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Taking her shots

Crowd control

LBHS basketball legend makes an impression in L.A.

Changes may be coming to N. Cascades National Park

SPORTS Page B1

Methow Valley News

PUBLISHED WEEKLY SINCE 1903

T WISP, WASHINGTON

VOL . 122 NO. 17

W W W.METHOW VALLEYNEWS.COM

AUGUST 20, 2025

$1.50

Okanogan County revamps election precincts Total will be reduced by more than half BY MARCY STAMPER

Okanogan County is cutting its number of election precincts by more than half to preserve ballot secrecy and streamline election administration. But unlike redistricting efforts in other states that have come under recent scrutiny, “re-precincting” doesn’t redraw any commissioners’ districts nor affect who represents voters. The purpose of revising precinct boundaries is exclusively to make elections easier to run, which will ultimately save money for the county, Okanogan County Auditor Cari Hall said. Okanogan County currently has 248 precincts. With the new precinct boundaries, the county will have just 102. The committee working on the project, which consisted of Auditor’s Office staff and representatives from the Okanogan County Democrat and Republican parties, strived for precincts with 500 to 700 registered voters each.

“I think the most questions we’ll get are that there will be confusion between redistricting and doing election administration and precincting,” Hall said. “This is not redistricting, but strictly an election-administration function.” The primary goal of the change is to protect the secrecy of the ballot. The other main objective is to simplify the election system. Although there are costs in staff time connected with the changes, having fewer precincts will ultimately save the county money on printing and mailing ballots, as well as on staff time. The average election costs about $22,000 for printing and mailing ballots, Hall said.

Typing hundreds of ballots

In addition to the main 248 precincts, the Auditor’s Office often has to create “split” precincts for an election where some voters in a precinct are part of a hospital, school or fire district, while others aren’t. Because junior taxing districts are drawn by the school or hospital board, not the county, they don’t always follow commissioner or even county boundaries, requiring elections staff to create more ballot styles. While there will

always be a need for split ballots, the new precincts will reduce that need considerably, Hall said. By state law, the auditor is required to create a ballot style for every unique combination of races and measures associated with each precinct and each precinct split, Washington State Director of Elections Stuart Holmes said. The text for those ballots cannot be copied and pasted. So, every election, Okanogan County Chief Deputy Auditor/Elections Supervisor Jamie Groomes spends a week barricaded in her office, her phone set to “do not disturb,” typing and proofreading hundreds of ballots. Handling that number of ballots is an “administrative nightmare,” Hall said. Since being elected in 2018, revising the county’s precincts has been one of Hall’s priorities. The office waited for an offyear election to simplify the transition.

PCOs

All the new precincts keep voters in the same commissioners’ district and preserve the parties’ elected precinct committee officers (PCOs). By state law, precincts can’t cross boundaries of city, Congressional or legislative districts.

Photo by Marcy Stamper

Okanogan County is cutting its total number of election precincts by more than half to preserve the secrecy of the ballot and streamline elections. Registered voters will receive a new card and a n letter explaining the change, which takes place in January. Although it’s not required, the county wanted to include two representatives from each party on the committee to ensure a collaborative, transparent process. The chairs of the county’s Democrat and Republican parties, plus another

representative, served on the committee, and all of them hailed the cooperative effort – and the precinct simplification. Revamping the precincts was a “daunt-

See PRECINCTS, A2

PAYING RE SPEC TS

Map courtesy of Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest

Several trailheads along State Route 20 on the Methow Valley Ranger District will be temporary closed between Aug. 18 and Sept. 25 for maintenance and repair of the parking area and entry roads.

Photo by Marcy Stamper

Friends, coworkers and community members gathered at the Methow Valley Ranger District to remember the firefighters who died in the Twisp River Fire 10 years ago. Three firefighters died and four were injured, one with severe burns. See story, page A2.

