Fluoride Opponents Overruled Again by State Supreme Court

The State Supreme Court will not reconsider its earlier ruling, from last September, that Port Angeles' water fluoridation cannot be challenged by a citizens' initiative.

City of Port Angeles Being Investigated by Auditor's Office

Kim Hurley, manager of special investigations for the State Auditor's Office, has e-mailed the city regarding potential conflicts of interest.

She has requested documents related to several recent projects, including:

Construction of the Eighth Street bridges and Dry Creek bridge;

Acquisition of property for The Gateway transit center;

Travel expenses for Karen Rogers and Mark Madsen;

Contracts with Exeltech Consulting Inc.; and

Payments to Capacity Provisioning Inc., Fred Hill Materials, The Remediators Inc., Advanced Composite Technologies Inc. and Clallam Business Incubator.

City Manager Kent Myers said he has "no idea what the basis of it is. I think that our records are in order."

Karen Rogers said:

"The state auditor spends hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money on these anonymous allegations. This latest anonymous allegation is another of these types of unfounded allegations."

End of Jazz In The Olympics Festival

The Festival had been scheduled for April 1st through 3rd of this year. The event was canceled because they won't be able to use the Red Lion, as they had planned.

Festival Director Gary Sorenson said he won't try to schedule the event for 2012 because:

"You can't jump-start a festival. It's tough to get people back."

Peninsula Schools Hit by State Budget Cuts

The State Legislature's midyear budget cuts will take $3.74 million from schools on the North Olympic Peninsula.

Port Angeles School District Superintendent Jane Pryne said:

"I have never in 33 years of education ever had the budget cut during the current fiscal year. This is the first year I have ever seen anything like this happen."

The Port Angeles School District will lose $1.27 million.

Unemployment Rate Rises on Peninsula

Washington's statewide unemployment rate is holding steady at 9.2%. But in Clallam County the rate has increased from 9.1% to 9.6%. The increase is from October to November.

Jefferson County's unemployment rate has increased from 8.5% to 9%.

Van De Wege and Tharinger to Speak at Chamber

Kevin Van De Wege and Steve Tharinger will be the guest speakers at tomorrow's Chamber of Commerce luncheon. The luncheon will be at noon, second floor of the Crab House.

They'll be discussing the upcoming session of the state Legislature.

ACTI Announces Expansion Plans

Angeles Composites Technologies Inc. (ACTI) is planning a 50,000 square foot expansion, and they expect to add between forty and fifty jobs next year.

Mike Rauch, the company's CEO, also said ACTI isn't going to move, even though other cities and states have tried to lure him away. He said:

"It was a tough decision, but I have a vested interest in this community, my shareholders have a vested interest in this community and our employees have a vested interest in this community."

City Council Upholds Biomass Permit

The Port Angeles City Council has voted to uphold the Planning Commission permit for the biomass project at Nippon Paper Industries.

They will issue more information tomorrow.

Clallam County Seeking Volunteers

The county is looking for volunteers to serve on advisory boards. If you're interested, applications are due by December 15th at 4:30 p.m .

To apply, call the Clallam County Commissioners' Office at 360-417-2233; go to their office at the Clallam County Courthouse; or go to their website.

Clallam County's Own Armored Personnel Carrier

Who knew? For eight years Clallam County has had an armored personnel carrier, the Peacekeeper. It's the only vehicle of its kind on the North Olympic Peninsula. It hasn't been used yet.

And that's fine with Clallam County Undersheriff Ron Peregrin. He said:

"It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

PABA Celebrates Nippon Anniversary

At yesterday's meeting, the Port Angeles Business Association honored the 90th anniversary of the mill that's now owned by Nippon Paper Industries. December 14th will be the 90 year mark.

The mill was started by two Canadian lumbermen who bought the property soon after the end of World War One. The mill was taken over by Nippon Paper of Japan in 2003. There are currently 198 employees. The company pays medical benefits to employees and retirees.