*** UPDATE February 22nd, 2023 1530 ***
Sheriff Mike Morrison reports on February 22nd no rescuers were sent in to the avalanche scene near Colchuck Peak. Two avalanche experts from Northwest Avalanche Center deployed to the Colchuck area to assess the current avalanche hazard. The bodies of the climbers killed in the avalanche remain at the scene.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office is identifying the avalanche victims as:
• Seong Cho, a 54-year-old male Korean National residing in West Hartford Connecticut
• Jeannie Lee, a 60-year-old female from Bayside New York
• Yun Park, a 66-year-old male from Palisades Park New Jersey
Recovery efforts from this point forward will be based on avalanche and weather conditions as well as overall rescuer safety.
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Sheriff Mike Morrison reports on February 20th, 2023 Deputies were contacted at the CCSO Leavenworth substation about an avalanche that occurred near Colchuck Lake the previous day. The reporting party, a 53-year-old Maryland man reported the group he was with had attempted to climb Colchuck Peak on Sunday February 19th. There were six climbers in that group and the reporting party had stayed at their base camp that day.
The lead climber triggered an avalanche while attempting to climb the Northeast Couloir of Colchuck Peak. Four of the climbers were swept down the couloir approximately 500 feet. Three of the climbers died as a result of trauma sustained in the fall. They were a 60-year-old female from New York, a 66-year-old male from New Jersey, and a 53-year-old male from Connecticut. The fourth climber, a 56 year old male form New York sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was able to hike back to base camp with the remaining two. They were a 50-year-old male from New York and a 36-year-old male from New Jersey. When they arrived at camp, they sent the reporting party for help.
When Deputies took the report, A SAR coordinator started gathering resources. A total of 22 rescuers responded to the trailhead to assist with this effort. They were from Chelan County Mounty Rescue, Chelan County Volunteer Search and Rescue and ORV unit, Seattle Mountain Rescue, Tacoma Mountain Rescue, and Yakima Mountain Rescue. A group of four from Chelan County Mountain Rescue responded to the lake driven part of the way by the CCVSAR ORV unit. They reached the base camp at approximately 1:30 pm. They were able to determine avalanche conditions were too hazardous to continue to the deceased climbers. They escorted the surviving climbers back to the trailhead.
Rescuers were not sent back in to the scene today due to hazardous conditions. CCSO continues to work with Northwest Avalanche Center to assist in a recover plan.
Colchuck Peak sits at the South end of Colchuck Lake approximately 8 miles South of Leavenworth, WA.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
The regularly scheduled meeting for Wednesday, March 15, 2023, is re-scheduled for Thursday, March 23, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. at location 232 East Wapato Chelan WA (Fire Station)
The board will return to the normal meeting dates third Wednesday of each month starting Wednesday, April 19, 2023.
Carol Kibler
District Secretary
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AGENDA
Chelan Fire and Rescue
Special Meeting
Wednesday, March 8, 2023, starting at 9:00 a.m.
232 East Wapato, Chelan, WA
The CFR Board of Commissioners will conduct the meeting in person at the fire station, you are welcome to join via Zoom. The public is welcome to join by following this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88541707011 or Meeting ID: 885 4170 7011. One tap mobile +12532158782,88541707011# US (Tacoma) +12532050468,88541707011# US
Proposed Chelan Fire and Rescue agenda pending Board approval.
Roll Call:
Call to order:
Flag Salute:
New Business:
Long Range Planning
Guest Speakers: Chelan County Assessor Deanna Walters and City of Chelan Community Development Director John Ajax
Adjournment:
Chelan Fire and Rescue is pleased to announce that residents and business owners in the city limits of Chelan will improve from a fire protection classification of 6 to a 5.
Residents living in the County within 5 miles of Station 71 (Downtown Chelan) and in an area with hydrants (ex: Chelan Falls) will improve from a 7 to a 6. Residents within 5 miles of Station 73 (Union Valley) will improve from an 8 to a 7. Unfortunately, due to a decrease in volunteers, the residents at Station 75 (South Lakeshore) will move from a 7 to a 9. Therefore, we need 2 additional Volunteers to maintain the current protection class for Station 75! Interested Volunteers can find applications at www.chelan7.com.
So what does this mean for you? If your insurance providers use the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau (WSRB) fire protection classification ratings, you can call your provider after June 1st and potentially get a lower insurance rate on your home or business insurance. It also means that your Fire Department is better staffed and equipped than before to serve you.
This is all thanks to your support! As our community grows, Chelan Fire and Rescue is committed to providing you with the highest level of service.
MEMBERSHIP REMINDER
For whatever reason, renewal and new memberships for 2023 are off to a VERY slow start. If we are to continue our work at the Buckner Orchard, your support is critical. Please consider using this link (click here) or writing a check this weekend to help make 2023 another successful year at the Orchard.
Many thanks for all you've done and will do!
Herb
Herb Sargo
President
Promoting the care and preservation of the Buckner homestead, orchard, and community atmosphere in perpetuity
2023 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
Truly A Touchstone!