Drainage problem on Twisp highway repave needs a fix

Repairs needed at popular sites for recreationists BY ANN MCCREARY

Official anticipates project completion by September BY RALPH SCHWARTZ

The fresh pavement on Highway 20 on Twisp’s north end must be redone, after a rare summer downpour on Aug. 1 exposed a significant drainage problem. Water several inches deep Photo by Ralph Schwartz pooled on the roadway during that Friday afternoon rainstorm During a recent storm, water backed up at a catch basin in the because a subcontractor set the southbound lane of Highway 20 in Twisp, exposing a flaw in pavement too low along the recent roadwork on the north end of town. southbound gutter, Twisp Public Works Director Andrew DenA paving subcontractor, hired residents of Twisp and all that ham said. by prime contractor Rudnick and travel that highway are happy “The engineer, the prime Sons Excavation, will propose a with that project,” he added. contractor and myself are all in specific “corrective action plan,” “It will be repaired, one way or agreement of what needs to be Denham said. another.” done to fix that problem,” Den“Fortunately, the prime conThe town shouldn’t need to ham told the Twisp Town Coun- tractor wants to do a good job. cil on Aug. 12. They want it done right, so that See DRAINAGE, A2 ADDRESS LABEL

Several trailheads along North Cascades Highway to be closed

THURS.

FRI.

Four busy trailhead parking areas on the North Cascades Highway (State Route 20) will be closed temporarily during coming weeks for parking lot and entry road repairs. Work was scheduled to get underway this week, beginning on Monday (Aug. 18), at the Washington Pass Overlook Trail and Bridge Creek Trailhead parking areas, according to an announcement sent out last week by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Trails remain open, but parking and restroom areas will be closed while work is underway to repair potholes, replace pavement, and repaint parking lot stripes, the Forest Service said. Hikers planning either day or overnight trips from the trailheads should be aware that during the construction work alternative parking in the vicinity of the tralheads “is limited or nonexistent” and restrooms will also be closed.

SAT.

SUN.

The scheduled closures are: • Aug. 18-Sept. 7: Washington Pass Overlook and Bridge Creek Trailhead. • Sept. 8-Sept. 25: Rainy Pass Picnic Area (Heather and Maple Pass Trail) and Rainy Pass North — Pacific Crest Trail. All vehicles must be removed from the trailheads by the construction dates to avoid risk of being towed, the Forest Service said in the announcement, which was received by the Methow Valley News on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 12), too late to be included in last week’s paper. Parking along State Route 20 is “explicitly discouraged and poses safety risks to both vehicles and pedestrians due to high rates of speed and limited suitable parking areas,” the Forest Service announcement said. “Improperly parked vehicles can pose a traffic hazard and block access for emergency services in case of an accident. Warnings and citations have been issued in the past for improper parking along the highway,” the announcement said. Due to the popularity and heavy use of the trailheads that will be closed, other trailheads

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WEATHER DATA BASED ON ACCUWEATHER.COM FORECAST FOR T WISP

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in the area will fill up quickly, sa id Rosema r y Sei f r ied, Methow Valley Ranger District recreation specialist. “We recommend planning a hike in one of the lesser visited parts of the Forest during the paving project,” Seifried said. “The potholes at these sites are notorious,” Seifried said. “Despite the short-term impacts of these closures, it’s an exciting project that will have great benefits to our visiting public once complete.” The repairs are planned and funded through the 2020 Great American Outdoors Act.

Specific trail info

The Forest Service provided more specific information about the affected trails: • Bridge Creek Trail No. 2000 (PCT South into North Cascades National Park). The trail is on the opposite side of Highway 20 from the parking area so the trail will remain accessible during the parking area construction, but limited roadside parking will make access difficult. There are pullouts within about a half-mile to the east of the trailhead, which would require walking to the

See TRAILHEADS, A3

INSIDE ...

OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 HARTS PASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . B2 COMMUNIT Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7 VALLEY LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B8