NEWS BRIEFS: Election deadlines loom as Nov. 8 approaches … and other items

News events across the North Olympic Peninsula.

Several voter registration deadlines are quickly approaching for those looking to cast a 2016 general election ballot Nov. 8.

All Washington residents have until Monday, Oct. 10, to register by mail or online, transfer their voter registration from another Washington county or update their current voter registration.

Those registering online can do so through MyVote at www.myvote.wa.gov.

Registered voters also can update their voter information through that website or by contacting Clallam County Elections at 360-417-2221 or Jefferson County Elections at 360-385-9117.

New Washington voters have until Oct. 31 to register in person at their county auditor’s office to participate in the general election.

A printed statewide voters pamphlet will be mailed to all Washington residences the week of Oct. 10-14 and ballots will be mailed to all registered Clallam County voters Oct. 19.

Trust lands committee meeting

PORT ANGELES — The Clallam County Trust Lands Advisory Committee will take a field tour of state trust lands Friday.

The main group will leave at 8:30 a.m. from the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

They will meet additional committee members and state Department of Natural Resources representatives at 9:30 a.m. on the west end of Lake Crescent for a safety briefing and to take public comment.

The DNR-led field tour will be from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. on DNR lands.

Committee members will return to the west end of Lake Crescent at 3:30 p.m. to take public comment and discuss the next meeting.

The Trust Lands Advisory Committee will make a recommendation to Clallam County commissioners on how the county can assist DNR fulfill its trust lands management mandate.

Audubon field trip

PORT TOWNSEND — A field trip to Kah Tai Lagoon Nature Park meets near the utility room/sanican across 12th Street from Henery’s Hardware at 5 p.m. today.

The field trip is free and runs from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Dan Waggoner at 360-301-1788 or danwags57@gmail.com.

Community aid meeting

SEQUIM — Sequim Community Aid will hold a meeting today for those interested in supporting the group’s mission.

The meeting will be held in the Clallam County Fire District No. 3 boardroom, 323 N. Fifth Ave., at 1:30 p.m.

Those who want to become supporters or group board members are invited to attend.

The nonprofit all-volunteer agency receives donations and grants in order to interview people in need of help with electricity, housing rent/mortgage and/or water during an emergency. Clients need to live in Sequim School District boundaries.

Phone Sequim Community Aid at 360-681-3731 for assistance and mail donations to Sequim Community Aid, P.O. Box 1591, Sequim, WA 98382.

Watershed stewards

PORT TOWNSEND — WSU Extension will offer a watershed stewards class from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 22 to Oct. 27.

The deadline for registration is this Fridayand is limited to 24 participants.

There is a $160 fee per person to offset the cost of training, and an orientation meeting will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the WSU Extension office, Cupola House, 380 Jefferson St.

The classes combine lectures by regional experts with field trips to protected areas all over East Jefferson County and are designed for anyone interested in freshwater streams, salmon and watershed resources.

This year’s class features field trips to the Tarboo watershed, Discovery Bay and a new Jamestown S’Klallam acquisition on the Dungeness River.

For more information, email Bridget Gregg at Bridget.gregg@wsu.edu or Cheryl Lowe at Cheryl.lowe@wsu.edu.

See tinyurl.com/juduc8r for more details and application forms.

Genealogy talk

CHIMACUM — The Jefferson County Genealogical Society will host professional genealogist Janet Camarata as its speaker during a full-day seminar Saturday, Sept. 17.

The talk is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road.

A donation of $10 for the full-day seminar is suggested.

To understand an ancestor’s life, genealogists use timelines, chronologies and online calculators to summarize a life and identify interconnected historical events.

Camarata’s topic, “Putting Your Ancestors in Their Place…and Time: Timelines, Chronologies and Calculators,” will demonstrate how these methods worked to help understand a family’s mid-1800s migration from Kentucky to Missouri to Kansas.

Members and friends of the historical society are invited to learn about timelines and chronologies in the morning, while in the afternoon, Camarata will present “Calculating Our Ancestors’ Lives,” which compares the life of one’s ancestor with one’s own life using online tools for computing inflation, cousins, distance, weather, etc.

Bring a lunch; coffee/tea/water will be available.

In addition, Heritage Books will be on site offering for sale a large selection of genealogy books and other items for family history researchers.

For more information, visit www.wajcgs.org.

Senior cohousing

PORT TOWNSEND — A talk about senior cohousing and Quimper Village will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.

The free talk will be at 2933 Jackman St.

For more information and to sign up phone 360-379-2566.

Rummage sale

PORT ANGELES — Olympic Lodge No. 37, Sons of Norway, will hold a rummage sale at Scandia Hall, 131 W. FIfth Ave., on Saturday.

The sale is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This sale will benefit “Scandia Kids,” an after-school enrichment program of the lodge designed for elementary and junior high students.

For more information about Sons of Norway, phone Dick Grinstad at 360-452-6334.

Chimacum ferry christened

SEATTLE — The Chimacum High School marching band performed during Wednesday’s christening of the newest ferry in the Olympic Class, the Chimacum.

