From Cascade Medical Center Nov 16th: Cascade Medical will not be able to perform COVID “travel testing”, or pre-emptive testing prior to a holiday event. We will be able to test you if you are symptomatic OR have had a high-risk exposure. Why? Click the link to find out more.
Mick Lamar of Plain continued his annual Veterans Day roadside salute to veterans this year. Thank you, Veterans, and thank you, Mick!
WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM EARLY THURSDAY EVENING (Nov 12) THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY MORNING FOR THE CASCADE CREST INCLUDING HIGHWAY 2 BETWEEN COLES CORNER AND STEVENS PASS... * WHAT...Heavy snow possible for The Cascade Crest including Highway 2 between Coles Corner and Stevens Pass. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 3 feet will be possible through this time. Winds could gust as high as 40 mph south of Lake Chelan Friday night. * WHERE...Mazama, Stehekin, Stevens Pass, Plain, and Holden Village. * WHEN...From Thursday afternoon through late Friday night. * IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible including over Stevens Pass along Highway 2. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute. Strong winds could cause tree damage.
The Chelan County Public Utilities District has announced a maintenance project at the fishway at Tumwater Dam will require intermittent, one-lane closures of eastbound Highway 2 starting in late November.
The PUD is also planning an 8-hour, one-lane closure of eastbound Highway 2 in mid-December, depending on weather conditions and river flows.
Chelan PUD will temporarily divert the river to allow crews to reinforce and stabilize the entrance of the fishway with concrete. Fish passage will be maintained during most of the $370,000 project. The viewing platform will be closed to the public.
The work is expected to continue through January 2021. If weather or river flows delay the project this fall, the work may last into February or March 2021.
Tumwater Dam was originally constructed at the turn of the century to provide clean energy for trains travelling through the long tunnel at Stevens Pass. Chelan PUD acquired the dam in the 1950s and rebuilt the fishway in its current configuration in the late 1980s.
The fishway at Tumwater Dam is instrumental in helping Chelan PUD collect adult fish to meet its hatchery obligations under its Habitat Conservation Plans for Rocky Reach and Rock Island hydro projects. It is also an important site for fish study for several agencies, including Yakama Nation Fisheries, state Fish and Wildlife and Grant PUD.
The Chelan County Board of Commissioners’ third work session on Short Term Vacation Rental regulation code drafting is scheduled for 1:00 PM today, November 10th. The Commissioners will continue their discussion of the draft STR regulation proposal submitted to them by the Planning Commission. It is not anticipated that comment will be taken from the public during this meeting.To join this meeting go to:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/650411499
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+12532158782,,650411499# US (Tacoma)
Chelan County Commissioner Bob Bugert will meet virtually with Lake Wenatchee/Plain area constituents in his monthly Coffee With Bob session this Friday, November 13,, at 9AM. He plans to have as his guest Mike Kaputa, Director of the Chelan County Department of Natural Resources. These sessions have been well attended and lively so tune in with your questions or comments on any current Chelan County issues. This seems to work best with participants joining without their video operating and keeping microphones muted until you wish to speak. Join us!!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6048409508
Meeting ID: 604 840 9508
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+12532158782,,6048409508# US
Lake Wenatchee Fire & Rescue was unable to sponsor Trunk or Treat this Halloween due to Covid-19 restrictions but Plain Hardware and Plain Grocery are making their parking lots available for folks that want to continue that tradition.
The first snow of the year has arrived. In the 24 hours beginning Friday morning we’ve received 4.5 inches of heavy, wet snow on the South Shore of Lake Wenatchee. With the current temps it will probably hang around for a couple days but with warming temps beginning Monday will go away.
To track the annual snowfall at the lake click on Reports at the top of this page, then under Daily Snowfall click on Lake Wenatchee which will take you to the Lake Wenatchee Snowfall Report. You can see daily snow reports once the snow season starts and historic Snowfall Totals.
It is snowing in Plain! Conveniently, Oct 31st is the deadline for purchasing early season discounted Plain Cross Country ski passes. Stop by the store, or go online to Plain Skiing Passes
The annual property valuations from the County Assessor arrived two weeks ago. After talking with a few neighbors and confirming that their hefty increases were consistent with ours I emailed County Assessor Deanna Walter to confirm that the valuations were valid and not the result of a data input error or other glitch. She promptly replied that the valuations as sent are valid.
I’ve spent the last couple weeks collecting data from several areas- in some identifiable neighborhoods the valuation changes seem quite consistent and in others they’re all over the place. If there are errors here please bear in mind that I have the data only as provided me by some owners so this is not a professional or scientific sampling and the data is only as good as the senders math or mine.
LAND STRUCTURES
Note: There were some properties that reported changes that appear to deviate from their neighborhood pattern; One non-waterfront property on North Shore Drive reported -18 on land value. I did receive some data from other areas like Chiwawa Pines and River Road but not enough to see patterns there.
