Harrington News

Students tour missile site north of Harrington

Michael Cronrath, instructor of Current World History and World War II and the Cold War, took nine of his students on Friday, Oct 18th, to Peter Davenport's missile site. Mike Perry and Tony Hamilton accompanied the group for the one-and-a-half-hour tour. Since Cronrath's classes had been studying the beginning of the nuclear age and the opportunity availed itself, arrangements were made for the trip. The students, aged 15 to 18, were required to make a diagram and take notes on what was said, but also were allowed to ask questions. Later, they would have a test over the material covered.

The missile site is between Davenport and Harrington. It is one of nine missile sites in eastern Washington, six of which are in Lincoln County. Those six sites are located 1) east of Wilbur, 2) north of Lamona (owned by Mark and Terri Kramer), 3) at Egypt (which Mr Cronrath had toured some years ago), 4) north of Reardan (owned and used by the Center for Disease Control), 5) five miles east of Sprague (lived in by Dave McIntyre), and 6) south of Davenport (owned by Peter Davenport). In addition to these six sites, there was a launch control site (in the Rocklyn Zion district, owned by the Mielke family) from which the U.S. military could launch missiles that were located in any of the six sites. Crews would prepare the missiles for launch, and then were able to remove themselves from the immediate area. The missiles were Atlas E missiles that had a 3.75 megaton warhead, which is 180 times more powerful than the blast at Hiroshima. The original missile sites had barracks above ground that are no longer there. The sites contain from two to three million tons of concrete.

Peter Davenport originally purchased the missile site with the thought to perhaps live in it and run his UFO site from there, but it retains moisture, and he enjoys life in Harrington while he continues to clean and make repairs. Cronrath commented that Davenport was wonderful with the students and that he would make a great teacher. Through inquiring, I learned that Davenport has been an instructor. In 1977 he taught one year at Peninsula College on the Olympic Peninsula in fishery science, fishing anatomy, net mending and weaving, and micro-technique. This was a technique using wax to preserve fish tissue and make it possible to slice the tissue to put it under the microscope. In so doing, 100 sequential slices were possible, placing the slices on the glass for viewing. From 1977 to 1987 he was a flight instructor for gliders. In 1987 Davenport taught international business at the University of Washington. Davenport added that his role during the Cold War was as a Russian translator in 1970 and 1971, when he was stationed for two years on the Elbe River, in Germany, near the point at which the American-British troops met the Russians in 1945.

Cronrath might well be proud of his students, for they impressed Davenport with genuine interest in the history of the site, the history of the Cold War, and their excellent questions. Davenport added that he was very impressed with their manners and expression of gratitude for sharing his time and missile site with them.

Halloween

Halloween started early in Harrington with the employees at US Bank in costume all day, and the librarian, Vivienne Schultz was prepared as a witch to scare the little children away from reading, with her witch's hat. Schultz was nearly six feet tall. Halloween night was quiet in Harrington, with fewer children out than in previous years. One home on school hill estimated that 60 children presented themselves for treats. On the main drag not many children were viewed immediately after nightfall, but Lorne and Terry Howe enjoyed the forty plus children who visited their eerily decorated front porch. During the evening they were visited by Duck Dynasty, several princesses, vampires, a jester, police officers, and a little boy in a chicken outfit, to mention a few. The chicken outfit was perhaps well suited to the boy's personality, as when he got to the porch, saw the life-size caricatures decked out for the event, he ran away in tears. Terry Schultz, camouflaged as a witch, has a tender heart for children, with four daughters and ten grandchildren, and managed to catch up with him to give him his candy treat. Lorne Schultz was dressed as the grim reaper, and from the appearance on their porch, he apparently was busy prior to the holiday.

Opera House Rummage Sale

Just in time for Thanksgiving, the Harrington Opera House Rummage Sale is scheduled for Saturday, Nov 9, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with many added items featuring baskets and items on the Thanksgiving theme. Pottery items will include some Ben Bieri pieces and clothing will be vintage to modern. There are coats available as well. Donations will be welcomed to support the Opera House elevator fund.

Broadband highway connects rural institutions

Governor Jay Inslee and local officials gathered in Yakima recently to announce the completion of a 1,600-mile broadband network to bring high-speed Internet access to rural communities across Washington state.

Towns, cities and remote areas from Ilwaco to Colville and Asotin now have access to some of the fastest Internet service speeds in the country, service that was previously impossible due to geographic or financial hurdles.

Funded in part by two federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act grants totaling nearly $140 million, the 1,600-mile broadband expansion is the result of a partnership between the state, public utility districts, local Internet service providers, cities and ports with construction overseen by NoaNet, a non-profit telecommunications provider.

"This is a hidden jewel for economic development in the state of Washington. It is underground, but its results are above ground," said Governor Inslee. "We are one of the most wired states in the nation, and that's just not because of the coffee."

Serving as a broadband highway for Washington state, the new network brings high-capacity Internet connections to hundreds of previously underserved libraries, police stations, city halls, colleges and other community institutions. Local Internet service providers can also connect to the network and provide service to customers in the area.

"This broadband initiative created immediate jobs during construction and brings economic investment to rural areas for years to come that have been left behind by the digital revolution," said Greg Marney, Chief Executive Officer of NoaNet. "Washington is now nationally recognized as one of the most wired states in the country and we're proud to have contributed to this accomplishment."

Remote areas have historically had only the most rudimentary Internet capabilities needed to share critical information among firefighters, police, hospitals and first responders. Additionally, businesses are often reluctant to relocate or expand in areas not served by broadband.

The new broadband service expands public safety access for critical emergency and healthcare technology to the hardest to reach areas in the state. It also provides opportunities for rural small businesses to participate in ecommerce and other online business programs not previously available.

"The strong partnership between all the entities involved was key to improving broadband access to nearly 50 local libraries," said Rand Simmons, Washington State Librarian. "Our state's libraries are now able to help community members participate in e-learning, e-government and provide online services and digital resources for the 21st Century".

The new broadband infrastructure creates a seamless network connection capable of:

Connecting community colleges and universities, creating opportunities for collaboration on research and information exchange.

Providing police, fire and public safety agencies with enhanced communications and remote data access opportunities.

Making remote diagnosis, enhancing professional training with reduced travel, and making it possible to provide immediate assessment and guidance to health care workers via videoconferencing.

Enabling businesses to utilize broadband to enhance business-to-business and machine-to -machine computing requirements, allowing efficiencies in automation of processes including inventory and fulfillment systems and web oriented sales that are not currently available or extremely limited today.

Giving farmers access to advanced production technologies and real-time online trading markets; improving efficiencies and worldwide competitiveness of this important commercial agriculture sector.

"Public utility districts have been working for more than a decade to bring broadband access to unserved and underserved areas of our state. We know from experience that world-class broadband connectivity is essential for job creation and providing key community services like healthcare, education and involvement in government," added Dave Siburg, General Manager of Kitsap PUD.

The network completion celebration took take place on October 29 at Yakima Valley Community College. The Community College's Grandview Campus is one of the hundreds of community institutions in Washington state now connected to the new high-speed broadband network.

About NoaNet

NoaNet is leading the effort to expand broadband Internet access in Washington state on behalf of a consortium of more than 60 private, governmental, tribal and non-profit participants. It is a non-profit mutual corporation providing wholesale telecommunications transport headquartered in Tacoma. For more than 10 years, it has operated a reliable public open-access broadband communication network totaling 1,831 fiber miles that provides rural areas access to broadband services, supporting 61 last-mile providers that serve more than 260,000 customers. NoaNet's members are 12 public utility districts and a joint operating agency that have served wholesale customers in Washington state since 2000.