In a ceremony that was not open to the public, Lynne Griffith, Washington State Ferries assistant secretary, broke a bottle of champagne to christen the state’s third Olympic Class ferry at Vigor’s Harbor Island Shipyard in Seattle.

Gov. Jay Inslee spoke along with Secretary of Transportation Roger Millar and Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent.

The christening marks the Chimacum’s final stage of construction and its preparation for sea trials.

The total budget to build the vessel is $123 million.

“The Washington state ferry system is among the best in the world. I am so pleased that the Chimacum is being built efficiently, on budget and ahead of schedule” Inslee said.

The 144-car Chimacum ferry will begin its sea trials in early 2017 and will start carrying passengers on the Seattle-Bremerton route next spring, the state Department of Transportation said.

The state Transportation Commission selected the vessel name in 2014 to honor the gathering place of the Chimacum people, which is now the present-day town of Chimacum.

The Chimacum is the third of four funded Olympic Class ferries that replace the aging, mid-century-era Evergreen State Class vessels.

School board workshop

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School Board will hear an update on levies during a planning workshop Friday and Saturday.

The workshop will be from noon to 6:30 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center, 905 W. Ninth St.

The levy discussion will be from 2:45 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.

Jon Gores, a consultant with DA. Davison & Co., will discuss voting patterns, historical election results, a suggested calendar of events leading up to an election and the maximum levy that could be certified for collection.

The present levy for 2016-17 will collect $8,723,516.

Also Friday, board members will hear reports on facilities, a communication plan for the school year, human resources and collective bargaining.

On Saturday, the board will hear reports on the budget and enrollment and consider its code of ethics.

Fun Walk proceeds

SEQUIM — Organizers of the 12th annual Fun Walk to benefit the Dungeness Valley Health & Wellness Clinic say it surpassed the $30,000 goal.

Saturday’s event, which annually serves as the main funding source for the free clinic, raised $24,500 in sponsorships and $7,147 in donations.

A total of 165 walkers and runners participated in the 1-mile or 5-mile course starting at Trinity United Methodist Church and looping around various parts of Carrie Blake Community Park.

The event featured free medical screenings, music, healthy snacks and several prizes.

All proceeds benefit the free clinic, which supplies urgent and chronic medical care for the uninsured and underinsured.

The clinic opens at 5 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, visit www.sequimfreeclinic.org.

More in News

The ferry MV Coho backs into its landing after returning to Port Angeles on Tuesday following annual dry dock and maintenance in Anacortes. During the maintenance period, extensive work was performed on the dock, including replacement of a wing wall used to steer and secure the vessel during loading and unloading of cars and passengers. The ferry is scheduled to resume daily service between Port Angeles and Victoria on Thursday. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Coho returns

The ferry MV Coho backs into its landing after returning to Port… Continue reading

Building association calls for city to cease utility charges

Association says charges unconstitutional

Jefferson Land Trust considering conservation burial ground

Funds from plot sales could fund habitat improvements

Port Angeles artist Bob Stokes sits in his studio and music venue on Wednesday. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Art community mourns Bob Stokes’ passing

Legacy includes statues, concerts, gatherings

Clallam PUD
Cindy Kimble, Clallam PUD’s customer and community outreach programs coordinator, can help residents navigate the utility district’s revamped low-income energy assistance program.
Clallam PUD hires staff to help low-income customers

Clallam County Public Utility District has overhauled its low-income energy… Continue reading

Jen Colmore, left, and June Nichols of the Sequim Food Bank serve a sample of chili to Monica Dixon of Sequim during Saturday’s Community Chili Cookoff at the Sequim Boys & Girls Club. The event, organized by the club and Boy Scout Troop 90, showcased the culinary skills of six community organizations with each group receiving a share of the proceeds and the winner taking a $500 prize. The food bank’s chili recipe took top honors in the competition. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Chili cookoff

Jen Colmore, left, and June Nichols of the Sequim Food Bank serve… Continue reading

Port Townsend to test sewer system with smoke, dye

The city of Port Townsend will test its sewer… Continue reading

JUMP! Playground to close for renovations

Jefferson County Parks and Recreation will close the JUMP! Playground… Continue reading

Barcy Fisher, left, and Patti Buckland have been selected as the 2024 Marrowstone Island Citizens of the Year.
Fisher, Buckland honored as Marrowstone Island citizens of year

Barcy Fisher and Patty Buckland were named Marrowstone Island’s 2024… Continue reading

About 800 people from Jefferson and Clallam counties spill out from the steps of the Jefferson County Courthouse onto Jefferson Street in Port Townsend on Monday to take part in a National Day of Protest organized by the 50501 Movement, which stands for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement.” (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Hundreds protest actions of Trump administration

Activists cite USAID, worry about Treasury, impacts of immigration

Peninsula to welcome Canadian visitors

Celebration of Coho passengers planned

Fish barrier removal to impact highway traffic

Portions of roadway to have long-term closures