Other Headlines

Continuing story... Montesano school budget passes
Negative $10,000 starting fund
projected; calculations questioned
MONTESANO — The Montesano School Board unanimously passed a nearly $11 million 2009-2010 budget last week designed to dig the district out of debt. The budget is nearly $601,000 less than this year’s budget, reflecting heavy reductions in state funding. Compared to the current budget, the approved budget includes a 5.47 percent revenue decrease and a 7.53 percent spending cut. The reduced spending is designed to leave the district with $116,121 at the end of the 2009-2010 school year. The district expects to begin next school year with a negative fund balance of about $10,000 after all of this year’s expenses and revenue are calculated. That’s down significantly from the $319,000 the district would have ended up at had projections made at the time the district adopted a 2008-2009 budget revision in February held up.

A spreadsheet of various beginning fund balance scenarios that were discussed is here:
Download and read one-page document.

The Montesano Education Association voted no confidence in Superintendent Marti Harruff. Their survey results:
Download and read 47-page document.

King’s contract extended
ELMA — Superintendent Howard King has been granted a contract extension despite objections that he hasn’t moved to the district since he was hired three years ago. The extension reflects the same pay cut other district administrators have taken due to budget cuts. Elma School Board members present at their July 22 meeting voted three to one to extend the current contract of Superintendent Howard King a year, to June 2012. Chairman Carl Jonsson, Rick Gravatt and Larry Bridenback voted in favor of the extension. Dan Warren opposed. Carolyn Doyle was absent.

The sticking point for Warren, the second year in a row, was that King, hired in 2006, resides in Tacoma instead of the Elma School District. “I still have my single objection, and that is Howard, as much as I like him … does not live here,” Warren said. Since he was hired, King’s contract has contained this requirement: “The superintendent agrees to reside in the district for the duration of this contract.”

Monte fire bug
MONTESANO — Three recent arson fires have city officials concerned that the next one could be even more dangerous.

“With the weather now and the dry conditions, we’re extremely concerned,” Montesano Police Chief Ray Sowers said. “The fires could quickly spread to cause more damage.”

The first fire was set in a portable toilet at the Beacon Elementary playfield July 20; the second was in a portable toilet at the Simpson Elementary construction site July 21. Both portable toilets were burned to the ground.

The third fire was set in a metal Dumpster at an apartment complex in the 1500 block of East Beacon Avenue. The contents were burned completely.

The fire department’s investigation of the fires indicate that no accelerants were used, Sowers said.

So far, police don’t have any information about possible suspects, Sowers said. The public is asked to contact the police department if they have any information about the fires or notice anything suspicious in the future.

“If you hear anything at all at night, dogs barking, anything at all call us right a way,” Sowers said. “Hopefully we can catch them in the act.”

House Brothers, the company owning the portable toilets, has offered a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.

Man dies in plane crash
ELMA — The cause of an airplane crash early Wednesday afternoon, July 22, on Newman Creek Road near Elma, in which an Olympia man died, was likely mechanical, Grays Harbor County Undersheriff Rick Scott said Wednesday, July 29.

Scott said that Federal Aviation Administration investigators at the scene said they saw “evidence of pre-crash damage to the engine.” However, phone calls to the FAA, which is in charge of the investigation, were not returned by The Vidette’s press time Wednesday.

But though the cause appeared to be mechanical, FFA investigators needed to remove the airplane and “dismantle it piece by piece” to determine the exact cause of the crash, Scott said.

Mark Reed top executive gets raise
ELMA — Mark Reed’s head honcho is getting a raise. At their meeting July 23 in Elma, commissioners of Grays Harbor County Public Hospital District No. 1, which includes McCleary’s Mark Reed Hospital, voted unanimously to raise the salary of the chief executive officer, Renée Dunham.

They passed a resolution raising her “total annual base compensation” from $115,510 to $139,000, effective Aug. 1. That includes a 4.5 percent raise, based on the 12-month average increase of the Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton area consumer price index as of June 2009.

In addition, the resolution says Dunham could earn two bonuses in the next 12 months, based on performance to goals “defined and agreed to” between her and the board of commissioners, though it does not say what those goals would be.

Board Chairman Brent Meldrum said later that Dunham is reviewing the performance goals and will, in turn, give the commissioners her input. “Once that’s back, we will approve them,” he said, likely at the commission’s Aug. 27 meeting.

The first bonus, $5,560, would be payable next February; the second, $8,340, would be payable in August 2010.


More Sports

WIAA adopts new concussion guidelines
With emerging research showing that there is an increased risk of significant damage from a concussion for a period of time after the injury, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has recently adopted new polices to manage concussions and head injuries in youth sports.

According to the Center for Disease Control Injury Center, a concussion is a brain injury caused by a bump or blow to the head, that in most cases is not readily apparent. Signs and symptoms of a concussion can show up right after the injury or may not be noticed until days or weeks later.

EGH 15s eliminated from state
PASCO — Rebounding from an opening round loss in pool play, the East Grays Harbor 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars regrouped and reeled off a pair of wins to earn a spot in the single elimination portion of the Southern Washington State Tournament at Pasco. However, the East County club was unable to advance beyond there, being eliminated one loss shy of a regional berth this past week.

East Grays Harbor 14s second at state
TUMWATER — After a pair of come-from-behind victories in their final two games of pool play, the East Grays Harbor 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars made their way into the championship portion of the Southern Washington State Tournament only to fall one game short of the title Sunday, July 26, at Tumwater High School.
A 2-1 record in pool play set East Grays Harbor up with a meeting with their fellow District III entrant, Aberdeen, in one semifinal of the title bracket.

EGH 13-year-olds ousted in three
VANCOUVER — The East Grays Harbor 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars missed out on single elimination play in the championship bracket of the Southern Washington State Tournament following three straight losses in pool play last week at Vancouver. The East County club went 0-3 to open the tourney which included losses to Kelso, Hazel Dell Metro and Richland. East Grays Harbor began pool play against Kelso on Thursday, July 23, and an EGH rally just fell short.