Archive - News Article
The aggravated murder trial of Clay Starbuck is expected to begin on Oct. 22
The 47-year-old Deer Park man was arrested on Feb. 8 and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his ex-wife, Chanin, whose body was found in her home last December. An autopsy showed Chanin Starbuck had been beaten and strangled.
Starbuck, who made a brief Superior Court appearance on Aug. 28, is also charged with sexually violating human remains.
Prosecutors claim Starbuck killed his ex-wife as to not have to pay child support for the couple’s five children.
August 28th
In one of the final items to consider before the start of the new school year, the Deer Park School Board approved the 2012-13 budget on Monday.
The $25.5 million budget is very similar to the one adopted by the school board last year.
Last year’s budget was based on an enrollment of 2,356 full-time equivalent students. This year’s estimate is 2,263 FTE students. The district finished last year with 2,276 FTE students.
August 17th
The Newport Highway was closed for about an hour on Friday morning after a driver with a medical issue lost control of his pickup truck and hit a tree near Oregon Road.
Spokane County Fire District No. 1 emergency crews arrived at around 8:30 a.m., and found a man trapped inside. After being extricated, the driver, whose name was not immediately released, was taken by ambulance to Providence Holy Family Hospital.
August 10th
A 53-year-old Kathryn Burger, who had brain surgery 11 months ago and suffers from seizures and short-term memory loss, was found by a neighbor after disappearing from her home on Friday morning.
Burger recently had brain surgery.
August 9th
Republican Stevens County Commissioner candidates Mark Beck and Wes McCart were the survivors from the Aug. 7 primary election and will now face off in the Nov. 3 general election.
Beck, a former Stevens County Fire District No. 1 fire chief, was the top vote-getter in the District 1 county commissioner race with 554 votes. McCart, a rancher, finished second with 533 votes. Another Republican, Tom Hale, placed third with 420 votes and will not advance to the general election.
August 7th
Traffic in Deer Park does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon.
According to a traffic count conducted by Director of Community Affairs Roger Krieger, vehicle numbers have stayed consistent on the city’s main thoroughfares as compared to the 2011 study.
The count looked at city road traffic on 18 city streets for two weeks.
South Main Street continues to be Deer Park’s busiest street with an average of about 7,200 cars a day. The count was 6,820 in 2011 and 7,290 in 2010.
The Washington State Auditor’s Office has found no discrepancies in a pair of audits conducted on the city of Deer Park’s financial records.
The office’s accountability audit for Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2011, looked at various city internal controls and audit procedures for various areas, including contracts/agreements, general disbursements, utility billing/revenue, payroll and open public meetings/records laws.
July 18th
The city of Deer Park’s offer of free swimming at the municipal pool this summer has made a big splash with area youngsters (and their parents).
The 70-year-old facility, which came close to being shut down this summer because of budget concerns, has attracted scores of youngsters over the past two weeks as temperatures easily topped 90 degrees during the day.
The pool averaged well over a 100 patrons a day during the recent heat wave. On July 12, the number of pool patrons hovered near 200.
July 12th
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced today an elevated fire danger rating and burn restrictions on DNR-protected lands in Spokane County and the area encompassed by Stevens County Fire Districts No. 1 and 2.
The fire danger rating will increase from “moderate” to “high.”
Pend Oreille County and Stevens County, outside Fire Districts 1 and 2, will remain at “low.”
July 11th
Deer Park School District officials have decided to swap elementary school administrators for the upcoming school year.
Deer Park Elementary School Principal Michele Miller will now take over the same duties at Arcadia Elementary School. Arcadia Principal Bonnie Remington will move to DPES.
Remington has worked at Arcadia for 17 years and Miller at DPES for 14 years.
Superintendent Becky Cooke said it is unusual for principals to stay at one school for that long a period.
The switch will give the pair a “fresh start,” Cooke added.
