A major reconfiguration of Sequim elementary schools, a teen singing sensation heard ‘round the World (Series), the loss of Hurricane Ridge’s day lodge to fire, Clallam County’s first Poet Laureate, the story of local sports icon Joe Rantz finally hits the big screen, and the shocking loss of firefighter/coach Charles (“Chad”) Cate were some of the news stories that made headlines in 2023.
In addition, politicial offices got a shake-up this year, with a number of key local elections decided in November followed by several announcements of candidates seeking different offices in 2024.
This past year was also marked by what didn’t happen in 2023: plans to construct a mining operation in Happy Valley, a waste transfer station in Carlsborg, funding for a vocational studies center at Sequim High School, the sale of the Lost Mountain Fire Station, and the reconstruction of Towne Road each were shelved — though county commissioners revised that last item and plan to pave Towne road in 2024.
Here’s a recap of the year in Sequim news:
January
Sequim School Board directors on Jan. 9 approved a business plan that outlined efforts to bring funding and construction of a Career and Technical Education facility on the Sequim School District campus. Despite support from local government entities and community groups, the multi-million-dollar project that would support vocational training for local high school students did not receive enough support (or funding) in Olympia later in 2023.
Friends, family, coworkers and the young athletes he mentored were stunned when Charles (“Chad”) Cate, a Clallam County Fire District 3 captain and high school wrestling coach, died in his sleep while on duty in the early morning hours of Jan. 12. The 1994 Sequim High School graduate served as a district volunteer that same year, was hired in 1996 and promoted to captain in 2021. An estimated 1,000 community members and firefighters from across the region mourned his loss at a memorial on Jan. 21. It was later found Cate died of natural causes due to heart disease.
Legal sports betting began in January, with local sports icon Scooter Chapman placing the first bet inside 7 Cedars Casino on Jan. 12.
Two Sequim women were found dead of possible overdoses in the Dungeness Meadows development south of Sequim on Jan. 16.
Local veterans needing housing assistance got a big boost in January when the Forks-based North Olympic Regional Veteran’s Housing Network purchased an eight-bedroom group home off South Seventh Avenue in Sequim, executive director Cherie Tinker announced on Jan. 21. Funding came from a donation from the estate of the late Lt. Col. James Minsky (U.S. Air Force) of Sequim. Remodeling is anticipated to finish in spring 2024.
February
A study published in the peer-reviewed Science Advances in early February by Dr. Michael Walters, professor of anthropology and director of Texas A&M’s Center for Study of First Americans, confirmed research that the oldest weapon made of bone ever found in the Americas was from the Manis Mastodon site in Happy Valley in the late 1970s.
In mid-February, law enforcement officials confirmed that a human foot found at the mouth of the Elwha River belonged to Jeri Smith, a Sequim resident who went missing and was presumed dead in 2018. At the time, law enforcement officials said they believed Smith jumped off the Elwha River Road bridge. No other remains of Smith have been found, they said.
A settlement on Feb. 24 between the City of Port Angeles and Waste Connections ended plans for a solid waste transfer facility in Carlsborg.
Pepper Reymond was crowned 2023 Sequim Irrigation Festival queen at the festival’s annual royalty pageant on Feb. 25. Also named to the court were princesses Anne Marie Barni and Skylar Kryzworz and prince Fred Cameron.
David Blakeslee, a long-time volunteer known for his tireless contributions through the Sequim Valley Lions and the Sequim Irrigation Festival Board, was named the 2022 Sequim Citizen of the Year by the Sequim-Dungeness Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 28. Other finalists included Monica Dixon and Lynn Horton.
March
In March, two leaders with Clallam County Fire District 3 — chief Ben Andrews and assistant chief Dan Orr — announced their intent to retire. Andrews later in the year shifted his role to an administrator position working on special projects, and Orr took over as interim chief as commissioners began their search for the fire district’s new top administrator. In November, commissioners interviewed four finalists and selected one, but the unnamed candidate turned down the offer — pushing the district’s search for a chief into 2024.
