You're going to be a primary point of contact between our office and a group of observers and an acknowledgement of all the work that that takes, hurting cats, as they say, then we'll acknowledge that with a small stipend, especially in working with our political parties. We want as full a coverage of our elections processing as possible. So we outline certain events in the ballot processing kind of lifespan over an election where we definitely want observers present. Those would be our various audits and tests, election night, our canvassing board meetings. We definitely want observers present for that. Observers are welcome anytime that there's ballot processing happening. But those are kind of those what we call critical election events that we want observers present for, making sure there's good coverage for that representing the two political parties. That's been the goal of the stipend, making sure that there's also a point of contact for our folks who want to remain unaffiliated. That's kind of what I'm searching out right now. If folks want to be trained, I usually do daytime and an evening and I'm delivering these trainings via zoom. I usually wait until I have three or four or five people who have expressed interest. And then I'll schedule something so I don't have anything calendar at the moment. But if anyone is interested, I would encourage them to contact the elections office or email me directly. One of the things that's been really beneficial working with our folks that come to us first wanting to observe is that sometimes those folks grow into becoming extra help. So if they have the capacity, sometimes we'll employ them in an extra health capacity. And I'm also looking to flesh out my ballot box retrieval teams, both with folks that might be employed to be a part of a retrieval team to go get files from our drop boxes. Of course, we do that in teams of two or more per chain of custody sake. But also some of my colleagues around the state have the ability to institute a ballot box observer program. And so there's just a lot of concern about all different phases of the process. I maintain that we've got really good procedures in the state of county and Washington that are secure. But folks have an interest in different points along the way. And sometimes that means just having an opportunity to kind of officially and in coordination with our office provide services for either ballot box retrieval or box watching or observing in our processing center. So I want to engage with folks anywhere along whatever their interest level is. If folks want to learn more about elections, become official observers. I'm taking those names and organizing training as the need demands. And I'd love to get. All right. If it's something you're interested in, you want to be an election observer or maybe be one of the people that get ballots from the various drop box locations. Get ahold of them. Find out how you could become involved. You can call the elections office here in Colville 509 684 7 5 1 4. Attention bargain hunters. Get ready for Saunders furniture inventory reduction sale starting August 14th. We'll be closing our doors on Monday, August 12th to reprice the entire store with pink tags marking down prices up to 80 percent off plus get quality living room furniture at unbeatable prices and for a limited time, enjoy up to 18 months. Zero percent interest financing with zero dollars down on approved credit. And through our drawing for a chance to win $500 in free furniture. Mark your calendar for August 14th. Saunders furniture where you find the best deals for your home. See you there. All right. Additional ballots from the primary election were counted Friday afternoon here in Stephen's County. So far, 7799 ballots have been counted. They estimate 5,000 still to count. The next count of ballots is going to come midday Wednesday. You know, no matter no matter how the next week or so goes, our our voter turnout was just kind of dismal. We're around 22, 22.4 percent of the people that are registered to vote bothered to return a primary ballot. All right. Still some very close races as far as the seventh legislative district goes. Not really close for position number two, Ron McCoy from Chawila. So 13.6 percent of the vote. Pat Bell getting 22.97 percent of the vote. Rocky Dean 29.01 percent is from Springdale and Hunter Abel at 34.22 percent. Looks like Paul Rocky Dean going to be facing Hunter Abel in the general election ballot. Well, Andrew Engel is advancing to the general election in November, but who he is going to face. Well, that is still very much up in the air. The Tigen Levine 26.38 percent of the vote. And that shifted from the primary election night. Sue Moody at 26.99 percent of the vote. There is about a eight hundred vote difference. Now make that we will correct that. There is about a one hundred vote difference between Levine and Moody in that position one. Andrew Engel did get 44.8 percent of the vote. He easily moves on, but a very, very close race between the other two candidates. So we'll be looking at Wednesday when the additional ballots, and we won't really have that until Thursday morning. It'll be Wednesday afternoon when those ballots are counted. Bright beginnings preschool has begun enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year, with classes available for the seedlings class for kids ages three to four in the sprouts class for kids ages four to five. Enrolling with bright beginnings provides an academic hands-on play-based program with a comfortable learning environment. They also do community guest visits and field trips, family fun events, music and movement programs, along with social emotional guidance and support. Give bright beginnings a call at 509-684-2686 today, or register a call,ville, bright beginnings.com. Well, technically it's classified as a vehicle accident, but there was a vehicle north of Spokane up on Highway 2 by Eloyica Lake. The vehicle was southbound, turned into a parking lot. The driver had suffered a medical episode and the vehicle continued on through the parking lot out into the field. The vehicle stopped in the field. The ceased at the scene. Jerry Fraley, an 82 year old from Springdale. He was driving a Ford escape, a non-traffic fatal collision is how the state patrol classifies that. The Kettle Falls School District is currently seeking a skilled and reliable bus driver for the 2024-2025 school year. Accelerate your career in this high-demand field. As a bus driver, you will be transporting students and staff on regular school routes and extracurricular