Border Patrol Whistleblower

A U.S. Border Patrol agent has described the Port Angeles station as a "black hole" where agents have "no purpose, no mission." Agent Christian Sanchez said he declined overtime pay because he hadn't been doing any work; and his bosses responded by suggesting he needed psychological help.

Two days ago he made a public statement in Washington, D.C. at a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Transparency, which works for more openness in government. Sanchez said:

“The worst fraud on taxpayers is that we are getting paid overtime not to work.”

He said when he first started here:

“I noticed it was common practice for everyone to get paid overtime not to work. Back then there were about 24 agents and our entire station was receiving at least two hours of Administratively Uncontrolled Overtime” and that his bosses “want to create their own kingdom. The spending is to expand bureaucratic turf, not to protect our nation.”

You can find the Washington Post story Here.

Olympic Finance Development Authority

This is the name of a local organization made up of the directors of economic development councils of Clallam, Jefferson, Mason and Kitsap Counties. This group has $1 million in state and federal funding and is expecting to begin making loans this fall.

Board President Linda Rotmark said their purpose is to provide "gap financing" for business owners and entrepreneurs. In other words, this is necessary financing that most banks don't provide. She said:

“We don’t supplant them. We supplement them.”

Rogers Weed, state Department of Commerce Director, said these loan programs will help the state's economy:

“They can provide low-cost loans that can help either something start up . . . or get through a rough patch and get through.”

Former Treasurer's Office Cashier Found Guilty

After four hours of deliberation, a jury has convicted former Clallam County Treasurer’s Office cashier Catherine Betts of the theft of $617,467. She was convicted of first degree theft, money laundering and 19 counts of filing false/fraudulent tax returns.

Her sentence could be anywhere between 43 months and 21 years.

How to Improve Things for Tourists

In today’s PDN, the Speaking Out question (asked of tourists) was: “What can the local community do to improve your visit?”

Answers included:

“More signs on where to turn to Hurricane Ridge…”

“I was saddened to find that…Swains [in Port Townsend] was closed. I like visiting local stores to buy things that I forgot, so opening another would be grand.”

“Directions to a local restaurant turned out to be too far to walk. It would have been nice to have a shuttle bus to go back and forth downtown.”

“Somehow we totally missed the sign for the national park…”

“I think they need more stuff for youth to do downtown. We have an 11-year-old and he’s looking for something to do. Maybe something like miniature golf or touristy stuff.”

“I was hopefully looking for a daily farmers market for us tourists. You need local food on a daily basis. I’ve been here before, but that’s all I can think of that you need.”

“Get rid of that construction equipment I see sitting downtown. It reminds me of work. Traffic is not nearly as bad as L.A.”

“You need outdoor café dining or a sidewalk café. We are killing some time before we catch the ferry, and we need something to eat that’s simple and fast.”

New Directional Signs in Downtown Port Angeles

Six directional signs have been installed in downtown Port Angeles on Front, Laurel, Oak and First Streets. City staff is seeking public comment on the new signs. Fifty-six more of these signs will be installed later this year, but first the City wants input from the public regarding the six prototype signs.

Public comments will be accepted through Friday, August 19th.

Arts In Action 2011

Tomorrow through Sunday is Port Angeles' annual Arts In Action Weekend. Sand sculptures, food vendors, live music, classic car shows...

Click here for more information.

Performance Review for Port Angeles Downtown Association

Eighty-one downtown business owners have signed a petition asking the City to examine whether the Downtown Association is fulfilling its contract. Kent Myers said the City will conduct the review because of the large number of downtown merchants who signed the petition. He said:

“I think anytime you have between 80 and 100 business signing a petition of that nature, I think it's a serious issue and that we have to get to the bottom of their concerns as soon as possible.”

This story was also covered by KONP.

Former Rayonier Mill Large Contributor to Dioxin Levels

The State Department of Ecology has released a report based on samples that were taken in 2008. The former Rayonier site was a “large contribution” of the dioxin in a lot of those samples.

The Ecology Department's Rebecca Lawson said the presence of dioxins from the mill is significant enough to warrant a cleanup by Rayonier. She said:

“While they are above what our standard is, they're not so high that we think we have to go out and take immediate action. At the end of the day, it will all come together to be a complete cleanup for the entire site.”

Comments on the study will be accepted through August 30th. On August 3rd, there will be two public meetings at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 East Seventh St. The meetings will be 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

You can find more information about the study here.

Kenmore Air Vows to Stay in Port Angeles

Craig O'Neill, director of marketing and sales for Kenmore, told Port of Port Angeles commissioners that Kenmore is committed to maintaining passenger service between Fairchild Airport and Boeing Field. Kenmore has three round trips on weekdays between the two airports.

Fairchild Airport might lose federal funding because of low ridership. They need to have a minimum of 10,000 passengers per year. With ridership decreasing, the airport is unlikely to meet that requirement this year. Ridership has fallen drastically from 2010 levels.

Production Increase at Peninsula Plywood

In the past month, Peninsula Plywood has more than doubled production. And the company has added about thirty new employees.

Three weeks ago PenPly received $212,000 from the state Department of Commerce and $230,000 from investors. PenPly President Josh Renshaw said:

“We have the capacity, we have the orders.”

Fire at New Peking Restaurant and Lounge

The New Peking Restaurant and Lounge in Port Angeles has been destroyed by a fire. The building burned early this morning.

Firefighters from three departments responded to the fire at around 3:20 a.m. and had the fire out by about 7:20 a.m. The fire was difficult to put out because of the way the building was constructed and the flammable materials inside the building.

No firefighters or restaurant employees were injured.

Teenagers Loitering at City Pier

I wasn't planning to do a post about the new rules cracking down on teenagers loitering at City Pier. But this PDN article is still generating zillions of comments.

How much of a problem is this? And does the city manager have the authority to pass these new laws (banning smoking within 100 feet of a playground, and limiting the use of playground equipment to children twelve and under)?

Approval Rescinded for Downtown Parking Lot Sale

Last April the Port Angeles Downtown Association unanimously approved a promotional parking lot sale during the Arts in Action weekend, July 23rd - 25th. But after a petition was signed by thirty-three downtown merchants, who said customer parking would be jeopardized during one of Port Angeles' busiest weekends, the Downtown Association voted 8 to 2 to cancel the event.

The sale was supposed to be a chance for downtown businesses to sell “all that merchandise sitting in the back that's building up that you don't know what to do with.” But the 33 business owners who signed the petition said it would be “an inappropriate use of the parking lot” located on Front Street between Family Shoe Store and Odyssey Book Shop. The petitioners also said closing the parking lot would contradict the stated purpose of the Downtown Association, i.e. providing free customer parking for downtown businesses.

The PADA Board President said the issue of lost customer parking never came up when they voted unanimously in April to approve the parking lot sale.

Fourth of July Port Angeles 2011

The Fourth of July parade starts at 6 p.m. It will go down Lincoln Street and then proceed the "wrong way" down First Street to Valley Street.

At 7 p.m. there'll be live music at City Pier: first Old Sidekicks; then Fat Chance.

Fireworks (at Francis Street Park) will start at roughly 10 p.m. The best viewing areas are the pier or the Waterfront Trail; or:

The Landing Mall, at the top level of the parking structure. There will be food (supplied by Smuggler's Landing), a beer and wine garden, and music by Jason Mogi and Paul Stehr-Green.

Admission is $5; free for children 12 and under.