THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2009 Opinion A2 | Community A3–A6 | Neighbors A7 | Sports B1–B2 | Schools B3–B4 | Cops & Courts B5 | Classieds B7 | Outdoors B8 By Bob Kirkpatrick Staff writer By Bob Kirkpatrick Staff writer PUBLISHED SINCE 1947 • HOME OF THE SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL • WWW .OTHELLOOUTLOOK. COM • VOL. 73 NO. 26 • 75¢ By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday See Daddy, Page A5 See Refuge, Page A5
Outlook Outlook The Othello The Othello THURSDAY, JUNE 25 , 2009 PUBLISHED SINCE 1947 • HOME OF THE SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL • WWW.OTHELLOOUTLOOK. COM • VOL. 73 NO. 26 • 75¢ H 84º / L 56º H 86º / L 55º H 87º / L 59º H 83º / L 53º H 82º / L 54º H 85º / L 58º Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Clouds & Sun Sunny Sunny & Breezy Sunny Partly Sunny Clouds & Sun Opinion A2 | Community A3–A6 | Neighbors A7 | Sports B1–B2 | Schools B3–B4 | Cops & Courts B5 | Classifieds B7 | Outdoors B8 See Daddy, Page A5 See Refuge, Page A5 By Bob Kirkpatrick Staff writer The life of a military spouse can be difficult at best, espe- cially during times of conflict. When children are involved, the stress load easily doubles for both parents. And if the child is a new- born, developing a bond with the absent mother or father is one of the most challenging things all three will ever face. “Javier was deployed for his third tour of duty in Iraq in September 2008 when Al- exander was 6 weeks old,” Kriste (Colley) Valdez, said. “We were fortunate because he was able to witness his first true smiles before he left.” Javier is a staff sergeant (E6) with the artillery division sta- tioned at Marine Corps Base, Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay. Typical of most newborns, Kriste said Alexander didn’t have much of a personality to begin with and the first sever- al weeks were a blur of sleep- lessness, crying, doctor’s ap- pointments and trying to get adjusted to life with a baby. But a couple of months down the road, once he became co- herent of his surroundings, Alexander realized something was missing … his dad. So, Kriste set out to find a way to keep them connected during his absence. “I am a big believer in ear- ly reading to children so I thought we could incorporate reading with a way for Alex- ander to be exposed to Javier’s voice and face on the screen,” she said. “So, we videotaped him reading two different bedtime stories and I played one of the stories every single night as I was holding the book and turning the pages.” Admittedly, she grew very tired of those two stories. “Even though a 3 month old wasn’t interested in a book, I thought it was important for Alexander to hear his father’s voice every day,” Kriste said. Kriste and Javier videotaped their own stories, but the Ma- rines, she said, also provides opportunities to tape stories at the library on any base before and after soldiers are deployed to Iraq through a program called United Through Read- ing (www.unitedthroughread- ing.org). “They (people at UTR) told me it was also a good idea to have a lot of photos around the house so Alexander could see his father all the time,” Kriste said. “Well, that advice didn’t work for me, because a 4 month old is not wandering around the house appreciat- ing art.” Instead, like most infants, Alexander had little trouble destroying the photographs. So she decided to have them laminated. “I wanted them to be inde- structible so Alexander could touch and chew on them safe- ly,” she said. “I even taped two of the photos to the back seat of the car so Alexander would have friendly smiles from daddy to look at whenever he was in his car seat. I actu- ally made flashcards of each of his grandparents, too, since we live so far from family in Othello.” Kriste said she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the task without the aid of “Operation Love Reunited,” (www.oplove.org). “This program pairs pho- tographers who volunteer their time to take pictures of a deployed service member’s family, who then, at their own expense, put together an al- bum and mails it to the service member overseas,” she said. “It’s a wonderful surprise, and a way for them to see how their children back home are Keeping daddy in mind Submitted Alex, Javier and Kriste Valdez were featured in the June issue of American Baby Magazine’s series about military families dealing with deployment. Grant for Well No. 6 By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer The City of Othello is the recipient of a community development block grant for $310,000 for the rehabilita- tion of Well No. 6. City engineers applied for the grant due to the high concentrations of fluoride in that well. Because of those concentra- tions, the well, which is the city’s best water producer, is only used in cases of emergen- cy when extra water is needed. “We’ve identified the section where it infiltrates high concen- trates of fluoride,” said Jay Van Ness, of the city’s Public Works department. “With this money, we will block off that area.” Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. However, too much can actually harm the teeth and can also cause weak and brittle bones. Van Ness said Well No. 6 has always had a fluoride is- sue. It is the only city well that exceeds the maximum fluoride level recommended by the state. “There’s been a recent push to resolve that issue and here we are,” he said. City administrator Ehman Sheldon said the grant is part of federal government money that has flowed down to help the states. “Othello is very fortunate to get money back to the local taxpayers for improvements Public input sought By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer The last eight years have been tough going for many government agencies, includ- ing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Budget cuts have changed the way some things have been done, decreased staff and consolidated services. Here in the Pacific North- west, the area’s wildlife refug- es have formed complexes. The Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, six miles northwest of Othello, is now a part of the Mid-Columbia complex. That complex covers two states and eight refuges and one monument (Hanford). It encompasses nine counties, four senators and three con- gressional districts. It also includes 279,338 acres of wildlife area. The Columbia NWR is approximately 30,000 acres of that total. “We came together for greater efficiency,” said Greg Hughes at a public open house last week. The federal government has mandated that each refuge See Flouride, Page A5 See Wishes, Page A4 By LuAnn Morgan Contributing writer The Othello Outlook is joining forces with the Mo- ses Lake Pirates to promote the Basin’s semi-professional baseball team. “This is Columbia Basin base- ball, not just Moses Lake,” said team owner Brent Kirwan. Beginning this week, read- ers will have the opportu- nity to earn free game tickets, courtesy of the Pirates and the Outlook. The goal is to find the Pirate mascot Arrrty somewhere in the paper. The first person to call with the correct answer will win four free tickets and throw out the first pitch to start the ballgame. The contest will run each week until the end of the season. Also, during the SunFaire parade, Outlook staff will be handing out a limited number of game tickets. Kirwan formed the team four years ago. “I saw it as an opportunity to bring some family fun into the area,” Kirwan said. Kirwan played baseball himself when he was a kid and sponsored several Little League teams over the years. Coincidentally, all his teams were called the Pirates, so when it came time to name the semi- pro team, his son suggested he stick with that name. The Pirates is one of eight teams in the West Coast League. The area covers Kel- owna, B.C., to Bend, Ore. Three new teams will be joining the league for the 2010 season. Kirwan said major league recruiters work closely with many of the clubs. “We had one player, pitch- er A.J. Morris, recruited last year,” Kirwan said. Being on a semi-pro team is serious business. In order to qualify, a player must be in a college program. “They must have their NCAA eligibility,” Kirwan said. That means when the sea- son is over in the middle of August, they leave and go back to school. The average age of the play- ers is 18 to 23 and they must be able to compete at the semi- pro level. “It’s a tough league,” Kir- wan said. One of the most rewarding parts of owning a team for Kirwan is being able to bring players into the system. “As they work their way up, it gets harder and harder to make the grade,” he said. “They need a natural skill set.” Another reward for Kirwan is using the club as a training ground not only for his play- ers but also for the area high schools. Sports teams have the opportunity to practice with the team and hone their skills. The Pirates is a non-profit or- ganization. Funding is through sponsorships by area business- es and tourism money. All proceeds from the games go to provide scholarships for local students. “Last year, we gave a schol- arship to a girl who wanted to go to Big Bend (Community College) and couldn’t afford to,” Kirwan said. “We are one of a few teams set up this way and it’s pretty neat. The team schedule is on- line at www.mlpirates.com. Fans can also listen to the games online. Information is also available at www.westcoastleague.com. Kirwan hopes to continue bringing America’s favorite sport to the Columbia Basin for many