On March 19, Sequim Little League officials dedicated a playing field to the memory of volunteer Kayla Owens; the 34-year-old died in her sleep in April 2022. The former Little League softball player served on the league’s board starting in 2019.
Sequim’s Garry Oak project north of Carrie Blake Community Park reached a milestone in late March. More than two-dozen project organizers and volunteers on March 31 removed “browse protectors” covering the thriving Garry Oaks at the 22-acre restoration project site. The project aims to reintroduce the trees to the Sequim prairie after their populations had dwindled with the growth in human population.
After nearly two years in federal court, a dispute between former Sequim School District employee Hanna McAndie and both the district and former superintendent Robert Clark were settled, with the district paying $1 million and Clark $500,000 to McAndie for incidents between 2019-2020.
April
Patients at Harrison HealthPartners Dermatology learned in early April that the Sequim-based clinic would soon close. The facility itself reopened in early December under new ownership: Frontier Dermatology.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Congressman Derek Kilmer visited Sequim Bay on April 5, “hunting” for European green crab and highlighting state and local efforts to protect regional ecosystems from invasive species.
A long-awaited fix to the Simdars Road bypass got some good news in April, when City of Sequim lobbyist Davor Gjurasic reported that the project will receive $2.642 million in the 2023-25 biennial state budget and $26.979 million in the 2025-27 biennium.
Sequim School Board directors on April 10 agreed on a plan to a major shift at the district’s two elementary schools for the fall. Instead of students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade attending schools geographically, Greywolf Elementary would host students in grades kindergarten through second, and Helen Haller would host students in third, fourth and fifth grades. The move drew the ire and protests of many parents for months.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Sequim youths (from left) Trevor Dee, Weston Dee, Mason Henderson and Carson Stovall on April 17 join a group of about 35 parents and students protesting the reconfiguration of Sequim’s two elementary schools.
The North Olympic Land Trust announced it had secured rights to conserve property known as the Dungeness Hub, with the conservation easement finalized on April 11. Along with the Mid Valley Farm in January, it’s the 25th farm the Land Trust has worked with the community to permanently protect.
Sequim native Jaiden Dokken was named Clallam County’s first Poet Laureate. A 2012 Sequim High graduate, they began their term with an inauguration event April 18 at the Port Angeles Library.
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee on April 25 signed into legislation the Charles Cate II Act, creating a competitive grant program for two- and four-year intercollegiate wrestling. Friends and family of the late Clallam County District 3 firefighter were in Olympic for the signing.
May
A trio of Clallam County Fire District 3 Battalion Chiefs — Stef Anderson, Elliott Jones and Chris Turner — began their new roles in early May, as the district shifted how it oversees day-to-day operations.
The iconic, 70-year-old Hurricane Ridge Lodge burned to the ground on May 7. The loss drew the attention — and potential funding for its replacement — from state lawmakers and regional leaders. The popular tourist attraction was closed for less than two months and reopened on June 27.
Photo by Jay Cline Clallam County Fire District 2 / Firefighters from Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue and the Port Angeles Fire Department on May 7 help quell the remains of a fire that destroyed the Olympic National Park Day Lodge.
Sequim teen Jenna Mason of Troop 7498 became the first female from Clallam County to earn the Scouts BSA’s Eagle Scout Ranking.
Christopher L. Haltom of Agnew was found dead at Western State Hospital on May 15. Haltom was accused of killing his father and his father’s girlfriend, whose bodies were found on Feb. 24 in the front seat of their vehicle near their home in Agnew.
Blaine Zechenelly of Dungeness was named Washington Volunteer EMS Responder of the Year on May 20 at the Washington State Fire Fighters’ Association conference. He received the honor out of a field of about 25,000 volunteer firefighters in Washington state, in part because of his efforts to lead the local community emergency response team (CERT) programs.
June
The Sequim City Band celebrated the completion of its new, expanded rehearsal hall at The James Center for Performing Arts on June 11.
