New Online Neighborhood Watch Group

There’s a new Clallam County Neighborhood Watch Group online. Here’s the link.

You can report suspicious activity, join an online forum or volunteer your services.

The Neighborhood Watch Group is part of the Clallam County Website, located here.

Debate Between City Council Candidates This Thursday

This Thursday, July 30th, the candidates for City Council Position 2 will be at the City Council Chambers — 321 East Fifth Street — at 7 p.m. They’ll be debating and taking questions from the audience. This information was in Monday’s PDN but isn’t on the PDN website.

As you probably know, the four candidates are:

Rick Burton
Max Mania
Edna Petersen
Peter Ripley

This event is sponsored by the Clallam County League of Women Voters.

Covarrubias Changes Plea Again

Robert Gene Covarrubias is now changing his plea back to not guilty. His lawyer says that Covarrubias was depressed and off his meds last week when he pleaded guilty.

Tourists: Can’t Live With ‘Em, Can’t Live Without ‘Em

We all want to attract lots of tourists to the Peninsula. But the “Speaking Out” question in today’s PDN reminded us: clueless self-absorbed tourists aren’t just a figment of John Candy and Chevy Chase movies.

The question was “What could the community or businesses do to improve your stay here?”

Here goes:

“…Also, do something about the seagull droppings.”

“I see a lot of empty stores.” OK, we’ll get right on that. All we have to do is push this little button here, and those empty stores will magically fill up and be open for business.

“It’s frustrating for me to pull over at a viewpoint only to have the scenery blocked by trees.” It’s so much prettier in the Nevada desert, where you don’t have all those damn trees blocking the view.

“More variety of restaurants.” How far do you have to go to find a decent Ethiopian restaurant in this Podunk town?

Other than that, I hope they liked it here.

Port Angeles Community Market

Starting this Sunday, July 26th, the Port Angeles Community Market will be at Gateway Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., every Sunday through November 15th.

Like the Port Angeles Farmers Market, the Community Market will have fresh produce from local farmers. But it’ll also be an opportunity for local artisans, businesses and clubs to set up booths. This Sunday’s market will be coordinated with Arts in Action.

The Market’s two co-organizers are Mimi Smith-Dvorak and Aric Mackey.

You can get more information about the Port Angeles Community Market from their website.

Pocket Market at Olympic Medical Center

There is now a miniature farmers market on Tuesdays at Olympic Medical Center. It’s from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. outside Season’s Café.

The patient-care shift changes at 3 p.m., so there are several hundred OMC employees on the premises during this period. Graciela Harris, director of nutrition services at OMC, said: “We want to encourage folks to adopt a healthier lifestyle. We want to make it as easy as possible, and this is one way to move in the right direction.”

Covarrubias Guilty

Robert Gene Covarrubias has confessed.

His new trial was scheduled for September 21st, but he confessed last Wednesday to Port Angeles Police Detective Sgt. Eric Kovatch.

Covarrubias murdered Melissa "Messa Mae" Carter on December 26th, 2004.

Now that he's confessed, Melissa Carter's mother, Carla Carter, said:

"I never expected him to step up to the plate. I never thought he had it in him. Maybe his conscience got to him. Something changed his mind, and we are all glad about that."

Canadian Health Care: Yea or Nay?

There was a demonstration in Port Angeles yesterday against Obama’s proposed health care reform.

I’m not taking a stand one way or the other on this issue. But one of the common arguments against universal health coverage — “socialized medicine,” whatever you want to call it — is that in the countries that already have it, people have to wait months and months just to get a doctor’s appointment.

Supposedly, zillions of Canadians are flocking to the United States to get some “real” medical care because they’re tired of waiting and waiting to see their own doctors back home. Is this true?

The Coho comes in several times a day from Victoria. Maybe some of the Coho passengers are Canadian citizens coming here for the medical treatment they can’t get on Vancouver Island.

I wouldn’t know how to find this out. I thought of calling Olympic Medical Center to ask whether some of their patients are Canadians who came here to get away from that rationed health care back home; but I doubt if they’d divulge that information.

Just idle curiosity. Anyone know?

Too Many Doctors in Port Angeles?

From everything I’d heard, there’s a shortage of doctors in this area. A lot of them aren’t accepting new patients, and some of them will be retiring soon, making the shortage even worse.

That’s been the “conventional wisdom” anyway. But now, according to two articles in yesterday’s PDN (here and here), we actually have too many doctors. We have so many doctors that they’re driving each other out of business.