years to come. “The Pirates will be here as long as we have fans and the sponsors continue to support the club,” he said. Wishes granted By Bob Kirkpatrick Staff writer When 66-year-old Judy Mosi- er, of East Wenatchee, had her car broken into last October and her steering column dis- abled, she didn’t know how she was going to be able to af- ford to get it repaired. Living on a fixed income of $693 per month left her little wiggle room to make ends meet, let alone pay for a major car repair. With the car inop- erable, and no money to have it fixed, it sat motionless for almost a year. “I felt as though I had lost my freedom,” Judy said. “But I couldn’t do anything about it.” It was difficult to be with- out transportation for so long, she said, but this was just one thing in a series of events that happened to her over the past year and a half. “I was hospitalized with cancer and released and then had to be hospitalized again because the chemo treatment was so deadly to my body,” Judy said. It was during her second stay at the hospital when Judy contacted the Aging and Adult Services for some assistance with her medical bills. “I spoke with Stacy Salley, who asked me how things were going,” she said. “Dur- ing our conversation I hap- pened to mention my car be- ing vandalized and I must Spend an evening with Arrrty and the Pirates Photo by Bob Kirkpatrick Arrrty, the Moses Lake Pirates mascot, takes in the action during a recent game against the Wenatchee AppleSox at Larson Field. a Photo by LuAnn Morgan Columbia National Wildlife Refuge Photo by Bob Kirkpatrick Well No. 6
PUBLISHED SINCE 1947 • HOME OF THE SANDHILL CRANE FESTIVAL • WWW.OTHELLOOUTLOOK.COM • VOL. 73 NO. 26 • 75¢ H 84º / L 56º H 86º / L 55º H 87º / L 59º H 83º / L 53º H 82º / L 54º H 85º / L 58º
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday
Clouds & Sun Sunny Sunny & Breezy Sunny Partly Sunny Clouds & Sun
The life of a military spouse can be diffi cult at best, espe-cially during times of confl ict. When children are involved, the stress load easily doubles for both parents.
And if the child is a new-born, developing a bond with the absent mother or father is one of the most challenging things all three will ever face.
“Javier was deployed for his third tour of duty in Iraq in September 2008 when Al-exander was 6 weeks old,” Kriste (Colley) Valdez, said. “We were fortunate because he was able to witness his fi rst true smiles before he left.”
Javier is a staff sergeant (E6) with the artillery division sta-tioned at Marine Corps Base, Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay.
Typical of most newborns, Kriste said Alexander didn’t have much of a personality to
begin with and the fi rst sever-al weeks were a blur of sleep-lessness, crying, doctor’s ap-pointments and trying to get adjusted to life with a baby.
But a couple of months down the road, once he became co-herent of his surroundings, Alexander realized something was missing … his dad.
So, Kriste set out to fi nd a way to keep them connected during his absence.
“I am a big believer in ear-ly reading to children so I thought we could incorporate reading with a way for Alex-ander to be exposed to Javier’s voice and face on the screen,” she said. “So, we videotaped him reading two different bedtime stories and I played one of the stories every single night as I was holding the book and turning the pages.”
Admittedly, she grew very tired of those two stories.
“Even though a 3 month old wasn’t interested in a book, I
thought it was important for Alexander to hear his father’s voice every day,” Kriste said.
Kriste and Javier videotaped their own stories, but the Ma-rines, she said, also provides opportunities to tape stories at the library on any base before and after soldiers are deployed to Iraq through a program called United Through Read-ing (www.unitedthroughread-ing.org).
“They (people at UTR) told me it was also a good idea to have a lot of photos around the house so Alexander could see his father all the time,” Kriste said. “Well, that advice didn’t work for me, because a 4 month old is not wandering around the house appreciat-ing art.”
Instead, like most infants, Alexander had little trouble destroying the photographs. So she decided to have them laminated.
“I wanted them to be inde-
structible so Alexander could touch and chew on them safe-ly,” she said. “I even taped two of the photos to the back seat of the car so Alexander would have friendly smiles from daddy to look at whenever he was in his car seat. I actu-ally made fl ashcards of each of his grandparents, too, since we live so far from family in Othello.”
Kriste said she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the task without the aid of “Operation Love Reunited,” (www.oplove.org).