Darryl Wolfe, Olympic Medical Center’s Chief Financial Officer, offered a somber look at OMC’s finances to Sequim leaders on June 16: the organization lost about $12 million in the first five months of the year.
Kevin Van De Wege, a Sequim firefighter and state senator, announced on June 20 he will run for Washington state’s Commissioner of Public Lands in 2024.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Sequim’s second annual Pride march and celebration took place on Friday evening. Grand Marshal Lorie Fazio and Pride committee volunteer David Ham lead the march up and down Washington Street with a happy crowd behind them.
July
Congressman Derek Kilmer joined Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County staff and volunteers on July 5 in celebrating the ceremonial breaking of ground at the nonprofit’s Brownfield Road Project, one that looks to bring as many as 53 Habitat-built homes to the southeast corner of East Brownfield Road and South Sequim Avenue.
A wildfire on Protection Island on July 5 burned 15 acres of the federally-protected property. Several agencies , including the Department of Natural Resources, Olympic National Park, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, reported to quell the fire.
A July 18 explosion at a Sequim home on the 100 block of June Place killed 63-year-old Paul Lewis. The explosion shattered windows in the neighborhood and was heard for miles across the North Olympic Peninsula. Cause of the explosion was deemed accidental. A GoFundMe account (at gofundme.com/f/support-for-laurie-following-june-place-tragedy) was established to help the family.
The Friends of Sequim Library on July 26 celebrated a $150,000 donation to the library system’s efforts to expand the Sequim branch.
The Field Arts & Events Hall, a 500-seat Port Angeles venue that now hosts local, regional, national and international groups and individual performers, hosted its grand opening July 28–30. Headlining the weekend was two-time Grammy award-winner Diane Schuur.
The Sequim Prairie Garden Club celebrated its 75th anniversary with a community party, highlighted by a talk and book-signing by Pacific Northwest gardening guru Ciscoe Morris.
August
Sequim City councilors on Aug. 14 agreed to put a six-month moratorium on redevelopment applications for manufactured home parks for any project other than manufactured homes so that city staff could develop options for zoning.
Commissioners with Clallam County Fire District 3 agreed on Aug. 15 to sell two unused parcels of land to help gain capital for a new Carlsborg Fire Station and/or new fire engines.
Sequim School Board directors passed a $48 million budget that trims about $1.3 in spending as Sequim and other school districts see a decline in Covid pandemic-initiated federal funding sources.
September
The Sequim City Band was selected one of the honorees of the 2023 Governor’s Arts & Heritage Awards in September. The honor, which band representatives accepted at a ceremony in mid-November, came in the Organization Award for, among other activities offering up to 10 free concerts a year, promoting musical opportunities to students and senior citizens alike, and enriching the lives of attendees since its inception in 1992.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / From left, Kathy Brown, Natalie Brown and David Blackmon practice a tune at the Sequim City Band’s rehearsal on Oct. 25.
A Sequim landowner on Sept. 6 withdrew his plans to construct a gravel pit on the west side of Happy Valley Road. J. David Kirner had submitted an application to establish a 4.74-acre basalt mine called Happy Valley Pit LLC, and proposed to extract about 214,000 cubic yards of material over five years. In his letter rescinding the proposal, Kirner wrote that opposition to the project included “extreme public defamation of our family’s character, and threats to our family’s way of life.”
Sequim’s Guy Cole Event Center hosted the first Olympic Peninsula Toy and Collectibles Show on Sept. 9.
A Sequim man, John Fitzgerald Barcellos, was arrested for allegedly threatening and trying to hit four children in a church parking lot with his car, assaulting and threatening Clallam County Sheriff’s Office deputies and eluding law enforcement on Sept. 16.
