Other Headlines

Councilman resigns Monte
MONTESANO — Councilman Brian Schumacher abruptly resigned Tuesday afternoon via e-mail.

“It is with deep regret that I find myself having to resign from the Montesano City Council,” he wrote in a message to Mayor Ron Schillinger. “I have enjoyed my nearly 18 months on the council and would certainly consider being part of it again, but at this time I have too many family and business concerns that need my devotion. In addition, I truly enjoy my work with the Montesano Fire Department and am finding time in short supply as I try to develop my EMS skills and fire knowledge. If I can be of any assistance please let me know. I wish you and the council all the best.”

In a subsequent e-mail, Schumacher clarified that his resignation was effective immediately and he would not attend Tuesday’s city council meeting.

Monte to offer paid full-time kindergarten
MONTESANO — The Montesano School Board voted to move toward having a paid full-day kindergarten option.

Superintendent Marti Harruff presented a plan for full-day kindergarten at the March 18 school board meeting. Parents willing to pay a $250 monthly fee — a total of $2,250 for the nine months — could enroll their children in full-day kindergarten.

The fee would raise enough money from the expected 23 students to pay the nearly $50,000 needed to hire a fulltime teacher, part-time teaching assistant and other associated costs.

An unknown number of scholarships would be available for low-income students whose parents apply for full-day kindergarten, Harruff said.

Monte replaces chief’s ‘vintage’ car
MONTESANO — Montesano Police Chief Ray Sowers’ “vintage” squad car is a joke amongst area law enforcement. It’s so bad, a state trooper pulled him over in Tacoma Tuesday believing Sowers was a police imposter who’d added lights to a surplus law enforcement vehicle.

“I had to show him my badge,” Sowers said.

Worse, it wasn’t the first time it’d happened. Last year Sowers was working a regional emphasis patrol in Central Park, but ended up getting pulled over himself by a sheriff’s deputy who — like the state trooper — thought Sowers’ car couldn’t belong to a real police officer and had to be an imposter’s.

The chagrin now is a thing of the past. The Montesano City Council voted 4-2 to purchase a used 2003 Chevy Tahoe for $8,500 to replace Sowers’ 1996 Ford Crown Victoria. The lights and equipment from the old car will be swapped to the new one.

The “new” car is a former federal vehicle being sold by the state’s surplus program. With 84,000 miles on the odometer, it’s not much better than the Crown Victoria, with 90,000. The city mechanic recommended against the purchase because of its age and a handful of repairs needed totaling several hundred dollars.

More Sports

East County athletes shine at Rainier meet
RAINIER — Shaking off the cold of winter, area tracksters from Elma and Montesano gathered 10 event wins at the Rainier’s annual “Icebreaker” track and field meet Saturday, March 20, at Rainier High School.

Registering three individual titles for the day, Elma’s Todd Jackson was the big winner, nabbing victories in the mid-to long distance races. Jackson took the 800m in 2:03.18, the 1,600m in 4:27.40 and the 3,200m in 10:09.98 — all of which are new meet records. His exploits garnered him the Male Athlete of the Meet honors.

Warriors slip away from Eagles in non-leaguer
ELMA — Leading 3-0, Rochester used a six-run fourth inning to take control of a non-league baseball matchup with Elma and escape Eagle Field with a 11-5 win Friday, March 19.

The visiting Warriors got the drop straight away in the top of the first inning. Zack Eastman drew a one-out walk, then moved to third on a Chris Bishop double before a Jason Dickerson ground out to short allowed him to score and gave Rochester a 1-0 lead.

Elma’s Dance/Drill off to state
YAKIMA — The Elma High School Dance/Drill squad has earned a spot and will compete at the 1A/2A/3A Washington State Championships on Saturday, March 27, at Yakima’s SunDome.

The Eagle team will take part in two competition catagories including Military Drill and Pom. Elma’s Military program will be part of Set-2, and the Pom performance is slated for Set-8. The competiton is divided into nine sets, with Set-1 slated to begin at 12:30 p.m.
Elma is coming off of a first place finish in the Military catagory at the disricts recently held at Vancouver.

Also at districts Morgan Harris and Catherine Risenberg each qualified for indiviual Drill Down competiton at state, which will follow the team competitions. Harris was second place at districts.