“This program pairs pho-tographers who volunteer their time to take pictures of a deployed service member’s family, who then, at their own expense, put together an al-bum and mails it to the service member overseas,” she said. “It’s a wonderful surprise, and a way for them to see how their children back home are
Keeping daddy in mindSubmitted
Alex, Javier and Kriste Valdez were featured in the June issue of American Baby Magazine’s series about military families dealing with deployment.
The City of Othello is the recipient of a community development block grant for $310,000 for the rehabilita-tion of Well No. 6.
City engineers applied for the grant due to the high concentrations of fl uoride in that well.
Because of those concentra-tions, the well, which is the city’s best water producer, is only used in cases of emergen-cy when extra water is needed.
“We’ve identifi ed the section where it infi ltrates high concen-trates of fl uoride,” said Jay Van Ness, of the city’s Public Works department. “With this money, we will block off that area.”
Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. However, too much can actually harm the teeth and can also cause weak and brittle bones.
Van Ness said Well No. 6 has always had a fl uoride is-sue. It is the only city well that exceeds the maximum fl uoride level recommended by the state.
“There’s been a recent push to resolve that issue and here we are,” he said.
City administrator Ehman Sheldon said the grant is part of federal government money that has fl owed down to help the states.
“Othello is very fortunate to get money back to the local taxpayers for improvements
Public input soughtBy LuAnn MorganContributing writer
The last eight years have been tough going for many government agencies, includ-ing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Budget cuts have changed the way some things have been done, decreased staff and consolidated services.
Here in the Pacifi c North-west, the area’s wildlife refug-es have formed complexes. The Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, six miles northwest of Othello, is now a part of the Mid-Columbia complex.
That complex covers two states and eight refuges and one monument (Hanford). It encompasses nine counties, four senators and three con-gressional districts.
It also includes 279,338 acres of wildlife area. The Columbia NWR is approximately 30,000 acres of that total.
“We came together for greater effi ciency,” said Greg Hughes at a public open house last week.
The federal government has mandated that each refuge
See Flouride, Page A5
See Wishes, Page A4
By LuAnn MorganContributing writer
The Othello Outlook is joining forces with the Mo-ses Lake Pirates to promote the Basin’s semi-professional baseball team.
“This is Columbia Basin base-ball, not just Moses Lake,” said team owner Brent Kirwan.
Beginning this week, read-ers will have the opportu-nity to earn free game tickets, courtesy of the Pirates and the Outlook. The goal is to fi nd the Pirate mascot Arrrty somewhere in the paper.
The fi rst person to call with the correct answer will win four free tickets and throw out the fi rst pitch to start the ballgame. The contest will run each week until the end of the season.
Also, during the SunFaire parade, Outlook staff will be handing out a limited number of game tickets.
Kirwan formed the team four years ago.
“I saw it as an opportunity to bring some family fun into the area,” Kirwan said.
Kirwan played baseball himself when he was a kid and sponsored several Little League teams over the years.
Coincidentally, all his teams
were called the Pirates, so when it came time to name the semi-pro team, his son suggested he stick with that name.
The Pirates is one of eight teams in the West Coast League. The area covers Kel-owna, B.C., to Bend, Ore.
Three new teams will be joining the league for the 2010 season.
Kirwan said major league recruiters work closely with many of the clubs.
“We had one player, pitch-er A.J. Morris, recruited last year,” Kirwan said.
Being on a semi-pro team is serious business. In order to qualify, a player must be in a college program.
“They must have their NCAA eligibility,” Kirwan said.
That means when the sea-son is over in the middle of August, they leave and go back to school.
The average age of the play-ers is 18 to 23 and they must be able to compete at the semi-pro level.
“It’s a tough league,” Kir-wan said.
One of the most rewarding parts of owning a team for Kirwan is being able to bring players into the system.
“As they work their way up, it
gets harder and harder to make the grade,” he said. “They need a natural skill set.”
Another reward for Kirwan is using the club as a training ground not only for his play-ers but also for the area high schools. Sports teams have the opportunity to practice with the team and hone their skills.
The Pirates is a non-profi t or-ganization. Funding is through sponsorships by area business-es and tourism money.
All proceeds from the games go to provide scholarships for local students.