As reported in our 2022 Annual Report were able to do many good things at the Homestead and Orchard thanks to your support, contributions, and volunteering. If we are to continue this good work, funding and volunteering must continue
The Buckner Orchard and Homestead need your support more than ever.
2022 Annual Report Link: http://bucknerhomestead.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/BHHF2022-ANNUAL-REPORT-1.pdf
A Touchstone
The Buckner Orchard is truly a touchstone to the past; to the history found here, to a simpler life and time, to a previous experience. It can be personal, enlightening, reflective. An encounter this past summer brought this home to me in a most poignant way.
I drove back to the Orchard one morning as the Stehekin Valley Adventures bus was loading to leave. Stan, the driver and guide, came quickly over to me. "Perfect timing, there's someone here you need to meet."
As I got out of the van, visitors started getting back off the bus, as a slight, older woman, assisted by two gentlemen, walked toward me from the Buzzard Cabin.
This was a "bucket list" moment for 97 year-old Gwen. Accompanied by her three children, one at least as old as I am, this was their gift to her. Gwen was a Chelan classmate and close friend of my late aunt, Hobbie Buckner. Gwen and her family had lived at High Bridge one summer long ago,and Stehekin and the Buckner Ranch remain an important part of her life. She was especially pleased to be able to share and talk with someone who had a connection to and knew those she had such fond and vivid memories of.
The rest of the tour members stood around us, quietly listening.
At some point, someone handed us a photo album. Ten pages of small black and white photos and a single, typed page, Gwen had made the album just for this visit to Stehekin - to help her children understand just how important this was to her. The photos were from 1940, many of her and Hobbie, and several that included Hobbie's sister, Bucky. Bathing in the river at High Bridge under the guise of swimming, a hikes to a lookout, and other things teenage girls would do and share. She knew the Sisters are gone, and asked about their families, the Buckner Ranch, and Stehekin.
As our visit was coming to end, she gave me a gentle hug, thanked me, and quietly confided that, surely, this would be her last visit to Stehekin.
As I mentioned, the bus was about to leave when this all began, Stan and the other visitors waited quietly and patiently for fifteen minutes or so, knowing how important this was for Gwen.
It was a moment for all of us.
The Orchard is a touchstone to the past in many different ways, as it was for Gwen. Your support of the Foundation and Orchard can help it remain so, long into the future. You can be the difference.
Herb Sargo
BHHF President
Memberships are one form of contributing funds to support the Foundation's work at the Homestead and Orchard.
RENEWALS - Quick and Convenient, renew digitally on-line (click here)
If you prefer, a check, made out to the Buckner Homestead Heritage Foundation (BHHF), should be mailed to PO Box 184, Manson, WA 98831. As a renewal, we will have your information on file. Please include your e-mail address, as this is how we receipt and communicate with members in a cost-effective manner. And, your contribution is tax deductible as allowed by the IRS.
NEW MEMBERSHIP - Download and print the membership form found at this link (click here) and mail to PO Box 184, Manson, WA 98831. Again, be sure to include your e-mail address. Or, simply use the link above for renewals for an easy on-line membership.
Individual - $25.00
Family - $50.00
Business - $75.00
Patron - $100.00
Benefactor - $250.00
Steward - $500.00
Sustainer - $1,000.00
Or, any amount you choose!
Please join us today with whatever level of membership you choose and help us assure a productive, successful, and memorable future for the Buckner Homestead. Not sure how your contribution will be used? Then, review our 2022 Financial Summary, included in the Annual Report at the link at the top of this article. All Foundation work and administration is done entirely by volunteers.
The Buckner Homestead Heritage Foundation is a not-for-profit organization created specifically to support and preserve the Buckner Homestead and Orchard in Stehekin, Washington, and is registered as such with the State of Washington and the IRS (Tax ID #452913458)
The Manson School Board is asking our community for nominations of Manson School District Staff Members who have made a significant contribution to the lives of students and/or the greater Manson community. Recipients of this year’s award will receive a scholarship in the amount of $500 from Aaron England of England Chiropractic. Honorees are also recognized by the North Central Education Service District of Wenatchee and the Manson Chamber of Commerce at its Night to Remember held in the fall.
Selection criteria is as follows: one certificated employee (grades P-12) and one support staff employee (secretaries, bus drivers, custodians, para-professionals, food services, coaches, etc.)
Nominations will be accepted until March 22, 2023 at noon. Winning nominees will be announced at the Manson School Board meeting on March 27, 2023.
Nominations forms are available online at the school district website www.manson.org, in both English and Spanish.
If you should have any questions, please call the Manson School District office at 687-3140.
Virtual meeting takes place Feb. 15 and 16.
OLYMPIA – The Feb. 15 and 16 meeting of the Washington State Transportation Commission will include a discussion about autonomous vehicle developments, both on road and in the water, as well as programs for Washington’s clean transportation future.
The meeting starts at 9 a.m. both Wednesday, Feb. 15, and Thursday, Feb. 16. The meeting will be virtual using Zoom. Those interested in attending can register on the commission’s website. TVW will broadcast the meeting live.
Transportation is the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. During the Feb. 15, Wednesday morning meeting, the commission will hear from officials from the state departments of Ecology, Commerce and Transportation about programs underway to ensure a clean transportation future for Washington state.