activities such as field trips. Be a part of our team and help us continue to provide safe and efficient transportation to our community. Apply online at kfschools.org or call 509-738-6625 for more information. We are right in the midst of fair season here in Stevens County. Of course, this last Saturday was the fair at Valley. The Valley Community Fair on Saturday. This coming Saturday, you might want to go down to Hunters. The Hunters Community and 4-H Fair. That is coming up this coming Saturday and then coming up the same weekend will be the Northeast Washington Fair and the Clayton Community Fair. The Northeast Washington Fair, the 22nd to the 25th, the Clayton Community Fair. It actually doesn't start until Friday the 23rd and it will run through the Sunday the 25th. It is fair season. A lot of adults and a lot of kids involved in the community fairs around the county. State fire mobilization was called for for the road nine fire. This in Douglas County near Cooley City. That fire started Saturday night about 7.07 in the evening, quickly spread to 1500 acres, burning in sage and grass, was threatening homes, crops, some historic buildings, level two evacuations. The state fire assistance was authorized Saturday night at 11.45 that night. Looking for a little comfort in your life? Call the expert, your carrier dealer. Carrier dealers are the authorities at getting peak performance from your heating and cooling system. So call your carrier dealer first. He has ways of making you very comfortable. Carrier, turn to the experts at ABC Heating and Electric in Colville at 4.11 West 2nd or call Deb for an appointment at 684 2018 or go to ABC dash heating.com. Police arrest in the suspected leader of a car theft ring. It's been targeting muscle cars up and down the West Coast. Everything from Seattle to Sacramento. They targeted modern American muscle cars, the newer model Dodge chargers and challengers, the Chevy Camaro's and Corvette's. The car theft ring would pay people a few hundred dollars for information about car locations called a drop. The thieves would then allegedly use electronic devices to bypass a car's key fob and drive off. The stolen vehicles would then be sold on various social media platforms. Authorities arresting the ring leader. Eric Wade Adams, arrested in Medford brought him to Portland. He was arraigned. He was in Portland Court on 16 counts, including armed robbery theft and possession of stolen vehicles. A volunteer group, they call themselves PDX stolen cars, brought this case to the attention of authorities after they began to notice a number of cars were being stolen from the diplomat motor dealership. Messages on Adams' phone, he referred to his career as "boosting cars" and made reference to shootings that happened during the car thefts. He has pled not guilty to the charges. It's also suspected that Adams traded stolen cars for guns through social media. Most of the stolen cars, they estimate between 60 and 70 thousand dollars. A forced health message to all timber landowners, insects, disease, and suppressed stands of timber have created an unhealthy forest environment that is susceptible to wildfire. Forest Health is a concern to our community and to us at Vagan Brothers Lumber. To discuss the possible options available for your timberland, call our experienced forestry team at 509-684-5071 for a free on-site consultation or look us up on the web at www.vaganbrothers.com. A three-game sweep. Boy, things went really well for the mariners in their three-game series with the New York Mets. Cal Rolly hit two homers yesterday, nationally TV broadcast game. Louise Castillo struck out nine. Seattle completed the sweep of the Mets. A 12-1 win yesterday. Castillo gave up four hits, walked two in six innings. George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, Castillo combined to strike out 21. They gave up 10 hits, walked four in 19 innings, all with Cal Rolly behind the plate. One run allowed in the three-game series. That ties a team record. A mark reached twice before. The 12-1 run margin of victory was Seattle's largest yesterday. Seattle now is one-four straight. They are still tied atop the American League West with the Houston Astros. Rolly put the mariners up four-nothing with a two-run homer in the fifth inning and then hit a three-run shot in the sixth to make it 10-1. The catcher's third multi-homer game this season. That brings his total to 26, making him the first catcher since a Hall of Famer Mike Piazza to hit 25 homers or more in three consecutive seasons. Piazza did an eight consecutive seasons. Rolly came to the plate in the seventh. Had the bases loaded but he popped out to left field. Polanco put the mariners up one-nothing. He had a solo homer in the second inning. Three hits two runs. All right, it is a travel day today. The homestand is over. The mariners off today they open it Detroit. They are starting a nine-game road trip tomorrow afternoon. Here we are in the getting toward mid-August. The mariners are tied for first. Kind of exciting listening to mariner baseball these days. Join us tomorrow afternoon to be on 92.1 KCRK. And it was a preseason game but a solid win for the Seahawks over the Los Angeles Chargers Saturday afternoon. It's three games in the preseason before we open the regular season against Denver. The Hawks are going to be at Tennessee. This coming Saturday. Pregame at two in the afternoon. That'll be on K-C-V-L. Today's local weather forecast is brought to you by Floner Electric. I'm going to find Floner at 423 West first in Colville. Floner Electric offering a full range of services for residential and commercial remodels, new construction. Floner also offers electrical materials for sale to the general public. Call Floner Electric 509 684 8353. There is a slight chance of possible thunderstorms through midday. 87 the high this afternoon. 47 overnight. And of a hazy Tuesday expected. 83 the high. 83 Sunshine Wednesday. 86 on Thursday. Only a high of 80 on Friday. 80 Saturday. 82 on Sunday. We still don't really have any precipitation in the forecast unless you know it's rain right around a thunderstorm. Floner Electric, your one stop shop for all of your electrical needs. Serving the Tri-County area since 1992. Call them 509 684 8353 for Floner Electric. No wind. First time in quite a while that we can say the barometer is down below 30. It is 29.95. We're starting the day off right at 63 degrees here at the radio station. A lot of clouds out there today. 732 really good to have you with us here. It is a Monday. I'm Eric Carpenter and this is K-C-V-L. K-C-R-K.