“Last year, we gave a schol-arship to a girl who wanted to go to Big Bend (Community College) and couldn’t afford to,” Kirwan said. “We are one of a few teams set up this way and it’s pretty neat.
The team schedule is on-line at www.mlpirates.com. Fans can also listen to the games online.
Information is also available at www.westcoastleague.com.
Kirwan hopes to continue bringing America’s favorite sport to the Columbia Basin for many years to come.
“The Pirates will be here as long as we have fans and the sponsors continue to support the club,” he said.
Wishes grantedBy Bob KirkpatrickStaff writer
When 66-year-old Judy Mosi-er, of East Wenatchee, had her car broken into last October and her steering column dis-abled, she didn’t know how she was going to be able to af-ford to get it repaired.
Living on a fi xed income of $693 per month left her little wiggle room to make ends meet, let alone pay for a major car repair. With the car inop-erable, and no money to have it fi xed, it sat motionless for almost a year.
“I felt as though I had lost my freedom,” Judy said. “But I couldn’t do anything about it.”
It was diffi cult to be with-out transportation for so long, she said, but this was just one thing in a series of events that happened to her over the past year and a half.
“I was hospitalized with cancer and released and then had to be hospitalized again because the chemo treatment was so deadly to my body,” Judy said.
It was during her second stay at the hospital when Judy contacted the Aging and Adult Services for some assistance with her medical bills.
“I spoke with Stacy Salley, who asked me how things were going,” she said. “Dur-ing our conversation I hap-pened to mention my car be-ing vandalized and I must
Spend an evening with Arrrty and the Pirates
Photo by Bob Kirkpatrick
Arrrty, the Moses Lake Pirates mascot, takes in the action during a recent game against the Wenatchee AppleSox at Larson Field. a
Photo by LuAnn Morgan
Columbia National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by Bob Kirkpatrick
Well No. 6
www.OthelloOutlook.comC o m m u n i t y www.OthelloOutlook.com The Othello Outlook – Thursday, June 25, 2009 A5 C o m m u n i t y
Immaculate home on 2.04 irrigated acres with 2400 +/- sq. ft. of living space. Interior features include spacious family room w/ gas fi replace, arched bay/window seat, 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2 brick fi replaces, vaulted bonus room and offi ce area. Outside enjoy a large deck, balcony off master bedroom, private tree-lined backyard, beautiful landscaping, underground sprinklers, fenced pasture. $279,900
Country Wooded Estate
To view ALL LISTINGS visit our website: www.othellorealtygroup.com
610 E. Main, Othello (509)989-1905 Owner/BrokerMember of Northwest
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The perfect blend of comfortable living, choice location, and affordable price. This 1794+/- sq ft, 3 bed,1.75 bath, beautifully maintained home includes hardwood & tiled fl oors. Full Kitchen appliance package. Large living & dining rooms. Central Heat & Air. Fenced in back yard w/ covered patio. Attach garage w/ new door opener. Storage shed. All this on a quiet Cul-de-sac located close to schools and park. $174,000
A Well Kept Secret
22.5 Country AcresSpectacular Settings for Home sites. Incredible Views, Sunset Evenings. Large Outbuildings, Irrigation Rights. Zoning is Rural Residential. Property needs some freshening up $96,500 Reduced $86,500
Build your dream home on an attractive 1+/- acre lot. Irrigation Water, Cul-de-sac. Located approx. 4 miles South of Othello. Power lines are in. Great country lots. CCR’s. Call for Details!! $32,000 - $42,000
Country Living Lots
Check out this rare fi nd, a level 3.65 acre lot. Located 4 miles S. of Othello toward Connell on Scenic Hwy 17. Manufactured homes O.K. A Bargain at $39,000
Highway Lot
This 3 bedroom home w/1382+/- sq. ft. has under gone a new face lift inside and out. Freshly painted, new carpeting, hardwood fl oors, new Pergo, new kitchen appliances, including: built-in dishwasher and microwave, fridge and stove range. Vinyl windows, rock fi re-place in family room, offi ce/den area, laundry room. Patio, alley access, large fenced backyard. $129,000
Refreshed & Ready!!
