City council had a special meeting Wednesday, Feb. 6, with the intent to approve the creation of a new position for an internal compliance administrator.

Okanogan County Fair Advisory Committee Members had first and second readings on several policy updates that, if approved, will be effective for this year’s fair, Sept. 5-8.

The Spokane office of the National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch, calling for significant snow and blowing winds this weekend.

OKANOGAN – Five Okanogan High School students received regional scholastic art awards.

OMAK – Omak Middle School has announced its first semester honor roll.

OKANOGAN – An Oroville man was found not guilty of second-degree assault-strangulation or suffocation with a domestic violence enhancement Jan. 29 in Okanogan County Superior Court.

OLYMPIA - Lawmakers from the 7th Legislative District will host a telephone town hall from 6-7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13.

NESPELEM - Leroy “Chaz” Williams, a Colville tribal elder and salmon chief for the Wenatchi Tribe, died on Jan. 28.

OKANOGAN – The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office made 1,777 custodial arrests during 2018, up more than 300 from the previous year.

The Tonasket City Council will host a special meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 6.

OKANOGAN – Pertussis cases have leveled off in Okanogan County after a sharp increase just before the Christmas-New Year’s holidays.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bill to increase resources for tribal crime victim assistance programs has passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Lawmakers are pushing for a bill to allow year-round observation of daylight saving time in the state, with the intention of the practice spreading throughout the country.

SPOKANE - Three men who appealed the amount of restitution ordered by Okanogan County Superior Court have won a new restitution hearing from the state Court of Appeals for Division 3.

OMAK – North Omak Elementary School second-graders are recycling cardboard. Omak School Board members learned about the effort during their Jan. 22 meeting.

Dennis Brown threw his ink pen down and appeared to be close to stepping down from his post as mayor, but ultimately

OMAK - The police department will get a new vehicle this year, but not the SUV Chief Jeff Koplin hoped to buy.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-4th District, has been nominated by the House Republican Steering Committee to serve on the House Appropriations Committee in the 116th Congress.

OMAK – Mid-Valley Hospital commissioners learned during their Jan. 22 meeting about recent culinary training for hospital staff.

OLYMPIA - Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency in all counties in response to more than two dozen confirmed cases of measles in the state.

NESPELEM - Colville Business Council Chairman Rodney Cawston has written a letter to the principal of a school whose students were involved in an apparent confrontation with an Omaha elder at the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 18.

BREWSTER – The man who hit and killed Brewster teacher Gary Knowlton in July 2016 has been released from prison.

OKANOGAN – Three people have been charged in Okanogan County Superior Court drug busts last week at two locations in Okanogan.

SPOKANE - The state Court of Appeals for Division 3 has rejected an appeal filed by Brandon William Cate.

CHEWELAH – An Inchelium man was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure after being involved in a three-vehicle accident on Highway 395 two miles north of town Jan. 16.

BREWSTER – A local man was arrested Jan. 26 on suspicion of shooting another man on Crane Orchard Road in Douglas County.

OKANOGAN - Animal Foster Care Cat Shelter took in more than 1,000 abandoned, owner-surrendered, stray and rescued cats and kittens during 2018.

OLYMPIA – A Senate hearing is planned Jan. 23 on the proposed state Native American Voting Rights Act.

OKANOGAN – The city is in line to receive more than $200,000 in grant and loan funding for its wastewater treatment and collection system comprehensive plan.

OLYMPIA – A new report on salmon indicates Washington’s salmon are still in trouble, despite recent recovery efforts.

OKANOGAN – Jerry Asmussen will continue to lead the Okanogan County Public Utility District commission in 2019.

OKANOGAN – Pertussis continues its assault on Okanogan County, with influenza now joining in.

OMAK – Members of Omak High School FFA and others volunteered last fall with the Okanogan Conservation District to mark four miles of fence line on a ranch in the Tunk Valley to conserve sharp-tailed grouse.

OKANOGAN – The city is contracting with Foster Pepper, Seattle, to represent it in preparing revenue bonds for a water project.

OMAK – Five Omak High School Family, Career and Community Leaders of America qualified for state competition after a regional event.

The U.S. Armed Forces Legacy Association elected John Sanchez to serve as president this year. Sanchez served as vice president in 2018.

The Ferry County Sheriff’s Office is struggling with deputy retention and is considering a proposed voter-approved public safety property tax levy that would be in in place for six years, and/or a voter-approved public safety sales tax increase of 0.3 percent.

A leak in the roof at city hall has left the library with discolored ceiling tiles over the years and near-misses with water damage to irreplaceable books.

North Valley Hospital leaders will host a special meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, to discuss the future of the district’s obstetrical (OB) department.

How can I not be the biological mother to my children I gave birth to? That was the question former Twisp resident Amelia Minuoza kept asking herself after a two-year struggle with a DNA conundrum.

OKANOGAN – The Community Day of Services for the Homeless will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24.

OLYMPIA – A Centralia legislator is asking the Washington Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials to reconsider its recommendation that lawmakers receive a nearly 18 percent raise during the next biennium.

OKANOGAN – Okanogan Chamber of Commerce members reviewed the 2019 events calendar during their Jan. 9 meeting.