County staff and officials hosted a public meeting on Sept. 26 to discuss options for the replacement of Towne Road at the site of a levee constructed during the Lower Dungeness River Floodplain Restoration. The meeting, and a second one held by residents concerned about the possibility of it being left as a walking/hiking path only, drew large turnouts. In early December, under recommendation from the Department of Community Development, commissioners agreed to look at a hybrid option that includes lanes for vehicles and an adjacent walking/hiking path, but have delayed construction of the road.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Joe Donisi, an engineer with the Clallam County Road Department, gives details on the Options 1 and 2 of four total lower Dungeness levee alternatives at a Sept. 26 public meeting in Sequim.
October
Clallam County Fire District 3 officials hosted a community meeting at the Lost Mountain Fire Station on Oct. 9, saying they will wait and see if volunteers come out to staff the volunteer station before considering its sale.
The Clallam Transit Board on Oct. 18 agreed to eliminate all fares for fixed routes in a one-year pilot program that starts Jan. 1, 2024.
The body of a woman was found at a Diamond Point home on Oct. 26. Caregiver Aline Jones of Sequim was subsequently arrested and is accused of killing the daughter of a man she says gave her his home. Jones in mid-November pleaded not guilty to the killing of Susan M. Ferrel, a Nevada resident found at the home of her late father Raymond Rhodes.
Sequim youth Pearle Peterson sang her heart out to the world prior to Game 2 of Major League Baseball’s World Series in Arlington, Texas, on Oct. 28. The 18-year-old was selected to represent the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos Boys & Girls Clubs youth performer Pearle Peterson of Sequim performs the national anthem prior to Game 2 of the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on Saturday, Oct. 28 in Arlington, Texas.
November
Candidates backed by the Sequim Good Governance League rolled to victories in the General Election on Nov. 7, with Sequim City Council candidates Dan Butler, Kathy Downer and Harmony Rutter each cruising to big wins. Downer, who already held a position on the council but shifted to run for the Position 1 seat, scored an overwhelming win over former mayor William Armacost. All four Sequim School Board directors looking to keep positions on the board did so, winning either by overwhelming margins (Maren Halvorsen, Larry Jeffryes), narrow margins (Michael Rocha) or running unopposed (Eric Pickens). Sequim’s Mark Ozias kept his Clallam County commissioner seat after his opponent dropped out prior to the General Election.
Later in November, U.S. Congressman Derek Kilmer announced he will not seek a seventh term — spurring a number of political candidates to announce their bid for his seat and creating a domino effect as others seek to replace those candidates.
A movement to rename a Sequim street after local sports icon Joe Rantz was put on hold in November after residents and business owners on North Fifth Avenue and North Sequim Avenue brought their concerns to the Sequim City Council. While in support of Rantz and honoring him, some business owners said they were concerned about potential billing issues with an address name change.
December
Construction crews nearly put the finishing touches on the first phase of a major revamp of the parking lot at the Sequim little League fields off Silberhorn Road in December. Weather delayed final paving until tentatively in January.
Sequim (sort of) hosted an advance screening of George Clooney’s “The Boys in the Boat”: select local students and sponsors got a pre-release screening at Deer Park Cinemas in Port Angeles on Dec 8. The day before, some Interact Club students, Rotary members and school officials went to a Seattle screening where they met Clooney. The big-screen story is based on Daniel James Brown’s book centering around former Sequim resident Joe Rantz and the University of Washington’s gold medal-winning crew team at the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany. The film hit screens in full in late December.
Sequim School Board president Eric Pickens announced his intent to run for State Representative on Dec. 9.
Betsy Reed Schultz (far left), founder of Captain Joseph House, gets a look at a carved bear donated by Bret Wirta’s Black Bear Diner and Holiday Inn & Suites last week at the Port Angeles facility. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ About 30 people gathered inside the Sequim Boys & Girls Club to watch Pearle Peterson sing during the World Series on Oct. 28.
Sequim High School Homecoming Queen Taryn Johnson, left, receives a sash at Friday night’s football game while king Sage Younger looks on. Sequim shut out North Mason 36-0. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim High School Homecoming Queen Taryn Johnson, left, receives a sash at Friday night’s football game while king Sage Younger looks on. Sequim shut out North Mason 36-0. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