Located on 2.5 acres, large fenced area. 1080 sq. ft. retail offi ce, 6000+/- warehouse and scale. Zoned Rural Community – Many uses. Manufactured home and trucks OK. $125,000
Royal Camp Warehouse
Sitting on 5.1 acres, 4 bedroom, 2 bath manufactured home w/in minutes from town. Open fl oor plan w/large master suite, walk-in closet, living room, family room, dining area w/built-in hutch. Metal barn w/5 stalls, tack room, corrals, outdoor arena, irrigated pasture w/above ground sprinkler system. Hobby Farm Opportunity! $165,000
Horse Lover’s Haven
STUNNING 4 bedroom home w/daylight basement crested on 2.5 acres. Beautiful vaulted living room warmed by full marble fi replace, hardwood fl oors, generous formal dining, modern kitchen w/dbl ovens. Superb master suite, balcony w/panoramic views. Walkout daylight basement to in-ground swimming pool & patio area. Entertaining family room w/wet bar & pool table. Full tennis court, 4 car garage, U.G.S. & much more. $430,000
COUNTRY ELEGANCE
This easy care 2 bedroom, 1 bath home, with vinyl siding and windows has been very well maintained. Sunny living room with bay window. Solid oak kitchen cabinets. Central heat and air, full appliance pack-age. Separate utility room w/washer and dryer. Fenced backyard with alley access. 12x20 storage building with power and lights. Excellent workshop space. $99,900
Simple, Easy Style
Remarkable 4 bedroom, 2 bath with 2,130 square feet all on one level. Home features oak cabinetry. Kitchen w/ double size garden window, pantry and appliances. Laminated wood fl ooring throughout kitchen, dining, hallways and family room. Living room w/ 2 large picture windows, fi replace w/ pellet insert. Triple car garage w/ separate doors. HOT TUB, patio, underground sprinkler system. Many updates have been done on this one. $193,000
Look What We Found!
Spectacular & Panoramic Views describe this 1+/- acre lot with 3 bedrooms, 2 full bath home. Underground sprinklers, large patio, storage building & riding lawn mower to boot. Vaulted ceilings, open kitchen w/cupboards galore, all appliance pkg. Relaxing garden tub in Master Bath with separate shower and dual vanities. Walk-in closets. $119,950
Take Your Breath Away
REDUCED
Daddy: ‘It’s important not to play the whose-life-is-harder game with your spouse’continued from page A1
Flouride: Bids nextcontinued from page A1
Refuge: Some of the suggestions they had included were more access, better maintenance and a visitor centercontinued from page A1
growing.”Kriste said she and Javier
had planned to use web cams to stay in touch, but once he got to Iraq, it was clear that wasn’t going to be a practical way to communicate.
“The computer network in the compound where he was staying had such a slow con-nection, when we attempted to use the web cams, it would freeze up nine out of 10 times,” she said. “So, we stuck to us-ing an instant messenger pro-gram to chat back and forth in real time.”
Javier returned home about a month ago. Kriste said it was definitely the roughest deploy-ment for them as a family.
“Thankfully, this was the safest deployment Javier has been on. I had an incred-ible amount of support from my friends and family and a steady stream of visitors to help us out,” she said. “But Javier absolutely had a sense
of longing and regret through-out, thinking of all he was missing as Alexander learned to crawl and to stand.”
In the weeks before he re-turned, Kriste got a couple of his desert camouflage uni-forms from the closet similar to the one he’d be wearing when he got off the plane and spread them on the floor like a blanket and let Alexander crawl around on them and get used to the feel and sight of Javier’s uniform.
“I didn’t want his dad to feel so foreign to him the first time he held him,” she said.
Since Javier has been home, Kriste said she’s seen the bond between them grow by leaps and bounds.
“Alexander recognizes when the door opens in the after-noon, daddy is going to be coming up the stairs,” she said. “He stops whatever he’s doing and crawls like a lightning bolt to wait at the top of the stairs
behind the gate.” Javier has been in the military
for 10 years and is planning to be a career soldier, which leaves him 10 more years to serve on active duty. He is cur-rently scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in 2010 with 1st Battalion 12th Marines.
And with that, Kriste offers some advice for spouses who are facing the same challenges of family life in the military.
