NEWS BRIEFS: Chimacum schools to host special meeting today … and other items

PORT HADLOCK — The Chimacum School District will hold a special meeting from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today.

The meeting will take place at 181 Hiller Drive.

Board members will go into executive session to evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for public employment or review the performance of a public employee.

They also will discuss with agency legal counsel matters relating to agency enforcement actions, or litigation or potential litigation.

No action will follow.

Skills center, health clinic on agenda

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School Board will discuss the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center and the proposed high school health center when it meets Thursday.

The board will meet in regular session at 7 p.m. at the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center at 905 W. Ninth St.

The regular session will be preceded by an executive session at 5 p.m. and a work session at 5:30 p.m.

During the work session, the board will discuss the impending dissolution of the skills center. Staff will discuss the proposed fate of programs at the center, staff impact and student breakdown, as well as address other questions.

District staff is recommending that the board take more time to review a proposed memorandum of understanding with the North Olympic Health Network.

The board also will hear final budget and enrollment projections as of June and act on a proposed increase of school lunch prices, the site of a Franklin School portable classroom and bids for the demolition of the former Monroe school site.

‘Says You’ to come to Chimacum

CHIMACUM — National Public Radio’s quiz show “Says You!” will come to Chimacum on Friday.

The show — which will benefit the Jefferson Clemente Course in the Humanities, which offers free college humanities courses to low-income adults — will start at 7 p.m. in the Chimacum High School auditorium at 91 West Valley Road.

Tickets are $35 for general admission or $50 for reserved seating, which includes entrance into the pre-game cast party at Finnriver Farm, 124 Center Road, Chimacum.

Tickets are available online at Brown Paper Tickets or at Port Book and News in Port Angeles and Quimper Sound in Port Townsend. Of the tickets sold at Quimper Sound, $5 each will benefit KPTZ 91.1 FM.

Toll rates to rise

OLYMPIA — Toll rates for the state Highway 520 Bridge will increase Saturday, July 1.

Toll payers will see a 5 percent increase in weekday and weekend toll rates, and nighttime tolling will begin at a flat rate of $1.25 per crossing.

Toll revenue is required and on track to generate $1.2 billion to cover a portion of the new bridge’s cost, the state Department of Transportation said.

These increases were approved by the state Transportation Commission in May 2016, following a public comment period and after public meetings were conducted.

The across-the-board 5 percent increase equates to 20 cents for peak period tolls (increasing from $4.10 to $4.30 for Good To Go! pass holders). Overnight travel between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., formerly toll-free, now will cost $1.25 per crossing for those with a Good To Go! pass. The additional $2 per crossing Pay By Mail charge for drivers who do not have a Good To Go! pass has not changed.

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