What Does MVE Mean to You?
Now that the Give Methow Campaign is over, this appeal is for something quite selfish- investment in you.
You’re going to be bombarded with emails in the next six weeks in the end-of-year fundraising campaigns.
As many organizations approach end-of-the-year giving campaigns, I hope you will consider a donation or annual subscription to MVE. It costs $3,600 annually just to maintain the site, before any content is even written. Your support allows for more investigative news and
Hi [First Name],
Eighteen months ago, we launched [Publication Name] to bring trustworthy, independent news to [Community Name] — stories about our schools, our local leaders, our small businesses, and the people who make this place home.
Since then, we’ve published [number] stories, covered [a few local examples — e.g., city council meetings, high school sports, neighborhood events], and built a community of readers who care about staying informed.
Now, we’re asking for your help to keep it going.
As a small, locally owned newsroom, we depend on reader support — not big advertisers — to stay independent and keep our reporting free for everyone. Your donation directly funds our local reporters and allows us to dig deeper on the issues that matter most.
👉 [Donate Now] — every dollar makes a difference.
Thank you for being part of this community and for believing that local news is worth investing in. Here’s to the next 18 months — and beyond.
With gratitude,
[Your Name]
Founder & Editor
[Publication Name]
[Website URL] | [Social links, if applicable]
Home Stretch to the Ballot Box
In a few days the wait will be over. Is there support for Three Rivers or not? Will there be a change on the school board or not? Those are the only local competitive races. My hope is for a larger pool of voter participation. There is this phenomenon I first observed a long time ago: where there is a problem or need for direction, an ordinary group of people finds a better outcome than the smartest person in the room. I don’t know why this happens or even how, but it does, time and time again, in small and large groups. So, it’s not just the smartest people in the room that need to vote, but everyone, and the more, the better.
Drug Task Force Funding
The Okanogan County Narcotics Task Force oscillated between asking the towns of Twisp and Winthrop for $50,000 to retain membership, then went down to $25,000, and now to just $5,000 for Winthrop and $5,870 for Twisp, which has a larger population. Both towns had been paying $5,000 annually to the task force, which investigates and arrests high level drug traffickers in the county.
Following Olympia reallocating federal funding from the task force to social services, the task force needed to find another source of funds. It has been frugal with their expenditures, and they decided to be stretch it for another year, given the uphill battle in town budgets. The good news is there is a growing realization among elected officials that the task force is not something the county can do without.
New Sheriff’s Contract
Low supply of sheriff’s deputies means the cost of hiring and retaining officers is going up. The county wants a uniform contract for all towns and cities it contracts with for police services. In addition to Twisp, the sheriff’s office oversees police services for Conconully, Okanogan, Pateros and Riverside. The new payment formula is based on mileage from sheriff’s office in Okanogan (the town of Okanogan would pay zero for mileage) and the size of the population, not the number of calls per population. Twisp Mayor Hans Smith is still in talks with county commissioners and Sheriff Paul Budrow. A new contract needs to be signed by Dec. 31 to continue contracting with the sheriff’s office in 2026.
Federal Government Shutdown Looks Like Just Another Day
For a federal government shutdown, life continues to be surprisingly normal. Congress isn’t in session. The president was on a trade trip to Asia this week. The military is fighting in the Caribbean. We’re looking at the sky… How long can we go without the federal government, or is it being held together on the backs of free labor right now?
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Methow Valley Examiner
PO Box 1083
Twisp, WA 98856
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