“It’s important to not play the whose-life-is-harder game with your spouse. There were days when Alexander hadn’t slept all night, he was sick, I was exhausted and I was thinking, ‘when am I going to get my deployment from everything domestic for seven months?’” she said. “Mean-while, my husband was long-ing to be home.”
Each role, she said, has its challenges and it takes a team effort to get through it.
“There are a lot of resources
available to families of de-ployed service members, so use them,” Kriste said. “For example, members of a local church volunteer to baby sit for free one night per month if your spouse is deployed. When I dropped Alexander off so quickly, it probably made his little head spin.”
Military One Source, Kriste said, is a national referral and information service available by phone or online to help you with whatever you need while your spouse is deployed.
“I also, personally, don’t watch the national news while Javier is deployed,” she said. “There is no point in me wor-rying whenever bad news is reported about a military member. The truth is, statisti-cally, he was safer in Iraq than he is here simply driving to and from work every day.”
Kriste, Alexander and Javi-er’s experience coping with deployment was recently fea-
tured in the June edition of American Baby Magazine.
“I am a subscriber to the magazine. Each month, it dedi-cates one page in every issue to military families,” Kriste said. “When they put out a call ask-ing for submissions from mili-tary families who were deal-ing with deployment issues, I submitted our story. We were
both excited when we heard that Alexander was going to be in the magazine. It will be a wonderful keepsake for him to have as he gets older.”
Today, Kriste and Alexander will be on the local morning news on FOX station, KHON Hawaii, to share their story.
Photo by Kriste Valdez
Alexander plays with laminated photos of his dad while dad’s away from home.
here,” Sheldon said.The city was one of six to
receive funds from the grant.The next step is to submit the
rehabilitation plan to the Depart-ment of Ecology for approval. Once the city gets the go-ahead, the project will go out to bid.
Sheldon said the engineers have estimated a loss of about half the amount of water pro-duced. Currently, Well No. 6 pro-duces 3,100 gallons per minute.
Van Ness is more optimistic.“I think it will still produce
2,000 to 2,200 gallons per min-ute,” he said.
Regardless of how much less water is produced, the city will be able to use the well more of-ten once the project is complete.
“We’re very excited about getting this grant,” Sheldon said. “This is one of those where we get to say, ‘Yay, we got it.’”
put together a comprehensive conservation plan by 2012. Several of the refuges in the Mid-Columbia complex have been completed. The process is just beginning for the Columbia NWR.
“Nothing is better than a good strategic plan on how you’re going to do something,” Hughes said. “We aren’t multi-use; we have one purpose … wildlife comes first.”
There are some public use
priorities, according to the NWR System Improvement Act of 1997, which calls for the plan. They include hunting and fishing, education, inter-pretation, wildlife observation and photography.
The plan, Hughes said, will guide management decisions and contain goals.
In order to make decisions on what points need to be included in the plan, the public is being asked to contribute their ideas and opinions. That was the pur-pose of last week’s meeting.
Several people showed up to voice their opinions.
Some of the suggestions they had included were more access, better maintenance, a visitor center, more inter-pretive trails, birdwatching blinds, working closer with schools, improving campsites, restoring native plants, im-proving bird habitats and bea-ver control.
Hughes said the plan will help ensure compliance with the refuge’s purpose.
“It will be a living document of what we’re all about,” he
said. “The plan will provide a vision, as well as identify goals and objectives.”
Comments are being ac-cepted through July 16. They may be mailed to Columbia NWR Comments, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 64 Maple St., Burbank, WA 99323; faxed to (509) 546-8303; or emailed to [email protected].
They may also be submitted via the Web at www.fsw.gov/columbiarefuge/contact.html.
A draft plan will be pre-pared and made available for additional comment. Once a final plan is adopted, it will be implemented, reviewed and revised as needed.
Hughes said the plan should be fairly easy to put together.
“The Columbia NWR already does what a refuge is supposed to do,” he said. “We just need to tweak what we do.”
Photo by LuAnn Morgan
Columbia National Wildlife Refuge offers bird watchers and nature photographers ample opportunities to enjoy their hobbies.