On Wednesday, the commission also will hear several updates about autonomous vehicles. Commissioners will hear about collaborative efforts by the cities of Seattle and Bellevue to advance autonomous vehicle testing, and from the ACES Network about approaches to connecting vehicles to transportation infrastructure to increase safety and real-time communications. The commission also will be briefed about the Washington Autonomous Vehicle Cluster, a Kitsap County-based effort to accelerate autonomous vehicle innovations in the marine sector.
Other highlights of the commission’s two-day meeting include:
The commission will take public comment at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16. Those wishing to speak can sign up during the meeting by posting their name in the Q&A box on-screen. Written comments can also be submitted via email to
For more information about the commission and a complete meeting agenda, visit the commission’s website: wstc.wa.gov
AGENDA
Chelan Fire and Rescue
Wednesday, February 15, 2023, at 3:00 P.M.
232 East Wapato, Chelan, WA
The CFR Board of Commissioners will conduct the meeting in person at the fire station, you are welcome to join via Zoom. The public is welcome to join by following this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87284665516 Meeting ID: 872 8466 5516 or
dial +1 253 215 8782
Proposed Chelan Fire and Rescue agenda pending Board approval.
Flag Salute
Roll Call:
Regular Meeting Call to Order:
Presentation: Manson Fire Training prop -- Chief Baker
Badge Pinning: Firefighters William Steady and Stephanie Preheim
Approve Agenda:
Public Comment:
Consent Agenda:
• Revenue and Expenditure Report: December 2022 and January 2023
• Payroll: December 20, 2022, to January 23, 2023 / Paid 02-03-2023 for $144,839.28
• General Account Vouchers: 01-13-2023 Transaction #71 to 82 for $13,094.69; 01-20-2023 Transactions 85 to 95 for $5,286.84; 01-27-2023 Transactions 97 to 115 for $24,131.49.
• Capital Account Vouchers: 01-1-2023 Transaction 96 for $3,379.78.
• Minutes: January 18, 2023
Fire Chief Report: (Chief Asher)
• 2022 Budget & Financial Report December 2022 and January 2023
• January Emergency Response Report / Operations / Community Risk Reduction / Apparatus Update
Assistant Fire Chief Report (Asst. Chief Sherman)
• Volunteer Recruitment / Training
Firefighters Association Report (Ron Simmons)
Unfinished Business:
New Business:
• Clerical Agreement with Chelan Co Fire District 8
Special Events:
• KOZI – Community Connection Thursday, February 16, @ 8:10 a.m. – Commissioner Moller/Chief Asher
Board for Volunteer Firefighters:
Public Comment:
Commissioner Comments:
Executive Session:
Adjournment:
Sheriff Morrison reports on 02/09/2023 Chelan County Sheriff’s Office Detectives served a search warrant in Leavenworth.
The warrant resulted in the arrest of 53 year old Michael J Ross. Ross was later booked into Chelan County Regional Jail on 10 counts of RCW 9.68A.050(2) Dealing in Depictions of a Minor Engage in Sexually Explicit Conduct 2nd Degree and 10-counts of RCW 9.68A.070(2) Possession of Depictions of a Minor Engaged in Sexually Explicit Conduct 2nd Degree.
The search warrant and arrest were the result of a 9 month investigation done by CCSO Detectives after they received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Evidence recovered in the search is still being processed and could result in further charges. There are no other known suspects at this time.
Sheriff Morrison reports on 02/07/2023 deputies with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a burglary at Chelan Fruit located off Howser Rd in Chelan.
Upon arrival, deputies discovered two males had broken into the location and stole an estimated $6,900 in assorted items.
Security camera footage combined with an extensive investigation, led to the arrest of 2 Chelan men, 24 year old Alan Larumbe, and 23 year old Santiago Alexis Jimenez.
Deputies were also able to recover and return most of the items taken. Additional evidence was also recovered possibly linking both males to other burglaries in the area.
They were booked into the Chelan County Regional Jail and charged with 2 counts of Burglary 2nd Degree and Theft 1st Degree.
Regular Board Meeting
February 9, 2023, 4:10pm
Bumgarner Meeting Room, 142 Pedoi Street, Manson WA 98831
1. Call to Order
2. Flag Salute
3. Conflict of Interest Forms and PDC Reminder
4. Board Service Commitment Overview
5. Board Elections
6. Agenda Additions and Deletions
7. Public Comment
8. Approval of Minutes
a. January 6, 2023 Regular Meeting Minutes
9. Financial Review
a. Review Monthly Financial Report
b. Review and Approve Monthly Voucher
10. New Business
a. Board positions up for election in 2024
11. Old Business
a. Updates:
i. Old Swim Hole development project
ii. Manson Bay Marina planning project
iii. Leffler Field soil remediation planning project
b. Director’s Report
c. Executive Session to review the performance of a public employee
IX. Adjournment
Next Regular Meeting: 4:10pm on March 9, 2023 at 142 Pedoi Street, Manson WA, 98831 (unless otherwise posted).
MVT WebCam 