So which is it? What’s your take?

Chamber of Commerce Saves Dungeness Crab Festival

The Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival almost went under last month. The organization that produces the annual event — Olympic Peninsula Community Celebrations — voted to disband itself.

But now a new nonprofit organization, Olympic Peninsula Celebrations, has formed. This group, in partnership with the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, will be producing the Crab and Seafood Festival. It’ll be held October 10th and 11th this year at City Pier, Hollywood Beach and the Red Lion parking lot. This year the festival might also use the Gateway pavilion and/or close off one block of Lincoln Street between Front Street and Railroad Avenue.

The Chamber’s board of directors voted last week to help with the management and production of the annual festival.

Wildfire Hazard in Clallam County, North Olympic Peninsula

Clallam County ranked fifth out of 413 western counties in a study of the damage that could be caused by a wildfire. This study was not concerned with the likelihood of a fire; just the potential for catastrophic damages if a fire occurs.

Jefferson County ranked 58th in the same study. The study was co-authored by Peninsula College Professor Dwight Barry. He worked with the state Department of Natural Resources, local fire districts, Olympic National Park and Olympic Natural Forest to compile this information.

Basically, the hazard is so high in Clallam County because of the combination of a heavy fuel load, the dryness caused by being in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, and the fact that there are “a whole lot of people who like living in the woods,” as Barry put it.

The results of the study can be found here.

More Possible Delays on Hood Canal Bridge

People waiting to cross the Hood Canal Bridge can still expect delays because of continued retrofitting being done on the west half of the bridge.

Joe Irwin, spokesman for the Hood Canal Bridge project, said:

“Now that the bridge is again open to traffic, ongoing construction activities such as anchor cable replacement, ballasting and other adjustments — both expected and unexpected — could affect how long draw span operations take. We didn’t want to delay the June reopening of the bridge to accomplish these tasks, but they need to continue throughout the summer to get the bridge in shape for the winter and assure optimal performance in the future.”

Travelers can stay informed of unexpected bridge closures by signing up for text message alerts. Go to this website, click on “e-mail updates” (in the upper right hand corner) and follow their instructions.

It Isn’t Burglary if the Property Wasn’t Fenced In

The Washington State Supreme Court just made this ruling. If a person steals something from property that isn’t completely fenced in, it’s not burglary.

The Court has overturned the burglary conviction of Roger Dean Engel — who had been convicted of stealing aluminum wheels from a rural business — because the property was only fenced in on one side.

I suspect this decision won’t be too popular. What say you?

More Money for Harbor-Works?

Harbor-Works Public Development Authority is planning to ask for an additional $1 million. They want a loan of $500,000 from the Port of Port Angeles and from the City of Port Angeles.

They’re also anticipating a $200,000 grant from the Department of Ecology.

The City and the Port have each loaned $150,000 already to Harbor-Works for startup costs. The Harbor-Works budget includes $277,200 for administration, $185,000 for projects, $100,000 for reserves and $174,000 for legal.

They’re using the law firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell LLP, which specializes in tribal issues.

Port Angeles Concerts on the Pier

We’ve already had the first two Wednesday concerts at City Pier. Here is the rest of the schedule for the summer:

July 8: Lynn Peterson & The Phat Kattz — Jazz Cabaret

July 15: Green Light Situation — Island Rock

July 22: Jim Hoffman Band — Country Rock

July 29: Peninsula College Jazz Ensemble @ 6-7 p.m.; Dixi Blue (Jazz) @ 7-8 p.m.

August 5: Deadwood Revival — Bluegrass

August 12: Tune Stranglers — Swing Era Jazz

August 19: Nakai’i Hawaiian Music

August 26: Electric Wood — Soul/R&B/Reggae

September 2: Howly and Da’ Boyz — Country

New Port Angeles To Be Unveiled July 11th

On Saturday, July 11th, there will be a celebration of the downtown Port Angeles spruce-up. The volunteers of “Our Community at Work: Painting Downtown” will have a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. on Front Street between Laurel and Lincoln streets.

Following that, the Dawg Cart and the Port Angeles Food Bank will be serving free hot dogs and lemonade. The celebration will also include the unveiling of four new additions to Port Angeles’ outdoor art gallery.

Architect Charlie Smith designed the paint schemes for all of the newly repainted buildings, and he’ll be conducting free tours of the spruced-up buildings.