BUSINESS BRIEFS: Victoria’s sewage plans may back up . . . and other items (corrected)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to incorrect information provided to the Peninsula Daily News, this report has been corrected to reflect that a reflexology seminar will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Port Angeles on Tuesday, May 19.

VICTORIA — Instead of proceeding with funding to end the pumping of raw effluent into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, two Victoria region mayors want to stop local funding toward building a sewage treatment plant.

Seven municipalities in the area have been paying too long for a treatment plant rejected last year, said Langford Mayor Stew Young and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins.

Langford has written a letter to the Capital Regional District, the regional government agency charged with establishing sewage treatment, asking that the local tax be stopped until treatment locations and costs are known and the public has been consulted, the Victoria Times Colonist reported Friday.

The district’s sewage treatment project has a budget of $788 million, toward which the Canadian federal government has committed $253 million.

To preserve that funding, a plan and site need to be approved by March 2016, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps has said, while the site needs to be selected and zoning completed by December of this year.

The two mayors’ request will be discussed Wednesday.

Charging station

SEQUIM — Co-op Farm and Garden True Value, 216 E. Washington St., has installed a free electric-vehicle charging station in the parking lot.

The Sun Country Highway model SCH100 EV Charger is for Level 2 EV charging.

“It has the ability to charge Tesla’s new Model S in the shortest time. It charges up to 80 amps continuously. It uses a J1772 universal adapter and has a 19.4 kilowatt rating for fast charging,” a news release from the store said

The charger comes with a 22-foot cord.

For more information, phone 360-683-4111 or visit www.theco-opfarmandgarden.com.

Agents of Month

PORT ANGELES — Marc and Pat Thomsen, aka “Team Thomsen” of Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty, have been named the company’s Agents of the Month for April.

The award is attained by producing the highest amount of real estate business transactions in one month’s time.

For more information, email MThomsen@olypen.com or phone 360-417-2782.

Guitar shop opening

PORT ANGELES — Wildcard Guitars, 111 N. Oak St., will begin business Saturday, May 23, with a “music and guitar tasting” grand opening from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The business is described as a boutique guitar gallery featuring Wildcard guitars and other local handmade stringed instruments.

For more information, phone owner/manager Steven Card at 360-504-2961.

Refloxology course

PORT ANGELES — A reflexology seminar will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 139 W. Eighth St., from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19.

Massage practitioners can earn two continuing education units at this educational session.

A $5 donation covers costs.

Tianne Curtis teaches a reflexology technique that can be done alone or added to a massage.

The technique stimulates the head, neck, shoulders and six of the major meridians that run through the feet and toes.

Tables, bolsters and blankets are needed, and attendees should wear loose clothing.

Attendees who bring a new therapist to the session will receive (including the new person) a free album download from harpist David Michael.

For more information, contact Pat Carter at 360-457-0333 or cpat@olypen.com, or Darla Workman at 360-417-5257 or darlaw@willowmt.com.

New superintendentl

BARSTOW, Calif. — Todd Suess, former deputy superintendent of Olympic National Park, has been named superintendent of Mojave National Preserve.

Suess had been acting superintendent of the preserve since mid-January, after arriving on California’s high desert from Olympic.

Suess has also worked for the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management at Joshua Tree National Park in California, Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming and Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota.

KONP talk guests

PORT ANGELES — Here is this week’s schedule for the 1:05 p.m. to 2 p.m. local talk show segment on KONP radio, at 1450 AM, 101.7 FM and www.konp.com on the Internet outside the Port Angeles area.

Station General Manager Todd Ortloff hosts the Monday through Thursday segments.

This week’s scheduled lineup:

■ Monday: Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict.

■ Tuesday: Russ Veneema, executive director of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce, and chamber President Jim Moran give the chamber’s quarterly report.

■ Wednesday: Clallam County Interim Health Officer Jeanette Stehr-Green and third-year University of Washington medical student Louis Paolella discuss “Health Literacy: Evaluating the Quality of Health Information.”

Second segment: Dan Maguire, executive director of the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts, discusses the upcoming festival.

■ Thursday: Nan Burns and Marg Bennett discuss the Sequim Hospital Guild’s upcoming “Stars of Tomorrow” fundraiser.

Second segment: Rayna Abrams discusses a Serenity House fundraiser.

Third segment: Mike Howe, communications director for the Clallam County Public Utility District.

Trees force closure

COUPEVILLE — State parks officials have ordered the closure of campgrounds at South Whidbey Island State Park for the 2015 season due to diseased old-growth trees that pose safety concerns.

The decision came after park staff who were preparing for the upcoming season found several large Douglas fir trees in the campground had snapped and fallen across campsites.

A state Department of Natural Resources forest pathologist did tree assessments and found heart rot in the stems of the old-growth trees.

Many of the other trees are also likely infected with the rot, which results in falling trees and limbs.

The park remains open for day use.

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